Yesterday, I received the proof copy in the mail. It took the package almost three weeks to get here but in the end, all wheels of the international mail system turned slowly but reliably towards their destination. Interestingly enough, this was the first book I ordered off RPGNow that did not originate in the UK. Instead the book arrived here from Malmö, Sweden.
Needless to say, I was incredibly curious to open the package and once I got it open, I was equally filled with joy and distress. YES! The first printed version of 2nd edition was there in all it’s material glory. But then again, something felt off. The writing on the spine seemed too far aligned to the left…
Unpacking quickly revealed a high quality book. However, once I saw the MX-logo on the top of the front bending around the edge (it was removed from due to space corrections), I knew what had happened. The print order was fulfilled with an old file version of the cover, not the updated one submitted after the printer required corrections.
A look at the book’s interior confirmed the suspicion. Page one shows the version number of the interior file and it was not the latest version provided for the printing process. The older version contained several errors and was missing the bleed area around the page edges.
Now, regardless of the fact that the print files got mixed up: The book itself is going to be gorgeous! Flipping through the pages revealed crisp graphics, very good readability of all print and most importantly, the page tabs and page numbers inside the so called safety area (which caused the file to get rejected by the printer) were 100% where they were supposed to be.
Sadly, we cannot go into production with this print. The up-side is that we are so much closer to a really great looking printed Bladestorm 2nd Edition.
I’ll keep you posted!
