Several Important Curry powder & Shipping Notes
over 4 years ago
– Sat, Nov 30, 2019 at 05:34:45 PM
Dearest backers, I just had a few important notes to share:
1) If you ordered curry powder and live outside the U.S., I'm so sorry, but we can't ship it to you; the food regulations are too restrictive for us to manage. I thought we'd said that on the initial Kickstarter, but it's possible we didn't, or not prominently enough -- my fault, and I hope you're not too disappointed. My assistant Stephanie will be in touch with you about refunding you appropriately for that (or subbing in a greeting card pack if you'd prefer). There's a recipe for curry powder in the cookbook, of course, and you can also buy Sri Lankan curry powder online or in some Indian shops. Look for 'Jaffna curry powder' to get the variety closest to what I make.
2) Also re: curry powder, I wanted to note for everyone that there's no cayenne in what I'm shipping out. I wanted people to be able to adjust heat level to their preference, so please add cayenne as desired!
3) Everyone who picked up in person, we'll be contacting you about reimbursement for shipping costs. We'd be happy to refund you, or if you like, we can donate the funds to the non-profit literary organization that I run, the Speculative Literature Foundation (www.speclit.org). We're in the midst of a membership drive right now, hoping to build up enough support so I can hire some part-time staff -- that'll let me launch the Portolan Project, a sort of Khan Academy for creative writing. I'm hoping to make a wealth of creative writing resources available to the public, for free. If you'd like to support that, membership is $2 / month, and we'd love to have you join us!
4) Some people have asked about ordering additional gift copies. I'll be very happy to fill those orders -- if you order on our website, we're trying to ship those out within two weeks, as soon as we're done with Kickstarter fulfillment. So they should arrive in time for Christmas, at least within the U.S. http://serendibkitchen.com/shop/
5) I also happen to be running a little flash sale today for Small Business Saturday, on Facebook, selling books at a small discount, along with postcards and some bath products: Check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj/posts/10160197150974616
6) For ebooks, we're ALMOST ready to send them -- I'm hoping by Monday, and thanks again for your patience. We just got the formatted PDF back from the printer, so that'll be going out, and the Nook version as soon as I finish the back matter and get it to my designer. The Kindle version, we've been having some tech problems with the layout, but we're hoping to have those resolved very soon. We're going to just send all backers all three versions, and if you'd like to share one with a friend, please know that you have my blessing.
7) If anything is damaged in transit, please do let us know; we'd very much like to make it right. We're guesstimating on how much packaging to use, etc., and we may get it wrong on occasion!
8) I *may* be doing a Feast event or two in Seattle in early January, when I'm there for the SALA and MLA conferences; I'll try to remember to post here but following me on FB is always a good option for the most up-to-date info on what I'm doing. https://www.facebook.com/mary.a.mohanraj
Finally, thanks so much for all your support! It's definitely been a learning process -- shipping is ridiculously complicated, as it turns out, and all of our estimates were wildly wrong (sometimes up, sometimes down); I think we'll maybe end up breaking even on shipping in the end, but it's going to be pure chance if so. But it's just been so great having so much support in this endeavor -- it wouldn't have happened without you, and I hope you're exceedingly happy with your books!
And I think I haven't shared this with you yet -- Feast received a glowing starred review in Publisher's Weekly. It's my very first PW starred review, and I'm honestly just over the moon -- this is a big deal, as this is what many bookstores and libraries use when deciding what books to order. Take a look!
- Mary Anne
“Mohanraj (Bodies in Motion), a literature professor at the University
of Illinois, Chicago, introduces readers to the comforting cuisine of
Sri Lanka in this illuminating collection of more than 100 recipes.
Waves of immigration from China, England, the Netherlands, and
Portugal influenced the unique cuisine of Sri Lanka, Mohanraj writes,
as evidenced by such dishes as Chinese rolls (a take on classic egg
rolls in the form of stuffed crepes that are breaded and fried); fish
cutlets (a culinary cousin of Dutch bitterballen fried croquettes);
and English tea sandwiches (filled here with beets, spinach, and
carrots). With Sri Lanka’s proximity to India, curry figures heavily,
with options for chicken, lamb, cuttlefish, or mackerel. A number of
poriyal dishes, consisting of sautéed vegetables with a featured
ingredient, such as asparagus or brussels sprouts, showcase a Tamil
influence. Throughout, Mohanraj does a superb job of combining easily
sourced ingredients with clear, instructive guidance and menu
recommendations for all manner of events, including a Royal Feast for
over 200 people. This is a terrific survey of an overlooked cuisine.”
— Publisher’s Weekly
Recipe Cards ordered -- shipping date moved to 11/16 (SORRY!)
over 4 years ago
– Fri, Nov 08, 2019 at 01:49:56 PM
Recipe cards ordered -- this is the final piece of the puzzle, and I'm sorry that it's going to take one more week for them to get to me -- they'll be arriving on November 15th. Then we'll swing into shipping on Nov 16 (and Stephanie is going to kill me that it's one more week, because all the stacks in my dining room are making her stressed out)! I suspect we'll do one more packing party, just to get them out quickly. Feed people rice & curry, stuff envelopes. Good strategy.
Honestly, I probably need that week for roasting curry powder anyway, because we somehow totally miscounted, and I need to make something like twice as much curry powder as we thought. (It's in 4 oz. bags, and somehow we missed that all the hardcovers come with 8 oz. of curry powder, which is good, lots of curries for people, but it's going to take a little more time to roast and grind all that!)
But then we'll be really, really done. Really. I swear. I won't add any other items, no matter how many good ideas I have between now and then....
(How many times can I say 'sorry for the delay' and 'thank you for your patience' and 'this has been a learning experience for me!' to my Kickstarter backers? A lot. I can say it a lot.)
- Mary Anne
Feast Production Update / Mary Anne in Los Angeles for Halloween!
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Oct 17, 2019 at 10:29:18 AM
Feast production & event updates, many! Kickstarter ordering is officially closed! Kickstarter backers (THANK YOU), please do update your shipping addresses if needed, as we're going to be shipping out SOON.
1) LOS ANGELES: First and most time-sensitive -- if you're going to be in L.A. on Halloween weekend, I'll be there for World Fantasy, and will be delighted to hand-deliver signed books to you! The convention is at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott, so we can meet for a drink in the bar, and I can hand you a book!
Some will be available in the dealer's room at WFC at the Book Universe table (along with The Stars Change and Perennial), but Kickstarter backers should contact me if they'd like to pick up their copies, so I'll be sure to set your copies aside. And ditto for anyone reading this who'd like to pre-order a copy; just let me know.
Kickstarter pricing ended last night, so books will be at the World Fantasy sale price of $37.95 (hardcover) and $22.95 (trade paperback, no photos in book). (Normally $40 / $25).
2) SPRING 2020 LAUNCH: As for the main launch in March, I've now paid the thousands of dollars of shipping cost (eep!) for 2000 copies of Feast (Mascot Books edition, not Kickstarter). This is to get it from the book production facility overseas to the warehouse in America. They will literally be coming on a slow boat from China, arriving sometime in mid-January.
I'll then be paying again to get some copies shipped to me. You'd think I could split the order and send some here and some to the warehouse, for efficiency's sake, but it'd be an extra $2K or so to do that, just because they're not set up for that kind of thing. Sigh. Going to try to keep that piece to a few hundred dollars instead.
Ah well. More unanticipated costs here, there, and everywhere. But on the other hand, Farah just sent me a lovely note about her copy of the book (picked up in Montreal), so that's at least one happy customer, which bodes well for future sales. Fingers crossed.
(I am learning a LOT in the process; I do still want to do more books with Serendib Press, but big print runs of full-color hardcovers are a major project and serious financial risk, so may not do a lot of those! Ebooks. Ebooks are lovely.)
When it's time to get books over to me in Chicagoland, we'll be ordering them in cartons of 14 hardcovers each, and it'll come via UPS ground -- I thought media mail, but this hybrid publisher has stopped using media mail because too many books were damaged in transit. So by mid-February, I think, barring disaster, in good time for launching at FogCon in early March. Look, it's a schedule! We're keeping to it. Yay!
3) EVENTS: Next week, Pem Hessing and I are going to sit down and start working on the launch calendar in earnest. There'll be some local events before that, though -- please note the two FREE cookbook classes coming up in the next week at Oak Park Works:
Monday 10/21, 6-7:30, FREE
https://www.eventcombo.com/e/nonfiction-writing-workshops-36290
Saturday 10/26, 12 - 1:30, FREE
https://www.eventcombo.com/e/how-to-write-a-cookbook-36299
They're free, but do require registration. I'll have cookbooks and curry powder available for sale there, and some milk toffee and passionfruit marshmallows to taste!
4) COOKING CLASS: There's also a fun event coming up soon, a cooking class at SugarBeet, where I'll be teaching people how to make hoppers: plain, egg, and sweet coconut. I'm going to make some curries (probably one chicken and one eggplant) and sambols (coconut and caramelized onion) in advance, to accompany the hoppers.
Bring a friend or partner; you'll make yourselves a delicious brunch, accompanied by mango-passionfruit mimosas. Print books not included, but I'll have some books available for sale (and $10 off!), if you get inspired, and you get to take home some fresh-roasted curry powder too. What a great date!
I'm not sure how many spots are left, so register quick!
Sunday 10/27, 10 - 12, $45.
https://www.hisawyer.com/sugar-beet-schoolhouse/schedules/activity-set/94183?source=camp&fbclid=IwAR1IJaZuh8b6ZUbNqmyAnNmRFJo5-_wX0wAt7psfG8jahb0zeHbvZxnXtX8
- Mary Anne
Closing Feast Pre-Orders Tomorrow (Wed 10/16) -- tell your friends! Add goodies!
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Oct 15, 2019 at 06:53:10 AM
We'll be closing Kickstarter pre-orders tomorrow (Wed 10/16, midnight CST) for A Feast of Serendib, so this is your last chance to order additional cookbooks with the Kickstarter pricing + the option of extra goodies like homemade curry powder, recipe postcards, etc.
We plan to ship starting October 31st, so barring disaster, they should arrive in plenty of time for holiday gifting. Yay! (And for those wondering, the ebook is almost ready too; final formatting tweaks this week. It is looking VERY PRETTY, which is something of a trick in an ebook, honestly. Jed is a wizard.)
If you wouldn't mind, would love it if you could tell your friends / family about the book. Indie publishing this has been quite the adventure, and it wouldn't have been remotely possible without all the community help!
Thank you!
- Mary Anne
REMINDER: Montreal
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Oct 10, 2019 at 11:03:04 AM
IMPORTANT reminder that if you want to pick up a copy of Feast from me in Montreal (whether you're attending the con Scintillation or not), you MUST tell me now, so I can pack it tonight. I have 4 listed already, and I think I have room for 4 more in my suitcase. Who needs clothes when you have books?
