Happy New Year -- January 4, 2007

[Kevin]

Happy New Year, Everybody!

I hope your holidays were full of love, fun, family, friends and gaming.

And I think (or at least hope) 2007 will be a happy one for Palladium. Although Palladium Books remains in delicate condition, we are doing better and have big plans for future products that we think will please and amaze you.

Still struggling to find time to write

Palladium’s biggest problem at the moment, is my inability to devote my days to writing, editing and rewriting the work of freelancers.

Rifts® Sourcebook One is coming along much slower than I would like. After an initial flood of ideas and a burst of writing, I’ve been stalled or just writing slow. It’s all good stuff, but isn’t coming fast enough. Continuing to push back release dates will kill us. After everything we’ve accomplished this far, we MUST get new product released! I know that, but finding the time and energy to write remains difficult for me these past few weeks.

Why? Hmm, still dealing with a lot of stuff that steals my time away. Today was telephone day. In between paying bills, running some errands, answering e-mails, coordinating various projects, and shipping out extended X-Mas Grab Bags (only FOUR days left to get those last orders in!) I was on the dang telephone with one call after another – freelancers, business associates pitching ideas, a repairman, the Harmony Gold attorney, my brother, Tony Falzon, and Kathy working from home. Seriously, I must have spent 5-6 hours on the phone today, and another two hours talking with staff about various new ideas for product, advertising, Robotech and the Open House. I started work at 8:00 A.M. and at 10:30 P.M., as I write this Murmur, I’ve yet to write a word on an actual book. Wahhhh.

Status Report – January 4, 2007

Chaos Earth™ RPG, Rifts® World Book 11: Coalition War Campaign™, Rifts® Book of Magic™, Rifts® Adventure Guide™ and Warpath™ (the novel) are all back in print and available now!

The Rifter® #37 is outstanding, with a lot of strong source material, including official stuff for Splicers®, and a fantastic cover by Tyler Walpole. I have approved the color cover proof and proof copy of the interiors, so Rifter 37 should ship next week right on schedule. In fact, it might ship a day or two early. Meanwhile, Wayne is already busy plotting the material for The Rifter #38.

Rifts® Ultimate Edition – Second Printing – is on schedule for a January 19, 2007 delivery to Palladium's warehouse. We’re currently down to our last six available copies of the first printing.

Sourcebook One, Expanded™: Cover (Scott Johnson) and ALL the artwork (Wilson, Hebenstreit, Russell and Long) is done. Bits and pieces are written, ideas are plentiful. I hope to finish and get it to the printer by the end of next week! Should have been done two weeks ago. Arrgh.

D-Bees of North America™: Cover (Dave Dorman) and ALL the interior artwork (95% of it all new) is done. The Dave Dorman cover painting is awesome! It should get posted early next week. Some editing/writing is done too. I plan to dive into it the second I’m done with Sourcebook One.

Rifts® Dimension Book 10: Hades™. Art has been assigned, cover is done, page count expanded, should be a great book. Carl Gleba has outdone himself.

Rifts® Dimension Book 11: Dyval™. Spoke to Johnny Z, the cover should be done by the end of next week, art has been assigned, page count expanded, should be another great book.

Robotech® RPG: Contract negotiations with Harmony Gold were stalled due to a perfect storm of incidents hitting H.G.’s legal department, but we seem to be back on track in nailing down the final details. This is in large part due to H.G. attorney, Libbie Chase (my new hero) agreeing to continue to work on finalizing the agreement while she is still on maternity leave. Thanks Libbie, it is greatly appreciated! Things look excellent on this front and we are excited about doing new Robotech RPG books starting this Spring (May or June). In fact, we may exhibit at Anime Expo in California to promote the new Robotech RPG to the anime crowd. Should decide in the next week or so.

The Rifter® continues to be a hot, sell out collectible, with issue numbers 30 and 32, joining the growing list of SOLD OUT issues; #28 and #33 are almost sold out as well.

Warpath: Urban Jungle™ RPG – Co-Author Jeffry Hansen is about 70% done with his half of the book and is working on maps and other details. Still shooting for a Spring or Early Summer release.

Erick Wujcik and John Zeleznik are 95% sure they will be at the 2007 Palladium Open House! Please note: When trying to reserve a room at the Ramada Inn, you MUST tell the clerk that you are to get the "Palladium Books special rate" to get the darn special rates!

Last Chance for Grab Bags – offer ends January 8, 2007

Only FOUR days left. Think birthdays, Valentine's Day, and filling in your collection before it is too late! The Grab Bags will NOT be back till Christmas time 2007, so order now before it is too late. ‘Nuff said.

More good stuff is happening, but I’ll leave that for a press release or a Murmur for next week.

I hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful Holiday Season. Let’s make 2007 Palladium’s big comeback year!

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, President, Writer, Artist, and Stuff
© January 4, 2007