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Mercedes Lackey's Deluxe "Heralds of Valdemar"

Created by Mercedes Lackey & Zombie Orpheus Entertainment

The complete Arrows trilogy in one deluxe leatherbound omnibus, including silver and blue foil, six ribs, full-color interior art plates, painted edges, a ribbon marker, and a new Valdemar album by S. J. Tucker.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Important: Deluxe Heralds Orders Will Lock Soon, Final Chance for Pre-orders
3 days ago – Mon, Sep 28, 2026 at 01:24:31 PM

Hi everyone -

With the successful final charge from our pay-over-time backers, the Deluxe Heralds survey completion rate has crossed 90%. This means that we are on schedule to lock orders and charge shipping in October.

If you did not pledge for Deluxe Heralds, this is your last opportunity to reserve a copy in the pre-order store.

Here are the important dates:

  • October 1 - Deluxe Halfblood BackerKit campaign ends (if you want the matched set) [link]
  • October 5 - Deluxe Heralds pre-orders close & orders locked (no more changes allowed unless you email [email protected]). Backerkit will email a 48-hour warning.
  • October 12 - Cards charged for shipping and pre-orders. We will provide an opportunity to delay the charges on an individual basis. Stay tuned for details. Backerkit will email a 48-hour warning.
  • October 19 - We place the full manufacturing order.

Due to the volume of backers on this campaign, please be patient if it takes a few days for us to answer support emails.

Here's a brief FAQ:

What if my address is going to change?
We won't lock addresses until right before we ship next year. You can change right up until the last minute. We'll provide tons of notice.

Can I order a Deluxe Heralds book later?
We may be able to order a small number of extra books from the manufacturer, but cannot promise that we'll have a surplus.

What about the Deluxe Halfblood campaign? Can I wait to pledge?
That campaign ends on October 1st. The pre-order store should have an open window later, but pledges now help us unlock stretch goals.



Deluxe Arrows Surveys + Layout/Art Report
16 days ago – Tue, Sep 15, 2026 at 09:52:42 AM

Hi everyone -

It's September and we're here with another project update.

First of all, we expect that the final installments for the pay-over-time backers should process on or around September 27th. When those come through the last group of backers will be able to complete their surveys. We're already at 89% survey completion, which is amazing!

We should be able to lock orders and charge cards for shipping and add-ons in October. We'll provide plenty of notice and, as in prior campaigns, can hold back individual cards if you need yours to process at a different time. Full instructions will be provided in a future update—there's no need to email about this now.

Locking orders sets final item counts, so we can place our final manufacturing order on schedule. From there, we'll expect to work through the following steps:

  • Deliver full book interior files
  • Deliver all book exterior (cover) files
  • Deliver all stretch goal art files
  • Manufacturer reviews for errors and sends notes
  • Second round of digital delivery
  • Receive digital proofs
  • Fix any remaining errors
  • Second set of digital proofs
  • If any physical specs changed, manufacturer sends second set of blank dummies for approval
  • Flat print proofs and signatures sent (all of the pieces of everything for color and print quality review)
  • Upon approval of those pieces, manufacturing line set up and one more full set of proofs sent
  • Proofs approved, manufacturing commences

We've given ourselves several months for this process. We'll share updates, photos, and videos at each major stage.

Concurrently with delivery and manufacturing, we're thrilled to be running our first deluxe book campaign for Arc Manor, featuring Misty's Deluxe Halfblood Chronicles [link]. Funded in under seven hours, we're now well into stretch goals. This campaign runs through October 1st.


Additionally, we want to highlight that Care Halverson, who designs all of our gorgeous deluxe books, is also an established author and is currently running a campaign for her own novel IronBlood [link]. This cross-collab with Halfblood provides extra benefits for people who pledge to both campaigns. Care was worried that her campaign wouldn't succeed... and we've taken great pleasure from seeing how much support and love Misty's fandom has given to Care's project, already raising more than 800% of her original goal. Thank you to everyone who helped boost the signal for our awesome team member!



Finally, we plan to start negotiating rights for the next deluxe Valdemar trilogy in October! If all goes well we'll be able to announce the title for our 2027 volume in just a few months. Stay tuned :)

Thanks from
Misty, Larry, and the Deluxe Book Team

Heralds Pre-orders Now Open + Scholarships Granted + Deluxe Halfblood Launches Soon
about 2 months ago – Fri, Aug 07, 2026 at 08:26:55 AM

Hi everyone!

So many of you have been writing in asking when we will open up pre-orders for people who missed the Deluxe Heralds campaign... and that day is today!

Visit the pre-order store

We'll keep the store open until 90% of backers have completed surveys. At that time we'll lock everything down and place our manufacturing order. We're not officially offering the deluxe bundle now that the campaign is over, but if you absolutely must have it for some reason, email [email protected] and we can manually create a pre-order for you with the item.

As of this writing, 76% of backers have completed their surveys. Remember that we need accurate counts in order to begin manufacturing, so please keep the survey momentum up. Last campaign more than fifty people pledged and paid full price for Grandmaster and never completed their surveys. We can't ship your books if we don't know where you live... so please, please get that done!   

FAQ - "When will you charge cards for shipping and pre-orders?"

In the past we've waited until shipping is due to begin, but since we won't be adjusting shipping prices, we'll plan to charge for shipping this fall, a few weeks after we place the manufacturing order. We will give you at least fourteen days of notice, plus a 48-hour reminder, we will schedule the charges for directly after the first of a month, and we will be able to hold charges on an individual basis for people who need an alternative schedule. 
 

SCHOLARSHIPS UPDATE

All scholarship requests from the campaign have been granted, imported into the system, and surveys sent. If you requested a scholarship, you received it. Please check your inbox for the survey link!

HOWEVER -- a small number of people who requested scholarships also pledged for the $25 level, using the same email address. If you receive a survey link for the scholarship and are unable to access it, please email [email protected] and we'll manually consolidate your orders for you.

FAQ - "Something isn't working for me, how do I get help?"

Please email [email protected] and be patient. Our fabulous support person, Corvyn, will answer you as quickly as possible during regular weekday business hours. If you email on a Friday afternoon, however, or at the same time as fifty other people, it may be a few days before you hear back. Thank you for your patience!

DELUXE HALFBLOOD COMING SOON


The Deluxe Halfblood Chronicles are coming to BackerKit on September 10th!

If you see our home-grown ads out in the wild, you can help us "warm our pixel" by clicking through and following the campaign.

And, since the pre-launch reservations were so successful on Heralds of Valdemar, we're doing it again: a $5 reservation comes with a $25 savings on the full two-volume set!

This will be our first campaign in direct collaboration with one of Misty's publishers. Arc Manor liked our work on Grandmaster so much that they asked us to design the books and run the campaign for the deluxe editions of all four Elvenbane novels!

This is especially exciting for us because we've been able to design Arc Manor's deluxe editions to perfectly match the format and materials of Grandmaster and Deluxe Heralds, so everything will look just right side-by-side on your shelf.
 
If you are one of those people who will absolutely never click on an ad (like Ben, who hates them with a passion), you can skip the whole "pixel" thing and follow the campaign right here.

Thanks,
Misty's Crowdfunding Team (Ben, Care, Athena, and Corvyn)

Heralds Packaging Unboxing Video + Survey Updates
about 2 months ago – Mon, Aug 03, 2026 at 10:07:39 AM

Hi everyone, Ben here!

Over the weekend I received a package from our manufacturer -- the complete set of blank dummies for our Deluxe Bundle. These unprinted products are where we confirm that the paper, dimensions, weight, and feel of every item is exactly what we wanted. Once this is approved, we can move to the next stage of manufacturing: finalizing our art to match these templates, then submitting a print proof request to the manufacturer.



SURVEY UPDATES

We released surveys on Saturday afternoon, August 1st, and 58% of you have already completed yours! That's a fabulous return rate. For everyone else, please get to it as quickly as possible -- the completed surveys tell us exactly how much of each product to order!

A few questions have come up from early surveys, addressed below:

Do I need to order a separate timeline poster if I'm receiving the deluxe bundle?
No, a timeline poster ships as part of every deluxe bundle. If you add another, you'll receive two.

I'm outside of the USA and shipping seems really expensive. What are my options?
We've kept shipping prices the same or lower than the Grandmaster campaign, even though this package is larger and heavier. We're also subsidizing the entire cost of GST/VAT and import fees. We are currently covering between $10-$190 dollars in shipping cost per international package (India, Switzerland, and Norway, we're looking at you.) If the shipping fees are still too high for your budget, you can email [email protected] to request a shipping scholarship.

I'm an international backer and I don't mind paying full price for shipping. May I?
Feel free to contribute by adding one or more Shipping Scholarship add-ons to your pledge.

I'm moving soon, should I wait to fill out the survey?
No, please complete the survey now. You'll be able to update your shipping address in 2027 before rewards ship.

Why does it say I'm receiving three copies of the Arrow Code Decoder?
We don't know! But it will be a PDF and you have our enthusiastic permission to download it once, three times, or as many times as you wish when it is released.

I made two or more pledges. Can you combine my orders to ship together?
Yes. Email [email protected] and we'll bundle your orders into a single shipment.

Deluxe Heralds Surveys Are Coming!
2 months ago – Thu, Jul 30, 2026 at 03:56:59 PM

Hi everyone!

We're getting ready to send out surveys to all backers, as well as to temporarily open pre-orders for people who missed the campaign. Here's what you need to know:

  • Today – Smoke test surveys go out. A random 5% of backers will receive the surveys. This helps us catch any mistakes or omissions. If you receive the survey invite today, please fill it out ASAP. Thanks!

  • August 1 - All surveys released. Please fill them out quickly, as this helps us finalize our manufacturing orders.

Shipping Scholarships are back! You can apply for one directly within your survey, or contribute to the scholarship fund with an add-on.

Grandmaster ships separately! If you selected the Grandmaster or Art of Grandmaster add-ons, they'll ship from the ZOE warehouse this fall. You'll see a special question about split shipping costs.

Shipping discounts and/or scholarships will be granted before cards are charged. We'll let the community know if need exceeds available funds. In that case, we'll ask for additional help to cover the difference so that nobody is left behind.

IMPORTANT: Even if you can't afford shipping, it's essential that you complete your survey. If you don't have a card and don't have anything to enter in those fields, email [email protected] and we'll manually close your survey for you.

Have questions: Please start with the FAQ, it's quite comprehensive.

If something doesn't make sense or you're worried about any aspect of the campaign, please email us at [email protected]. We're very happy to help.

As a reminder for everyone, crowdfunding starts with pledges, THEN we manufacture the rewards. This process takes time. We've put timelines everywhere, but it's easy to pledge quickly and not realize that the gratification will not be instant. Fulfillment is currently on schedule for May/June of 2027.