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The Literary Tarot

Created by Brink Literacy Project

A Tarot Deck Unlocking the Secrets of Classic Literature—join us as we delve into the libraries of history, unearthing secrets of the cosmos through the wisdom of our favorite classic stories… Join an all-star team of beloved authors—including Margaret Atwood, Stephen Fry, Roxane Gay, Patrick Rothfuss, and Celeste Ng—as they pair literary works with each card in the tarot, unlocking the secrets of the arcana through the world's most powerful stories. All proceeds from this store go toward our nonprofit mission to increase literacy rates, nurture emerging and marginalized voices, and help people living on the brink to unlock the potential inside themselves! Brink Literacy Project is a 501(c)(3) & Scottish Registered Charity

Latest Updates from Our Project:

DEMOS!!!! WE HAVE DEMOS!!!!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Jul 12, 2022 at 04:44:14 AM

Hello again, amazing backers!

We couldn’t be more excited to report that we finally got our demos, and they look UTTERLY fantastic! Feel free to check out the video here (again, we tossed it on social since Kickstarter won’t let us upload big video files), but we wanted to note some super rad upgrades we did for the cards (obviously, at no additional cost to you). We’re just hella dedicated to making this the prettiest tarot deck out there.

CARD UPGRADES:

  • Moved our card stock up AGAIN to 400gsm. The 350 is good, but the 400 shuffles like HEAVEN. (It increases our card costs by 18%, but man…it’s so worth it. The feel is incredible).
  • For the foiling, we originally planned to do the same technique as we do for F(r)iction covers, where the colored ink is printed DIRECTLY on the foil paper. This allows the tolerance (that’s how accurate the foil placement is) to be 100% accurate…but it dulled the colors of the cards a lot (even when we switched to a silver instead of gold, as you can see below)…so we upgraded to a press foil (after, you know, redoing every single one of our files for the new technique (poor Edge)).
  • We’ve UV coated the cards on both sides. Please see the video for how we SCRATCHED THE HELL OUT OF THEM and they STILL don’t chip the foil!

OTHER UPGRADES:

We also did this same lunacy for the box, mini-guidebook, booster pack, and postcards (all your gold thus will match in its radness, durability, and saturation).

Everyone keeps making fun of us (since, apparently, our ability to cut into our profit margins is legendary), but what’s the point of making something if you don’t MAX OUT ON THE MAJESTY?!?!?

As you can see from the photos and videos, the gold just SINGS on the cards, and it is even more beautiful than we hoped! Also, look at how amazing the holographic backs look with the UV coating.

NEXT STEPS

Since this round of demos was so FANTASTIC, we are barreling full-steam-ahead toward final production! We know you all want timing (man, we do too), so we had a long, long talk with our printer, and pending more global disasters, here’s what we are looking at schedule wise:

  •  Prep Final Production Files & Material Order (Approx. 2 weeks): Now that we’ve finalized the demos, we’ll be tweaking files (for example, now that we have decided to make the cards thicker, it changed the thickness of the book box a smidge) while our printer orders all the supplies in bulk now that final materials have been decided on.
  •  Printer Prepares the Big Old Machines (Approx. 2 weeks): Our amazing team in China gets all the final plates and molds and materials rejiggered in just the right way to make all these beauties!
  •  Final Production Check (Takes 7 business days to ship): Printer prints one of everything EXACTLY as it will appear in mass production and ships it to us to check. Since it’s different machines than the demos use, we want to make sure it’s perfect for you guys
  •  Mass Production (Approx. 5 weeks): We give the final nod of approval (hopefully without an ounce of changes) and production begins. WEEEE!

After that, all the products will get shipped out to warehouses, clear through customs in each of the countries where our fulfillment service has a warehouse, and then each of these warehouses will begin packing the orders!

If you need to change your address, or contact us, reach out to [email protected]. And we’ll continue to update you all on the timeline as we move along the process! The important thing is that we're motion, people! It’s really happening!

LAST THING – SEVEN’S NEW PROJECT

Many of you came over to our project because you fell in love with the Alleyman’s Tarot Deck and its amazing creator, Seven. Seven is not only one of the incredible tarot advisors who helped us bring the Literary Tarot to life, but they are also a great friend of ours and we couldn’t adore them more. So, of course, when they launched a new project, we were EXCITED.

For those of you who haven’t jumped on to snag their new Oracle Dice, take a look. Seven is a fantastic human doing fantastic work with fantastic artists, and there are only 3 days left to support another FANTASTIC project. Check it out here.

Progress Update, Shanghai Opening Up, and Potential Future Projects!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Jul 01, 2022 at 12:23:26 PM

Hello lovely backers!

First off, thank you so very, very much for all your kind words about the digital release. We are just tickled that you all are SO TICKLED. It’s been a real labor of love—from each meticulously crafted piece of art to the fun guidebook entries from 78 amazing authors—and your messages have given us so much LIFE to push through these printing and shipping delays in Shanghai!

Speaking of Shanghai, we have some updates about our demos (finally), but before that, we were hoping we could ask you lovely folks for a bit of advice.

OUR NEXT PROJECT

Lots of our authors have been banging at our inbox, asking if we’re gonna do a new tarot project. They wanna do more! They wanna bring in their other famous author buddies! They wanna help raise more funding for our rad education programs!

And we are really keen, too! Of course, we could fly blind and start planning a new deck, but given that you all have been exceedingly awesome, we didn’t dare begin to do that without asking.

BUT, we’ve been waiting to do so, because we also didn’t want to ask you all about a new project until we’d delivered the one you already bought (that just seems rude, eh?). However, given how backed up the printing process has been as a result of the extended Covid lockdown, we realized that if we don’t get cranking on a new project, we’ll massively slow down the process for creating a new deck.

Thus, if you are interested, we’d be grateful as ALL GET OUT if you might take a gander at this survey and tell us what you think of some tarot ideas our team has been kicking around! Before we take any steps forward, we want to make sure we’re pouring all this creative love into something you’ll all actually like…

NEXT PROJECT SURVEY

(Also, once we decide on the next project, we’ll create a space so you can recommend authors you’d like us to pull in. No guarantees we can do it, but we are pretty resourceful!)

DEMO UPDATE

And now to the demos! Apparently, they are shipping out this week, so we should have them in our hot little hands within A WEEK. (We’ll share what we see with you all!) After that, it’s just a matter of Shanghai getting fully up and running. The factory we’re working with is slowly reopening, though they’re not at full capacity yet, but they are moving toward it!

And thanks to all of your support—resulting in a big-old order size—we’re an important project for them so we should get priority on the printing and shipping lists!

DIGITAL HOUSEKEEPING

If you didn’t get your digital files, or you want to add to your order, please reach out to [email protected]. Also, for all of you who have been asking about a print and play, we’re kicking it around with the team. 

Unfortunately, a key team member was out on bereavement leave, so we’re waiting for the dust to settle in the art department before we see about that formatting. More next time!

Thank you again for your support, kindness, and enthusiasm. We are so grateful for how amazing you all are!

Cheers,

Dani, Helen, and the Brinkeroos

Digital Tarot RELEASE!
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Jun 01, 2022 at 01:45:43 AM

Hello Glorious Backers!!!!

We hope this finds you well and anticipating the start of Summer (or Winter, depending on your hemisphere). We’re back again with optimistic updates and some exciting news! Let’s get right to it.

Production Update

Our printers in Shanghai are telling us that factories should be reopening over the next week or two. So once operations are up and running, we can get those demos sent our way! And then once we’ve checked on the perfection of all of our products, we can green light the actual printing, which can lead to packaging, which can lead to shipping to each and every wonderfully patient and awesomely supportive one of you!!!

We will update when we know more, and ideally it’ll be a champagne emoji that lets you know everything is underway!

Digital Tarot

We know you’ve all been waiting a long time, and after a lot of discussion among all of us on the tarot team at Brink, we’ve decided to give you all the digital version of the tarot early… as in RIGHT NOW.

We had wanted to send it your way once we handed over the final files to the printers… but honestly, you’ve all been so perfectly understanding of the delays that we can’t make you wait any longer to receive this last thing that is actually within our control. So, watch out! The digital tarot is coming atcha!!! For those of you who have it included in your pledge tier or added it as an add-on item to your order, you’ll receive an email containing a download link from BackerKit within the next day.

Updating Your order

You can still add to your orders, too! If you want a Big Guidebook to give as a gift or need to snag a few decks to give away for Dads, Grads, or some other summer soiree, just shoot us an email at [email protected] and we’ll help you update your order.

Need to change your shipping address? No problem! You can return to your survey if you still have the link, click “Edit Address” and change it right there. Or, just drop an email to [email protected] and we’ll help you out.

Otherwise, get ready! The digital Literary Tarot will soon be yours. And with any luck, we’ll be getting the printing of the physical versions of EVERYTHING rolling in just a few more weeks!

Thank you, again, for your marvelous, wondrous, and immaculate support, understanding, and enthusiasm for this project and our work! We appreciate you infinitely!

Cheers,

Dani, Helen, and the Brinkeroos

Digital F(r)iction Released Early!
almost 2 years ago – Fri, Apr 22, 2022 at 10:46:08 PM

Good day, glorious backers!!!

Spring has sprung, and with it, we have some news to share with you. This’ll be a shorter update, but it comes with some serious positive perks (and a side of unfortunate news that we really wish wasn’t the case).

PRINTER UPDATE

We are infinitely grateful for the support you’ve shown in backing this project from day one, to continuing to understand the delays and obstacles that we’re facing down. The bummer news is that Shanghai remains under total Covid lockdown. You may have seen this in the news, but China is employing a “COVID Zero” strategy and has been keeping people in their homes for weeks and weeks. Since mid-January, what with lockdown and Chinese New Year, the factory has been open a mere 3 weeks out of the last 14 weeks…

As such, we still don’t have our demo for final evaluation. We are hoping that they reopen by next week (*fingers crossed*!) but this will depend on the government mandate.

Once Shanghai reopens and we do get the demos, we’ll be able to get this process moving again. Until things start back up and the factory reopens though, we don’t have a way to estimate the new timeline. But as soon as we know the production timeline, we are going to tell you all.

So, oof. We know this has been a long, winding road. We’re so eager to get the Literary Tarot made, and into your hands, and we know you’re eager to have it! Thank you again so so so much for your generosity, grace, and patience!

EARLY DIGITAL ISSUES!

Now for the good stuff! We can’t make Shanghai reopen on our whim, but we can at least control some literary goodies.

As you all know, we intended to send out the digital back issues of F(r)iction when all production had locked, but we’re gonna release them early as a thank you for being so damn patient with this Covid mess!

So digital downloads of F(r)iction will be delivered straight into the inboxes of everyone who purchased them TODAY! You’ll receive an email from BackerKit with a link by the end of the day, which will let you download the PDF(s) of any currently-released back issues you’ve purchased. Issue #19 has not yet been officially released (it’s trapped in the same Covid mess as all our Literary Tarot products), so it won't be included, but all back issues will be!

We hope these oodles of amazing words and wonderful tales will help tide you over! :D

UPSIDE OF DELAYS?

With delays come more time to add to your order. Orders are still open so if you are eyeing up a Tarot Cloth, wanting another Tarot Box Set, or contemplating the Big Guidebook, you can still get them! Just email us at [email protected] and we’ll get you all taken care of!

SHIPPING ADDRESSES

We’ve also heard questions from several of you about tweaking shipping addresses. You can change yours right up until we collect the shipping cost (which will be 4–6 weeks before fulfillment begins). If you need to update your mailing address at any point, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your original BackerKit survey email or requesting your survey link again under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://literarytarot.backerkit.com. You can also email us at [email protected] and we can help!

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Thank you. We know how tiresome these delays are. We’re tired of them too! You all are so wonderfully great for being part of this journey with us. Here’s hoping for some good news in the coming week or two.

Cheers,

Dani, Helen, and the Brinkeroos

More Reveals & Production Update
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Apr 02, 2022 at 06:26:37 AM

Ahoy there, glorious backers!

We hope this update finds you well, getting ready for the flowers of spring or the sweater weather of autumn—as the case may be! Thanks so much for all the kind words about the little design treats we’re sneaking into your decks (now that we have all this extra time as we wade through further Covid lockdowns).

So, without further ado, cue the orchestra, set the spotlight, and raise the curtain on this CAVALCADE OF TAROT UPDATES!

Box Swank

First up, you asked to see more of the extra little details that we’ve been sneaking into the book box design so we thought we’d reveal this old school library detail from the interior! (If you don’t remember the paper cards that you had to sign and the librarian would stamp in order to check out a book, we don’t blame you… it just means you’re young! But this is how it used to be done.)


Postcards

Anyone who backed the Tarot Box Set (in its physical, non-digital form) will be receiving three of these three beautiful bad boys. AND WHAT’S MORE, we discovered at this huge print run, it actually wasn’t too terribly expensive to foil them. So, you know…we did that.

Talk about postcards so gorgeous you’d never ever want to post them at all!!

You’ll notice four cards in the above graphic—the furthest right is the extra postcard that backers will get if you backed the “Foolish Together” tier, designed by Patrick Rothfuss and myself. Ooh! Ahhh!

Okay, those were the delights. Now, onto the finer details… And we wish we had better news, but the hits just keep on coming.

New Covid Lockdowns in China

Over the last month, the factory where these decks are being produced has been open only one day due to spiraling Covid rates in Shanghai (and the associated government lockdowns that come with them). As such, we’re still waiting to receive the very same round of demos that we told you all about in the last update.

We’re told the lockdowns will likely lift next week… so, with some luck, we’ll get those demos to us shortly. We are so very sorry to for the continued delays. We’re doing our best to roll with the many, many punches. We appreciate your patience and understanding, and as always, we’re going to update you whenever we have new information!

Adding Items to Your Order

Given the continued delays, there is still time for you to make additions to your orders! Want to get a Big Guidebook? Thinking about a few Tarot Cloths? Didn’t know you needed another Box Set to gift to a dear, dear friend or loved one? We’ve got you covered. Reach out to [email protected] to request any additions you’d like to your original pledge… or even additions to your additions!

Please Note: We aren’t able to change existing orders, change pledge tiers, or undo add-ons once you make them—Backerkit limits us to adding new items to the original pledge, and giving you access to change your shipping or billing information (should you need it).

Another Cool Thing… About Opera!

Now, enough about us! We have an awesome project that we’d really like to share with you all!

The Arizona Opera has commissioned some phenomenal and acclaimed artists from the world of comics to create a series of collectible exclusive prints celebrating Carmen: The Graphic Novel. (Carmen is probably the most famous opera… EVER!)

The graphic novel is written by opera singer and director Alex Shrader and illustrated by P. Craig Russell (who did Neil Gaiman's American Gods!) and Aneke (Bylines in Blood) and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. If you like art, opera, comics, and creativity, you can and should check out the Kickstarter here.

It’s just so awesome how much beautiful, creative work is happening in the world!

Last, but not even remotely least… thank you thank you thank you for your support, your patience, and your enthusiasm. We’re fighting to get these beautiful decks made, to bring all of these amazing items into the world. So, once again. THANK YOU! We’ll be back with you as soon as we can!

Cheers,

Dani, Helen, and all the Brinkeroos