Watch this thread for updates on Character Wigs and my book!

[Katie]

I am taking a break from Character Wig orders to finish the wig book and the backlog of existing Character Wig orders, and will not be taking any new Character Wig orders for 2007 until further notice. This also means that I will not be answering any new quote requests for Character Wigs at this time. (Any quote requests sent for Character Wigs will be deleted.)

[Katie]

Subscribe to this thread!

I've had a lot of people PMing me, or emailing to ask if I can let them know when my book is done, when I've opened my Character Wigs service back up, etc. Since I simply don't have the time or resources to email each of you with updates, and I don't have a mailing list (I hate spam, and don't want to create my own...), this message board is the most efficient way to get information out to as many of you as possible.

So, if you don't want to check back all the time to see if I've updated, what you can do is Watch this topic for replies. <--- Click on the link!

If you are watching this topic for updates, you will receive an email if I post anything new about the progress of the book, or about when I re-open the Character Wig auctions. Make sure that the email address you have registered here with the forums is correct.

IMPORTANT: PLEASE DO NOT POST IN THIS THREAD.

If you have a question or comment, please contact me directly via PM. ^_^

[Katie]

Wig Book News

Although I would have liked to have to book ready to ship by this Summer, the photography is taking a lot longer than I expected, so it will be a late-Autumn/early-Winter release instead. The price looks like it's going to be around $30. (Full Color is expensive to print!)

I will be taking PRE-ORDERS for the wig book beginning August 9th, both at Otakon and here on the website. When pre-orders begin, there will be a link in this thread AND in the wig supplies store.

All pre-orders will come with a special starter supply kit that will be shipped with the book. Any books ordered after the pre-order period is over will not come with the kit, but I will make it available in the store as a separate item.

Character Wigs Update

With the release of the wig book will come the re-opening of my Character Wigs service. This will also include some major changes to the way the auction works to urge people to try to style the simpler wigs on their own. I am also reducing the total amount of available hours, but making the delivery months much sooner. (Probably 2 or 3 instead of 5.)

I'm sorry that this means that I will not be able to take and Character Wig orders for this convention season. However, I will be opening a limited amount of Party Wig and Accessory orders in the meantime. (Starting April 2nd @ 12:00 noon PST.)

I will be answering all of the Party Wig and Accessory quote requests I have piled up through midnight tonight. If you were waiting for a spot to open to send a request, I suggest you send it today so that you will have your quote when I open the spots on Wednesday. Any quote requests received tomorrow will not be answered until the next batch of spots becomes available. o_0!

Back to work! ^,^'
-Katie

[Katie]

Here is the link for Wig Book Pre-Orders:

http://www.pettingzoowigs.com/wigs_book.html

( I forgot to upload it before I left for the airport last week... ^,^' )

[Katie]

WIG BOOK UPDATE

As of December 25th, I only have about 75% of the minimum pre-orders I need to place the printing order. Unfortunately, this means that the printing date will need to be set back a while. I will be going to two conventions in January, so I hope to fill the gap by the beginning of March.

On the plus side, this means I'll have a little more time to be able to go in and fine tune some of the sections that I feel could use more or clearer images.

Also, I will be posting a chapter online at the end of this week so people can get a better idea of the look and feel of the book.

Thanks to everyone who has pre-ordered so far. The wait will soon be over! ^_^

-Katie

[Katie]

WIG BOOK UPDATE

Ok, here is what's going on.

The original printer I was going to work with cannot bring their prices down any lower than I've already negotiated, and since I still don't have enough pre-orders to make the minimum quantity for that price break, I've had to start looking for other printers.

You see, this 300 page full-color book costs about $100 to have printed. While most printers will offer discounts when ordering large volumes, it takes a LOT of pre-orders to get the price down as low as $40. So, everyone who has pre-ordered so far is getting a screamin' good deal. However, you've also had to wait much longer than I originally intended, which I know is frustrating. (It's just as frustrating for me.)

I'm in talks with two different printers right now, and I thought I'd let you guys give some input about the ideas on the table.

Option #1 - Raise the pre-order price to $70 make the minimum printing cost faster.
Pros: The book will be available sooner, since not as many pre-orders will be required.
Cons: Everyone who hadn't pre-ordered before now will have to pay more than the people who pre-ordered sooner.

Option #2 - "Trim" the book down to 250 pages to make the next price break.
Pros: I won't have to raise the pre-order price, since the "per copy" cost will come down.
Cons: A LOT of information will be lost from the book. Each section (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) is about 100 pages long, so losing 50 pages is a big deal.

Option #3 - Split the book into three 100 page volumes.
Pros: Three smaller books are cheaper to print than one big one.
Cons: Three smaller books means three print runs at varying prices, which might actually end up being more expensive if they are too unbalanced.

Additionaly, (and more importantly, to me...) I wrote the book as a COMPLETE guide, in which each lesson builds on the ones before it. Breaking it up will undoubtedly cause some people to feel like they don't need to know what's in the Beginner book to do the lessons in the Intermediate or Advanced books, leading to confusion, misinformation, and frustration. (Which is what I'm trying to help get rid of by releasing this book in the first place.)

Option #4 - Just be patient, and wait for those last pre-orders.
Pros: The pre-order price will stay low, and I won't have to cut any information from the book.
Cons: We all get to continue to wait until there's enough pre-orders to make the minimum cost.

I've set up a poll in the "Questions for the Petting Zoo" forum where you all can chime in about what you think the best option would be. In the meantime, yes, the book is done, and yes, it will be released as soon as humanly possible.

Thank you again for your patience! ^_^

-Katie

[Katie]

WIG BOOK UPDATE - Addendum

Since a few folks who posted in the poll thread have asked the same question, I figured I'd answer it here to hopefully head the rest of you off.

The question is :"How many more pre-orders do you need?"

The answer is, "The remaining 20%".

The first 50% of pre-orders were filled within the first month, another 10% each month after that, until it suddenly slowed to a trickle in November. (Not so coincidentally, around the exact same time that the media started reporting the "economic crisis"...)

I hoped to fill the last 25% at the two cons I went to early this year, but only had 2 people even ask about it. So right now, I've got about 80% of the total I need at the current price break, and I've been getting maybe 2-5 new pre-orders per week since January. (Which is why I'm considering the different options to get the book out faster.)

I'm not trying to be secretive or mysterious. The reason I'm not giving an exact quantity is because of the psychology of purchasing. How many is too many? How many is too few? If there seemed like it was "only a little bit", would you be less likely to pre-order because someone else might take care of it for you? If there were a lot, would you not pre-order because you felt like you'd just be a drop in the bucket? I'm not telling people the exact quantity because I respect the individual's ability to determine the worth of a purchase without my influence. Either you feel like you'll benefit from buying a copy or you don't. Plain and simple.

A purchasing decision should be made based on factors like what the Price vs. Value is to you personally. Allowing your purchasing decisions to be influenced by outside factors is what makes marketing such a scary and potent tool in American society.

I have received many, many PMs from folks saying they're waiting until the book comes out to buy it, since they want to be able to see it first. I respect that, and don't want to coerce anyone, or make them feel pressured to pre-order.

At the same time, there are also those saying, "If I just knew when it was coming out for sure, then I'd pre-order." Which, once again, I don't want to pressure anyone into making a purchase they aren't sure on.

So, my advice is, if you aren't comfortable with Pre-Ordering for any reason, then you shouldn't do it. I've already lost ground from people wanting to cancel their pre-orders when we couldn't make the December 25th print date, or accusing me of "ripping them off" because not enough pre-orders were received in time. (Which has resulted in the remaining people having to wait longer.) 9_9'

I want this book to be out the door more than anyone (if anything just so I don't have to answer the same "when is the book coming out" question in PMs a dozen times a day...), and I appreciate all of the input. ^_^

-Katie

[Katie]

Hello everyone!

I know I haven't been posting much lately. I have about 3 hours a day to answer email, pack orders, and work on custom items, so my forums time has fallen by the wayside. If you have a pressing question, the best way to get ahold of me is by using my contact form. (NOT by PM... my inbox only holds so many messages, and they're automatically deleted if I don' t get to them in time.)

My contact form is here:

http://www.tritoninteractive.com/wigs/contact.asp

WIG BOOK UPDATE

Since pre-orders have been reduced to a trickle (understandably so...) I am forced to put up the remaining cash to make the minimum print run. However, that's more cash than I have on hand, and with the convention season pretty much over for the year, that means the books will not be out by Christmas. (Which I was really hoping we could do! >,<)

CUSTOM WIGS AND ACCESSORIES

Now that the baby is nearly five months old, and able to do things like sit in another room while I work with resin, I will be able to resume doing Custom Accessory orders. I do, however, have some pending items to finish before I reopen for new orders, but I will be reopening this service in December.

As for custom wigs (both Character Wigs and Party Wigs), I'm still looking at a studio full of stuff with no where to put it. I went from 3 rooms for all of my various crafting/sewing/wigs/painting/costumes to one small room and a walk-in closet. We are in the process of building storage in the garage, but that's going to take at least another month to complete. -_-'

However, my lack of space means savings for you. I've dropped the prices on some of my Zoo Candy items, especially the ones that take the most room to store! I've also put some of my "convention only" items up, like my tutus and pre-made cyberfalls.

Between the lack of space, and the lack of time from taking care of the baby-man, it looks like I will re-opening my Character Wigs service in Late Winter/Early Spring. I may open Party Wigs a bit earlier, depending on how long it takes me to un-bury my work table. I just recently found my steamer.. and I still haven't found my camera tripod. >,<

Thanks to all of you who have been answering forum questions in my absence. I'll try to be better about getting on here as Mr. T (my son's nickname...) becomes more independent. He just figuring out how to put things in his mouth without poking his eye out, so that's a good start! ^_^

-Katie

[Katie]

Ok, I gotta make this quick, 'coz it's late and the baby will be up in a few hours...

ACCESSORY ORDERS
I will be answering quote requests for accessory order through the 10th of December. This will give people plenty of time to decide if they'd like to order or not based on the price. Then, at 12:01am on December 16th, I will accept the first FIVE orders I receive.

To submit an accessory quote request, follow the directions here:

http://www.pettingzoowigs.com/wigs_accessories2.html