Kickstarter The Jerry Goldsmith Companion - Celebrating a Musical Legend by Jeff Bond

[crocodile 9,168]

I looked at the files but will not read until I receive a hard copy. 

 

Anyone received their LLL discount vouchers?

 

Karol

[Marian Schedenig 10,121]

On 24/04/2024 at 8:26 PM, Steffromuk said:

I'm religiously waiting to have the real thing in my hands before reading it.

 

This.

[Tom Guernsey 3,217]

I’m impressed you can all wait. I got it straight from PDF into my kindle app and read it there. I’ll just enjoy rereading it when i get the hard copy. 

[Marian Schedenig 10,121]

I don't have a Kindle because I generally prefer reading books as books. I spend most of the rest of my time in front of a screen anyway. I'll read news and tech articles and stuff in a browser (and I'll never stop complaining about people making 20 minute videos with background music for stuff that could be put into a text article that would take 5 minutes to read in whole and that I could just glance over to find the part I'm actually interested in), but for anything more substantial, I like having something physical in my hands that also gives me a feeling for how far I've progressed.

 

That said, I still think that every physical book should come with a matching ebook version, if necessary for a modest fee that covers creating the digital version and keeping it published on a server. If an ebook version exsists anyway, it should be included free of charge (or a free that just covers the fees the publisher may have to pay to the hoster for a single instance of an ebook that's already been published and which they wouldn't have sold to me anyway). Simply because it's very useful for searching and perhaps quoting, but I'm not going to buy an extra ebook copy just for that if it costs almost as much as the physical thing I already have in my hand (and which cost that much partly because if had to be produced from materials).

[Meredith McKay 7,843]

10 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I don't have a Kindle because I generally prefer reading books as books. I spend most of the rest of my time in front of a screen anyway. I'll read news and tech articles and stuff in a browser (and I'll never stop complaining about people making 20 minute videos with background music for stuff that could be put into a text article that would take 5 minutes to read in whole and that I could just glance over to find the part I'm actually interested in), but for anything more substantial, I like having something physical in my hands that also gives me a feeling for how far I've progressed.

 

That said, I still think that every physical book should come with a matching ebook version, if necessary for a modest fee that covers creating the digital version and keeping it published on a server. If an ebook version exsists anyway, it should be included free of charge (or a free that just covers the fees the publisher may have to pay to the hoster for a single instance of an ebook that's already been published and which they wouldn't have sold to me anyway). Simply because it's very useful for searching and perhaps quoting, but I'm not going to buy an extra ebook copy just for that if it costs almost as much as the physical thing I already have in my hand (and which cost that much partly because if had to be produced from materials).

I prefer audiobooks with a voice actor doing voices and sfx and score.

[Jurassic Shark 14,944]

I prefer to have books filmed.

[Tom Guernsey 3,217]

3 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

I don't have a Kindle because I generally prefer reading books as books. I spend most of the rest of my time in front of a screen anyway. I'll read news and tech articles and stuff in a browser (and I'll never stop complaining about people making 20 minute videos with background music for stuff that could be put into a text article that would take 5 minutes to read in whole and that I could just glance over to find the part I'm actually interested in), but for anything more substantial, I like having something physical in my hands that also gives me a feeling for how far I've progressed.

 

That said, I still think that every physical book should come with a matching ebook version, if necessary for a modest fee that covers creating the digital version and keeping it published on a server. If an ebook version exsists anyway, it should be included free of charge (or a free that just covers the fees the publisher may have to pay to the hoster for a single instance of an ebook that's already been published and which they wouldn't have sold to me anyway). Simply because it's very useful for searching and perhaps quoting, but I'm not going to buy an extra ebook copy just for that if it costs almost as much as the physical thing I already have in my hand (and which cost that much partly because if had to be produced from materials).

Oh I read most books in hard copy and don’t have a kindle but use the app on my iPad sometimes for a few books and a lot of back copies of FSM that I’d downloaded in pdf from their website (always a reminder of how much better it used to be when people like Jeff were doing the reviews…). However I couldn’t wait to read about Jerry and his music plus it was just before going on holiday so ideal time to enjoy it on my travels while listening to the scores (at least those I happen to have on my phone).

[IheartMelissaBenoist 54]

A month since my last post in this thread. And...

 

Still nothing.

 

Since Joe Sikoryak posted the following on April 10:

Quote

 

Hey Everyone! No need to worry about your mailing addresses yet. We are supposed to get a backer survey WHEN the books are ready—and since they apparently haven't been printed yet, there's still time.

To repeat: Don't worry about your mailing address until the publisher tells us the books have been printed.

 

 

Has ANYONE heard from them, or received their physical copies of the books? 

 

There have been several comments posted from other backers asking for current status, where are the physical books, I didn't get a survey yet, etc. I have messaged them several times, and now all I get is silence. 

 

For a project that was 901% funded, this is concerning. I realize this isn't a multi-billion-dollar publisher project. But to be this incommunicado is not good. I'd really hate to see something tied to Jerry leave such an awful taste in anyone's mouth. At this point in my life, with all the health issues I've been battling over the past few years, I'm sick of being dicked around like this. Maybe I'm just impatient, but at least let us know what is going on, people!

[Thor 9,308]

Jeff commented on this in the FSM thread:

 

Quote

We’re wrapping up the voluminous corrections thanks to the many detail-oriented members here and printing should be happening soon—a more definite update is forthcoming but until it’s actually at the printers a hard date for when people will have the books can’t be nailed down yet. But we are finally reaching the end of the journey. I realize this has been a very long process and believe me, I’m as eager to have the physical books as you are. Stay tuned.

 

 

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,807]

I've never read a computer book before, but I might start with this one.

[Marian Schedenig 10,121]

3 hours ago, IheartMelissaBenoist said:

For a project that was 901% funded, this is concerning.

 

Delays are normal for Kickstarter projects, even "professionally" run ones. Especially when it comes to physical products. Estimated delivery times must be announced before funding starts and, perhaps even more importantly, before demand is known. And the further a project is funded beyond it's target (i.e. beyond what the creators presumably think they could realistically expect), the more complex production and shipping becomes. For a project that's 900% funded, they may have had a solid rough plan in place for producing and shipping their estimated number of copies around the official date, but then suddenly they had to re-plan for printing and shipping nine times as many items. Which means getting bigger slots in production and shipping queues, which are often filled for months or I suppose years into the future - and it may still take 9 times as long to print and ship, but to delivery everything on time, they would have to start production and shipping 8 times earlier than originally planned - at which time, they probably don't have anything to print yet (otherwise the expected delivery would have been set to an earlier date to begin with).

 

And that's assuming that everything else works out exactly as scheduled. As always, Hofstadter's law applies.

[IheartMelissaBenoist 54]

5 hours ago, Thor said:

Jeff commented on this in the FSM thread:

 

 

 

Thank you! I always forget about that board. Good to hear from the creators. I will sit on my hands a while longer then. It wasn't so much (well, partly) the delay, I'm certainly willing to wait for a quality product, but this lack of communication is not ideal. Thanks for the help, folks! 

[Ollie 1,284]

All supporters should have received an update email today.

[DangerMotif 1,275]

Not the greatest update, the same as the last one. 

[IheartMelissaBenoist 54]

And the Dropbox link for the "third and final corrected digital editions of each volume" comes up with a big fat "File Deleted". 

 

C'mon, man.

[Ollie 1,284]

Backers should have received this email this morning.

 

 

Quote

Greetings Goldsmith Kickstarters:

We’ve finally locked down an overseas printer whose quality and price structure exceeds our previous attempt at using Amazon’s less-than-satisfactory print-on-demand service, so we’re aiming to have the books in the production pipeline by November. However, most importantly at the moment is Kickstarter’s final deadline of Thursday, October 31st for us to solicit shipping addresses from everyone.

Please check your e-mail and fill out the survey with your current shipping information ASAP. If your address has changed, the Kickstarter system allows you to easily update your information, though if it changes AFTER October 31st, please e-mail your new info directly to cfeatures@me.com.

We hope you’re continuing to enjoy the digital editions of both volumes and look forward to finally completing your orders for the physical editions. We'll also aim to post approximate dates for shipping from our fulfillment vendors in the U.S, U.K. and the rest of Europe as the books near completion.
 

 

 

[Marian Schedenig 10,121]

Yep. No hints about the expected delivery date yet, but it looks like we're getting closer.

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,807]

I think we got ripped off!

[DangerMotif 1,275]

Releasing the Digital Versions was likely their excuse to buy more time

[DangerMotif 1,275]

Really great to see their progress over the past year.

[DangerMotif 1,275]

It’s crazy how poorly this Kickstarter has been handled 

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,807]

Yeah where's my book?

[crocodile 9,168]

Yeah, it is unfortunate. But I bet, like these things sometimes do, there's a huge amount of problems that could not be predicted.

 

 

Karol

[GerateWohl 5,917]

54 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Yeah, it is unfortunate. But I bet, like these things sometimes do, there's a huge amount of problems that could not be predicted.

Still communication could probably be better?

[enderdrag64 1,419]

11 hours ago, DangerMotif said:

It’s crazy how poorly this Kickstarter has been handled 

Wow I just read the FSM thread about this for context. Pretty shocking stuff

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,807]

I'll just have to read the PDFs on my new Samsung iPad

[Andy 5,949]

It's unforgivable.  The guy got 10 times his asking price and instead of upgrading to color photos, slipcases, bookmarks, lithographs, etc., he just took the money and ran.

 

Project is so tainted I just want my money back.

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,807]

I'll take the PDFs to my local Kwik Kopy and print my own damn books...

[DangerMotif 1,275]

Jeff Bond:
“This is your author again--apologies for the radio silence. All I can say by way of an update is the books are still moving forward, I have every reason to believe you will all get your books this year, and I'm hopeful they may go out by summer. As I've said, I have no control over this—my understanding is that Taylor has obtained some much needed assistance that should help wrapping up whatever loose ends remain: there's a certain amount of heavy lifting, figurative or literal, that he's been lacking personnel to accomplish and hopefully this should hasten getting to the finish line. I'm sorry to be vague but I'm giving you all the details I know about. My feeling is that supplying further PDFs or other rewards is likely not desired at this point and that people just want their books--I know I do. So I would hope any further updates would simply announce a timeframe when the books WILL be delivered and that anything else is off topic. So I'm happy to chime in and say "we're still here" when necessary but until the books are actually going out to people there's nothing to report at my end. As always I understand the frustration and aggravation, just stay tuned.”

[Ollie 1,284]

Well this isn’t going to make the masses happy.

 

https://www.lukaskendall.com/post/the-jerry-goldsmith-book

 

[Jurassic Shark 14,944]

I don't understand why the author didn't choose a proper publisher. 

[enderdrag64 1,419]

I don't understand, how is it not "intentional" fraud to steal $177k of donations earmarked for one purpose and to use them for something else

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,807]

Happy for my PDFs

[Jurassic Shark 14,944]

You could print them and sell them on amazon. 

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,807]

My bot kept telling me "I'll help you write an intro for your bespoke printed edition made at Kwik Kopy!" I was like "yeah fine, just make me a spine for mine".

[Tom Guernsey 3,217]

Having been willing to give this project the benefit of the doubt and being fairly relaxed about the delays, this is a pretty astonishing turn of events. I could understand if they had only gone 10% or something over the target and print costs had spiralled or been somewhat misjudged. However, when you raise 8x the target and still can’t afford to produce the end product, that’s pretty an outrageous fuck up.

 

I’m glad to have my pdf copy but still hope it can still materialise in print. I hope Jeff Bond at least got paid for his troubles. 

[Andy 5,949]

It’s absolutely atrocious, and White deserves all the vitriol he’s getting. 

 

The project got almost 900% overfunded, and he just couldn’t resist temptation to dip into that honey pot. 
 

The irony is, if it had modestly just met its goal, he probably would’ve just printed the books and moved on with his life instead of $170,000 worth of people’s trust. 

[enderdrag64 1,419]

2 hours ago, Andy said:

It’s absolutely atrocious, and White deserves all the vitriol he’s getting. 

 

The project got almost 900% overfunded, and he just couldn’t resist temptation to dip into that honey pot. 
 

The irony is, if it had modestly just met its goal, he probably would’ve just printed the books and moved on with his life instead of $170,000 worth of people’s trust. 

He also probably would've gotten away with it if he'd just stolen some of it

People were complaining a little early on when it was overfunded and he refused to switch to color or add any perks, but that's more of a mild disappointment rather than realization that they were defrauded

[Tom Guernsey 3,217]

On Facebook, Jeff Bond has said to message him if you contributed but don’t download the pdf. I think quite a few people didn’t in anticipation of the printed book. In light of recent news, you might want to message him!

[crocodile 9,168]

Oh boy...

 

@Tom Guernsey there were a couple of versions shared. The one I have is the "finalised" version as of 29th of May last year. 

 

Karol

[Jim Ware 586]

4 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Oh boy...

 

@Tom Guernsey there were a couple of versions shared. The one I have is the "finalised" version as of 29th of May last year. 

 

Karol

The latest version I have is dated July 16th 2024.

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,807]

Mine's from 1st August, 2024.

[Tom Guernsey 3,217]

18 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Oh boy...

 

@Tom Guernsey there were a couple of versions shared. The one I have is the "finalised" version as of 29th of May last year. 

 

Karol

 

13 minutes ago, Jim Ware said:

The latest version I have is dated July 16th 2024.

 

4 minutes ago, Lady Dimitrescu said:

Mine's from 1st August, 2024.

I must have the first version that was released but might ask for the newest. 

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,807]

Why not ask Steven Spielberg if he'd be willing to cough up some spare change to help get this thing published? Wouldn't hurt to ask, at least.

 

It could even be pitched to another publisher, and since the hard work has already been done, they might find it a relatively cheap investment.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,893]

There's a Jerry curse!

[Jim Ware 586]

35 minutes ago, Lady Dimitrescu said:

It could even be pitched to another publisher, and since the hard work has already been done, they might find it a relatively cheap investment.

 

Perhaps, but most of the target audience has already dropped cash on the Kickstarter and isn't going to be willing to pay for it again.

[Andy 5,949]

Nope. I’m done. At this point I’d rather have my money back to buy music than read about music. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,893]

Are the PDF's of the book encrypted in any way?

[enderdrag64 1,419]

12 minutes ago, #SnowyVernalSpringsEternal said:

Are the PDF's of the book encrypted in any way?

No, in fact multiple of the kickstarter posts with PDFs weren't even locked so non-backers could download them

[crocodile 9,168]

7 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

 

 

I must have the first version that was released but might ask for the newest. 

I definitely never received anything past May 2024.

 

Karol