Nothing that we have experienced since launching our investigation into the disappearance of Charles Dexter Ward has served to fuel any sense of optimism. Quite the opposite. We have lost our funding, our office, our equipment, and I personally mislaid three years of my life. We don't expect things to go well, is the point. When we first decided to look into crowdfunding, we were too uncertain of the territory to attempt to finance a whole season, so we decided to test the water with the Crowley series. We put everything we had into that campaign, and it worked out better than we could possibly have hoped. But we're still not optimistic. Perhaps we just aren't wired that way. The budget for _The Call of Cthulhu_ is significantly higher than it was for Crowley, and economic conditions are worsening for a lot of people. Last year's success doesn't automatically lead to this year's success. That's why we're trying to make sure that everything we're putting together for this campaign, from bespoke CD books and digital offerings to new books and merch, is considered, desirable, and good value. This time, we're looking for numbers, rather than high-value investors (we'll obviously take those too!). And we're going to be pushing the whole way through, just like we did with Crowley, because we can't afford to take this campaign for granted. But right now, more than the money, it's the numbers that matter: in order to get the strongest possible launch, we need the highest possible number of people signed up to the campaign. With big numbers, we move up the Backerkit charts and we garner attention from people who might not otherwise know about the show, as well as earning the attention and assistance of the good people at Backerkit themselves. At this pre-launch stage, the numbers really are make-or-break. When we sent out the initial announcement to Pleasant Green subscribers yesterday, those numbers really started to climb. But it came to our attention that nearly 80% of the people who opened that email DID NOT sign up to the pre-launch. There are probably a lot of very good reasons for this - you're subscribed to this site, so you're hardly likely to miss out, or maybe you were just out and about on a Saturday afternoon and you didn't get around to it. I get it, I've been there - I never click those things either! But in this case, clicking the "Count me in" button gives us a lot of invisible assistance with the launch, without any obligation to actually back the campaign. And it also lets you in on whatever pre-launch offers we can put together that. At this stage in the game, we really need those clicks! So if you didn't get a chance to do it yesterday, please take a moment right now to jump to this link... Get Ready for Lovecraft Investigations: The Call of CthulhuFrom Julian Simpson - Get Ready for Lovecraft Investigations: The Call of CthulhuJulian Simpson ...and click "**Yes, count me in** ". Again, no obligation to pledge, just a registration of interest that we could really use right now. This next series is going to be immense, and we're really excited to get working on it. We know you'll love the story we have to tell, but we need to engage you all to get it over the finish line. Maybe it will be easier than we think it will be. But, as I say, we're never optimistic. Please do everything you can, and please spread the word to friends and family and to your online communities. The more interest we can register now, the greater the chances that this new season sees the light of day. Have a good Sunday. Matthew

28mm scale hard plastic US Cavalry models for Dead Man's Hand, the game of Old West skirmish mayhem!