About

Skin Deep: Illumination is the 4th collected book of the award-winning webcomic, Skin Deep! You can read the entire comic right now online, right here! This volume collects four stories about mythical creatures living hidden from humanity in Liverpool, England. These stories are:

• The Bugbear Talisman: Follow Lily Snodgrass, a mischievous glaistig with a flare for pranks, as she finally takes down her biggest rival with the help of a mysterious talisman she found in the Mysterious Items Store.
• Kill Them With Kindness: Rhonda Phelton gets to meet her boyfriend's mother. Her boyfriend's mother is a monster. She's also kinda mean.
• Reunion: A continuation of Anthony and Blanche's story from Skin Deep: Exchanges. Anthony is now living with Blanche's family as he tries to come to terms with his sudden transformation into a harpy, but it's not easy. It doesn't get any easier when Anthony's mother shows up to tell her son a big family secret.
• Illumination: A 3-part story continuing the main plot of Skin Deep as Jim brings Michelle, Merial, and Greg to the Liverpool Avalon in the hopes of getting answers to Michelle's random and unhelpful visions. With the help of a mysterious new friend who is unhelpfully helpful, Michelle might get the answers she needs, but might also get a whole new batch of questions.

Budget Breakdown

• $7000 - printing 1,500 softcover books
• $2000 - printing 250 limited edition hardcover books
• $2000 - shipping from Hong Kong to Oregon
• $5000 - shipping to backers
• $3000 - estimated taxes, Kickstarter fees, incidentals

The Book!

This book clocks in at 227 pages and is my longest Skin Deep book yet! It's full to the brim with extra goodies you won't find online, like story notes and a character guide!

The limited edition hardcover version is individually numbered with a custom book plate and a clothbound, screen printed cover. Each one comes signed and will have a unique sketch inside! Beautiful!

Stretch Goals!

Because I want to focus on making the best book possible, if I get any extra funding, it will all go towards making the book better and higher quality! I do have a few stretch goals planned, such as:

• $20,000 - Gold Foil Cover on softcover book! LOCKED
• $25,000 - Kickstarter exclusive enamel pin (design to be announced) with every book! LOCKED

FAQs

Why is shipping so expensive?? - This book will be over a pound in weight and international shipping prices have gone up dramatically! As it is just lil ol' me shipping out books individually, I don't have much choice in the matter. It's as cheap as I could make it without losing money!

Do the physical books come with a PDF copy? - Yes! All physical copies of Illumination also come with a PDF copy!

Risks and challenges

This will be the fourth book I've printed through this printer, and my 8th Kickstarter. There are always unforeseen issues that come up with this sort of project, but I've never failed to deliver!