Welcome, Riders!
Kristina and I couldn’t be more excited to have you along on this next journey in the Green Rider series book soundtrack saga!
Here is a brief outline of what you can expect to find on this page:
Overview
What to expect with the High King’s Tomb book soundtrack project. How to support us, where to follow along, and more!
Patreon
Help us fund the next project and get exclusive perks, like merch, vlogs, and other behind the scenes content.
RiderCon Retreat
All the information you need to join us at the RiderCon Retreat here in Northwest Arkansas Spring 2024!
Fundraiser
All the information on when we’ll be holding the official fundraiser to pre-order the High King’s Tomb book soundtrack and art book.
FAQs
This is self-explanatory, but if you have a question, this is a great place to start.
Timeline
Curious about when the crowdfunding, auction, or production dates are? Get the full timeline here.
Risks and Challenges
Being open about the challenges we’re up against and how we plan on overcoming them.
Contact Information
If your questions aren’t answered on this page, or you’d like to reach out, get our contact info here.
Overview
We know there is a lot going on around The High King’s Tomb Book Project. There’s the Patreon (currently live), the photoshoot, RiderCon Retreat, and eventually the crowdfunding campaign to produce the artwork. It’s a lot to keep straight!
On this page, you’ll be able to find all the in-depth information you need for all of these exciting happenings, but here is a quick overview to help keep everything straight:
Patreon
We are currently running a Patreon page to help with some of the front-end funding for the High King’s Tomb art book production. Depending on the tier you pledge at, you will get access to:
- Art drops
- Voting on key elements for The High King’s Tomb book soundtrack and art book
- Behind the scenes vlogs from Madeline and Kristina, as they work on bringing The High King’s Tomb to live through music and art
- Occasional, exclusive merch
- And more!
RiderCon Retreat
We are hosting a retreat in Northwest Arkansas spring 2024. The retreat will include workshops on weapons training, costume creation, composing, and horseback riding, as well as panel discussions, a fireside pizza night, and a reading from special guest, Kristen Britain! This is the very first event of it’s kind and something every Green Rider fan does not want to miss!
The High King’s Tomb Book Soundtrack and Art Book Crowdfunding
This year, we are doing things a little bit differently: we are creating the artwork and composing the music before holding the crowdfunding campaign (thus, the Patreon to help cover some of that front-end funding needed). More detailed information on when and where the crowdfunding campaign will be held will come as we are closer to completing the artwork and the music, but we anticipate a spring 2024 crowdfunding campaign, with a summer/fall 2024 order fulfilment timeline.
Again, for more information on any of these exciting events, scroll down to read the more in-depth descriptions of what we are doing and when we are doing it!
Patreon
With the First Rider’s Call project, we chose to crowdfund first so that we could use the money from the crowdfunding campaign to create the artwork and the music. While it was nice to have money at our disposal as we created, we felt like there was a longer than hoped-for wait between the crowdfunding campaign and when the merchandise was finally delivered. While most backers were fine with this, we are hoping to shorten the timeline between asking for backers money and when they receive their items by creating the music and artwork first and then crowdfunding to pay for the fulfillment.
However, if the crowdfunding campaign is going to cover the fulfillment, how are we going to pay for the production? Enter Patreon.
Patreon is a monthly subscription service, where individuals can pledge a certain amount of money per month to a creator, in exchange for certain items. By running a Patreon for this project, we are hoping to provide fans with an opportunity to see behind the scenes content and receive exclusive perks, in exchange for assistance with funding the production phases of the project.
If you’d like to help out with the production costs, feel free to take a look through our Patreon tiers below and make a pledge today!
As a Pirate, you will get access to behind the scenes updates to the creation of the High King’s Tomb Book Soundtrack and Art Book project, including:
- costume concept designs
- brainstorm sketches for photoshoots
- clips and snippets from Kristina as she brainstorms her musical compositions
- and more!
As a Green Rider, you will get access to everything from the previous tier, plus:
- voting power on the project (deciding on costuming, instrumental and photoshoot details as well as voicing your opinion on what’s included in the crowdfunding campaign)
- ability to order items based on artwork
- access to a monthly, Patreon-exclusive live stream.
As a Frost, you will receive everything from the previous tiers, plus:
- 10% off the Kickstarter project! (with a 12-month involvement with the Patreon, for 6 month involvement you’ll receive 5%)
- One exclusive artwork file per month to print as you please or use digitally
As a Raven Mask, you will receive everything from the previous tier, plus:
- 15% off the Kickstarter project (with at least 12-month involvement in the Patreon, for 6 months you’ll receive 7.5%)
- an exclusive vlog once a month from Madeline Shayne about the art book AND one from Kristina A. Bishoff about the soundtrack
- one Green Rider series cinemagraph a month
As an Avatar, you will receive everything from the previous tier, plus:
- 20%* off the Kickstarter project (for at least 12 month Patreon involvement, for 6 months you will receive 15%)
- Your choice of *ONE* of the following:
- an invitation to a VIP dining event during RiderCon with Kristen Britain, Madeline Shayne, and Kristina A Bishoff
- a signed High King’s Tomb novel, artwork, and musical score by Kristen Britain, Madeline Shayne, and Kristina A Bishoff, respectively
- or an invitation to a special, virtual “Fireside Evening” with Kristen Britain, Madeline Shayne, and Kristina A Bishoff
- plus, special surprise gifts throughout the project
RiderCon Retreat
We are hosting a retreat immediately following the photoshoot for all interested Green Rider fans to attend! Here’s all the important information you need to know! As we move closer to the date, we will provide more information for ticket purchases, logistics, and everything else you need to know. If you are on Facebook, we also recommend RSVPing to the Facebook event for more timely notifications on further details, updates, and any changes that may be made.
When | Spring 2024
Where | Northwest Arkansas
What | A three-day retreat with workshops, panel discussions, fireside evenings, and a reading from special guest, Kristen Britain.
Logistics
Recommended Airports:
- Northwest Arkansas National Airport – XNA (15 minute drive to Bentonville)
- Joplin Regional Airport – JLN (1.5 hour drive)
- Tulsa International Airport – TUL (2 hour drive)
- Springfield-Branson National Airport – SGF (2 hour drive)
- Kansas City International Airport – MCI (3.5 hour drive)
*Frontier and Allegiant both fly into XNA, so if you’re flexible on your dates, you could find a great deal!
Recommended Towns for Lodging:
- Bentonville, Arkansas
- Bella Vista, Arkansas
- Rogers, Arkansas
- Pea Ridge, Arkansas
*If you are in one of these towns, you will not be more than 30 minutes from the various locations.
Transportation
Unfortunately there is no substantial public transit system in Northwest Arkansas so it is recommended attendees either drive here, rent a car if they are flying in, or arrange rides with other attendees.
While Uber/Lyft/etc. can be taken to some locations, some of the workshops will be held in rural areas where these will not be available.
Locations/Venues
- Twin Willows Stables/Whistling Springs Brewery – 16 miles from Bentonville
- Other locations to be announced
Events
- Workshops: weapons and self-defense, music and recording, costuming
- Panels
- Reading with Kristen Britain
- Special VIP Brunch with Kristen, Kristina, and Madeline
Age Requirements
- Attendees must be 18 or older, or, if younger than 18, have a legal guardian present at all RiderCon events attended
- Certain events/workshops will have specific age limits that will be communicated at another time
- Children are welcome to attend, but must be respectful and not disrupt the experience of other attendees
Fundraiser
With The High King’s Tomb project, we will be running the fundraiser campaign differently than last time.
With the First Rider’s Call project, we followed the traditional crowdfunding pattern of raising funds, then using those funds to produce the music, artwork, and merch. However, while this allowed us to produce the project and everything it encompassed without paying from our own personal funds, there were some drawbacks.
Primarily, we were unhappy with the timeline between fundraising and fulfillment to our backers. While the vast majority of backers were entirely supportive (it does, after all, take a while to produce a fully-scored soundtrack and full artbook with just two one-woman teams), we are hoping that by producing most of the artwork and composing the music prior to fundraising, we will be able turn around the soundtrack, artbook, and merch to our backers much quicker after receiving funds.
This then begs the question, where are they getting the money to produce the project, if they are producing THEN fundraising?
In order to help offset the cost of the artwork production (the bulk of the production costs at this point), we are currently running a Patreon campaign. By supporting us on Patreon, you will receive access to behind the scenes content, discounts on your fundraising campaign pledge, exclusive live broadcasts, merchandise, and more, all while helping us to purchase the much needed supplies to help Madeline create all the costuming and set design needs for the artwork.
So is there still going to be a fundraiser? Yes!
While the Patreon campaign will help offset the artwork production costs, we will need additional funding to:
- Record the music and package it into the official The High King’s Tomb soundtrack
- Produce all the merchandise promised to backers during the fundraising campaign
- Reimburse us for their time spent producing this project
With these costs needing to be covered, we are currently aiming to launch the official fundraising campaign for The High King’s Tomb Book Soundtrack and Art Book project in the spring of 2024. More details (such as tier descriptions and exact fundraising dates) to come as the project progresses!
FAQs
We recommend reading under the section titled (RiderCon Retreat, scroll up) for information on location and travel/accommodation recommendations. To keep updated, we also recommend RSVPing to the Facebook event, which will give you more immediate notifications on any updates/happenings with the Retreat.
Making more music and art for the world of Sacoridia, as well as the inaugural RiderCon Retreat! Planning these projects and events and being with all of you again is also a really great time for everyone involved in this project. We love interacting with our fellow Greenies!
While Madeline will need to hang on to some of the pieces for continuity’s sake in (hopefully) upcoming book soundtracks (like the Green Rider uniform), pieces that are exclusive to The High King’s Tomb and are not sent off to Kristen’s archives at Texas A&M will most likely be made available to purchase, either as an add-on or an auction item (as has been done in past projects).
Can I participate in the creation of the music or the artwork (singing, modeling, costume creation)?
While applications to be involved in modeling and costume creation have now closed, Kristina will be presenting the RiderCon Retreat attendees the opportunity to be involved with the music production. Interested parties should make sure to sign up for her Music Recording workshop to be held at the RiderCon Retreat.
Yes. To account for increased rates set by shipping providers, shipping charges may be higher than last projects and may vary for international deliveries.
While we do not yet currently have exact percentage allocations for the money being raised, here is a quick breakdown of how we are currently spending Patreon funding and what we plan to spend the fundraiser funds on:
- Patreon: 33% to art production costs (fabric, costuming supplies, set design supplies, etc.), 33% to Madeline for her time, and 33% to Kristina for her time
- Fundraiser: money from the fundraiser will be spent on recording and post-production of the music, CD production, art book printing, merchandise fulfillment to backers, and the remainder to Kristina and Madeline to reimburse for their time
All payments on this site and Patreon are processed through PayPal and/or Stripe, BBB accredited and trusted sources, to protect your privacy and give you more options to pay from. This is especially helpful for those of you who live internationally.
Once the Patreon and fundraiser wrapped up, we will no longer be able to offer any of the special items promised in the respective tiers, apart from the soundtrack itself. Any artwork or art books leftover from the campaign will be sold on a first-come-first-serve basis until stock is sold out.
We are anticipating having most of the artwork completed and the music written by the time the fundraising campaign launches in spring 2024. Once the fundraising campaign ends, we will begin the process of recording the music, post-production on the soundtrack, and printing the art book. Anticipated timeline on this is 3 – 6 months after the fundraising campaign ends.
Our goal is to have all merch shipped out to backers within 6 months of the crowdfunding campaign ending. Exact dates will be communicated on our social platforms and via email.
Timeline
While there are quite a few moving pieces to this project that may cause our ideal timeline to shift, we are optimistic that we will be able to stick to the schedule outlined in the graphic below!
Risks and Challenges
Challenge 1: Trying to raise enough money to record an orchestra is expensive! We are trying to be as realistic, and at the same time as optimistic, as possible. We would love to raise enough money to record an entire symphony orchestra, include more songs in the soundtrack, and create more images to go with those extra songs!
Challenge 2: We are trying a lot of new things this time, between the Patreon, fundraising AFTER production, and the RiderCon Retreat. It’s a lot of uncharted waters to navigate, but with each project we hope to make something bigger and better than the last. Plus, this time, we have more people on our team to help make this project and all of it’s new endeavors a success.
Risk 1: What if we don’t raise all the money necessary to record, produce, and distribute the album?
Given the success of the last two book soundtrack projects, we are optimistic about the success rate of this third project. The benefit of having Patreon on our side this time is that at the very least, you will get some of the artwork and music, even if the fundraiser isn’t as successful as we had hoped. But again, we don’t think we’re being overly-confidant when we say that we know that our fellow Greenies are pretty loyal and will get us across that finish line!
Contact
Have any questions or concerns, want to watch our process, or just want to reach out? You can connect with us here:
Kristina
- Email: sirensongsmusic@gmail.com
- Facebook: Kristina A Bishoff
- Spotify: Kristina A. Bishoff
- Instagram: @kristinaabishoff
- Twitch: @kristinaabishoffmusic
Madeline
- Email: email@madelineshayne.com
- Facebook: Madeline Shayne
- Patreon: Madeline Shayne
- Instagram: @madeline.shayne
- Twitch: @madelineshayne