Here are a few more notes I've received via Facebook and email, from people who played Anomia over the Thanksgiving holiday. Note, real names have been changed to the names of muppets to protect the innocent AND guilty.
"Hey there, hope you had a great turkey day with your family. I finally played Anomia for the first time time with my mom and The Swedish Chef on Thanksgiving day. We had a lot of fun! I LOVE the game! Had my mom laughing like crazy! :) Great job!"
"Played Anomia for the first time last night with Kermit and Animal (age 10). It was a blast! We played two rounds and were laughing and having a great time. Thank You!!! Awesome game."
"Hey, Anomastro. Anomia is the best. THE BEST. Bert and I played our inaugural game with my mom, dad, Gonzo and Miss Piggy. So much fun! Miss Piggy (age 15) doesn't want to wait till Christmas for me to give them theirs, so... I think the idea of saving them for Holiday gifts has failed. Might as well gift them all early. Miss Piggy advised me to save one in the plastic wrapping so that in the future, when you are famous, I could still have a pristine copy of the first edition, sell it, and make a lot of money. Good job, Anomiandrew."
"Played Anomia with three self-declared non-game-player types on Saturday. I don't know if the whiskey had anything to do with it, but it only took about 10 -15 minutes for the hysterical laughter to begin."
Ok, now things are starting to get interesting. I managed to ship out almost of all my pre-purchase orders and had the NY launch party this last weekend. So, the games are finally making their way into the world. And, now the feedback has started to roll in...I'm getting tons of Facebook posts from friends who are playing and I must say it is very gratifying to hear of all the fun and hilarity that people are havng with Anomia...see below for a bunch of quotes from my wall on Facebook
"Andrew, my kids are obsessed with Anomia. They will even walk away from their computers and turn off the Wii in favor of this game, and this morning my 12-year-old added it to his list of items to pack for Thanksgiving in NY. Nicely done!"
"Played 4 rounds with the brand new decks last night. Taught 2 new people. Much laughter and, stuttering, and madcap action was had by all. Congratulations on a magnificent game! I can't wait to play more and share this with as many of my friends as possible. "
"Andrew -- we got the games and WE LOVE THEM. We'll be playing Anomia all throughout Thanksgiving and they are at the top of the list for Christmas presents. Thank you!"
"All the teenagers who played the game at the launch party are raving about Anomia today! To quote one status "Anomia. best game ever"
Just a few things some of us discovered last night:
1. Ralph Nader is a famous tennis player
2. cook book: "Julia's Guide to Cooking"
3. Another famous Tennis Player: Chevin Gerard
4. Celebrity: Liv Ryan, Liv Ryan!!!!
5. Game Show: "The Deal is Right"
6. Famous talk show host: Sammy Davis Junior
7. Ocean: Antarctic
8. Muppet: Hermit the Frog
9. Condiment: "KETCHUP!" "That's not a condiment!"
10. Currency: "Pesos! But how do you say that in english!!" "
"Rave reviews from rural Anomia craziness! I gave my sister her copy early and she had 9 people in NH playing last night "everybody loved it and are wondering where to get the game" - I've pointed them to the site of course, but wanted to let you know! we've already got 2 game nights planned for holidaze next week;)"
"Fun! Fun fun fun! First Anomia session with my brother's family. Wound up (being us) in a heated discussion about card-flipping etiquette. I agree with the need for a children's version, and the variants sound sweet. Fantastic core mechanism. Never thought that we'd be so entertained pointing at each other and saying: "Uh...uh...uh..." Well done, I'm doing all I can to promote it. Congratulations!"
Thanks for the feedback everyone! Keep it coming!
First off, I need to extend a big thank you to some of the kids who live on my street. They were a HUGE help in getting ALL the games into the house! Thank you Naomi, Elizabeth and Benjamin, I couldn't have done it without you!  2 pallets, thats 2,410 lbs of games. and yes there are 2,000 lbs in a TON.  The first set of stairs.  The second set of stairs...  The third set of stairs..  The last set of stairs...  The games in the attic...I have a feeling my Fender Rhodes is going to be neglected for a little while...  Signed, sealed and delivered.  The whole shebang.  My 3 year old son pitted Anomia against Thomas the Tank Engine after dinner, guess who won?
It's official, I have a tracking number! My first order of Anomia has left he manufacturer and is en route to Anomia Press headquarters! According to the tracking info, the games will arrive sometime tomorrow. I suppose it's time to clear out some room in the attic!
I was shocked to see that my order weighs 2,349 pounds! Yes, that's over 1 ton of good times coming my way, and eventually coming your way!
Been very busy this week with preparing to ship out the 500+ games I have already sold. I must say the USPS is amazingly helpful and seem to be very excited to get the business from my small business...kudos to them.
More as it happens!
Cheers
a
Well, I'm still waiting. The manufacturer changed their ship date again, and now I am expecting the games to ship this Friday, November 6th. If they do actually ship this Friday, I hope to receive them sometime in the middle of next week. In the mean time, I've been prepping as much as possible for my new job as shipping clerk. I have 500+ games to ship all over the country, plus one order to Australia!
Stay tuned for more info as it happens.
thanks
Andrew
Hey there, just a very quick note to say that I am expecting the first shipment of Anomia next week! The printer is shooting for a ship date of this Friday, October 30th. Potentially, I'll receive the shipment about 3 business days after that. Stay tuned for more, as it develops!
 After far too many phone calls, bouts of thumb twiddling, soft curses under my breath directed towards a certain un-named (brown) delivery service, I finally got my proofs! And I am very happy to say that they look AWESOME.
This means I can call the manufacturer tomorrow and give them the thumbs up, and then the countdown begins to get the final shipment.
The picture here shows me (aka Proud Papa) holding up the proof sheets for the backs of the red and blue decks. If you've played with one of the prototypes you'll probably remember that the backs of the two decks in the box were either black or grey. No more black & grey, we're talking full blown 4 color printing here!
I have to say, I was worried that, when I got the proof I'd somehow be disappointed. Like, maybe the colors would be off, or the whole thing wouldn't feel bright or vibrant enough. Happily, everything looks amazing, and I think I can say that my expectations have been exceeded.
Again, I have to thank Joel Gendron for his great design work, it all looks beautiful. Thanks Joel!
More photos below.
Ok, I am back now....August was given over to mostly production related tasks, but now I am trying to get back on the horse as far as pre-selling some more games and doing a few more play parties. The games have been ordered...I'm just waiting on the final proof from the manufacturer...if that's all good, then Anomia will go into production! Yippiee! So, after closing out July having pre-sold 478 games to 250 people, I'm going to attempt and pre-sell an additional 200 games by the end of September. Total goal = 700. I'm currently at 507, so already 72.4% of the way there. If you want to buy a few copies , just click here. : ) Thanks! Andrew
Here's the text of an email I just sent off to all the folks who were kind enough to pre-purchase copies of Anomia. It's a pretty good summary of what I have accomplished so far, and what is coming next for Anomia and Anomia Press.
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Hi Everyone,
If you are getting this email it means that you pre-purchased one or more copies of Anomia.
I just wanted to take a moment and say Thank You. YOU have played a key role in helping realize this little dream of mine.
My goal for July was to have sold 500 copies of Anomia and I came very close to hitting that goal. I finished out the month of July having sold 478 copies of Anomia to 250 people, reaching 95.6% of my goal. Simply amazing.
Pre-purchases were a major component in raising the money I needed to get the first-edition of Anomia printed. As it stands now, I have succeeded in raising enough money to pay for the first printing of Anomia. This means, incredibly, that I have also succeeded in launching this business without taking out a loan or using a credit card. Again, simply amazing!
Since July 31st, I have been focused less on sales, and more on the production side of things. I worked with my friend & designer Joel Gendron to finish the artwork for the top and bottom of the box, as well as the faces and backs of the cards. I also put the finishing touches on the directions.
On August 12th, I submitted all the artwork for the box, cards, and rules to the manufacturer that is printing the first edition of ANOMIA. This past Friday(8/28) I received word that all my files had beenfinally been approved by the pre-press department. This approval process took a lot longer than expected, and I discovered something that I had not anticipated. Namely, that August begins the holiday rush for game manufacturers!
In other words, their production department is backed up with orders from other game companies trying to stock up for the 2009 holiday rush. This means that I will miss my goal of having games in hand by mid-September.
At this point, I am hoping to receive the first printing by sometime in late September/early October. I hope you can wait a little longer to get your copies. Please know, that I can barely wait myself.
In the meantime, I'll be doing more play-test parties and I will also be organizing the Anomia launch parties in NY and Boston for this fall. I hope to see all the NY and Boston people who pre-purchased games at these parties!
The Boston party will likely be an all day/night affair at my house. The NYC party will probably take place on a Saturday afternoon/early evening at a friend's bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Dates and times to come. Stay tuned!
To everyone else, flung far and wide; from Florida to Washington, from Maine to California, and everywhere in between: I'll be shipping your copies out as soon as I get them, and as fast as I can!!! Stay tuned for more updates, and again, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!
Cheers
Andrew
P.S. I can always still use help in spreading the word, so don't be shy about posting on Facebook, tweeting on Twitter, or (Gasp!) telling someone in person about Anomia. I've decided to take advantage of the later shipping date to try and sell 200 more games...so, if you don't mind, keep spreading the word! : )
I've been super busy with my day job lately so have been taking a break from most of my Anomia activites lately. That said, I have recently made some significant progess with the art for the Anomia box packaging and the cards.
I have to give 99% of the credit and a heaping dose of praise to the designer I am working with, Joel Gendron. Thanks Joel for totally rocking on all this stuff. Stay tuned for Joel's spiffy new website, coming to an internet browser near you!
If all goes according to plan, I will be submitting the final art work for the box, rules and cards to the manufacturer next week! I cannot really express how exciting it is to be this far along and on the verge of bringing Anomia into the world, for real! No more hand-rolled prototypes! Well not for this version of the game, anyway.
I also am pressing on with a new sales goal. I'd love to have sold a total of 700 games by the end of August. I closed out July at 95.6% of my goal of 500 games. That translates to 478 games sold to 250 people.
Since then I've sold a bunch more so am currently at 490 games which is a whopping 70% of my new goal. Hooray!
Thanks so much to everyone who pre-purchased copies of Anomia!
More as it happens!
Cheers
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