For the last ten years, the EVE Online community and I have been working together to document the history of the most interesting video game ever made. This is our next step on that incredible journey.
It’s been my honor to write two volumes of that universe’s history so far, and I’m currently hard at work on the third and final chapter in the Empires of EVE historical trilogy.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I embarked on this mission ten years ago, and it turned out to be the greatest adventure of my career. I found a story with incredible characters and climactic battles. I found a universe that mattered to its people far more than I could’ve understood. I found a war that was unfolding inside this virtual space that wasn’t simply a game. It was a contest to control EVE’s future.
The community embraced my work because this world needed a non-partisan observer to document that story, because otherwise history itself would be turned into a weapon of control.
Those people also unknowingly gave something back to me. They gave me purpose, badly needed during my life’s most difficult epoch. They gave me a mission worthy of a lifetime studying journalism, and a community deserving of service.
I learned a great deal from producing the first two books, and I’m excited to bring that experience to bear on the finale to the trilogy. The first two books helped me define what it means to write a historical epic about the events of a virtual world, and how to fund an experimental modern research project.
For this new project I want to use what I’ve learned to do things a little differently. Overall our two previous projects have been huge successes, but there have been flaws I want to address so the third can be the smoothest yet.
Similar to the previous Kickstarter projects, I’ll be posting regular free updates here on my progress writing this amazing story, but what’s new is I’m also enabling a $6/month subscription tier where readers can support my work and get access to a new chapter of Empires of EVE: Volume 3 (along with its audiobook version read by me) every month as it’s being written.
My hope is that this method will address some issues with the previous funding model.
First of all, since this is a research project, the Kickstarter method required that I ask for funding far in advance of the book actually being completed and ready to print. This was a burden on supporters who were being asked to part with their money long before they received their reward, and it created all sorts of confusion about when the book was actually going to be shipped.
There were also risks in those types of long projects from tax liability to fluctuations in shipping/printing prices. For example, the Empires of EVE: Volume 2 Kickstarter was funded in 2018, and when it was finally ready to ship to backers, COVID arrived and sent the price of printing and shipping through the roof.
We weathered that crisis thanks to a strong disaster preparedness plan, but it was far from a comfortable situation for myself or for backers.
Beyond that, the long journey of writing the books became downright lonely as I labored in isolation for months, sometimes years, before my supporters were able to see the fruits of our collective labor.
This publication is designed to address all of these issues and more. I believe this will lead to a more fun project and a better book in the end.
Eventually it will make sense to go back to Kickstarter to fund and print the physical volume. By building the story here first I’ll be able to conduct a much faster, more efficient campaign when it’s time to do that.
To be clear, there are risks in this approach. The biggest risk is that this publication may not attract enough support to fund research and writing. If it’s not able to do that then I’ll have to take on other work that will slow down production. I believe the potential benefits outweigh the risks. But it also underscores to me the need to be open with you all that this publication needs your support. I can’t do this without you.
The first installments of this publication, “A Eulogy for Death: Parts 1 and 2” are available right now. The story is a very personal tribute to one of the most important sources who helped me create Empires of EVE by offering his time and wisdom to my interviews.
Next, we’ll start getting into the meat of the plot of the third volume. The next chapter beyond that “God Emperor of Goon,” bridges the narrative gap after the end of Volume 2, and brings us into the world of Volume 3.
I hope you’ll consider joining me on this next adventure, because the more support we can draw the better I can make this publication, and the book, for everyone.
Thank you for your time, your support, and for the honor of writing this history.
Andrew