This Kickstarter is for an auto-biographical book on how I made it to Paris and eventually managed to stay. It isn’t about Paris, but how I finally got here through volunteering on a hospital ship in Western Africa, traveling the USA as an “Up In The Air”-esque consultant, and launching a wide variety of projects that would all fail miserably along the way.
The Sea of the Unknown is a book for anyone who has followed my journey thus far in real-time on YouTube and wondered about what happened behind the scenes before and during the struggle to make it in the city on my own. But it’s also for anyone with outsized dreams who’s struggling to figure out how to bring them to reality. Whether that includes Paris or not, I think the struggle is real for all of us and the least I can do is share my own.
I’ve always wanted to create a path forward for myself. To tell stories and be free to live in the city I loved. Whether no one told me how hard it would be, or I simply wasn’t listening, it genuinely came close to crushing me at multiple points along the way.
The Sea of the Unknown is a metaphor I’ve used for years now; it’s the central idea to the map of my goals that hangs on my wall. This book is for anyone longing to cross the horizon in search of whatever dreams they may have, but lacking any idea of how or where to start.
Grab a copy of the book in the sidebar! Expedited copies at the 40€ and up will be signed and shipped a month early (Christmas card included at every level above 25€ -speed of delivery dependent on survey response time).
THE SEA OF THE UNKNOWN
Standing on the Shores of the Known, I hold myself against the wind, looking out across the slate gray sea as it cracks and shoots between the rocks below. Craggy shapes hover in the distance, the ghosts of mountains in the gloom, though whether they belong to islands or some larger landmass, I couldn’t tell you. There’s no map across the Sea of the Unknown, no certain passage that can get you through its legendary hazards. There are monsters out there. And worse.
But I’ve seen others do it, at least I’ve met some who made the journey. We’ve all heard about them, the ones that made it. Unfortunately, their vessels leave no trails in the water and their logs are self-deluded at best. There are helpful tips if you read enough of their stories but you get the feeling that no matter what you find, unless someone swings by and gives you a ride on their yacht, you’ll be on your own as soon as you lose sight of land.
It doesn’t matter much to me as I plot my next departure. I know there’s a future out there for me too. The only future I’ve ever wanted. It calls to me like a lighthouse cutting through the haze that cloaks the horizon. Its twilight twinkle is so faint it could very well be a dying star but what it lacks in proximity it more than makes up for in clarity. I can hear its song in my chest.
The people traveling the well-worn paths behind me call out to rejoin them. “No voyage to sea ever ends well, everyone knows that. You think you’re special or something?”
I don’t know what that last part is supposed to mean, but it only strengthens my resolve. Whatever they see in me, whatever it is they think I lack, they’re mistaken. I know I can make it across. I have to. There’s nothing here I want as much as what lies out beyond the chop and spray of this cold dark water. And so I pull together a new raft, implementing the lessons learned from my last. It sank underneath me on my most recent attempt to leave the shore, but at least I think I know why. I’d better know why or this won’t last long.
I put both doubts and land behind me as I push off. This is what I hope will be my final attempt to cross the Sea of the Unknown.
ABOUT THE BOOK
This book is for two sets of people. For those who have followed my journey in real time, watching me struggle to find a way to survive in Paris (or even watching back before I knew I could make it back) via YouTube. There are a lot of lingering questions about my past and the stories that haven’t yet been fully told. This is an even deeper look into some of those places for you and an opening into areas I don’t talk about in my vlog.
Among my main ambitions in life, I always wanted to make movies and live in France – both have been vibrant desires for as long as I can remember. While my love for storytelling evolved and flowed into a myriad of outlets, it wasn’t until I got to France that I realized what I had always wanted was to be in Paris. I immediately felt like I belonged. Then my time ran out.
The book-writing and filmmaking portion of my journey is still very much underway – I don’t know how or if I’ll ever make it to the destinations I set for myself. They’re only now beginning to take shape in the distance. But it would seem that I’m very close to landing on the Isle of French Citizenship, which will ensure that no matter how many jokes I make about French bureaucracy they won’t be able to kick me out.
The Sea of the Unknown is also for anyone who has a dream and feels like they’re the only one that believes it’s even possible. For anyone who feels stuck in a place where few understand them and fewer share their vision for the future, I may not be able to offer you useful advice, but I can offer my story of how I’ve survived on my own thus far.
Whether it was in volunteering on a hospital ship in Western and Central Africa, spending every fourth day on an airplane as a traveling consultant, or founding a tech company around a Bluetooth bracelet for kids, Paris was always at the back of my mind. My creative career, if I could just get it moving, seemed like it could get me there even quicker. This book highlights some of the attempts, and many of the failures, to break free of the riptides that constantly pulled me back to land (the opposite of how riptides work but all metaphors break down at some point).
There was a long stretch there where I was afraid I might never truly trim my sails and cast off for good. This book is for anyone afraid they might forever be bound to shore.
REWARDS
Books and more books! Things are simple at the first two tiers, either you buy a paperback or an ebook. That’s it.
Want a Christmas pack? It’s the paperback with a little Christmas bonus – a card from yours truly. I’ll sign it to whomever you wish – whether it’s a gift for someone you love or you just want a Christmas card from Paris. This way, even though you’ll have to wait for the book itself, you get something special for the holidays.
The signed paperback includes the Christmas card and will be expedited. While the rest of the paperbacks will get shipped by literal ship across the Pacific Ocean, I’ll air-ship your copy then air-ship myself to California to meet it, sign it, and send it on to you before the regular paperbacks have even caught sight of Hawaii.
And finally the drawings. I have to redraw what has only been sketched so far, and on a larger piece of paper to scan for print in the book. You can have one of these original drawings – the actual drawing itself, not a print. There are a limited number available so move fast if you want one.
Not good enough? Jump in at the highest level and I’ll hand-draw you your very own map of the unknown. Make your own goal map like the one I have on my wall at home. I’ll leave the islands and landmarks for you to fill out with whatever big goals or dreams you have for yourself (or so you can laminate it and tag them on after, or scan it and print out copies to test, or whatever else you want to do with it). Set your sights on the horizon and cast your lot with the chaos of the unknown.
On timing the Christmas cards – we’ll send out backer surveys as soon as the campaign ends. You’ll have one week, until December 11th 2019, to get your survey back to us in order to receive your card by Christmas. If you don’t, you’ll still get your card, it might just be a little less festively timed.
TIMELINE
The timeline once the campaign ends is fairly straightforward, although there are a lot of moving parts so delays are possible (and depending on how long it takes for Kickstarter to release funds to us).
Here’s a more detailed run-down of how things should play out:
Christmas Cards: As soon as the campaign finishes, we’ll gather Christmas pack information ASAP (all pledges 25€ and above) to ensure that Christmas cards arrive before the 25th of December, sick reindeer and acts of God notwithstanding. We’ll do this even if Kickstarter hasn’t yet released funds to us (which, if we’re being honest, is probable).
The Book Process: Editor number one (Richard) is finishing his developmental edit of the first draft now. I’ll finish incorporating those into a second before we send the manuscript for copy edits and proofreading. Next the book gets designed, sent to the printers, printed, shipped across the ocean to the USA, and sorted out to be sent to you from there. There are a few potential places for snags in there, but we’ll keep you updated as the books move around the globe.
The exception to the above timeline is the signed copies – all 40€ pledges and above. These will get air-shipped to California where I will meet them, sign them, and ship them a month before anyone else gets a copy. While the eBooks and paperbacks are slotted to be sent out by the end of June 2020, the signed paperbacks should go out in May 2020.
THE RATIONS
The money raised by this Kickstarter will go directly into producing the book itself, divided primarily into three categories: edits (including design), printing/shipping to the USA, and fulfilment/taxes. Yeah – I get to pay taxes on this no matter what happens, huzzah.
All sarcasm aside though, each copy purchased gets me closer to that ever-closer goal of staying in France as, when reviewing my status, the French government will be happier with me the more taxes I pay. Go figure.
WHAT’S A KICKSTARTER?
Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform that enables a group of people to come together and pitch in to bring a project to reality. It’s kind of like a modern day barn-raising but instead of splinters in your thumb, you get a book of your very own in the end to keep. By pledging your support today, you’re agreeing to toss in your share if the campaign meets its goal in exchange for whichever reward level you select. This is not for a finished product, but rather to help bring the book all the way to completion – when it will exist in its final form in your very hands.
I hope you’ll join us – grab a book in the sidebar, and then go tell a friend (or ten!) to grab one for themselves. Thank you so much for joining in on this, and for believing in me when it has felt so often in the past that no one did.
EXTRA COPIES
Want to buy more than one copy? Awesome! Reach out to us through Kickstarter’s messaging service here on the website and we’ll work out how much to adjust your pledge on a case-by-case basis (shipping costs vary by pledge and country). My helpful Kickstarter elves should be able to get you sorted.
SHIPPING
For high-level pledges, the shipping rate doubles as we’ll have to send your drawings and book in separate packages. Books and rolled drawings don’t mix well. For those of you in Australia… sorry in general.
The main risks are delays – this team will be sizeable, with developmental edits, line edits, proofreading, design, printing, shipping, and fulfillment all carried out by different parties. Hopefully everything goes to plan, but whatever happens, we’ll keep you up to date as the book goes through its entire production process! Jay has already self-published eight books, and Richard has worked in publishing for well over a decade – we’re well prepared to face any challenge that might come our way.