Now that you’ve (hopefully) watched my awkward video, I’ll explain a little more about my book and this campaign. I’ll keep it as short and sweet as possible, but I am a writer. I backed quite a few campaigns myself and I know you want to just click the pledge button and move on (please feel free to click that button at any time). ☺ Below, I hope to answer every question you might have about this campaign – in the briefest way possible. ☺
What’s it about?
This book is about a child who wishes to be a unicorn, only to discover (with Mom’s help) that the unicorn they seek to be resides within.
Written in nameless narrative, any child can put themselves into this story because every child wishes to be magical, mystical, and rare! But, every child already is, and sometimes they need a little help discovering that.
So do many adults, for that matter. (So this book is for those adults too!)
The Character
Originally based on my daughter and her own wish to become a unicorn, the character was initially modeled after her. When I read my manuscript to her, she said, “It’s a good story, I like it, but this book has only a girl in it – what about all the boys that love unicorns too?”
Now, I’ve done my very best to raise my daughters without gender stereotypes. Boys can wear pink. Girls can play football. Boys can do ballet, wear nail polish, and sport a skirt if they want to – and girls can have short haircuts, play video games, get dirty, and flaunt a 3-piece suit. Play, toys, colors, fashion…nothing has or belongs to one gender – especially unicorns. So, I was very proud of this observation and sought to remedy it.
My first immediate thought was to make another book with a boy and a unicorn, but not only would that take cost twice as much to produce – it goes against the very idea of not genderizing. So I decided to make a character I haven’t yet seen in children’s books – a child without an explicit gender.
With brilliant multi-colored hair, a quintessential hoodie, comfy sweatpants, and culturally ambiguous – this child is for all children. While gender identity is never mentioned in the book, the illustrations show a child that is neither male nor female, and no he/she pronouns are used.
This child is Non-Binary. This character isn’t distinguishably male or female, but has both masculine and feminine qualities. (This is not true for all who identify as non-binary. That’s just this particular character) Their room is genderless, with toys, activities, and colors for both genders (because toys, activities, and colors ARE for both genders).
In addition to a non-binary character. My illustrator and I have done our best to consciously illustrate children of diverse ethnicities, genders, and abilities.
The Message
The message of the book is simple: You are a unicorn.
OK, maybe you aren’t a mythical horse with a horn and a pair of wings.
But, by definition: u·ni·corn /ˈyo͞onəˌkôrn: something that is highly desirable but difficult to find or obtain – You are that. There is only one you. All the qualities a unicorn possess – beauty, power, strength, etc. – all of those qualities are within you. And that’s the message of the book.
Who’s it For?
Speaking of who it’s for (YOU), let’s discuss You for a moment, and WHY I need YOU.
This book will not be made – hardcover, beautifully illustrated, full of magic to warm your heart – unless you back this campaign. I know, I’ve been there , you think “Well, I’m sure there will be enough other backers to see this through – my contribution won’t matter.” But, the truth is, I need you to a part of that – it’s the collective, united support and financial backing that’s going to make this happen.
OK, down to the Nitty Gritty of this campaign. FUNDING…
“I’ll just wait until the book is made and buy one.”
I’d be all for that plan, except that the book won’t be made without a successful (meaning FULLY funded) campaign. And I’ve got 30 days to make that happen!
Producing a book costs money. Producing a picture book costs quite a bit of money. (illustrations, layout, formatting, etc. – there’s a full list further down)
It costs a lot more money than I thought it would cost – but that’s usually the way of things when you want a QUALITY product.
I’ve spent many, many hours reaching out to illustrators after looking through tons of portfolios and paying for samples to see if they could bring life to my very specific character and ideas. Quality illustrators are not cheap – nor should they be for the service they provide – a service each and every one of us has appreciated both as children ourselves and as parents watching our children get lost in books.
I actually lucked out in that my illustrations are only costing me around $5000 total, for this book. (some illustrations cost upward of $15,000-$20,000 total! Yeah, seriously. But the results are amazing!)
The bulk of the cost for my campaign is in printing and shipping. Finding a quality printer took more hours I’ve lost count of. But, I found one: A mentor and fellow self-publisher, built a business for us indie publishers that provides services for printing, shipping, warehousing, and distribution. (For this first run of prints, due to the additional cost of warehousing and distribution – the “warehouse” will be MY house, and the “distribution” will be yours truly + some help from the oldest little – don’t worry she’ll get extra pay and no labor laws will be broken.)
This campaign is completely transparent. These pledges are going straight away into the production, printing, and shipping of these books.
$30USD (the base level reward) includes the shipping costs via priority mail in those nifty padded envelopes – estimated via USPS.
Likewise, the additional price for shipping has been estimated for International orders.
These aren’t the only expenses. Additional expenses (before, during, and after production) include:
My goal is not to have the joy of saying, “I’m a published author.” My goal is to create and provide quality books (plural – because it’s only just starting here) for children and adults alike to enjoy. That’s why I’m opting for hardcover books that will stand the test of time. I want you to receive a book that looks as beautiful and professionally done as any other book you’d pick up in a Barnes & Noble or other book retailer.
And since I’m “All In” I’m “going big or going home” and printing 2000 copies of this first run.
All of the rewards are up on the right on your screen, and they are all pretty self explanatory. Books & some cool extras. But, there’s one reward that requires a little more explanation.
For $250 your child’s likeness can be illustrated in the book. If you choose this reward, you’ll need to send me a picture of your child with a few extra details (like their favorite colors or favorite outfit so that it can be incorporated into the character) and they will appear in the book, in the same style as the rest of the book. If you choose this reward, know that it isn’t going to be a photocopy of the photo you send—but stylized portraits are a specialty of my illustrator and she’s going to do an awesome job – your child will be able to point to the character and say, “That’s me!”
A stretch goal is an additional goal set for a campaign in case the campaign exceeds the initial funding goal. Usually a project creator doesn’t share this until the initial funding goal is reached, or near being reached. It lets backers/pledgers know that, “Hey, we don’t have to stop here! We can shoot for the stars and *this* is what happens if we exceed our goal…”
I’m not waiting for that! I’m letting you know right now that if I exceed my goal (and I REALLY hope I do), all additional funds go into those additional costs listed above ANDstraight away into making my next book. You’ve hopped on this book-making train and it’s going to be a great ride! I have several more manuscripts written, but the very next book in line is called, All the Feels.
All the feels is a children’s book about recognizing, accepting, processing, and allowing ourselves to feel ALL emotions and the feelings associated then them. Anger, Fear, Joy, Sadness, Envy & Peace. Teaching children how to recognize their emotions and process their feelings early on allows them to grow into healthy, balanced adults. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve met my fair share of unhealthy and imbalanced adults. So, let’s start at the roots. All of my writing/books has this concept (of starting at the roots) as its chief aim, and I’m super excited about all my upcoming ideas, projects, and products to share with you! I hope you are too.
Supporting and contributing to a successful campaign means other books to follow— with titles and stories aimed to break gender stereotypes, with gender non-conforming child characters, racial/cultural diversity, and emotional health.
(Another small section here briefly explaining the rewards – physical book, e-book, worksheets, coloring pages.)
If you have any questions about the Kickstarter rewards, how crowdfunding platforms like this work, or anything else, please shoot me an email at authorakneer@gmail.com. You can also find me online my at my website, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Want to Read a Little More and Find out WHO You’re Backing??!
Most project creators put this part further at the top, but honestly, my writing, my work and the impact I hope to have come before who’s behind the book(s)/writing. But, if you’d like to know a little more about me, here goes:
I’m A.K. Neer. The “A” is for my first name, Akili (like Achilles without the ’s’). I’ve been creatively writing since I was in elementary school. Being an author has always been a dream, but one I didn’t plan on accomplishing until much later in life. However, after having my first daughter (now 11 y/o), and my experiences in motherhood with her—I started writing my very first children’s books when she was 2. (Prior to that, I wanted to be the next Tolkien or Robert Jordan!…OK, I still do.)
My experiences with her lead to a grand idea for a series of children’s books. I wrote those ideas down as soon as they came to me—but those ideas sat on a shelf (literally, in a notebook) for about 8 years. I stayed at home with my daughter for a few years (homeschooling), went back to school and work—life happened. Lots of a life. A lot of lows (a lot!) lead to a lot of highs, and a lot of lessons were learned, but my notebook stayed on the shelf…even through several moves, being boxed and unboxed many times. I thought the rest of life had to happen first before I became the author I longed to be. (Fast forward…more life…yadda yadda…)
I had a second daughter, and I’ve been at home with her for about 3.5 years now. She is neurodiverse ☺ (meaning she has autism), and returning to work took a backseat to her care. I’m in a lucky enough position to be able to do so. But, I still have dreams and goals, and being an author is truly my biggest one. Except now it’s no longer a dream. It’s a goal. So, that’s what I’m trying to do. I want to provide books to the world that I don’t see on the bookshelves when we go to local bookstores or large book selling chains. I want create characters and send messages to children that I feel are lacking in the current books that are on those shelves. And I want to show my children that you can accomplish your dreams and goals – no matter your age, no matter your circumstances, no matter any number of perceived obstacles – with the added lesson that sometimes it takes a tribe to help those dreams and goals come true, and that’s OK. We’re all connected, we’re all the same, and ultimately, we’re all unicorns. (The aforementioned books that started this whole journey are still on a shelf, in a special spot, and they will be published in the future as well.) ☺
When I’m not writing, you can find me spending time with my family, meditating, dancing in my underwear, kayaking, rolling around with other people’s dogs (until we get our own), eating an ice cream cone, painting, or doing any number of things that spread positivity and make me (and others) happy.
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This project could absolutely NOT have happened without my amazing illustrator, Natasza Remesz!
Natasza is an extremely talented and passionate 29-year-old illustrator, originally from Poland, currently based in Scotland. She’s been drawing since–according to her family–she was able to hold a pencil. She attended a high school for fine arts, and after that, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Poland. Now she is living her dream working full time as an illustrator. When she’s not drawing, she enjoys dancing (latin, african and afrocuban styles), making her own clothes and accessories (mostly for cosplays), and she’s a hugh fan of RPG board games. She’s the only daughter of her mother & father, but has 3 younger half-sisters (the yougnest is only 5 years old!). She loves her “patchwork” family. ☺ She loves to travel and while she’s currently based in Scotland, this period of her life is slowly ending – and the next stop – Croatia!
That’s it! That’s us, and that’s the project.
I thank you, genuinely, for your support. (And for reading through all of this.) Stay up to date with the author, campaign, and progress by liking and following Author A. K. Neer on Facebook.
For you, my wonderful backer – there is no risk. If I don’t reach my goal, your credit card won’t be charged at all. I’ve done my best to foresee any delays and the date I set for book arrival is set with that extra cushioning of possible challenges! My hope is that it will actually be available BEFORE October, but I can’t guarantee that. The biggest risk here is for me – and that’s because it’s ALL OR NOTHING. I don’t raise every penny of these funds through this campaign, this book doesn’t get made and I go back to the drawing board. So thank you SO much for your support of this project. I cannot wait to share this book and many more with you.