For the past 4 years, I have gone the traditional path of searching for a publisher, being excited about prospects only to be told the consistently frustrating response of, "Wonderful book and art but too quirky", or "too inspirational". That last one was sort of the turning point for me. I want these books to find an audience - before I'm dead - so instead of growing more frustrated, I am going forward on my own.
In order to do this, I have set up a fundraising page because I am already putting capital into this venture. If you want to help, that's great! Funds from the first 2011 Kickstarter for "Misfits of Love" some of you pledged to help me pay for the initial shaping/editing of the manuscript, design initial layouts, making a Blurb book for promo copies and book dummies to possible agents and editors.
Now I need to take the initial design and prepare it for both the actual book printing, and ebook conversion which can be costly and tricky for art books like this. Edits are expensive. I have a designer to finesse the type and layouts and help with cover design, and a production person for creating the documents. Then there are distribution channels to deal with and promo copies for press and reviews.
Think of a donation as an advance purchase of the book. There are also small donations that can be made for no gift level. If I had been picked up by a publisher I would have been paid an advance that would have paid me for my time and talent, then they would have paid for all the design and production and PR. In this fundraising, I'm paying myself about a month's salary and the rest goes to everyone else. It is the goal to break even and have the book for sale by mid-late fall 2013.
Apifera Press Will publish "Misfits of Love" first, then next year, "Raggedy Love" another illustrated memoir already edited that I wrote about my arrival to Apifera. Both are magical stories, embedded with emotive art and the heart of this placed called Apifera. And there will be many more in the future, I can attest to that.
I'll be updating here as the process goes on, and will also show excerpts. If you feel you want to help an indie author/artist - please do! Thank you!
