// Edition 025 A great leap

A new venture and a big ask

HOLD THE PRESSES

In the last issue I said I would be back in the spring with something photographic for you, a walk and talk portrait session with someone I admire. But this issue is a departure, and a significant one at that…

My wife Alli and I are launching a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for the first two books in a series where children become the illustrators for the story. And we need YOUR support.

DRAW THIS BOOK: PIRATE ADVENTURE and ANIMAL PARTY!

These innovative, hybrid story/drawing books have all the words but – OOPS! – most of the pictures are missing! Draw This Book invites the reader to become the illustrator from the very front cover, allowing your child, grandchild, niece or nephew, neighbour or friend to draw themself into the story and set off on a wild adventure.

Perfect for ages 4 – 7, Draw This Book encourages children to be the artists, creators, explorers, makers, doers, movers & shakers that they were – of course – meant to be!

While we all know how creative and imaginative children can be, and how important reading time is to families, we also know that books have a lot to compete with – tablets, phones, streaming, gaming consoles, and countless apps.

Kids are naturally drawn to the interactivity of screens, but these books are designed to be a fun alternative. They work harder for children’s attention by being fully interactive, where the child is encouraged to collaborate and make their unique mark.

THE BOOKS

This Kickstarter campaign will fund the print run for our first two books:

Pirate Adventure

A day at the beach turns into an unexpected journey for YOU – the main character – as you draw your way through this pirate adventure story! Dive into the ocean, swim with tropical fish and get pulled onto the deck of a giant ship, then meet a terrifying pirate captain who threatens to make you walk the plank if ye don’t find some treasure, and fast!

Animal Party

A regular day turns into an absolute beastly bash for YOU – the main character – as you draw your way through this animal-themed story! Draw dog, rabbit, sloth, monkey, llama, elephant and many more animals in their natural habitats (a bit o’ nonfiction in there!). Help each one out of trouble and bring them to your bedroom for a real zoo of a do.

But watch out: a fearsome lion is on the way . . .

You may ask yourself, “How can I get my hands on these new books?” (as you likely ask yourself the same about all books).

The books are being published under our brand new startup indie children’s book publishing company, Brydon Books, through a one-month crowdfunding campaign that kicks off today!

That’s right, our Kickstarter project page is now LIVE!

And we’re already a “Project We Love”, what a vote of confidence from Kickstarter straight away.

Along with the books, there are some incredible backing rewards that you can get by making a pledge. We’ve really put a lot of time and thought into offering people something they can’t get anywhere else.

Through our crowdfunding campaign, not only can you get your hands on a hardcover copy of the book before anyone else in the world has it (also: signed, unsigned, and/or personalised!) but you can also choose from other amazing rewards like:

• Original Artist Drawings from bestselling and award-winning children’s book illustrators

• A 1-hour meet-and-greet with children's book author and Brydon Books publisher, Alli Brydon

Special bundles such as:

• The Grandparent Bundle: 3 hardcover copies of Pirate Adventure and 3 hardcover copies of Animal Party

• The Classroom Bundle: 30 paperback copies of Draw This Book and a classroom activity pack.

And a unique Pirate Poster - a high-resolution PDF poster of the Pirate Captain page that you can download, print, draw on and put on your bedroom wall.

Almost all of our rewards are available to ship worldwide.

The Kickstarter officially launched today and will run through March 30^th, but we are looking to get off to a great start with your help. If we do, the Kickstarter algorithm will notice us and push our project out to more people, enabling more children to get their hands on Draw This Book and become illustrators in these adventures.

For those who aren’t familiar with Kickstarter, here are a few things to know and get you started:

1. It is a crowdfunding platform where you are pledging or donating to receive something in return, in this case Draw This Book and the others rewards.

2. You’ll need to make a Kickstarter account so you can pledge support

3. Funds aren’t taken until after the campaign, and only then if it is successful

4. We really need your support as it is an all-or-nothing campaign - the books don’t get made unless we hit our funding target 🎯

That means when you do the clicky-click on our project and make a pledge, you do not get charged for that pledge until after the campaign is finished and then only if we’ve met our target.

So, really, every pledge is like a super precious drop of gold to us. And the whole thing is like an exciting rollercoaster.

Find out more about the project through the video and information on the Kickstarter page, as well as the mission of Brydon Books, and join us as we take this giant leap!

Love + books,

P.S. We will be shouting about the Kickstarter campaign daily from all our social media accounts, which means photography has to take a break until after the campaign. However, I won’t be emailing you about it constantly because I respect your inbox.