Kickstarter

So, the story is this: I recently finished Book One of my novel Celebrated Summer, titled Out Into the Light. Does that mean I've finished finally finished my novel? Well, no, it's only the first part. You see, Celebrated Summer is such a long novel I decided to break it up into more manageable chunks–for the sake of my readers’ attention spans as well as my own sanity. 

This project isn't about writing the book, it's just about funding a print run. The book is already written. However, if I print 300 books at once, Lulu gives me a price break. Kickstarter provides a good way to promote my book and gauge the demand for it, and also provide fun extras to my readers.

What will I do with the copies once they are printed? Well, many of them will be given to the people who pledge to this project, of course, since nearly all of the rewards include a bound edition of Celebrated Summer, Book One as a premium. 

What will happen to the remaining copies? My plan is to sell signed copies from my website and give some away for promotion purposes. I also plan to go to local bookstores in the San Francisco Bay and Santa Cruz areas and have them sell copies of Celebrated Summer, Book One on consignment. Finally, I am going to find a reading group that I can donate copies to, because a positive book club experience would be hugely beneficial to my promotion efforts.

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By the way, it occurs to me you may not know what Celebrated Summer is. It's a novel I've been working on a long time (since 1996) that for much of its history had the working title of "1989 A Novel." In 2009 I became serious about finishing it, and those efforts accelerated in 2010 when I was laid off from my job at Six Apart. 

To learn more about the book itself, here is the back jacket copy: 

CELEBRATED SUMMER is a unique and moving coming of age story set during the summer of 1989 in the seaside university town of Santa Zita, California. Intellectual partier Tim Page has just finished his sophomore year of college. He’s decided to spend the summer in Santa Zita instead of returning to his suburban hometown of Alta Lara, so he can hang out with his two closest friends, Helen and Jessica.

Tim’s goal for the summer: fall in love. He gets a job at a movie theater where he meets a curious cast of locals, including Caleb, the antic assistant manager whose workplace persona is one long performance art piece; his ex-girlfriend, the perpetually stoned August; and their friend April, who seems perfect for Tim in every way–except that she’s still in high school. As his feelings for April grow, he is drawn into a secret conspiracy that takes him to places he could have never imagined and threatens to change the course of his life forever.

Described as “Marcel Proust meets Bret Easton Ellis” and “Clerks as written by E. M. Forster,” CELEBRATED SUMMER is a hilarious, poignant, and sometimes heart-breaking tale of lost innocence, obsession, and the price we must all pay to make our dreams come true.

Notes/Disclaimers

All rewards that include a bound copy include shipping to anywhere in the US, except for the White Lion level. If you are a non-US resident and interested in pledging, please contact me and I am sure we can work something out. 

Everyone who pledges will be mentioned in the book's "credits"–ie, a page in the back of the book.