Kickstarter

THE PROJECT

Help us create a universe.

We are a small, indie publisher specializing in science fiction and fantasy who for a few years have been trying to get a very special project off the ground.

The project is a series of books authored by top-tier authors and set in a common universe. Think in terms of David Weber’s Honorverse (the Honor Harrington universe) or Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga, but with different writers contributing their own unique strengths to the worlds being created.

The universe will consist of a number of human worlds set in the far future. Humanity will face several challenges, including a major threat that overshadows their existence.

Books in the series will be set against this backdrop with shared worlds, institutions and characters conforming to a unified set of rules (including any future science that may develop as the stories are put together).

Each book in the series will stand independently (from a story point of view) but share the above elements. Each will be checked for consistency so that it fits into the series seamlessly. The first two to three books will be novels, but later books may be anthologies of short stories set in the universe.

Please keep in mind that this KickStarter is specifically for the first novel in the series, not the whole series itself.

THE PROBLEM

There have been two problems in getting a project this ambitious off the ground. The first is financial—to do it properly requires a significant amount of money, and being a small, independent publisher, we have just not been able to garner sufficient resources to commit to it.

The other problem has to do with finding an author who can handle a project of this magnitude, one who has an interest and the time to devote to a project like this. We have always envisioned a top-tier science fiction author being asked to do the first book—which will set the tone for all later works.

Other than the expense of hiring a top-tier writer, the problem is their availability. Even if they have an interest, most top authors are extremely busy because their works are in such high demand and they are thus pretty much under constant contracts by major publishers.

THE SOLUTION PART ONE: THE AUTHOR

However, one top-tier author has been intrigued enough by the idea to have committed to writing the first book if we can fund the project adequately.

That author is Mike Resnick. One could not ask for a better writer for a project like this.

Mike has been writing science fiction for the last fifty years. According to Locus Magazine, he has won more awards than any other science fiction author, living or dead, for short fiction (and he is fourth on the list for novels).

He has been nominated 35 times for the Hugo Award (a record for writers) and has won five times. He has been nominated for the Asimov Reader’s Poll 20 times, winning five times. Other awards include multiple Nebulas and a host of awards from around the world (including France, Spain, Japan and practically any other country where science fiction is published).

Mike Resnick is the Guest of Honor at this year's Worldcon to be held in Chicago in August.

And he is ready to take on the challenge of writing the first book in this series. In fact, he has not only agreed to write the book, he has agreed to offer us extremely favorable rates…less than what he normally gets from publishers such as Tor and Baen.

THE SOLUTION PART TWO: THE MONEY STUFF

To do this project properly requires a substantial commitment of resources. We anticipate overall expenses (which include the advance paid to the author, production and distribution, research, etc.) to be around $28,000.

We are able to fund about $18,000 of the total, but need the additional $10,000. If we can get more than that, we will be in an excellent position to further develop the series and the world we are creating.

THE VALUE OF REWARDS

One of our first rewards, a pledge of $5.00, allows you to get a free Ebook (available in various formats). This is less than what the ebook will retail for at launch. Most of Mike’s recent Ebooks tend to retail for between $7 and $10 at Amazon’s Kindle store.

And you'll get the book two months before anyone else has a chance to buy it!

Higher pledge levels give participants some absolutely unique opportunities, including the opportunity to name a character. Would you like to be THE star of a major science fiction novel written by a top-tier science fiction author? This is an author who consistently gets nominated for awards, so the book may be on its way to win a Hugo or a Nebula.

And if the series continues as envisioned, you could be the star of a whole series since we expect subsequent novels to use some (if not all) of the characters created for the first one. It is hard to place a value on something like this…but if you are looking for a unique gift (for yourself, or another), this is it!