About this project
After my second novel was published, I was ready to take on a story I'd nurtured for a long time. In fact, I’d written an early version of this novel during graduate school. So years later, I picked it back up and found I’d changed too much as a writer to revise it. Instead, I took the same characters and began a new novel.
That effort took over five years. The result was Gaines Green. Unfortunately, my agent sent it out during the worldwide economic collapse. An editor at a major house wanted to buy the book but was fired. Another top editor wanted to buy the book, but the times were so tough, it never happened.
After this, I applied to NYU's MFA program. And that's where I am now. I can't say enough about the faculty and the students—my first year has exceeded any expectations I could have had the courage to imagine. The only problem is, it is expensive here. I need to get this novel back out, and to do so, I have to go after it with everything I have.
My buddy Charlie Mars had finished a successful Kickstarter project to enable him to write songs for a new CD and to get it recorded. We talked, and I checked Kickstarter out. I see Kickstarter as a new form of patronage. During the 18th Century—and this was painfully embodied by Samuel Johnson—Western culture began shifting from patronage to a middle-class market for books and paintings and other art forms. Yet now the model of a market that can sustain independent artists no longer coheres. A new form of patronage has emerged. While the older form relied on aristocrats and elites, the new form of patronage could be described as the democratization of patronage. Anyone interested in an artist can support that artist.
I wish I was a writer who was “in the club,” supported by an editor and publisher, but that’s not the case for now. I will get Gaines Green ready, no matter the circumstances. No one should expect anyone to fund artistic work. But I’ve long benefited from the incredible support of my family, and so many friends I could only be described as one of the luckiest people around. In that spirit, I thought trying Kickstarter worth a shot. I will be very grateful for any support, and the best way to show my gratitude is to promise this: I will give Gaines Green everything I’ve got.
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on June 22, 2011.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
I'll sign copies of Gaines Green for you, with particular reference to being a part of the Kickstarter project. You'll also be provided updates of what's going on with my work on my forthcoming website, where your name and donation will be recognized.
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
All of what the $25.00 reward brings you, plus a personal thank you, via email.
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
All of what $25 and $50 get, but I will also send you a copy of Gaines Green, signed, personalized or straight signature.
Pledge $200 or more Pledge $200 or more
All of the above, plus a first-edition signed copy of The Total View of Taftly. This was my first published novel, and only five thousand were ever printed. There are not a lot around. It was from the start a very limited edition. Even more limited because I bought up over 2,000 copies from my publisher before they were pulped.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
All rewards from earlier tiers, plus an electronic copy of Gaines Green when I complete it, with personalized email. This will be prior to any editor having a look. So it is a peek at Gaines before outside editing. Also, I will provide an electronic copy of the screenplay I adapted from The Total View of Taftly, along with a personalized email. We almost made an independent film out of this—and we're gonna try again.
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
All of the above, plus when I am reading in your town or city, I will be happy to attend any book club you are a part of or some such literary gathering.
Pledge $2,500 or more Pledge $2,500 or more
All of what the earlier tiers get, plus I will provide a printed out copy of my draft of Gaines Green before editors have touched it, signed with a personal message, along with a printed out copy of the screenplay for The Total View of Taftly, with a personal message. Get me your phone number and I'm gonna call you up and say thanks.
Pledge $5,000 or more Pledge $5,000 or more
All of what the other tiers offer, but you will be recognized in a special acknowledgement section of Gaines Green—your name will appear in the published novel. Here I am going to additionally send personal email updates on how Gaines is progressing, so you can take the journey with me.
Pledge $10,000 or more Pledge $10,000 or more
Everything the earlier tiers get, but I will be happy to come and be part of a dinner party or private reading, whether I end up reading near your city or town or not. Special plans for this one. And deepest gratitude.
Project By
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Scott Morris is the author of two published novels, The Total View of Taftly and Waiting For April. He attended University of Mississippi, Oxford University and University of Chicago. He served as executive editor for The Oxford American magazine, and has reviewed for the Wall Street Journal, LA Times and Washington Post Book World (RIP), among others. The child on his shoulders in the profile photograph is his nephew, Micah. He has three of them. Nephews. This one was taken in a watermelon patch on land in Florida that has been in his family for generations, and that plays a significant role in Gaines Green. But Micah is not searching for watermelons. The routine is this: Micah sits on Scott's shoulders and serves as a lightning rod. According to Micah: "I draw all the creative energy of the universe. It goes into my head and when I am done with it, I pass some along to my uncle. For this, he must carry me where ever I want to go. I use his hands or his chin to steer us."
