I'm Publishing This Book!

"There's a Dinosaur On My Head" is a 36 page, full-color, picturebook that explores the world of a child whose benign daily routine is upended by the appearance of a series of friendly dinosaurs! I have finished writing, illustrating and designing the book. It is ready for the presses! I am raising funds for a first-run printing of this book in beautiful hardcover. 

Why Kickstart this Project?

Authors and illustrators typically rely on big publishers to finance production, marketing, and distribution of their books. Besides diverting most of the hard-earned profit away from the authors and artists, it leads to interference in the creative process and can even result in the death of a great project. Thank goodness for Kickstarter!

Throughout the publishing process, I'll post pics and updates as we progress. If I raise enough to print locally, I'll be touring the printer's shop and will post pics, video and an interview with the printer about the book printing process.  

It's written and illustrated by me, James Nichols. I got the idea for this book one afternoon when I was putting my then three-year-old son down for a nap. He balanced a toy stegosaurus on his head and said, "Look Dad! I've got a dinosaur on my head!" I laughed out loud. I couldn't get over the simple humor of the moment. 

From there, my meandering creative process took over and a series of sketches I drew for my kids turned into a simple story-line and more complex sketches, which turned into a series of poems about each dinosaur, and finally resulted in finished illustrations of 14 different dinosaurs accompanied by a narrative series of poems that described the child's interactions with each dinosaur. 

I included each of my favorite dinosaurs and as the work progressed, they each sort of just injected themselves into each situation in the book. I tried to imagine dinosaurs in situations where I would have wanted to see them when I was a child...  

...and hopefully I am able to convey the same giddy, childish glee to the reader that I experienced drawing and writing it!

Funding & Costs: Made in the USA?

• Really, the best reward we can offer is a copy of the finished product! Every backer that commits $25 or more will receive a signed/numbered limited first-run edition of the book as soon as it comes off the presses. It's 36 pages in full color on 100lb matte paper in hard-cover casewrap binding with a full-color dustjacket. We can't wait to get this awesome piece of work in your hands! 
• In addition, we'll deliver Torchlight Books and "I Love Dinosaurs!" T-shirts to almost everyone! 
• Higher-level backers will receive a signed and numbered (1-100) limited edition Premium Paper Gicl ée Print of the original artwork of their choice from the book printed in vivid color with exceptional detail on matte heavyweight paper stock, mounted on a 3/8 inch masonite board and ready to hang in a floating wooden box frame, in either black or espresso color.  

!!!BONUSES!!!

The more funds we raise, the more we can do: Any extra money will be put back into the project, in addition to being able to use local, USA printing, extra funding could allow development of eBooks, iPad/Android apps, interactive websites and maybe even an animated feature based on the book! The higher it goes, the better it gets for everyone! Of course, hitting each extra fundraising benchmark will result in additional bonus rewards for all our backers! At every level, more funding means higher quality, better marketing and better results for the project! Thank you in advance for your help in exceeding our goals!

Thank you for your support! And as always... READ ON!