About this project

UPDATE: ANYONE THAT PLEDGES $30 OR UP FROM NOW UNTIL THE END OF THE CAMPAIGN, WILL GET THE FIRST FIVE CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK WITHIN 24 HOURS OF CONTRIBUTING! 

My name is CJ Marsicano. Some of you may know of me from the music blog The Groove Music Life and its recently launched sister blog Music Is Like Oxygen; others may remember me from some other online webzines way back when.

For the past few years, I have been working on a few different book projects. One of those projects was one I undertook last November as a break from a larger project I was in the middle of completing. That project resulted one month later in a short novel called Resonant Blue. After finishing the first draft, I put the manuscript aside and returned to work on my main project, Here is the Wonderland, which I intend to shop amongst agents upon completion of its current draft late this year or early next year.

Resonant Blue takes place in Tokyo, Japan in the early to mid-80's. It's about a young Japanese teenager who, inspired by her older guitarist brother and by the California punk scene she witnessed when her family lived in the Bay Area for a few years prior, starts her own punk-influenced band with three of her friends. The book chronicles , through her point of view, the changes she goes through as both a musician and as a person in that short time period.

This past summer, I pulled out the Resonant Blue manuscript, reread it, realized how much I liked it, and started to tinker with it, bringing it into second draft status. That's when I got the idea, however vague at the time, to put out Resonant Blue independently as a book.

I'd seen a few people in my home area put out books through a vanity service that resulted in them paying to have a whole bunch of books printed, investigated because I suspected the presence of "a small furry rodent" (to quote Stan Freberg), and found that these people were basically getting ripped off.

I debated on, and figured I'd go with a more reputable on-demand book service that would print copies as needed if I chose to actually go through with this wild idea of putting my own book out. But how to get word out about the book, and get people excited about it? That was a hump I figured I might not get over and put the idea aside, knowing full well that I'd finish Resonant Blue's second draft anyway.

Then not long ago, the idea hit me - I'd already participated in a couple of crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter... why not do one of my own? I knew that at least one other author had used the site to raise money to help him complete a book of his own, why not try something with a book that's pretty much ready to go to press (or at least will be by the time this campaign reaches its deadline – I'm giving the newest draft another once-over twice as I write this)? It would definitely be an original way to get my name out there as a writer.

In order to do this, I wisely chose to think non-grandiose. I decided that I wanted this initial limited first pressing to be of a minimum small number. I wanted the book to be a hardcover book if it all possible. (It is.) I wanted to sign and number each copy of the book, not to satisfy my own ego but just because I like signed books. I wanted to throw in an eBook edition for anyone that wanted one. I had to figure out what else I could realistically offer for premiums if I went through with this. And I also needed some cover art and knew that I'd have to bring someone else in to handle that (and compensate them) because my own drawing skills are a bad cross between Raymond Pettibon and Charles M. Schulz.

So, I settled on a minimum target of fifty books, which I figured I could meet with help from both the hundreds of followers I have on Twitter, Facebook, and my music blog (plus those Kickstarter regulars that like to browse around looking for interesting projects - hey, that's how I found a couple of the projects I'd joined in on as a contributor here), got a fine cover artist named Chris Mendoza in an open call through The Groove Music Life and my social networks, and started planning. I also opened a Facebook page for the project at http://www.facebook.com/resonantblue and an official website of sorts for the project at www.resonantblue.com.

So, that's where I stand as I launch this campaign. I'm looking to raise the amount I need in the time frame I've allotted and I'm confident that I can do it, and that's where you, dear friends and readers, come in. I'm not looking to make a load of money with this first project, just enough to cover the cost of getting this book printed and shipped copy-by-copy if the project meets its goal. If I get more than fifty pledges, I can get the exact amount of books made. I think it's possible.

Anyone that joins in will get a copy of the first chapter in PDF format as a teaser. 

What do you, dear Kickstarter participant get out of this? Well, no matter what pledge level you choose (from $30 on up), you get a signed/numbered hardcover plus an eBook in the format of your choice, plus a thank you in the book's thank-you list. Anything beyond that is up to you and the pledge levels are right there on the right hand sidebar for your perusal. I thank you for your interest. Now let's have some fun. 

If there's any questions, you can e-mail me at info@resonantblue.com