About this project
$384,410
9,044
Stretch Goals!
Since we hit goal backing will not only get you rewards but also improve the book for everyone! Take a look at these additional goals:
Why This Book?
I love the old adventure books. I love Robert Louis Stevenson, Henry Rider Haggard, Jules Verne, HG Wells, Lewis Carroll, Rudyard Kipling, and so many more.
My wife and I recently had a baby girl, and I had a sad thought: Although things are changing, there are still very few adventure books with female leads. There are books with little girls who are smart, sure, but there are practically no books about little girls who are smart, and scientific, and (here's the crucial thing) risk-taking.
Augie and the Green Knight is an attempt to give her that book. It's the story of a little girl who enjoys math and science and history, but who also gets up to trouble, speaks her mind, and is unapologetically strong.
My intellectual guide for this book was T.H. White. This is a book that should be read to a child, because there are parts that may be hard to understand, both intellectually and emotionally. But, I wanted a book that was written to be enjoyed when young, but which had enough richness that you could come back later in life and still learn from it. It is a book aimed at children but not blunted for them.
Okay, but gimme specifics!
Augie and the Green Knight is about 20,000 words long, and is a retelling of a famous medieval romance. The original story is about King Arthur's court encountering a strange giant Green Knight and the quest that follows. In this book, we get to hear the Green Knight's side of the story through the lens of a young nerdy girl named Augie.
Augie is an expert in biology, math, and a bunch of other subjects that adults find boring. She goes off one morning for adventure, only to find herself in a strange world of fantasy. There, she has to use all of her intelligence to save a brave knight from death.
Are There Illustrations?
Oh yes. Oh yes indeed. We are profoundly pleased to say that the great Boulet agreed to illustrate the book. There will be at least 10 gorgeous watercolor drawings of his, and hopefully more if we hit our stretch goals. They are all beautiful, but this one below is my personal favorite:
Okay, just one more:
What Will the Book Look Like:
I believe this is the best thing I've ever written, and it's a book I want to be able to give to my grandchildren some day. So, for this project in particular, we're taking extra care to make the book itself a work of art. To that end, every single book will be hardcover with a cover image by Boulet. This book is very special to me, and I want the artifact itself to reflect my feelings.
We're offering two levels for the books, both of which have a foil stamp exclusive to the kickstarter. One is a very nice color cover with foil stamp. The other, at a higher level, is a cloth cover with green foil stamp.
Tier #1 (pledge $10 or more):
eBook: We will be making the book into a .mobi, .epub, and .pdf format. DRM free, because our parents taught us sharing was good.
Tier #2 (pledge $25 or more):
eBook + Kickstarter Exclusive book: You will receive a copy of Augie and the Green Knight. All copies are full-color and hardcover for maximum charmingness. The kickstarter version will have a green foil stamp that will not be available after the kickstarter.
Tier #3 (pledge $35 or more):
Prints + Kickstarter Exclusive Book + eBook: You get the book, the eBook, and a limited edition set of 2 fine 6x9 prints of some of Boulet's illustrations.
Tier #4 (pledge $50 or more):
Signed Bookplate + Prints + Kickstarter Exclusive Book + eBook: Everything above plus a bookplate designed by Boulet, signed by both Zach and Boulet. We will have Zach sign all of these, then ship them all the way to Paris, where Boulet will sign them and send them back to our warehouse.
Tier #5 (pledge $75 or more):
Kickstarter Exclusive Limited Cloth Cover with Green Foil Stamp + Dust Jacked + Prints + eBook: At this level, you get a special cloth cover with green foil stamp (not available for retail) AND a dust jacket made by Boulet.
Tier #6 (pledge $85 or more):
Signed Bookplate + Kickstarter Exclusive Limited Cloth Cover with Green Foil Stamp + Dust Jacket + Prints + eBook: The above tier, plus a signed bookplate!
Tier #7 (pledge $120 or more):
Kickstarter Exclusive Book + Kickstarter Exclusive Limited Cloth Cover with Green Foil Stamp + Dust Jacket + 2 Signed Bookplates + 2 Print Sets + eBook.
Tier #8 (pledge $400 or more):
Everything at 120 plus... a special blanket! In nature, many species mimic eyes in order to scare predators. In the book, Augie has a blanket with fake eyes to scare away predators in her bedroom. We are having 25 of these custom crafted just for the Kickstarter. This is an early adopter level. At this level, you get everything at the $120 level plus the blanket.
We are offering this tier at the lowest price we are comfortable with, for early adopters. Tiers 9 and 10 contain the same stuff at higher prices.
Letters of Recommendation:
Don't take our word for it!
"Augie and the Green Knight is the sort of children's book I would write if I were a good enough author to write children's literature."
-Eliezer Yudkowsky, author of "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality"
"I think any kid would be over the moon to get to read this!!"
Rosemary Mosco, creator of "Bird and Moon"
"Augie is a charming, funny story with incredibly gorgeous illustrations. I want to go back in time and give this book to my childhood self."
-Ryan North, creator of "Dinosaur Comics" and writer of "Adventure Time" comics
What will the book look like?
For the kickstarter exclusive edition, we are trying to emulate the old fairy books by Andrew Lang. The books will have green cloth covers with foil stamp of an image by Boulet.
Here are some mockups of what the interior will look like:
I don't know who you are. Is this book for me?
If you like adventure stories and science and jokes and geek stuff, you'll like it. If you want a book for a kid, and you're tired of books that treat little girls as delicate flowers, you'll like it. If you like adventure stories that are fun but also have a heart, you'll like it. This book is fun for adults, but would also make a great gift for that precocious geeky kid in your family.
Risks and challenges
Although we've done a lot of projects before, this one is a bit of a new direction. As I said above, we're trying to make the aesthetics of this book extra special. Specifically, we're trying to emulate a style of book that was popular in the 19th century. So, sourcing is going to take a little more work.
However, George Rohac and breadpig (our publishers) are old hats at sourcing odd things. So, we have a lot of confidence in them handling this project well.
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Funding period
- (30 days)