Everybody's Getting Excited!

It's the last hours (20 as I write this) of my Kickstarter campaign. So I'm using popular memes to spread the word. Like this one of a girl excited to get books. 

The Power of Vulnerability

Just over two years ago, Brene Brown gave a TED talk in Houston. Since then it's been viewed 5.6 million times.

I had to watch it again today. With my Kickstarter campaign about to finish, I needed the reminder that vulnerability is courage in action, that openness to failure is the pursuit of success, that hope, joy and triumph are most poignantly felt when we're vulnerable to fear, pain and loss.

My focus on failure isn't, in any way, a desire for failure, but a challenge to failure. I won't be cowed into submission by the threat of losing. I won't be stymied by the possibility of pain. I won't be held back by the phantoms of failure.

I name the cost, laugh at it and begin.

Don't mistake me. I fully intend to succeed. I won't give up. I won't stop. I won't quit. But I will never bow in the face of potential failure. No matter the odds.

Nor will I stop when the actuality of failure happens. I've failed many times in my life. I've looked like a fool. I've stumbled and fallen. But I will always get up.

Thank you for walking with me. When one of us stumbles, the others can offer support. Together we defy failure through our courageous vulnerability.

“The two most powerful words when we're in struggle: me too.” — Brené Brown

Struggle with me. Click here. Pledge your support. When it's your turn, let me know. I'll be there for you. 

I'm reduced to begging, I suppose

On August 22nd I will either succeed or fail at my Kickstarter campaign.

I'm raising money to cover the costs of editing, design and publishing so that I can produce a top-notch book outside the realm of traditional publishing.

Right now I'm at 36% of my funding goal of $7,000. That money will go to pay for professional editing, copy editing, cover design, typographic design, music composition, music recording and to print and ship the books.

That means I need $4,479 in pledges between now and next Wednesday morning (at 7:22am) to be successful. That's $640 a day.

But, to put it another way, I just need $25 from each person who looks at this blog today.

In return for being awesome, you'll get loot. Copies of the book, music, art, signed copies, companion children's books and much more. Seriously, check it out.

So, here's the begging part.

Please help me achieve my goal. Your support has been thrilling, amazing, wonderful and awesome. Now I'm just asking for a few dollars so I can put out a high-quality book for you to enjoy.

Just click here, then click on the green button on the right. Give what you can. Anything is appreciated. I'll get your rewards to you as soon as possible.

Why I'm Writing About Celtic Spirituality

I'm writing about the spirituality of the Celtic people for the same reason that a group of monks built a monastery on an inhospitable island miles off the west coast of Ireland.

Which means both for the challenge of it and the necessity of it. 

I feel compelled to write about the experience of traveling to Skellig Michael. It changed me. And even now, two years removed from the event, I still can't put into words exactly what that means. We boarded a fishing boat, early in the morning, and motored out to the island. It's visible off the coast, from the town of Portmagee, but in the distance it looks like a barren rock. It's sister, lesser Skellig, is just that. It's a shard of stone slicing through the Atlantic and covered in sea birds. 

But Skellig Michael has a few places to walk and stand. Enough that, 1400 years ago, monks paddled out there to make a home. We don't know why they went, but today it remains one of the most well preserved monasteries of its kind. We arrived at a modern concrete landing where we could unload, but soon we were ascending flat, stone steps to the summit of the island. No hand rail, no even spacing, just steps for a thousand feet. 

When we stepped into the monk's garden, the raging sea wind calmed. The noise stilled and we found peace. It's a trick of the island, the wind blows over the top and that spot is sheltered. But that threshold was more than physical. 

The Celts talk of thin places - those places where the fey, the fairie world, is nearly visible. The Christians took the idea and spoke of those places where heaven and earth touched. For me, Skellig Michael was such a place. I wandered the ruins, not with ghosts, but with friends, guides eager to show me a different life. 

Too soon we had to leave. Our boat was heading back to shore. I would have stayed there for a week. So, I've written a novel that draws on Celtic themes. My main character, Peek, goes to Skellig Michael (that's not what it's called), in the first chapter. He gets to explore the thin places that I had to leave behind. But, he too is drawn away. He can't stay there always, just like I couldn't. Thin places give us a refuge, a retreat. But they also demand that we go forth.  

Read more and pre-order the book here.

Why I Waste Time Writing Stories

Clive Staples Lewis was born in Ireland and trained at Oxford, but one of the most valuable lessons he learned came from the far north. It was in his love and pursuit of Norse legend (then in the Greek and Irish mythology), that he learned how to sway the world.

Lewis wrote academic, logical, thoughtful books. Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain and The Great Divorce are all excellent. His well-reasoned approach fit nicely in the culture of scholarship. But that's not why he's so well loved today.

It's the stories.

"Jack" Lewis created a new world for us to explore. Narnia invited us to think, play and wonder at talking animals, white witches and the struggle between good and evil. It's in this fresh, vibrant world that Lewis was able to speak truth that bypassed logic and engaged our hearts.

Story does that. It's always done that. That's why our mythic tales are so powerful and repeated. There are only a few basic plots in all of fiction, but we don't get tired of them. It's because we use them to explore ourselves and our world. We play in another realm to learn more about our own.

In some small way, that's what I'm doing with my novel World Song. It's one of the most common plots - a young boy leaves home, where he's neglected and abused, to find his power and destiny is greater than he'd ever imagined.

But within that story I'm working to explore faith, reason, traditionalism and the basis of all our beliefs.

Sometimes we need to escape our world so we can see it more clearly.

Why Am I Self-Publishing My Book

I'm running a Kickstarter campaign for a novel I've written, but why would I want to self-publish a book instead of going through a publishing house? Doesn't that prove that my work is sub-par? Aren't all self-published books second-rate?

Depending on who you ask, you'll get different answers. Twelve publishing houses rejected J.K. Rowling. Fifty rejected the author of The Help. Does that make those books sub-par?

Publishing houses were the gatekeepers of the print world. Their skill and business savvy determined what did and did not make it into print. But they aren't the arbiters of quality, just profitability. Any publisher on the block will take a successful author over a nobody and a recognized name over a new one--even if the book isn't as good. It's easier to sell a crappy book with a famous name attached to it. It's business.

As the noose tightens, it gets harder for people to break in to the publishing scene, so they need to do it on their own. They use the tools they have available to make the best product they can and distribute it to the widest audience they can reach. If they were musicians or film makers, we'd celebrate them as indie artists. But when they're authors self-publishing we call it "vanity press."

Did you know that publishers don't market books anymore? They used to send authors on a book tour, take out ads in magazines and generally market the book to make it successful. Not any more (most of the time). Nope, it's up to the author to market their own books. Publishers want authors with a platform (a pre-existing audience) so they can be sure of sales.

I've published two books so far People of Purpose (through a publishing house) and The Marriage Challenge (self-published). In six months with a professionally published book, I sold just under 1,000 copies and made 7% royalty. In six months with a self-published book, I sold just under 1,000 copies and made a 70% royalty.

Why should I do all the work of marketing my book for a 90% discount? Would you do the same job for 90% less money?

But what about quality? What about the process of editing that publishing houses have in place?

You're right, some terrible, sub-par books are self-published. That's why I want to have my novel professionally edited. That's why I want to pay for professional graphic design.

I learned a lot about self-publishing by doing it (and from reading about other's who've done it and been successful like Rob Kroese). I learned what I did wrong and what I did right. I've been studying the successes and the failures. I think I've done what's necessary to be a success.

So, did I sell you? Then go and pledge some money to see it happen!

What is Kickstarter?

Yesterday I launched a Kickstarter project for a new book. I've been telling people about this for a while and getting feedback to make sure it's the best project it can be. I think it's pretty great.

But one thing I've noticed is that not everyone has heard of Kickstarter. So I figured I'd help.

Kickstarter launched in 2008 as one of the first crowd-funding websites. The idea is that projects can be funded with small contributions from lots of people instead of a large contribution from just one or two people.

Only creative projects are funded through Kickstarter. There are no charitable donations, business launches or life-funding enterprises. Just the creation of projects that have real results. I've funded a movie, an album and a book through Kickstarter (or similar sites). In the end, I get to participate in the creation of something new, support an artist and get in at the beginning of a movement.

If you pledge to a Kickstarter (like this one), you aren't charged. It's only if the project ends up getting enough in pledges by the end of the set time that anyone gets charged. So if a project falls $5 short of its goal and the time runs out, no one pays any money.

But, if the project is fully funded (or over funded, which is totally possible), then all the pledges are charged (through Amazon.com), Kickstarter gets a cut and the creator gets the money to complete their project.

Most Kickstarter projects don't meet their goals. Only about 44% of projects are successful (and only about 31% of publishing projects). Adding a video to the project moves it up to about a 55% chance of success. The vast majority of successfully funded projects have goals of less than $10,000 (around 90%). And 82% of projects that hit 20% of their goal go on to be fully funded.

So, I've done everything I can to stack the odds in my favor. There's a video, a goal of $7,000 and in the first day we hit 23% of our goal (thanks to some generous pledges out of the gate).

So, can I keep it going? Will this translate into actual success in the end?