Help Dream Traveler: Africa to meet its Kickstarter campaign's goal!

Last month we told you about a Kickstarter campaign of a great new book, Dream Traveler: Africa, the first book in the series of children's books entitled the Dream Traveler series, which is about connecting people with cultural awareness, travel, geography, imagination and creativity, as well as and also conscious living and a loving family. We also mentioned that if the required funding will be raised, it will also be used to plant a tree with Eco-Libris to green up the printed books!

The author Stacey Gates is looking to raise $7,000 on Kickstarter and she's almost there! With 8 days to go, 104 backers pledged to provide $6,290 to make this book happen. This means that the campaign is still $710 short and needs to get them in 8 days to get the money - just to remind you, according to Kickstarter rules, it's all or nothing: if you don't meet your goal you get nothing.

So let's try to help Stacey meet her goal either through contribution or just spreading the word about it. This is really a great book and we truly hope it will make it and receive the funding! You can learn more about the book and pledge at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/936219362/dream-traveler-africa



Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

Recommended book on Kickstarter: SideWalk Ritual by Scott James

Kickstarter is a great place to fund interesting new products and projects, including books. Great books. So we decided we want to help spread the word on book projects we like on Kickstarter and every weekend we'll share one with you.

Today's Kickstarter book is Sidewalk Ritual by Scott James. Sidewalk Ritual the story of Richard, a twenty-six year old on a journey of self-discovery through the streets of San Francisco. He encounters girls, family, old friends, cupcake violence, sidewalk silence, and sex, drugs & rock and roll along the way to himself.

One tree will be planted with Eco-Libris for every copy printed!

Goal: $7,000

Pledged so far: $3,306 (41 backers)

Still missing: $3,694

Days left: 31 days (until May 29)



Here's a description of the book project:

What's the book about again?

It's the story of Richard, a twenty-six year old on a journey of self-discovery through the streets of San Francisco. He encounters girls, family, old friends, cupcake violence, sidewalk silence, and sex, drugs & rock and roll along the way to himself. For a story summary, check out the chapter by chapter outline.

Why did I write this book?

Because I had to. Writing is like breathing. This book was born last fall while I was in Shanghai where my wife was working. One afternoon it just hit me that I needed to stop thinking about it and start writing. I walked down the block, got a whiskey, and put the first outline on a napkin and the first sentences in my iPhone. A few days later on the flight back to San Francisco on my 34th birthday, I promised myself that by the time I turned 35 I would be a published author. So many novels have changed my life, and I want to add my two cents to that eternal conversation.

Why Social Publishing?

Because whenever I finish a good book, a book I like, I always say to myself, "I want more like that." Social publishing is one way to do that. You get more art and music about the characters and themes you just finished with. And I'm building inspiration into the process, trying to stoke that fire. I'm self-publishing to keep control over the timeline of this project and make sure everyone involved keeps the rights to their work. And I just get energized working with other talented people.

Where am I in the process?

• I've written the first draft and done the first round of edits. Now, I need your help to hire a professional editor and pay for publishing costs.
• Twelve artists and musicians have signed on to create art inspired by the book. Before I can move forward, I need the proceeds of this campaign to commission them.

How does your contribution help?

• Editing and publishing costs
• Materials and production costs for artists and musicians
• Social Publishing process costs

Last Kickstarter recommendation - Yeti Leaves Home

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

Dream Traveler: Africa, a new children's book is looking for funding on Kickstarter

We are recommending here almost every week on a new interesting book that is looking for funding on Kickstarter. This week we have the pleasure to introduce you to the first book in the series of children's books entitled the Dream Traveler series, which is about connecting people with cultural awareness, travel, geography, imagination and creativity, as well as and also conscious living and a loving family.

We also have a special interest in this series. If the required funding will be raised, it will also be used to plant a tree with Eco-Libris to green up the printed books!

The series is written by Stacey Gates and illustrated by Ryan Wardlow. The first book that is looking for funding to get published is Dream Traveler: Africa.

Goal: $7,000

Pledged so far: $2,035 (33 backers)

Still missing: $4,965

Days left: 50 days (until June 2)

About the project:

In the Dream Traveler series, a North American boy named Canyon manifests his way around the world through his dreams for a glimpse of how people live their lives in other countries. Readers will travel with him as he meets children who joyfully accept him into their lives and are just as curious and interested in him, as he is in them.

The books in the series are soulful tales of love and adventure for ages 4 and up. They bring about cultural awareness, encourage imagination and creativity, and through the illustrations, they exemplify environmental consciousness and health. Music, art and more are threaded throughout the stories as well.

Dream Traveler Africa

To grab the reader's attention, the story begins with Canyon returning from his first dream travel to Canada. He dives on his parent's bed shouting with laughter, "You'll never believe where I just came from!" He sums up his adventure.

For more information please visit Dream Traveler: Africa page on Kickstarter -

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/936219362/dream-traveler-africa

Last week's Kickstarter recommendation - Yeti Leaves Home

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

A children’s bookstore is looking for funding on Kickstarter

GalleyCat reported last week on an interesting funding effort on Kickstarter - this time it's a children's bookstore. According to the report, children’s books illustrator Richard Christie is looking to raise $22,750 on Kickstarter to makeover his children’s bookstore, Gas-Art Gifts. The term “gas” is an acronym for “Gregarious Art Statements.”

So far Richard has $3,470 in pledges from 61 backers with 10 more days to go. It means that he still needs to raise $19,280 to meet his goal, or he won't receive any of this money. Here's a further description of his project followed by the video he put on Kickstarter:

We come to kickstarter because this children's and young teens' book store, needs a new look. this is an opportunity for you to make children's literacy as valued as the newest pair of sneakers. We desire a trendy looking store that puts literature along with tangible- handmade art on sleek pedestals and modern shelves.

With your support we can bring a passion for history and culture to teens and parents who may have never thought about these things.

The store will feature autographed children's books and handmade products at a reasonable price. Additionally the mall's management is fine with bringing in creative friends to do weekend long intensive workshops. It would be a fulfillment of a dream for us to teach the community to stop buying back their own culture from corporations. Most of the expensive items they wait in a line for, can easily be made or personalized with their own creativity. I miss the days when kids would buy a brand, then paint it, tear it, sew it and redesign it in to their own expression.

Workshops teaching book-binding,painting,t-shirt production,silk screening, even computer and cell phone cover design painting will be offered. I will have something to teach any aspiring art student or curious craft enthusiast.

You can check it out at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1052202997/a-childrens-book-store-makeover

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant trees for your books!

Recommended book on Kickstarter: Yeti Leaves Home

Kickstarter is a great place to fund interesting new products and projects, including books. Great books. So we decided we want to help spread the word on book projects we like on Kickstarter and every weekend we'll share one with you.

Today's Kickstarter book is Yeti Leaves Home, a children's book on a Yeti leaving home by by Jennifer Campbell & Troy Harris.

Goal: $5,000

Pledged so far: $1,227 (32 backers)

Still missing: $3,773

Days left: 28 days (until April 1)

Here's a description of the project:

What’s the project low-down?

Yeti Leaves Home” is a self-published, hand-illustrated storybook. It is a book for kids, adult versions of kids, and parents to read to their kids.

At some point in our lives, the place and people we grew up with are not ours to call home anymore. “Yeti Leaves Home” tells the tale of one young Yeti's travels, as he sets out to make a new home for himself. The book also relates to those moments in children’s lives when the act of growing up requires their independence and confidence. Join Yeti through his many trials and triumphs and share the joy of all the friends he meets along the way. Will Yeti find a place to call his own?

Why do you need my pledge?

Donations for this project will be put towards the printing costs of the book. $4000 of the Kickstarter funds raised will go towards a beautiful, full-color, hardbound, square format book printed on high-quality matte paper. The remainder of the budget will go towards production, packaging and shipping of the rewards to our supporters!

The Story So Far

The book is halfway done! The original illustrations from the book will be exhibited at Practical Art Gallery in Phoenix, Arizona for the month of May. It is our goal to have the book printed in time for the opening reception on Friday May 11th 2012.

Last week's Kickstarter recommendation - Ballad of a Bottom Feeder- A love story

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

Recommended book on Kickstarter: Ballad of a Bottom Feeder- A love story

Kickstarter is a great place to fund interesting new products and projects, including books. Great books. So we decided we want to help spread the word on book projects we like on Kickstarter and every weekend we'll share one with you.

Today's Kickstarter book is Ballad of a Bottom Feeder- A love story, a love story by Andre Karpov that takes place on the bottom of the ocean between a Hermit Crab and a Sea Anemone. Their courtship is based on an actual occurrence in nature known as a symbiotic relationship.

Goal: $5,000

Pledged so far: $1,520 (32 backers)

Still missing: $3,480

Days left: 27 days (until March 4)

Here's a description of the project:

I first came upon this example of symbiosis while visiting the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. I was fascinated by the idea that members of two different biological species could bond and live together while helping in each others' survival. I extensively researched this and gathered much inspiration while living and working on the coast of Northern California. I wrote a 24-page children's story and illustrated it with pen & ink and watercolor. With your help, this book can be published! Some of the Illustrations and story can be viewed below.

I will also be releasing a song based on the story: "ballad of the bottom feeder available for download with a purchase of the book.

The story begins:
In the company of urchins and abalone, Its easy to get lonely.

With their SPINY skin and hardened shells whether or not they're feeling I can't tell.

Let them be angry, let them be sad, I am a happy hermit crab.

Insignificantly small on the bottom I feed and crawl.

The rest of the story involves their romance and adventures as they dodge predators and find prey, bonded in a symbiotic relationship; the hermit crab benefits by gaining the added protection from predators using the anemone's stinging tentacles, and the anemone benefits by gaining mobility and sharing portions of the hermit crab's meals.

I would like this book to gently teach our children to respect nature in her many forms of symbiotic partnerships and to instill an awareness of the smaller creatures who share our biosphere.

You can learn more about Ballad of a Bottom Feeder- A love story at http://kck.st/y21LGp

Last week's Kickstarter recommendation - Passion for Place: Community Reflections on the Carmel River Watershed

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

Recommended book on Kickstarter - Passion for Place: Community Reflections on the Carmel River Watershed

Kickstarter is a great place to fund interesting new products and projects, including books. Great books. So we decided we want to help spread the word on book projects we like on Kickstarter and every weekend we'll share one with you.

The first one is Passion for Place: Community Reflections on the Carmel River Watershed, a book and CD project for and by the community and serves as a prototype for people in other communities.

This project is about creativity and the possibility of cultural change, understanding what ecological integrity means, and knowing that we are a part of that integrity.

The current status of the project is as followed:

Goal: $4,000

Pledged so far: $2,920 (28 backers)

Still missing: $1,080

Days left: 28 days (until Feb 25)

Here's a description of the project:
Wherever we live, sharing stories of our connection to rivers and land connect us to each other and remind us of what is important in our lives. We are reminded of the beauty, wonder, and spirit of the natural world. Creativity, in its greatest depths of the human psyche and genetic coding, emerges from the wildness of the natural world. When we allow wildness, our own spirit, to flourish within, we can also respect and allow nature’s spirit, the wild outside, to exist.

The stories, poems, and essays in the book are organized from the headwaters and source of the Carmel River, through the valley, and out to the lagoon and ocean. In addition, a CD of natural sounds combined with excerpts from interviews of eight community members will complete the anthology, taking the reader on a virtual experience of the Carmel River Watershed.

The Foreword is written by Freeman House, author of Totem Salmon: Life Lessons from Another Species. Internationally recognized authors Terry Tempest Williams and Peter Forbes have granted use of quotes for the book. Dr. Barbara Mossberg has written the Introduction that will appear on the cover front flap.

Copies of Passion for Place will be given to local libraries, schools and public officials as well as to the writers and interviewees. I will do talks about the watershed and my paintings, read stories on my own and with other contributors to the book, have live music with readings, hold readings along the trails and river among other avenues of sharing.

Given Carmel Valley is a destination location, known around the country and world, this book will be a useful, informative, beautiful resource and anthology for people to get to know the community and land from various perspectives.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Plant a tree for every book you read!

A novel about the urban farming and sustainability movement looks for funding on Kickstarter

Nick Esposito, an urban agriculturalist and writer from West Philadelphia who is also the founder of PhillyRooted, have spent the last six months working on a novel about the urban farming and sustainability movement. He will be releasing the novel on April 29th and have set up a Kickstarter page to help raise the funds for printing it.

His goal is to raise $2,500 until April 8 and so far he raised $1,065. If you'd like to support the project or learn more about it, please visit Nick's Kickstarter page. Remember that the goal should be met by April 8, or otherwise the project won't get funded (which, in this situation, all the people who did contributed money to the project will receive it back).

Here's the video clip on his upcoming book:

Here's some more information on the project from the Kickstarter page:

For the past six years of my life, I've been cultivating my experiences, my ideals and my energy into writing my novel, Seeds of Discent. As you read this, you may point out the typo on the word, Discent. Well, it's not a typo. It's all explained at the end of the book. But in order to find this out, I'll need to get the book published. So for now, a little background on how this idea came about. When I first graduated college, I went out in the world to become a writer. But somewhere along the way, I just couldn't deny my natural passion for social justice and activism. So these ideals took me on a long journey into the world of urban farming. In a sense, this book tells the story of that journey. But this is not an autobiography. I hope that the characters of this book and their story captures this vibrant movement in a more encompassing way. I feel that the sustainability movement will be for our generation what the civil rights movement or the enlightenment movement was to past generations. And I hope this book will be a part of helping bring this movement into the mainstream.

I feel that the crux of any movement is in the artistic interpretation of it. So for the past six months I have finally taken the chance to sit down and compile this story. I am in the final revision process with my amazing editor and designer and we are ready to send it off to the printer at the end of April. Because yes, I am self publishing. Five years ago, people would pity a writer for taking this route. But today, with the help of social media and some really talented friends, I couldn't think of a better way. I've been fortunate enough to create a team of my great friends at Carpe Diem Construction Design Company to put together a book that will not only be professionally executed, but also immensely unique in its creativity and scope. I also have a lot of help with publicity from the Philadelphia artist, agriculture and media communities to promote this work.

The money I hope to raise will cover all of my printing costs for my first run of the book, and also to compensate my very talented friends who could probably have made much more money on other projects, but who are willing to work with me because they believe in this project. These funds will be the first investment into other runs that I hope will result in larger distribution and ultimately the broader success of this book.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!