Diary of a Kickstarter. Day 7
It's day 7 of the Kickstarter for The Hawaii Project, April 8.
Early morning good news is we're on TV! Hawaii news now covers us on the Kickstarter. This is a follow-on from Ryan Ozawa, with whom I had an on-air interview on Hawaii Public Radio the day before we launched.
I'm having a mild panic, as we're at $6k out of $35k and the big rush at the beginning is over. Current course and speed, we don't hit our goal. Need press. need donors. need Food. It's 2pm and I forgot to eat!
More good news. A pretty well known literary agent who shall remain nameless for now, picks up one of the author rewards, which is a branded Author Page. I'm psyched. He's forward looking and wants to be on the cutting edge. I scramble to implement the page which I've had in my head for awhile, it takes me the better part of yesterday and today to get it finished, but this seems like a great investment, as he's a sounding board as I create something new, and hopefully he can influence his authors to go for it to.
I'm working various journalists I've been in touch with with. Following up with them on pieces they've written in the books space, or keeping them up to date on what's happening with THP. Mailed the Wall Street Journal. again. Met with Marilyn Matz, the ceo of Paradigm4 and old friend. Didn't know she was "bookish". We had a great chat about why Amazon and Goodreads don't work for her. She turned me on to the fact that renowned book reviewer James Wood lives in Cambridge not far from where I live, and that he's married to famous author Claire Messud; I was ignorant of both.
I saw a Coyote in my back yard. Seriously. Hide the cats & dogs.
Researched a bit more on sources for Tshirts, so I can fulfill my rewards when time comes. Inventory issues on the shirt I picked out. Sigh.
Finally, I wanted to learn more about the publishing industry in Boston, so I went to a local publishing networking event. Bookbuilders of Boston was having pizza, beer and bowling. It was interesting, fascinating, depressing, all at once. The publishing industry is contracting and a few folks had been out of work for almost 2 years. Very educated, smart Ph.Ds in literature are proofreading for a living. But the discussion was lively. Sometimes literary, sometimes quirky (lots of Corgi videos, for some reason). Lots of educational publishing, and some very bad bowling. Home at 9. more email, a stiff drink or 3, then off to bed. Rinse & Repeat tomorrow.
Today's Music: Irish Music is great working music. Always moving. Today it's Lunasa