[Sasha Distan] A Trilogy of Bears: Crowdsourcing (FFAB, Summer Camp &#

[Sasha Distan]

What’s the project?

A Trilogy of Bears: Falling For A Bear, Summer Camp and the as yet un-finished and un-posted Tiger Winter. The three novellas will be collected together in the same book as they all take place within the same universe and share some of the same characters. More information about the stories can be found below.

 

What is crowdsourcing?

In simple terms, crowdsourcing is promising to invest in a product or service, in this, a book, before it is actually complete. In this case, investing in A Trilogy of Bears will guarantee you a copy of the books with exclusive content, and potentially lots of other exclusive content depending on how much you invest.

 

Is it safe?

Yes: if the total amount of money needed for the project is not reached, no money changes hands at all and we all go back to the beginning. If the full amount of money is reached (yes please) then the money comes to me and I produce the goods. Hopefully by now you all know me (and my editing team) enough to trust us to deliver as promised. Because we will.

The books for the U.S. will be shipped by Kitt, the books for the UK and mainland Europe will be shipped directly from me.

 

What in the idea behind this project crowdsourcing?

Although all the stories will be available on GA indefinitely, there’s nothing quite like owning your own copy of something. A book you can read on the train without peering at your phone and can take to bed and the bath. The money raised through the crowdsourcing project is needed for a couple of purposes. Firstly to pay the artists for cover and in-book artwork, secondly to give some genuine credit to the editors who spend literally hundreds of hours making my look all clean and polished, and thirdly to give me the time to write and finish the work as well as I would like too. Books sold through Amazon and similar give absolutely fractional percentages to authors, and though Lulu.com revenues are better, it’s still basically publishing and giving your books away for nothing.

Thirdly the crowdsourced version of the book will have exclusive content! (more below)

 

Hey, what’s all this exclusive content you’re on about?

Exclusive content is just that, things that will only be available to those who invest in the book through crowdsourcing. These include but are not limited to: artwork, character reference sheets of the main pairings, formally told ‘myths and legends’ style versions of the four Shifter Creation Myths, hardback copies, and personal on-request character scenes and sketches. Sounds fun? We think so too.

 

 

About the books:

Falling For A Bear: Hoyt Ford likes clean cut skinny boys with good hair, which are hard to find when you have gone to live with your older brother and his wife in the middle of nowhere. So when his senses tell him he's falling for the big butch lumberjack who lives on the other side of the river, he tries to run from the feeling, and straight into the furry arms of Mato, an actual black bear he meets in the woods.

 

Summer Camp: Paddy is a bear. Literally. He's twenty and he's got a job at a summer camp in the semi-wilderness for kids and school groups. There he meets Troy, and instinct kicks in to tell the pair that well done, they have found their soul mates. But the pair of young men know practically nothing about each other, and instead of being able to screw like wild animals in the woods they need to spend the next four months surrounded by humans, children, and job responsibilities.

 

Tiger Winter: Emmett Garrick changes a lot about his life when he decides to grow up and move across the city to share a house with a Chinese Panda: he has to buy furniture, do the washing up, and gets himself a cute boyfriend named Zeke. But when his housemate’s cousin comes to stay, Emmett realises that he got a lot more in this friend than he bargained for.

 

 

Hopefully you now feel able to cast a vote. Please let me know what you think, and also what sort of exclusive content stretch goals you would like to see when the project opens up.

Our timeline is to hopefully have a book in your hands sometime in February/March.

Edited September 18, 2014 by Sasha Distan

[Timothy M.]

Will there be an e-book version which can be sent via email ? If so, count me in. (I'll vote when I know the answer.)

[Sasha Distan]

Will there be an e-book version which can be sent via email ? If so, count me in. (I'll vote when I know the answer.)

 

Yes, there will be both e-book and PDF versions of the book with exclusive content which will be emailed to investors. There will also be options for e-format or print copies of exclusive artwork in higher investments tiers.

[Headstall]

I have spent years reducing my library(painful) so I am not going to want the printed copy. But I will donate to the cause or buy the PDF of Tiger Winter. So how should I vote?

[Irritable1]

Sasha, I probably would pay for your work 4 stories out of 5, but the bears don't do it for me so I'm abstaining...

 

Edit: I'm saying this not to be tiresome but because there's no "I'd pay for something else" option on the poll.

Edited September 17, 2014 by Irritable1

[Ron]

Sasha, I probably would pay for your work 4 stories out of 5, but the bears don't do it for me so I'm abstaining...

 

Edit: I'm saying this not to be tiresome but because there's no "I'd pay for something else" option on the poll.

Sorry to say that I'm with Irri on this one, too. As much as I enjoy your writing, the bears don't appeal to me either.

 

I will add: If you had done a crowdsource for the sequel to Born Wolf, I'm pretty sure I'd be more accommodating.

 

Best of luck to you because I couldn't wish you any less!

[Irritable1]

I would pay for Boris and Oli short stories. By the story. Also any of the rural UK or American Songbook stuff, no need to bundle it. As this isn't a buffet, I'll stop now...

[scotty94]

I would invest if I was not in financial ruin with debts out the window, but the same goes for me bears not my cup of tea so I think I'll give it  miss.

[Headstall]

Ok... well I love the bears...particularly Paddy...but a lot depends on costs of course....but am willing to do what I can...guess I need more info...and I still don't know what to tick off for my vote....probably the third or fourth option??

[Sasha Distan]

I have spent years reducing my library(painful) so I am not going to want the printed copy. But I will donate to the cause or buy the PDF of Tiger Winter. So how should I vote?

Why on earth would you reduce your personal library? Printed books are so pretty.

[Headstall]

Why on earth would you reduce your personal library? Printed books are so pretty.

You are so right but I slowly came to the realization that I had to start editing my life and books, albums(yes, vinyl) and cd's were a part of that. Even collected furniture took a hit. A health scare changed my way of thinking and I started thinking about leaving a burden for my kids to deal with. When you get older you tend to face your own mortality and your perspective changes on many things. Don't get me wrong...I still have about 200 books that I can't as yet contemplate parting with...and I still have 170 albums even though most of my music is on my IPOD and ZUNE. But I have given away or donated to Salvation Army, hundreds and hundreds of books and albums and cd's and while sad and difficult to do...I do feel lighter in some ways. I have even given away cherished art work to family members that I never thought I would do. By the way, the health scare is over...but it had it's effect on my way of thinking....cheers...Gary....PS...sorry for running on...

[impunity]

I'd contribute. The bears were cute. I don't remember overlapping characters, though.

[Sasha Distan]

I'd contribute. The bears were cute. I don't remember overlapping characters, though.

 

Daryl? Todd's awesome cousin who is also Noah's cousin and Skyped with Paddy?

[impunity]

Daryl? Todd's awesome cousin who is also Noah's cousin and Skyped with Paddy?

I figured it had to be cousins. Very cool!

 

Thanks for clarifying.

Edited September 19, 2014 by impunity

[dughlas]

Well, I like the idea of you gaining from your talent as it is well deserved but have some personal financial constraints. Also, like others I'm not a huge fan of the bears and like Gary limit my print books due to storage and space. If we were talking Born Wolf, RAB or Oli & Boris I would be very interested particularly e-versions.

[JamesSavik]

[Sasha Distan]

 

Yes, but the wrong colour.

Think paler...

[Irritable1]

 

Though the panda is often assumed to be docile, it has been known to attack humans, presumably out of irritation rather than aggression.^[30][31][32]

 

Instead of being nice, can he be really really bloody-minded? I would pay for that.

[Sasha Distan]

Instead of being nice, can he be really really bloody-minded? I would pay for that.

 

Huan-Yu is stubborn as hell, but very picky about food and women...

[ColumbusGuy]

Sasha, I loved the bear stories Summer Camp, Falling/Bear...but the couple prompts I've seen of the pandas haven't grabbed me yet, unlike all your Wolf and Cowboy stories.  Still working my way through everything else...but SC was my first ever 'were' story, and I loved it!

 

I'd like to know how much we're talking about monetarily...and if it were for an e-format only, would there be a price reduction?  I am limited in resources too, alas.

[Sasha Distan]

Sasha, I loved the bear stories Summer Camp, Falling/Bear...but the couple prompts I've seen of the pandas haven't grabbed me yet, unlike all your Wolf and Cowboy stories.  Still working my way through everything else...but SC was my first ever 'were' story, and I loved it!

 

I'd like to know how much we're talking about monetarily...and if it were for an e-format only, would there be a price reduction?  I am limited in resources too, alas.

 for e-book copies we are talking probably £5 for the basic (whatever dollars that equates to), and a basic of probably £18 for the hardcopy (it's the damn postage)

[Irritable1]

I have seen what it's like when my supply is cut off. I will pay. For bears, if it must be so. Can't leave the books lying around, so it'll have to be e-copies, but let us discuss off line.

[Sasha Distan]

I have seen what it's like when my supply is cut off. I will pay. For bears, if it must be so. Can't leave the books lying around, so it'll have to be e-copies, but let us discuss off line.

 

indeed.

i'm not cutting you off though darlin', just biding my time.

[Irritable1]

indeed.

i'm not cutting you off though darlin', just biding my time.

 

No, I know. Just acknowledging facts on the ground.