Coming Soon: J.M. Hardin: The Kickstarter Campaign?

I’ve been kicking around an idea for a book to write after I finish the rewrite of He’s With the Band. It’s a book of photographs of Franklin Park here in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. I’ve seen some nice books about Franklin Park but the ones I’ve seen have older pictures, and while there’s some nice sites with pictures of the park there’s no book of recent pictures. The idea is for it to be partly a travel book, but more a book for Boston residents (and former residents) to use to get more out of our beautiful park.

My biggest problem: I need some new gear to make the book and my budget for it is nonexistent, so I’m going to turn to Kickstarter to try to fund the equipment I’ll need to make the book.

I’m still working on the equipment list so once I get that done I’ll be hitting Kickstarter to create the campaign. Luckily a friend of mine will help me make a video about the campaign so at this point I mostly need to figure out exactly what I’ll need to create the book. I know I’ll need a laptop of my own since now I’m using a laptop from the library and that’s not going to cut it when I’m working on the book. The good news is that with a new laptop I’ll be able to get the rewrite of HWTB finished even sooner (and get it edited this time) plus I’ll be able to get the mystery I was writing when my old laptop died in September.

I’ll also need something to take the pictures with, and I’m looking at an Android phone for it. I could do just a camera but my available storage is filled to capacity already, plus having to carry a camera will be something more in my already too full bag. (My doctors really hate seeing how much stuff I throw in the bag. It’s as bad as some students who carry a bag so heavy they have trouble carrying it.) I’m also going with a smartphone over a camera because this way I’ll be able to throw some of my better pictures online as soon as they are taken, giving my readers and investors a chance to see what I’m shooting. I can’t do that so easily with a standalone camera, especially when I’m unable to get to a WiFi hotspot, something that will go with me when I have the phone.

Speaking of the images for the book, I’m going to be taking pictures of every main area of the park, as well as some hidden gems that people may not know about, like the picnic area in the Wilderness. I’ll also be taking pictures every month for a year so I can show the park in every season. I’m also planning on shooting some video to go with the book, although as of now I don’t know if I’ll be able to embed them in the ebook or if I just put links in the book.

I’m looking at putting the book out in the Fall of 2015 as both an ebook and also in a physical book via Amazon’s CreateSpace. In fact I’m looking at giving the top level of investors in the campaign a signed copy of the physical book.

I can’t say when I’ll launch the Kickstarter campaign but I’ll be announcing it here when I do. Based on preliminary information I’m looking at a total figure of over a thousand dollars. Part of this is to make sure the smartphone has service for a full year and before anyone says that’s a life expense, which Kickstarter prohibits, it’s a valid business expense. I have a phone now that I’ll continue to use for keeping in touch with people (like my doctors, the place I’m staying, etc.) and while the smartphone will get some of my communication tasks I’ll be using it mostly to support my work as an author.

Like I said, more details will be coming when I launch the campaign. For now I need to get to work selecting the equipment I need so I can head to Kickstarter and start putting that part of the task together. Have a great weekend, everyone, and to all the paternal folk out there I want to wish you a very happy Father’s Day!