A silly, rhyming children's picture book about a boy who's afraid of thunderstorms and his brave quest to find out why the sky ROARS!
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Hey, guys!
I sent out surveys via BackerKit this morning. Please be on the lookout for those (they take only a few minutes to complete).
Statistically, only 75% of backers will fill out surveys within the first few days. The other 25% will need to be reminded several times... and there’s a small % of people who never return their surveys. 😳 (If I don’t get your survey, I’m unable to ship your reward - I don’t have your address. 🙃)
If we get 85% of backer surveys back by Monday (2/15), I’ll do a raffle for those who have filled out their survey for a $50 Amazon gift card (which I can send digitally). 👌🏼
Can we do it?!
😍😍
Thanks again—for everything. ❤️
Katie
Hi, again!!
I have a lot to say and I'm trying to keep this as short as possible... so I'll jump right in! 😍
First of all: THE BOOK IS DONE! WoOoO!! I've spent many nights the past few weeks working hard until 2, 3...sometimes 4am... to get it done. 😳 But! It's ready!! All I need to do in order to send it off to the printer is to complete the "cloud sponsor" page!!
**** If your reward tier includes "sponsor a cloud" ($75+) I need the names you want on your cloud ASAP - deadline for this is Feb 8 (I sent out individual messages to each person whose reward includes this special addition. Pretty please get in touch). See image at the bottom to see what this looks like (this will be printed inside the back cover for the first 5,000 books ❤️). ****
When you placed your preorder (pledge), your address and payment were not collected. (Kickstarter does this for your protection - your payment method is not charged until the end of the campaign and only if the campaign is fully funded.)
1. This campaign, fortunately (with your help!!), is already fully funded, so please anticipate your credit card being charged on Thursday (though it could be Friday) once the campaign ends.
2. You will receive a survey from BackerKit on, or around, Feb 18. With this survey, you'll provide your shipping address and other info needed. If you pledged MORE than the reward tier, you'll be able to select the add-on items you intended to buy with the extra money you pledged. :) I won't be able to ship your order without your mailing address so please be sure to fill out the survey.
**** If you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your Kickstarter account, the BackerKit survey link is sent to the email address you use for your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you prefer to use, please contact me. ****
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If you prefer, you can contact me directly and give me your information, but answering your survey will help me get your rewards out to you faster. BackerKit helps save lots of time by streamlining the survey process, automating data organization, and providing me with pledge management software to make it easy to process your pledge reward shipments.
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This preorder campaign doesnt end until Thursday (2/4 @3pmEST) so there's still plenty of time for friends and family who havent had an opportunity to preorder a book to do so!
Every single dollar earned via this Kickstarter campaign will go towards selling the remaining books (marketing), shipping orders, paying KS fees, sales tax, and stashing cash for my next print run, which will need to be ordered long before I deplete my stock. For these reasons, I'm still hopeful that I'll be able to sell some more books in the final days of this campaign!
I'm still completely blown away over the amount of love and support I've received to get this project off the ground. It has been such a moving and humbling experience. Thank you, again. (And I truly hope you love this book, I've poured my heart into it. ❤️ )
Again, thanks for all your support. I just can’t wait to send you all your goodies!!
xo,
Katie
"Cloud Sponsor" page:
This poster will be available as a post-campaign add-on! 16"x20", $20. :)
Friends, family and supporters,
What we have been able to accomplish in just ONE WEEK is... amazing. I think I mentioned this in my last update, but I set my funding goal low hoping to reach it quickly for strategic reasons. But we've surpassed my "actual" funding goal of $7,000, too! We're currently just over $8,500. I can't thank you enough for your support and for believing in me and my book-baby. <3 It means so much to me - this has been a week of high-emotions (that aren't a result of my pregnancy, this time lol).
- We were given the coveted "Projects We Love" badge by Kickstarter and they started to promote my project to their audience - which is huge and what I'd hoped for! (I crossed all my fingers and toes, too!)
- So far we're $4,000 OVER my initial funding goal which means we're DONATING 40 BOOKS (and counting) to hospitals, libraries, schools and families in need. :) I'm SO excited about this!! Every $100 over = 1 book donation. <3
I am totally on track to submit files by Feb 8th as planned. :) If you know already that you have "sponsored a cloud" (or plan to), please feel free to send me the name(s) you want on your cloud at the back of the book (you don't have to wait for the questionnaire). It'll help me speed up finalizing the book!
I have another two weeks to go with this Kickstarter and I'd really love to sell as many of these 5,000 copies as possible!
Every dollar that is earned via this preorder will go to help fund marketing, shipping costs, taxes, and putting aside cash for the next print run. I'd be so grateful for the continued effort to share and spread the word about this preorder (I've officially hit the dreaded "Kickstarter Plateau"! <3)
Conner, my oldest son (17), said to me "Mom, if you take anything away from this Kickstarter experience, you have to know now how loved you are." Again, thank you. I do feel totally loved and supported.
I've been working on the book illlustrations, as I mentioned, and I owe many of you personal "thank yous". I will catch up with that but please know that every single order that's come in has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. <3
If you're looking for other really amazing Children's Picture Books you may want to consider checking out two other books that are currently on Kickstarter - both by author-friends of mine - and both are really good books. :)
Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/slotheewantscoffee/slothee-wants-coffee
Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gloomy/baboonybook
Hi friends!
I'm not typically an overly emotional person (not even when I'm super pregnant)... but, wow. I have found myself completely moved and in awe of the outpouring of love and support I've received leading up to, and in, the past 24-hours. It's humbling and I'm, honestly, at a loss for words to adequately express my gratitude.
Thank you so, so much. It means so much more to me than you know. ❤️
It was only two and a half weeks ago that I realized and decided that I needed to put a Kickstarter together - and naturally, I wanted to do this before baby #5 makes her arrival (it's always easier when they're inside than when they're outside LOL). I researched and soaked up as much "Kickstarter wisdom" as I could get my hands on and listened intently to author-friends who have run successful campaigns ... and did my best to put together a campaign that would succeed and that I would feel proud of. (Special thank you to Josh Becker, Cindy Grant and Nadja Springer for your support and helpful advice all the way through this process.)
One of the things I heard over and over was how important the funding goal is. "You want to set your funding goal high enough that it covers the minimum you need... but low enough that you can achieve it... and as quickly as possible" was a universally agreed on approach. Initially, I had my funding goal set to $7,000 (which would help cover shipping and marketing expenses) but I "chickened out" (as my 8 yr old would say lol). I kept telling myself "people spend months preparing for a Kickstarter and I've only had 2 weeks... I dont want to set it higher than what's achievable".
So I lowered it to $4,000. And hours before I launched I mustered the courage to bump it up to $4,500. (LOL)
Can we all laugh at how much I was overthinking this?
I'm totally unprepared with "stretch goals" (additional incentives to help push us past our initial funding goal) - I thought I'd have a week or two to prepare for this, if I needed to at all. 😳 But, here we are!! (And, again, I'm so grateful!!)
I'll be working to prepare stretch goals today and will post them soon... but, for certain one thing I'll be "adding", effective immediately, is I'll donate one book to a hospital/library/school for every $100 over our initial funding goal. So far we're OVER by $1,626 which means we're already donating 16 books! THIS IS SO EXCITING TO ME!!
I assure you, every dollar that comes from this preorder campaign will be used to fund the book through marketing/printing/shipping expenses and Kickstarter fees.
Thank you for your continued support - all the shares on social media, preorders and support are SO very much appreciated. Thank you, thank you!!
Love,
Katie Weaver