The news is out. Tumbleweed is coming!
On April 17, I’ll be launching a Kickstarter campaign for my middle grade frontier adventure novel The Misadventured Summer of Tumbleweed Thompson. This is a project two years in the making, and it’s a story I can’t wait to share with you! If you haven’t already, sign up for my newsletter to stay in touch with all the latest on the project. (Ps – there was a link in that last sentence.)
But, you might be wondering a few things about it. So, here are some answers:
What’s the Book About?
Inspired by buddy adventure novels like Homer Price, The Great Brain, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the story follows 12-year old Eugene Appleton, whose summer in the frontier town of Rattlesnake Junction, Colorado promises to be just as sleepy as the ones before, with his only excitement provided by the pulse-pounding Dead-Eye Dan adventure novels he devours. But Eugene’s life swerves into unexpected territory with the arrival of Tumbleweed Thompson, a gangly, red-haired drifter who spins yarns about whaling voyages in the Atlantic and ice fishing with the Inuits. It’s a novel about friendship, adventure, belonging, and finding out there’s a whole lot more out there than you first thought.
Why Kickstarter?
The Misadventured Summer of Tumbleweed Thompson is a novel about community, and this book has been supported at every stage of the process by a fabulous group of collaborators, from readers and friends to encouragers and editors. So, Kickstarter is the perfect way to push this book across the finish line. It will take a whole bunch of us, pulling together, to make this book happen. And that’s exactly how it should be.
The best way to explain Kickstarter is through two “P’s”:
Partner
Kickstarter is a way for people to partner together to make innovative ideas come to life. Entrepreneurs, artists, and other “makers” join with backers to fund creative ideas. Yes, it’s a crowd-sourcing funding platform. But, if you believe in the story of those who are making things, Kickstarter is more than that. It’s a way to create awesome partnerships around ideas you believe in!
Pre-Order
Kickstarter works by pre-ordering the product you want – in this case, my novel – and in the process, helping to fund the project. You choose the level you want, and receive whatever rewards are associated with that funding level. For this campaign, we’ve cooked up a bunch of cool rewards in addition to soft and hardcover books that hopefully will catch your eye. Also, Kickstarter is all-or-nothing, meaning the funding goal must be met, or the creator receives no funding. We’re all in this together!
Again, the best way to stay in touch with all things Tumbleweed is to sign up for my newsletter, or any of the usual social media.
