There are many people who have messaged me that are confused about the availability of our book.  I want to clarify everything and explain (as succinctly as possible) what the current status is and how you can order the book and/or help us make a wide distribution of it possible.

As many of you are aware, we had publishers lined up for our book and were set to release it on May 7th… well due to unforeseen circumstances, our original publishers were not able to produce the book in the format we wanted.  As a result of this last minute potential disaster we were forced to scramble and find another way to get the book out.  We could try other publishers, but that process will take more time and we really want to have the book available as soon as possible without going through the vetting process of finding another publisher.  The fact of the matter is that we have a completed project that has been professional illustrated and edited and it really only needs to be printed – at this time there is nothing a small publisher can do for us that we haven’t already done – including reaching a wide social media market.

Our solution to this issue is to self-publish and print ALL of the copies ourselves.  At our current price per unit and factoring in costs of shipping and editing and illustration fees,  it will cost in the neighborhood of $20,000.00 to make 2,000 copies of the book available.  We feel that with our built in support, coupled with the added support of word of mouth we can easily make our goal.  So far, in only 1 week, we have hit 21% of our goal.  Still, we need to make sure that we keep the momentum going.  This is where your support extends beyond the financial:  We need you to share our crowd funder through email, facebook and twitter with all of your friends and family.  Our dreams can only come true with your help.  The tools to share it are located right underneath the video (“The Story behind the story”) on the main page of the campaign.

Additionally, many people seem to be a little confused as to what a crowd-funder like Indiegogo is.  Very simply, it is a way to generate the funds to support a project with the investment of a group of individuals (a crowd).  We proposed our project on Indiegogo, and they host it and collect the funds.  A crowd-funder is not a straight up donation (although you can just donate if you wish) – it has to supply perks for your contributions.  In our case, the perks range from the very basic and low cost, to much more expensive and high value.  The campaign link has all the perks listed, but I will share them here for quick reference:

• Pay it forward cards and magnets for $15.00
• Just the book for $15.00
• 1 signed copy of the book and 10 ReesSpecht Life Pay it forward cards for $25.00
• 2 signed copies of the book and 20 ReesSpecht Life Pay it forward cards for $45.00
• 3 signed copies of the book and 30 ReesSpecht Life Pay it forward cards for $60.00
• A silver pendant and necklace that has “ReesSpecht Life” on one side and “Love Cures” on the other and 10 cards for $75.00
• 3 signed copies of the book with a personal message and 30 ReesSpecht Life Pay it forward cards for $75.00
• 1 signed copy of the book, 1 car magnet and a “I’m one of Rees’ Pieces” t-shirts for $100.00
• 10 unsigned copies of the book for $150.00
• a perk designed for schools/libraries:  Six signed 1st edition copies to use in school classrooms and libraries. Thank you mention of SCHOOL NAME in print forever and on our website for $200.00
• 6 signed 1st edition books + custom author Messages + THANK YOU mention in the book. YOUR NAME in print. Forever for $200.00
• Pay it forward to your school with 20 signed copies of the book, 200 “Seed of Kindness” children’s pay it forward cards and a free skype session for the class with the Author for $500.00
• Receive 2 signed copies of the book and your company logo and contact info (website, phone #) will be listed as a sponsor in the book and on our website for $500.00
• Pay it forward to your school with 30 signed copies of the book, 300 “Seed of Kindness” children’s pay it forward cards and a free skype session for the class with the Author for $700.00
• Be a character in our next book: Receive 2 signed copies of the book, your name listed as a sponsor in the book and our website AND you or your child will become a character in our sequel book: “A Little Rees Specht goes a long way” for $1000.00
• Partnership: Your company name and logo along with contact information will be listed on our page as a partner and supporter of ReesSpecht Life. Your Company name and logo will appear on promotional materials at our fundraisers such as our upcoming 5k, concerts, golf outings etc. Your company name and logo will also appear in our book listed as a donor/supporter: $1000.00
• Get our program for “Kindness Week” and the “Kindness Games”, including lesson plans, 1000 “Seed of kindness cards”, and 30 books for $1500.00
• Author will present “ReesSpecht Life: How kindness can change our perspectives” to your school or group. Includes enough “Seeds of Kindness” cards for each participant up to 3,000 for $1750.00
• Receive 30 copies of the book, 3,000 kindness cards and the author will come to your school/orginization and present “ReesSpecht Life: How kindness can change our perspectives” plus a book signing for all students with a copy of the book for $2500.00
• Your Organization is guaranteed top billing as a sponsor/partner of ReesSpecht Life for Life. Your company/organization will forever be linked with us. You will get signage and sponsorship credit at all fundraisers and your logo and info will get top billing in this book and all of our sequel books for $5000.00

As you can see, the perks really do range quite a bit.  As of now only 1 of the higher tier perks have been claimed, so if you know any generous individuals out there who wish to help out, please share the campaign with them.  Also, since the school year is winding down, the school based perks will most likely be for next school year.

As I wrote before, even if you do not make a monetary contribution, please take the time to share our campaign with your friends and family on email and social media.  The book really came out better than I could have ever envisioned, and I personally promise that you will not be disappointed with it.  Please help us make our dreams our reality.  Thank you so much for your support and for being one of Rees’ pieces!

Click Picture to support our Indiegogo campaign.