Bride of the Wizard King e-book on Kickstarter


by 		Filed under Musings;
2 comments.

For artists and developers who feel constraints breed creativity, the Apple II is a perfect platform for their pursuits: games, music, even arts & crafts have been created on or inspired by the machine.

But what about books — and especially graphic novels? There are books about the Apple II — but how many were created on it?

Perhaps not many — and that’s what Australian author Myles Stonecutter is looking to fix. His 90-page children’s book The Bride of the Wizard King is illustrated entirely on an Apple IIe using the Blazing Paddles software. The book is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/402816648/the-bride-of-the-wizard-king

Although a fascinating concept, two elements seem to be lacking from the Kickstarter pitch. First, it’s not entirely clear what format the book will take. Two sizes of hardcovers as well as an e-book are listed among the rewards — but will the e-book be a PDF, ePub, Mobi, Kindle, iBook, or something else? If it’s an app, will it feature any interactivity or other features not found in traditional printed books? Second, it’s unclear what the funding — $9,386 USD, or $12,000 AUD — will be used for. "The creative work is completed," says the project description. "Thus far I have looked at Lulu, Blurb and Snapfish as likely online print-on-demand companies to get the initial printing done." Does the print-on-demand route require such a large up-front investment? I’m unsure.

Although the project still has more than three weeks to go, it seems unlikely that it will meet its goal, having achieved only 5% of its desired crowdfunding in the first week. Should the Kickstarter fall flat, I hope Stonecutter finds another way to get his completed work into the hands of the masses.

(Hat tip to Seth Sternberger)

  1. Myles Stonecutter says: May 11th, 2015 5:54 PM

    HEY THERE… Thanks Ken!
    This review you have done for my book is MOST impressive.
    My foray into kickstarter is my attempt to discern if there is an online public that would put money down for such a book. A clumsy approach- possibly.
    I have to confess I am breaking new ground and was factoring in about $4-6AU profit per unit sold. From Lulu, a print run of 60 photo books in its 9 x 7 full colour format costs $4860- to which I’d add my $360 fee. Although Lulu publishing will also convert books to electronic versions, I am mainly interested in having the physical artifact manufactured.
    So I was doing my best to foresee where my moonshot might splashdown, considering I am hoping to get more than 60 backers. All the dollar breakdowns are factored into the rewards structure.
    I’d LOVE get it offset printed. Then costs would come WAY down. But that is yet to be determined.
    I still intend to publish. Kickstarter is just a way to make sure my parachute will deploy (if I may continue the space race metaphor).
    I’ll know where I stand in a few weeks.
    I found your critique to be reasonable and unbiased based on what information you had at the time of writing.
    I trust this fills in some blanks.
    Many thanks.
    AND BACK ME!
    Stonecutter

  2. Forrest Lowe says: May 28th, 2015 9:57 PM

    Thanks for covering this, Ken. I have backed at the top level, as a give back to the community.