Me, Jim, and Lily taking a break from the campaign while at Campaign HQ in upstate NY, post-launch.
Captain’s Log: Campaign Date 23.
I woke this morning with an odd sense of calm, a sensation I haven’t felt in weeks. For fifteen days, we’ve been in the doldrums, steering our ship through the murky middle of this campaign. The way forward hasn't always been clear. Certain routes we expected to be lined with gold, gave us only copper. The ticking of the clock grew louder with each passing day even as the hours seemed to slow.
Milo in the Doldrums, The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster, illus. by Jules Feiffer (Random House, 1961)
My own sense of time has been warped by late nights and early mornings, jet lag, and a to-do list that just won't quit. My body suffers from the effects of way too much caffeine and way too little exercise, making sleep elusive. My left hand, now smothered in Tiger Balm and wrapped in a splint, has seized up from all the typing of guest posts and press blurbs and thank you notes and direct appeals to the as-of-yet-unpledged. Progress is painful and fraught with typos, and still I can't manage to get it all done.
But in my dark moments – and there have been a few – someone from the Team has been there to remind me that each and every effort we make will eventually pay off even if it isn’t immediate: like a multitude of pebbles thrown one at a time into a birdbath full after a drenching rain, they will, little by little, displace the proverbial water. Likewise, when one of my Team teeters, I am there like a good steward to reassure them that although movement forward has been incremental, at least it’s been moving forward.
We’ve been chipping away at our stone; making deposits in our bank; blazing a trail through our forest of trees all in the hope that we will one day reach the longed for tipping point. And that it will happen before this campaign concludes on June 26, in exactly two weeks.
Then, just like that, it happened: Just as we concluded an unrelentingly humdrum week three, several amazing events took place that revealed to us that the risk and sweat and determination had never been for naught:
It appears that our campaign has indeed touched hearts and minds. The ripple now expands beyond me and my immediate crowd. We can hear you all shouting, “Go Team Go!,” as we round the far turn and prepare, both mentally and physically, to make that last mad dash toward the finish line.
5 June, Campaign Date 17:
In this marvelous article about how crowd-sourced funding is becoming a positive game-changer for the publishing industry, The Guardian’s Community Coordinator for Arts & Culture, Marta Bausells, picks our campaign as her #2 among the Top 10 literary projects on Kickstarter!
Tip: You never know where your support is going to come from, and it might actually come for the most unexpected places. But cultivate support you must, keeping trust that something will lead somewhere most wonderful. In this case, we send our gratitude to Margot Atwell of Kickstarter!
7 June, Campaign Date 19:
TTT&T supporter and financial advisor, Nancy Janin, held a Parisian salon-style open house for me, Caitlin, and David, so that we might introduce our project to colleagues and friends there. So many people attended, we had to make the presentation twice!
Their questions were incredible; their reactions rewarding. And to top it all off, the weather was divine. So I allowed myself a few days off to tour my beloved adopted home of 10 years with a cardboard cut out of my 500+ year old friend.
Tip: Never underestimate how important the occasional day off from the campaign is to help you keep up the pace during a crowd-sourced funding campaign.
9 June, Campaign Date 21:
The generosity continued at the historic Thames-side home of Mary Hoffman’s dear friend: author and fellow Italian historian, Michelle Lovric. The event attracted UK authors, artists, librarians, teachers, entrepreneurs, and press. Candy Gourlay, Director & Producer of our campaign video, was on hand – just back herself from a whirlwind author visit to Asia – to document the event. Taking a cue from Paris, we went salon-style again, responding to questions from an engaged and very curious crowd. It was a perfect evening in a perfect setting. A grand time all around!
Tip: When your host tells you, "You may not arrive early, you must rest," listen. I wanted to be there to help Mary and Michelle set up, but they took one look at me and sent me home to nap. Which I did. As a result I was able enjoy our event and even remember it! And it was glorious!
Mary Hoffman and Sarah Towle at the London Launch Party for In the Footsteps of Giants.
