Another Update on the Coloring Books Fundraiser

The 3-week campaign on Kickstarter by Ellen Million Graphics is now coming to the final week!  We've reached four stretch goals so far (At the time of my writing, the total pledge is at $2,827 with 79 supporters.).  A total of 5 new coloring books have been green-lighted for printing with the fund raised.  However, Ellen has lined up a lot of new titles, and many out-of-print titles also wait in the wings for a chance to be reprinted.

On the line right now and keeping me rather anxious is my all dark, solo collection of fantasy images, "Midnight Gardens".  Here's a cover preview.  It is shown here in glorious full color.  When we reach $3,500 total pledge, this volume will be guaranteed to go to print, but with grey scale cover.  We need to reach even further past the $3,500 mark to actually see this book with color cover, but hey, we can dream.  There's nothing wrong with helping our imagination along, I feel. LOL

Cover image courtesy of Ellen Million Graphics

When I first approached Ellen for possible volume 2 of "Gardens & Goddesses", I decided to bring up the idea of another volume dedicated to my darker images.  I figured that the worst case scenario would be that she could turn the idea down, and in that case, I'd be exactly right where I started.  Nothing lost.  So I'm glad I tossed my idea her way.  (Doubly glad I had enough images to fill a book... LOL)

Thanks to the support of my fans, the first "Gardens & Goddesses" coloring book has been very popular.  It was printed a total of 3 times to date since it's debut in late 2011.  And I'm down to the final 6 or 7 copies at my Etsy shop as I write this.  The printed copy is heavy (even with a relatively think paper inside), and costs over $11 to ship internationally.  Still, I'm always amazed that I get a lot of orders from UK and Australia for this book.

Sometimes, we get really nice, profoundly touching e-mails from customers.  Here's one Ellen received about my book.  This lady had bought two copies of "Gardens & Goddesses" and came back to EllenMillionGraphics.com for two more copies.  It made me cry.

"I'm placing another order for a couple of these books. I let my daughter
take them to the hospital for my granddaughter, and they colored pictures
in all of the books. I will email you the picture my daughter finished and
a picture of our beautiful granddaughter. [name withheld] is feeling icky from
chemo this week but she is able to sit up and color. She has AML (acute
myeloid leukemia) They have been unable to find a donor for a bone marrow
transplant but we haven't given up hope. [name withheld] has a 2 year old daughter.
They are living with me until she recovers because she is too ill to handle
a child, cook meals, and all of the other things that go with being a wife
and mother. I have been coloring since I could hold a pencil. We included
[name withheld] when she was about 9. We have been coloring together as often as we
can since then. I'm so happy we have this outlet to give us something to
help pass the long hours in the hospital and to reduce the stress we are all
feeling with monthly chemo in a hospital 125 miles from home. Your books
are wonderful. I'm sure you know how difficult it is to find beautiful
books for adults to color. It is also scary when you type adult coloring
books into search. ;-)
Thank you again for beautiful books."

I do my art for escape and fun.  At least, that's how it started in my childhood, and luckily for the most part, it remains that way for me today.  I'm truly blessed that I get to doodle to earn my living.  I wake up every morning excited about the day's work and generally happy.  I don't have to commute.  I don't have to deal with office politics, idiot or nasty bosses, gossip, backstabbing, and the sorts that make things stressful and unpleasant for so many people.  I don't save lives or make a huge difference in someone's day or life like scientists or doctors do.  But knowing that some people enjoy coloring my images and have fun, and while they're coloring, they can forget about life's unpleasant things, I'm content that in some small ways, I can make people happy.

Kind of got into it a little deeper than I originally planned, but that's what these books mean to me.  I was pretty ecstatic when the first printings of "Gardens & Goddesses" arrived at my house and held a physical copy in my hand.  It was a dream-come-true moment for me.  So, you can imagine, to be able to add two more titles of mine (and have some more collaborative volumes with my images represented) means a LOT to me.  I continue to anxiously check the pledge total... multiple times a day. LOL