stevenlebron: steven lebron volume 1, coming soon I’m happy...
Mr. Danoff's Teaching Laboratory 2013-12-20
Summary:
steven lebron volume 1, coming soon
I’m happy to announce that the book projecting I’ve been touting for months now is finally getting to the point where it’s near completion for printing. This has been a project I’ve been working on for most of this year. As I’m writing this, I can tell you that there are eight pieces of writing that are going through final edits and revisions right now, and my art director Mark Malazarte is hard at work putting together the last few layouts for my review.
Below is more details on how you can stay updated with the project and its eventual Kickstarter campaign and what you should expect from the book.
1. What is this book about?
It is a project to both demonstrate my passion for sports and also to show the possibilities of the collaboration between art and writing. One of the best things I’ve discovered since I’ve become immersed with the online sports community are all the other people who share the same creative drive as me, whether it is expressed through words, illustrations or something else entirely.
The book — which I expect to come in at around 40-60 pages — will feature some of my previous writing along with new pieces that explore the meaning of sports through the relationships I’ve developed with some of the athletes I’ve followed; some more recently, some for several decades.
The order of the articles are still to be determined, but the book will include pieces on: Kobe Bryant, Jeremy Lin, Vince Carter, Michael Jordan, NMA Animations, Barry Bonds, Arthur Ashe, Dwight Howard, John Strickland, the oral history of Norman Einstein’s, Tom Thibodeau, Rip Hamilton, Gregg Popovich, Dennis Rodman, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe and my high school basketball career.
2. What will it look like?
I’m happy to share a few draft layouts from the book so far:
3. Who else is involved with the project?
Artists who have contributed to the project: Nathan McKee, J.O. Applegate of Bouncex3, Tessa Chong, Mike McGrath, Jeffrey Dowdy, Leon Jimenez and Maddison Bond.
Contributing writers and editors: David Roth of The Classical and SB Nation, Andrew Ungvari and Andrew Forbes.
4. Why Kickstarter?
Once the book is finalized early in the new year and I’ve received a proof copy from the print company, I will be launching a Kickstarter campaign.
The purpose of the campaign is to help recoup the printing and shipping costs involved. The preliminary cost of each book will be $20 based on this premise.
Without boring you with the actual details, a few things: I’ve received a lot of positive feedback on the project so far, so I am cautiously optimistic as to how many people will be interested in this. But at the minimum, I will commit to printing a set amount of copies and absorb the sunk costs should the demand come in below my expectations.
Because Kickstarter collects a fee (approximately 8%, I believe) for successfully funded projects, it will take a particular threshold of books sold for me to break even.
At a certain sales threshold, I may end up seeing a profit. But I’m committed to donating any leftover funds after recouping print and shipping costs to a worthy cause. What that is, I have not decided yet and will research ahead of the campaign.
I suppose the point I want to make is this: I’ve spent countless hours on this project but it’s never been about profiting from folks who enjoy sports and writing as much as I do. Sure, the ulterior motive here is that I do want as many people to discover my writing as possible. But I don’t want to be putting money into my pocket for a project born strictly out of my own personal interest and desire with sports writing.
5. How can I help with the project or get updates on it?
