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Crowd-funding a kids’ book Lindsay Chung
THE CHRONICLE
Colin Pickell of Ladysmith has always dreamed of writing a book. And now his dream is one crowdfunding campaign away from becoming reality. Pickell — who manages The 49th Café in town — has written a children’s book called Who Will Tuck Me Into Bed?, featuring illustrations by Amanda Key, a recent graduate of the Vancouver Island University graphic design program. Pickell and his wife have two sons, aged seven and five, and when his oldest was a baby, as a new dad, Pickell loved singing him to sleep at night. One night, he had an idea that made him laugh — what if he were an opera singer, and he didn’t know how soothe his son to sleep because all he knew how to do was belt out operas? “From there, I just kind of imagined what about a family where everybody has a talent, and they’re very worthwhile talents, but not when you’re trying to soothe a child to sleep,” he recalled. “So I created this family of really loving, really sweet people who try really hard to tuck him into bed, but it doesn’t work because it makes him more awake. The father’s an opera singer. The mother’s a writer, but she only writes thriller novels so all of her stories scare the heck out of him. And there’s a grandma and a brother and a sister and an uncle, so I just kind of got this idea, kind of a twist on Joey Rice adjusts his cap as he prepares to walk into the gym at Ladysmith Secondary School Friday, June the bedtime routine. It’s a little bit 6 for the school’s commencement ceremonies. For more photos of the Class of 2014 and a list of graduates, funny because the boy knows that please turn to pages 8 and 9. LINDSAY CHUNG this isn’t going to work, but he lets
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them each take their turn because he just loves them and he doesn’t want to offend them.” Who Will Tuck Me Into Bed? is a rhyming book because those are the books Pickell loves to read to his children. Pickell says he started making a conscious effort to write the book about two and a half years ago. “I had the idea, but every time I’d sit down to write it, I’d get frustrated because I couldn’t get past the first paragraph or two and gave up, so about two and a half years ago, I started really actively writing it,” he said. “I’d take breaks, and I’d get writer’s block. Then I contacted a lot of publishers and agents. The children’s book market’s pretty saturated, and I wasn’t able to crack it, so I decided to look into doing it myself, and that’s when I found Amanda. Along the way, I had Kickstarter recommended to me by a few different people.” Pickell says it is frightening to take this idea that was in his head for so long and put it out there, ready for people to enjoy or critique. “I’ve never really done a creative project like this before, and it’s a little bit intimidating,” he said “But it’s exciting, and the response has been great.” Pickell’s campaign had already raised 16 per cent of its goal before it had even been up for 24 hours. “People are really getting behind it, and I feel really lucky to have a community of supporters,” said Pickell. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and I think writing See Kickstarter Page 3