Almost every week for more than a year, I’ve been using this space to review and champion books by graduates of the prestigious Master of Fine Arts program in Creative Nonfiction at University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
I’ve been mostly absent for a couple of months, first because I was on a much-needed vacation, and since then because I’ve been devoting my time to a book project of my own.
I undertook the MFA program so I could learn to write, not just any book, but this book.
This book recounts my experience of and research related to a “mild” TBI (concussion) that I had over 20 years ago and from which I’ve never fully recovered.
My experience taught me that there is “no such thing” as a “mild” traumatic brain injury. That’s why I’ve called my book No Such Thing: A True Story of “mild” Traumatic Brain Injury and My Twenty-Year (so far) Recovery.
Most people recover from concussions in a few days—weeks at most.
But up to 30% of people don’t. Some go on having symptoms for months, even years.
I’ve never fully recovered from my injury. I felt a need to write a book about it for a few reasons.
- Brain injury is very isolating. The injury itself—pain, brain fog, memory loss—can make it hard to communicate.
- Many people—doctors, lawyers, co-workers, friends, family—don’t believe you. That makes the pain and isolation worse.
- The stigma against people who pursue legal measures based on ongoing misperceptions about brain injury add stress and emotional trauma that complicate a person’s ability to recover.
- There wasn’t much to support people going through this experience twenty years ago. Anyone going through it now deserves better.
At the time of my injury, I often felt like I was going crazy.
Doctors kept telling me I should be better. Lawyers put my life under a microscope. Family, friends, and coworkers acted—and sometimes said—I was just looking for attention and I needed to get over it.
But as years went by and social media exploded, I began hearing other people’s stories of not-so-mild traumatic brain injury. I began keeping abreast of current research that supported what they were going through.
Gradually, I stopped questioning my own perceptions.
When I wrote my book, I was writing the book I needed at the time.
I wrote it for the people who need it now, for those who love them, and for those who want to better understand this underestimated injury.
I finished my book a couple of years ago and, full of hope, I started looking for a publisher.
Every one of them responded the same way: timely topic, great story, well written, but I lacked enough of an audience to justify their investment in publishing it.
One of the things I learned in the MFA program was the necessity of building an audience while writing my book.
But while I was writing, I was coping with a divorce, navigating health issues, and rebuilding a freelance writing and editing business.
I was also managing the symptoms of my injury every day.
I lacked the ability to do it all.
At first, when I realized that no “real” publishers wanted my book, I felt like I’d failed.
But I also realized that if I gave up and left my book sitting in a virtual drawer, that would feel like failure too.
So, I turned to Iguana Books.
Iguana Books is a hybrid publisher.
A hybrid publisher retains the quality controls conventional publishers rely on but with a requirement that authors cover production costs, as they would in self-publishing.
Iguana takes hybrid publishing a step further by asking their authors to crowdfund production costs. This ensures costs are covered and allows authors to test the market and build an audience for their book.
Iguana recommended Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform designed specifically for creators.
As I started building my Kickstarter campaign, an interesting thing happened.
I stopped feeling like I’d failed.
I realized that no matter how I publish my book, it will succeed based on same things as any other book—my research, my writing, and my promotional efforts.
That realization has renewed my confidence in my abilities, injected my efforts with energy, and restored my faith in the book I’ve written.
That’s where you come in.
I need your support to raise the $9,000 required to fund the production process—copy editing, layout, distribution. And I’m asking you to pledge whatever you can to help me get there.
Please go to my Kickstarter campaign page and learn more about why I feel my book is timely, important, and necessary.
Then consider backing my project with a pledge in any amount you can manage.
What’s in it for you?
If you pledge $10 or more, you’ll receive a reward tailored to the size of your contribution—an e-book, a signed paperback with No Such Thing bookmarks, or a book club special for buying in bulk.
If you pledge less than $10—even only $1—I’ll give you a shout-out on social media and add your name to the acknowledgements in my book.
If I don’t reach my $9,000 goal by March 15, my campaign will end and Kickstarter won’t collect any pledges.
You have nothing to lose.
What should you do next?
Well, you can click away to another page, if you want.
Or you can go to my campaign page, read more about my book, and consider making a pledge.
If you think my project is worth backing, click the button for a reminder when my campaign goes live on February 16. Then, if you still feel so inclined, pledge whatever you feel is right.
If you change your mind before my campaign ends, you can change or withdraw your pledge. No questions, no obligations.
All I ask is that you think about it.
With gratitude,
Lynne
