Hey Canberra...would you like a beautifully illustrated children's book, to share with your little ones, about just how good it is to live in the nation's capital? By pledging support now, you receive your own copy of the book and you'll make sure it gets published! Let's celebrate how lucky we are to call this place home.

Local award-winning author Samantha Tidy, and local illustrator Juliette Dudley, have teamed up to bring you a completely Canberran children's picture book.

Our Bush Capital (32pp) calls upon what our children will remember when they one day look back at the gift that truly is a Canberra childhood - rides on the civic merry-go-round, early morning adventures to see balloons take off in Autumn, snow on the Brindabellas in winter, visits to our national institutions, the Floriade Ferris wheel and more.

Canberra is my community, won't you come explore with me?

All we need is 350 or so passionate Canberrans to pre-order this book at its retail price, and support the celebration of our community. It's that easy!

Where fires once blazed, some saplings grew

The Arboretum grows as we grow too.

If the target is not reached, the book will not be published - whilst its tempting to wait until 2020 to get a copy, it won't happen unless we hit that target before 5 May 2019! So start pledging, Canberra!

The book, if successful on Pozible, will be launched at the National Capital Exhibition, at Regatta Point on Saturday 1st February 2020 at 10am, and the first 100 supporters are invited to the party!

The first 100 supporters will also get their name listed in the book, and ALL copies purchased through Pozible are signed by the author and illustrator. When you pledge, there will be a box to enter the name for inclusion in the book. The remaining (unsigned) copies will be available at local stockists.

Canberra is where my heart is full,

Of people, places memorable

Show us how special you know Canberra to be, and we will reward you with a gift that your family will treasure for years to come.  

About the Author: Samantha Tidy

I am an established Australian author of books for both adults and children.  I write stories that encourage a sense of connection and community with one another, through shared history and achievement. I have been writing for over 20 years, and this book will be my 6th publication (I also work and raise a family). 

My most recent children's book The Day We Built the Bridge, published by MidnightSun Publishing was released just last month, and sold out of the first print run of 4,500 copies within 3 days!  Now being reprinted, it's featured in Scholastic Australia Teacher's Bookclub in Term 1, 2019, so if you are a teacher, look out for it there - it links nicely into the curriculum. 

My last adult novel, The Happiness Jar, won the ACT Writing and Publishing Award for Fiction, and my very first novel, Cappuccino Diva was Runner Up for the T.A.G Hungerford Award. My two other children's books, The Flying Dream and The Blue Polar Bear, have won a range of awards. 

I have also worked for 13 years in museum and arts education as a leader of public engagement teams, notably at the Australian War Memorial, Bell Shakespeare, the National Archives of Australia, the Royal Australian Mint and the State Library of Victoria. I completed my Masters in Creative Writing in 2010. I am President of the Australia Museums and Galleries Association - National Education Network, and also a former Director on the board of the ACT Writers' Centre. 

About the Illustrator: Juliette Dudley

I have been drawing and creating in one form or another since I was a child, but it was as a teenager that I had my first taste of being paid to illustrate. Since then I have worked on freelance commissions as well as a wide range of personal projects. 

After working as a professional graphic designer in a range of roles for about 10 years, I decided it was time to branch out on my own, so I started my own design and illustration studio - Poyo Studio.

In addition to illustrating for branding and design projects, I’m also now exploring my dream of illustrating children's books. Having lived in Canberra for most of my life (about 25 years) it seems fitting that my first children’s book will celebrate this great city. 

During my journey as an emerging artist and designer in Canberra, I have found many opportunities to learn from and collaborate with other creatives. I’m proud to say that this is my home, and excited to be part of the continually evolving cultural landscape.

FAQs

How many are you printing? 

We aim to print 1,000 copies. If we reach our target early, we will go for the stretch goal of 2000 copies. Whilst we could save thousands of dollars printing in China, we have chosen to support local business and print via Canprint, who do a splendid job!

Why do we have to wait until February 2020 for a book?

Book production takes time - whilst the book is written, each page has to be lovingly illustrated, the graphic design completed, and the files sent to the printer, proofs made and approved, and the go button pushed! After printing, we send out review copies  8 weeks before the launch date, so that those lovely people who volunteer to write reviews for websites can have time to write their reviews in time for the release date. We also know that December/January tends to be a busy time for holidaying to the coast! 

Why didn't you just submit this idea to a publisher?

The Australian publishing industry is a hard-working one, where the choice to publish a book is dependent in part on the ability to sell a title in other markets, including overseas (and this includes translations). For this reason, a book about our wonderful Canberra is not typically of interest to most publishers who needs to be able to sell it in all states and possibly overseas to make a small profit. Anyway, we kind of like the grass roots approach of celebrating our own community.

Are you paying yourselves with the proceeds of this project?

If we reach the target of $8,885, this will cover ALL costs, EXCEPT for Samantha and Juliette's work in writing, illustrating, designing and managing the publication. So no - we are doing this for love :-) 

However, if we are able to sell the remaining copies of the print run (after achieving the minimum target), then we will see a small return each of around $5,000 before tax. Only then (once all copies are sold), will we be paid for our efforts in writing, illustrating, producing and marketing this book, as well as delivering stock, visiting the post office, replying to messages, networking with people who don't yet know about this book, organising the launch including catering and lots more. Our project is taking up several hours a week, over many months. If we broke that down to an hourly rate, it's likely more fiscally sound to focus on earning money in a non-creative way!

We believe that people understand that artistic and creative people deserve to earn an income for the role they play in society. Did you know that authors earn an average of $12,900 a year from writing? However please note, we aren't doing it for the money. We truly just want to give a gift to the children of Canberra, and in part we are motivated to lift the perception of our fair city in the eyes of non-Canberrans who don't understand why we all love it so much here - we want to show them why!

Where will it be available, after you publish it?

With the remaining stock, we intend to approach each of our cultural attractions with retail spaces, as well as local bookstores so that those that didn't hear about this campaign can get their copy, too. As the book celebrates Canberra, we intend for it to be available at the Canberra Visitor's Centre. It will also be available on the websites of both the author and illustrator. 

What media and marketing are you doing?

We have a small budget for some Facebook ads (Canberra only), and a savvy wordsmith on the team who writes a cracker of a press release. The author is a dab hand at media interviews and we intend to get good media coverage locally with radio stations, newspapers and local magazines. either before the crowdfunding ends, or when the book comes out. 

Samantha and Juliette are both experienced book producers. Each of Samantha's books (published prior to 2019), are award-winning or award-nominated. Juliette is a designer for The Canberra Times, Her Canberra and her most recent design project was Capital Yarns, for Sean Costello. We totally know what we are doing, most of the time. 

The final product has high production values. It is hardback with wrapped caseboards, the cover is matt laminated with spot UV for various elements and around 1cm in thickness. The book has beautiful additional endpapers which Juliette also designed. It doesn't look self-published - it looks like any book you'd find in a bookstore and we are really proud of knowing how to do this well. 

Here's a breakdown of what it costs to produce:

Project Management Costs - In-kind by Samantha (valued at $4000)

Publishing Costs  - $143

Printing Costs - $6,765

Design Costs - In-kind by Juliette (valued at $1800) 

Pozible Fees (5%) plus 90c per book sale (355) -  $717

Various (marketing, envelopes, launch catering etc)- $1,260

Fee for writing and illustrating - not included.

TOTAL  $8,885