26 Hours Left!

 I had planned to make an update last night, but I fell asleep when giving my boys night time snuggles.

So here we are, 26 hours left of the final countdown!

In just 2 hours over a day, The Kind Knight's Kickstarter will be over and all pledging will stop. So make your pledges now, while you can! Every little penny extra counts, because even though I am funded, Kickstarter will be taking a small percentage out to continue to run their awesome operation.

Plus the more funding I make, the more outreach I can provide with my books at schools and awesome organizations like I did yesterday!

Yesterday I started my day with reading to my son Julien's class at Montessouri School of Davenport.

Julien is actually hidden in the picture lol, but you can still get a glimpse of his long blonde hair just next to me. He wasn't quite tall enough to make the back row cut, but he wanted to stand by his mom. And I love him for that. 

I was so impressed with how quiet and well mannered these children were! And I loved their silly questions.

Somehow we got on the subject of the fork in the road that The Kind Knight came to, and a little boy asked, "But how can a fork make you happy?"

I told him, "Well, if you are hungry, I guess a fork would make you happy then!"

We all had a good giggle.

Perhaps one of the greatest moments was talking to the teacher while getting ready to leave. She loved the book, and the morals it teaches. She was very excited for me, and I could tell it was all very sincere. It was a great read.

Later that afternoon, I went to The Tupperware Branch of The Boys and Girls Club in Kissimmee. What an amazing facility! I walked around with Shadrick Alexander, the branch director and got to see all the great learning tools that this particular branch had to offer. I almost teared up a few times from seeing how many awesome tools are available to help guide and make a positive impact in these youth's lives. It was very cool. (I wish I could have hung out longer and played...lol)

I had the pleasure to read to their kindergarten and first grade group. They were well wound up from just getting out of school, but they were eager and loved answering my questions about kindness. 

I asked the class if they knew what kindness meant and the hands flew up immediately!

I got all kinds of answers ranging from "respect" to "helping mom and dad."

It was amazing.

They sat as still as well as they could during the read and were very sweet. It felt good. I felt like I was in the right place and I had the right audience.

After the reading we got together to take this silly picture:

 I loved it.

I told Shadrick as soon as I was able to get him a few copies of the book, I would be happy to donate to such a wonderful place. He sure does an amazing job!

After all the reading, I came home to find an email from my "editor."

We also talked on the phone about realistic expectations when it came to pricing and sizing of the book. 

It is hard being a children's book author. It might just be me, because I am new to this, but I was expecting that the authors and illustrators would get more income for their work. However, book printing is very expensive. 

Not that I am planning on becoming a millionare, but I would like to have wiggle room to travel and do outreach, while still being able to contribute to Together We Rise.

Even with all this being said, I am truly thankful to have someone to guide me through the process, because honestly I would be a little lost without her help. 

We have decided to start off with soft back to get the book into the market at an affordable price, without having to take away from the artwork from the inside. And hardback will be an option at some point in the future. 

And the book being in  printed with a paperback cover will not take away from the book's value and integrity. That I am pleased with.

However, if you did pledge $25 or more and requested a book, you will still receive a hard book signed copy!!! I promise you this.

So now, it's back to taking care of the family, getting the book resized and sending back for a new quote, and living life!

Thank you again for all of your pledges, shares, support, and love!!! I am so so happy to have each one of you with me in this process. It really means a lot!!!!

Be Kind,

Kelly Airhart