Welcome to the Icarus

Canvas Skies: Wings of Freedom has been a work in progress for over a decade now, drawing together a local creative team of writers, editors, and artists from the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Because of the lengthy time spent creating this universe, the story is deeply layered and spans a planned 33 volumes. Set in the US post-Civil War era, both writers are trained historians and educators with a passion for the subject. As such, extensive research has gone into the making of the universe of Canvas Skies: Wings of Freedom so that - while an alternate telling - it is historically accurate. Imagine if airships had risen to the theatre of war, and catapulted a war-torn nation toward its manifest destiny...

What We Already Have Done

• Volume 1 is already written and inked and ready for production.
• The website domain is purchased and ready to go.
• Volume 2 is in the final edit stages and artwork is in production.
• Volume 3 is written in rough form, and ready to go to editing stages.
• The entirety of the series is in outline form, waited to be drafted.

What We Need From You

The purpose of this crowdfunding campaign is almost exclusively to generate enough resources to finance our initial publication of Volume 1 and to cover the start up costs already accrued. We plan to start small for our initial edition, as we are self-publishing and trying to reduce costs while still producing a quality publication, and as such, our current goal is $7,000.00 USD, which translates roughly to 350 copies shipped and sold. Essentially: you buy a copy, we ship it to you, you help us jumpstart production of subsequential volumes for the story. Win-win.

Transparency is important to us. Our start-up costs, which we do need help with, include:

1. The writers, editors, and artists have been working exclusively pro-bono as of yet, holding fast to the belief that the project will be enjoyed and see success. Our writers, editors, and artists all work full-time in addition to working on this project; some work 60+ hours a week, and one of our artists is currently on active duty in the United States Army. This does limits our production speed and ability to focus on quality, and a percentage of the funds generated will go toward compensating the members of the team for their creative efforts and ensuring that future publications are prioritized.
2. The website is paid for up through three years, currently, but more funding is needed to maintain the website. Our eventual goal is to add a forum to bring together friends and fans alike within a central hub.
3. Most of our marketing has been guerrilla marketing and word of mouth. However, we were fortunate enough to connect with a professional cinematographer and video editor - also from the local Twin Cities metropolitan area - to create a film-style trailer. The trailer was produced on a volunteer basis, but we did accrue some costs re: costuming and production time.
4. The cost of warehousing and distribution of our comic novella. Besides the copies that we will be shipping ourselves, our publication distributor will add us to their catalog, which will allow Canvas Skies: Wings of Freedom to be available at brick and mortar and online retailers.

Risks & Challenges

(Note: We have hit our minimum publication goals, so if you order a copy, you get a copy!!)  Risk is low, but we are leaving this bit to remind us what we have overcome!!

We've already overcome most of the hurdles, and there remains one last major hurdle toward publication. Through our publication distributor, the minimum publication run is 100 copies. Which means, we need to pre-sale at least 100 copies of Volume 1 in order to guarantee publication and guarantee that you will receive your copy.

Obviously, there's always a risk that this campaign will not have the success we dream of. If we at least make the minimum, we promise that every person who pledged for a copy of the book will receive their copy.

In the event that we do not even break minimum, we will do our best to ensure that those who pledged still receive their copies. We will redesign our campaign and try again, and if it comes down to it, even if we have to sit there and sell blood plasma, we'll get you your copy.

Other Ways You Can Help

1! Tell your friends about us!

2! Share our campaign on social media! There's a nifty share feature on indiegogo designed to make this streamlined.

3! Visit our website! We will have a portion of Volume 1 available for preview on our website: www.canvasskies.com