NOTE: All Silence in the Library anthologies are DRM-free. The $10 perk should read "DRM-free" rather than just "DRM".

Here at Silence in the Library Publishing, we've put out what we like to think are some really great products. Many of you, who know us from Kickstarter, have taken the journey with us from our first anthology, Time Traveled Tales, through Athena's Daughters and Apollo's Daughters, all the way to the graphic novel Icarus. 

Many of those projects have captured the imagination of a large number of readers. Never before, though, have we launched a project with the power to galvanize the entire science fiction and fantasy community, from authors and artists, to publishers and readers, like this one. 

This time, you see, we're taking care of our own. And that's when all of us are at our best. When we, as a community, are supporting each other.

The purpose of this anthology is to provide that kind of support to author CJ Henderson. Let me start off though, by saying that this is not charity. We are not simply collecting money and handing it off to a needy individual to help pay medical expenses. No, what we are doing here is endowing a grant. A grant that will allow CJ to continue to produce the kinds of stories that CJ writes. Stories with the power to entertain and captivate us all. We are making an investment in CJ.

All of the authors, artists, publishers, graphic designers, and other professionals involved in this project are assigning what would be our portions of this anthology to that grant.

Those professionals include authors like Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta,Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jack Dann, Ed Greenwood, Joe Haldeman, Nancy Holder,Tanya Huff, Gail Z. Martin, Jean Rabe, Mike Resnik, Janine K. Spendlove, Michael A. Stackpole, Anton Strout, Robert E. Vardeman, Elizabeth A. Vaughan, Gene Wolfe, Bryan Young, Timothy Zahn…well the the list goes on and on. It also includes artists like Alan M. Clark, Mark Dos Santos, Ben Fogletto, Thomas Nackid, Matt Slay, and Christina Yoder. 

Why are we doing that? If you know CJ or his work, you know the answer.

CJ Henderson is a working author who has spent years writing insightful and entertaining books in a wide array of genres. He's also spent those years sharing his humor and good nature not just in his stories, but with the science fiction and fantasy community as a whole. A staple at conventions around the country, CJ has always made a point of being generous with his time and experience. 

And, oh boy, is there some experience! CJ, in addition to writing fiction, has worked as a movie house manager, waiter, drama coach, fast food jockey, interior painter, blackjack dealer, book reviewer, stockman, English teacher, roadie, advertising salesman, creative writing instructor, supernatural investigator, bank guard, storage coordinator, children’s theater director, card shark, film critic, dishwasher, magazine editor, traffic manager, short-order cook, stand-up comic, interview & general article writer; toy sales-man, camp counselor, movie booker, street mime, lounge lizard, and as a senior editor of legal publications at Matthew Bender & Co., Inc. 

And he's used all of this experience to inform his writing and his interactions with fans and fellow authors.

CJ is facing a painful battle with a cancer that all of us, including CJ, thought he had beaten. Well, It has come back with a vengeance. 

Here's the story in CJ's own words:

CJ Henderson here. Or, as I'm known these days, cancer boy. Here it is ... what's wrong with me. The abridged edition.

Last year my leg swelled up massively, and this led to the discovery of blood clots which led to the discovery of cancer. Specifically, non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. Now, this is the wimpy version of a wimpy cancer, so I was thinking I was going to be okay. It had been crippling me for several years without me knowing it.

I went through the chemotherapy, lost weight, lost hair, lost work opportunities, found out I had the most amazing set of friends and fans a goofy guy could hope for. They pumped me full of radiation, ran me through a scanner, and a few days ago told me I didn't beat it. Almost, but not quite.

I had been riddled with cancer from head to toe. The cancer was everywhere. Well, they believe they got most of it. All the little cancers were wiped out. But, the ones that survived have regrouped in my lower back. There's a BIG knot of them there (I'm not anthropomorphizing, by the way, by little cancers I mean nodes that grow out of control) that seem to take pleasure in pressing against the nerves in my spine to make me scream.

Like the majority of working authors, CJ does not have a job that offers him medical insurance, so not only does he have to deal with the pain of his cancer, he also has to worry about how his medical bills will affect his family.

This is where we come in - and by we I mean Silence in the Library, a ton of great authors, artists, and other professionals, and you. You are the most important part of this equation. We have put together an amazing anthology, but only you can make this project successful.

We want to be able to provide enough funding that CJ can get well without having to worry about the medical bills. We want him to be able to focus on continuing to produce excellent stories. We will all be richer for it.

As I said before, this is not charity. For your contribution, you will be receiving an incredible anthology that will only get better as we reach stretch goals. We're starting out with an initial line-up of great authors that includes the following:

Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta, Maggie Allen, Jack Dann, Ed Greenwood,Joe Haldeman, Nancy and Belle Holder, Tanya Huff, Gail Z. Martin, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jean Rabe, Mike Resnik, Hildy Silverman, Janine Spendlove, Michael A. Stackpole, Anton Strout, Kelly Swails, Robert E. Vardeman, Elizabeth A. Vaughan,Bryan Young, Jean Marie Ward, Gene Wolfe, and Timothy Zahn. And, of course, CJ Henderson.

But we have over 30 authors lined up in total, and as we reach their stretch goals, the anthology only gets better and better and bigger and bigger. In total, we're currently sitting at potentially 179,000 words of science fiction and fantasy goodness and counting. Once all of the stories have been added, the likelihood is that we'll wind up well over 200,000 words. 

You'll also be getting a whole bunch of free eBooks and short story collections as we reach other stretch goals!

We're not. At least, not one print book. Given how many stories we have, that would be impractical. While ALL of the stories from the authors listed above and from all of the stretch goals we reach will be included in the DRM-free eBook you receive for your contribution, only the initial authors listed above will be included in the first print book. That's right, first print book. One of our stretch goals will be an additional print volume, which you will be able to add to your pledge as we reach those goals. 

As I said before, though, you will get all of the stories in the eBook.

Here's the entire list:

Initial Authors:

Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta, Maggie Allen, Jack Dann, Ed Greenwood, Joe Haldeman, Nancy and Belle Holder, Tanya Huff, Gail Z. Martin, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jean Rabe, Mike Resnik, Hildy Silverman, Janine Spendlove, Michael A. Stackpole, Anton Strout, Kelly Swails, Robert E. Vardeman, Elizabeth A. Vaughan, Bryan Young, Jean Marie Ward, Gene Wolfe, and Timothy Zahn. And, of course, CJ Henderson.

Stretch Goal Authors:

Aaron Rosenberg, Alan M. Clark, Allan Gilbreath, Alma Alexander, Tera Fulbright, Cynthia Ward, Davey Beauchamp, Dylan Birtolo, James Chambers, Jeff Young, Jennifer Brozek, John Hartness, Maxwell Alexander Drake, John L. French, Jonathan Maberry, Keith R.A. DeCandido, KT Pinto, Michael Ventrella, Misty Massey, Patrick Thomas, Pete Prellwitz, Sheryl Nantus, Stuart Jaffe, David B. Coe, Vicki Steger, and Mike McPhail. 

And there are more on the way!

Artist Alan M. Clark has provided an amazing cover for the first book of the anthology. Check it out:

While the imagery is not specifically monkey-related, as soon Alan offered this beautiful artwork, we were hooked.

And other artists are working on covers for the other print book in the anthology when we reach that goal.

We've also had several authors, including Mark Dos Santos, Ben Fogletto, Thomas Nackid, Matt Slay, and Christina Yoder offer drawings of CJ Henderson as a monkey that will be included in the anthology.

We also have musicians like Danny Birt and Jonah Knight standing by ready to contribute music as stretch goals.

One of the things you should know about CJ Henderson is that he loves monkeys. One of his best known sayings is "I'll dance like a monkey for a nickel." In one of our updates, we'll share a hilarious story in which that saying came back to bite him.

I think you know where our title came from…and you can rest assured that there will be at least one monkey in each and every story! And, many of our authors will graciously make fools of themselves through the course of the campaign by dancing like monkeys on video. We'll post those videos to the media gallery on a regular basis.

So, now you know the story behind this anthology. As I said before, it is times like these that we, as a community of authors, artists, readers, and other contributors, are at our best. Please join us in this important journey and help us provide support to an exceptional author and human being who is in a bad spot - with the added benefit of ensuring that we have many more years of CJ's wonderful work in the process.

Aside from the money needed to pay for printing and shipping to fulfill your rewards, and the portion that goes to Indiegogo, all funds from this Kickstarter will go to CJ Henderson to help him battle cancer.

First 40 Backers - Get a free print copy of the anthology No Longer Dreams, edited byDanielle Ackley-McPhail. US Backers only. But don't worry, international backers, you'll get a free eBook of a novel from one of the authors from our anthology. US backers can also opt out of the print and go strictly digital, if you wish.

First 150 Backers - Will receive an advance digital copy of author Ed Greenwood's original story for the Dance Like a Monkey anthology.

First 250 Backers - Will get a free digital download of a Jean Rabe short story written just for our first 250 backers!

$8000 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of Michael A. Stackpole's alternate history book Perfectly Invisible. 

$8500 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Tera Fulbright. 

$9000 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of Bryan Young's time travel adventure Operation Montauk. 

$9500 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Aaron Rosenberg.

$10,000 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of Jean Marie Ward's short story collection Four For More. 

$10,500 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author John L. French.

$11,000 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of four John L. French short stories: "Clean and Pure", "How the Story Goes", "Hero", and "What Goes Around".

$11,500 - We'll add a short story to the anthology by author James Chambers.

$12,000 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of Three Chords of Chaos by James Chambers.

$13,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author John Hartness.

$13,500 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of Tera Fulbright's story "Fires Within the Blank Page".

$14,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Alma Alexander.

$14,500 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of The Dead Bear Witness by James Chambers.

$15,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Jonathan Maberry.

$15,500 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of the audio book of Danielle Ackley-McPhail's Consigned to the Sea.

$16,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Cynthia Ward.

$16,500 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of Tears of Bloodby James Chambers.

$17,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Mike McPhail.

$17,500 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of Gabriella byCynthia Ward.

$18,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Sheryl Nantus.

$18,500 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of The Redcaps Queen by Danielle Ackley-McPhail.

$19,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Stuart Jaffe.

$19,500 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of War of the Seasons, Book 1: The Human by Janine K. Spendlove.

$20,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Alan M. Clark.

$20,500 - Every Backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of Fire and Ice byCynthia Ward.

$21,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Maxwell Alexander Drake.

$21,500 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of a Gail Z. Martinshort story bundle.

$22,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Jennifer Brozek.

$22,500 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Pete Prellwitz.

$23,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Vicki Steger.

$24,000 - We'll produce a second print volume of the anthology, which you'll be able to add on to your existing contribution.

$24,500 - Every backer at or above $10 gets a free digital download of a second Gail Z. Martin short story bundle.

$25,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author David B. Coe.

$25,500 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Misty Massey.

$26,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author KT Pinto.

$26,500 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Davey Beauchamp.

$27,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Dylan Birtolo.

$27,500 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Keith R.A. DeCandido.

$28,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Michael Ventrella.

$28,500 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Patrick Thomas.

$29,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Allan Gilbreath.

$30,000 - We'll add a story to the anthology by author Jeff Young.

…and more to come!

International Backers

There's just no way to get around it…shipping books internationally is expensive. If you've selected a perk at which you get a print copy of the book, or multiple books, please add the following for shipping:

1 Book: $25

2 Books: $30

3 Books: $50 - I know, this seems like a large jump, but at this point we go over the alb weight limit, and the cost goes up significantly.

4 Books: $55

If you select a perk with more than 4 books, please message us and we'll figure out the shipping.

Add-Ons

$20 - An extra print copy of the Dance Like a Monkey anthology.