After a successful crowdfunding campaign, this book is now in production, and we've just accepted a publishing deal with Odyssey Books. You can now pre-order copies of the book, plus art prints, t-shirts, and other rewards.
Written and illustrated by two artists who were victims of bullying themselves, Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones uses darkly gothic humour to address the very real issue of being different. How do you find a way to get through when people bully you for being who you are?
Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones will help kids remember to celebrate the fact that they are different and unique, and that bullies don't get to define who you are or who you want to be.
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About the Author
Steff Green is the USA Today bestselling author of 22 paranormal and dark fantasy novels. Before becoming a writer, Steff worked as an archaeologist and museum curator, and elements of ancient history, mythology, and the literary gothic tradition are present throughout her work.
Steff self-publishes her work, selling thousands of copies every month. She was the 2017 recipient of the Attitude Award for Artistic Achievement, in recognition of her accomplishments as an artist living with a disability. She's appeared on Breakfast TV, RNZ and Attitude TV in New Zealand, and has also been featured in NZ Women’s Weekly, The Spinoff, The Daily Mail UK, NZ Woman’s Day, That’s Life!, New Idea, and the NZ Herald.
Growing up with a vision impairment, Steff was a victim of bullying in school. The experience of being shunned or hurt because she was different shaped her as a person, and is the inspiration behind the book, Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones.
About the Illustrator
Bree Roldan is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer from Auckland, New Zealand, where she studied a Bachelor of Design at the Auckland University of Technology.
She pursued a successful illustration career working for NZ clients (including Auckland Zoo and Bunnings Warehouse). After this dose of commercial success, Bree embraced her dark side and created set illustrations for the multi-award-winning New Zealand indie hit movie DEATHGASM – focusing on macabre illustrations of daemons and small-town rockers for this darkly satirical comedy.
With a mixed-race background and a love of all things weird, Bree experienced bullying as a child. She wants to use her experience to help others celebrate their differences. Bree’s interests lie in the esoteric and occult, Vikings, darkly inclined fashion, travel, and kittens. She is now based in London and is busy working on client commissions.
About the Book
Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones is a full-colour, high-quality 40-page hardcover picture book telling the story of Little Death and his bullies. It's illustrated in Bree's distinctive gothic style, and each page is lavish with details and little things to discover.
(For example, there is a skeletal rabbit that follows Little Death through the book, and you can find him hopping around through the pages).
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We've designed the book with the older picture book audience in mind (5-8 years). The story includes a wider range of vocabulary and deals with a hard topic, but in a sensitive and fun way.
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Only Freaks Turn Things Into Bones will be edited by Sue Copsey, a professional editor and children's book author with over 20 years experience in the industry. Sue's book, Children Just Like Me, was an international bestseller and won several awards, and she has edited over 150 books for children, many of which have gone on to be bestsellers or award-winners. Sue will be the developmental and line editor (as well as the proofreader) on the project.
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The rewards
As well as the book, we've also created some fun rewards for backers, including art prints based on pages of the book, and a t-shirt featuring Little Death and Suzie (and a beautiful quote from Helen Keller).
These rewards will be added to this page as the finished designs are available.
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One of our t-shirt designs (not the final design - coming soon!).
Risks and challenges
This book would not be possible without our amazing team of collaborators and businesses. We've put together an awesome team who are going to help us deliver a great story for you.
Steff is experienced with self-publishing and consistently releases high-quality books for adults. This is her first illustrated book, but with experienced editor Sue Cospey on board, we're confident you'll love the results.
The manuscript and many of the drawings are already complete, and we've already funded to cover the costs of the initial first-edition print run. We've made a detailed budget and timeframe and with Odyssey Books behind us we're confident we'll be able to deliver the book to you by March 2019.
We’ll be keeping our backers informed throughout the process with updates, including notifying you of any potential delays.