Update June 13: Because the initial indiegogo campaign was fully funded, I'm able to keep it active as long as there are still planners available. When I run out, I'll take it down. Most perks (the digital ones, anyway - not the digital planners, but the digital perks) are going out this week and will be sent out once a month to new contributors. THANK YOU for all your support.
Overview:
Hi! I'm Heather and I'm passionate about building peace and empathy through learning history. To that end, I've been podcasting on Tudor history since 2009 when I launched the Renaissance English History Podcast. Even before then, I built my first history website in 1998! In 2016 I created the Tudor Planner, which brings together all the awesome of a weekly/monthly diary with Tudor history. There's This Week in History, musical listening lists, quotes, all wrapped up in a gorgeous cover that looks like a manuscript.
The Basics About the Tudor Planner:
I'm passionate about planners myself, and am always checking out new ones. This planner incorporates planning elements that I love, in a layout that will be familiar, while also mixing in tons of Tudor history, in a style that resembles an old illuminated manuscript.
- The pages are 6x9 inches (close to an A5 size). The cover adds a bit of extra space, but doesn't hang out very much further (see photos for more detail).
- It's about 1 inch thick.
- The cover changes each year, but is always a medieval or Tudor period work, evoking the feel of being in a 16th century library.
- Dated Weekly and monthly layouts, the Tudor Planner runs from December 2022 to the end of January 2024 so you can start to use it straight away, and it will carry you through planning early in the following year.
- End-of-month check in pages to keep you on track with your goals, and set the stage for a productive new month.
- Plenty of notes pages, including dotted, lined, and plain.
- Three pages of stickers.
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Two sided pocket in the back to hold papers and notes.
- All major holidays noted (US & UK), as well as many Tudor feast days. Of course the Tudors lived through the Reformation (which manifested itself a little differently in England than in the rest of Europe) so the holidays our Tudor friends would have had in 1590 were different than in 1510. Still, the major and most popular ones are included so you can celebrate like a Tudor.
- Each week has an interesting Tudor fact that happened that week.
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Music suggestions each month, and a link to a Spotify playlist so you can listen to Tallis while planning.
- Spiral binding allows the planner to lie flat.
- High quality 120gsm Golden Sun Uncoated Woodfree paper.
- Shipped from Pennsylvania, USA.
- Created with love by a writer who has been sharing stories about history online for over 23 years.
- The Tudor Planner layouts run Monday to Sunday.
Benefits of being an early backer:
Of course there are intangibles - you'll have my deepest appreciation, and the good feeling that comes from supporting creative projects. But you'll also be among the first to receive the Tudor Planner when it arrives and ships.
Plus, the cost of the Tudor Planner will go up considerably after this funding period is over. The retail price is $39.99, and it will stay there until I discount any that are left in March, 2023. Of course, this past year we sold out, so there weren't any to discount. Which brings me nicely to point three:
You'll guarantee that you get one. I print a limited amount, and last year we sold out in November!
One quick note: when you check out, you'll see some text from IndieGoGo saying that they can't guarantee that you will receive your item. This is because they are not responsible for getting the planners to you - I am - so they can't be held responsible if I don't deliver :) By supporting this IndieGoGo project, you guarantee that you'll get a planner when they ship before Thanksgiving (hopefully earlier!).
People Love the Tudor Planner!
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Amazon reviews from previous years:
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Meet Heather (aka the Backstory)
I've been writing and talking about history since 1991 when I started a summer job at a Revolutionary War museum when I was in high school. In 1998 I built my first history website, on Colonial America. And in 2009 I started the Renaissance English History Podcast, which makes it one of the longest continuously running indie history podcasts. Since then I've spoken about podcast community building at writers conferences, and at other podcasting conferences including Sound Education, which was held at Harvard. The Renaissance English History Podcast was Podcast Magazine's September 2021 History Podcast of the Month:
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In late 2016 I created the 2017 Tudor Planner, which was a mix of two of my favorite things - Tudors and planning! It was a weekly/monthly planner that brought together history with planning - something that I definitely needed as a busy mom with a young kiddo. I've always loved planners, since I bought my first Ziggy assignment book in 1989 - I color coded my assignments with Crayola skinny markers in Bold colors.
Here's the cover from the 2017 Tudor Planner - the very first one:
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It was one of those things that I wanted to create basically so that I could buy it. I thought it would be fun, and I might sell a few dozen. But that first one was way more successful than I ever imagined, and for the 2018 one, I worked with a custom printer. I've been working with the same printer since then, and each year I keep incorporating your feedback, and it gets better and better.
The Tudor Planner is a gorgeous book that will lead to people wandering by your desk just to check it out, and will cause spontaneous conversations whenever you take it out :) Because each planner is a unique work of art. It's like having art, history, and planning all wrapped up in one. I mean, what else is there!?
This will be the 7th year that I've created the Tudor Planner, and I rely on these IndieGoGo fundraisers to pay for the printing and distribution - this is all an independent project that I do on my own - there is no publisher involved other than me. So I rely on your support to bring this planner to life each year.
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Why I'm Running this IndieGoGo (aka, the expenses)
The main expense for the Planner is printing. But there are some other costs I incur including the cover image, which requires the purchase of a high res photo that can run into several hundred dollars to purchase the rights to, and a designer to make it all look great! Then there is warehousing the books at a location in Maryland, and that's where they are packaged and shipped from (which also means additional packing fees).
Every bit raised will be put towards my work, and the project will happen whether the goal is reached or not.
The perks I'm offering include all kinds of great stuff, including a digital-only copy of the planner, various activity books including the one on the Six Wives, the Field of Cloth of Gold, and the original Tudor Activity Book, gift cards from my Tudor Swag shop (TudorFair.com), a podcast episode on a topic of your choice, and tickets to the 2022 Tudorcon. Additionally, everyone who supports at the $25 level or above will be entered into a contest to win 2 free tickets to 2022 Tudorcon! The planners themselves will be shipped around the end of October, in time for the holidays. This is also the lowest price that the planner will be until I discount whatever is left in March of 2023 (if I even have any left then). So hop on now to get the best deal, AND Tudorific perks!
The Impact (I mean, WHY does anyone want a Tudor Planner?):
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I think of history as a way to connect us to our humanity, to see the humanity in others, and to understand people who are very different than we are. And given what the world has been going through the past year, maybe now it's more important than ever to connect with the people of the past - especially the Tudors who endured summer after summer of plague and sweating sickness and economic uncertainty - and find within that our common humanity. Maybe now, in the midst of a pandemic and political arguments, this is the time to find ourselves in the people who came before, in their stories, and sew a connection that spans centuries. And by doing that, we might be able to sow deeper connections within our own communities.
Also, when we manage our lives with a planner that helps keep everything organized, the chaos seems a little less scary.
So yes, it's a crazy time, and because of that I'm also adding in a special perk I introduced in 2020; the Digital perk for those who want to support the project and get a Tudor Planner of their own, but just don't have the budget for the full physical copy right now. That perk will receive a digital copy of the planner that can be printed out at home, or imported into a note taking app like GoodNotes.
I always say that I'm a storyteller who makes history accessible because I believe it's a pathway to understanding who we are, our place in the universe, and being more deeply connected to our own humanity. And I try to do that in a physical way with the Tudor Planner each year.
That sounds pretty heavy for a planner, right? Who knew that a planner could have such a deep meaning? You just want to track your habits and remember your appointments. But for me, writing out our lives like that is actually kind of sacred, because who knows who will find it in several hundred years, and piece together stories of our own lives from the record we leave in our journals and calendars?
A couple of bonuses:
Every backer will receive access to two short courses I did in 2021 including an overview of the Elizabethan Explorers, and the Catholic Priest who escaped from the Tower of London.
I'll also send you the list to all the videos of previous Tudor Summits that I did, starting back in 2017. These were online events that happened every six months for two years featuring leading Tudor authors and historians. I don't do them anymore because of my focus on Tudorcon planning, but there are over 35 talks filled with everything from visiting Tudor London to digging deeper into Mary Tudor.
I'll also send every backer a brand new digital Tudor-themed To Do page which you can either print out, or use on your device.
At the end of the campaign, I'll send these to each backer. Please make sure to check your email - so often these can go through to spam or junk folders. I'll do my best to keep things updated here so you know when items have gone out, too.
Risks & Challenges
This is the 7th time I've published a Tudor Planner, so things are a lot more clear now than they've been in the past, but there are always underlying risks. The printer could drop the ball, or the shipment could get delayed and stuck in customs, or there could be worse supply chain issues. But since I'm using the same printer I've used for the past six years, and I'm starting earlier than I have in past years, I'm not anticipating problems with that.
Other Ways You Can Help
If you can't contribute (or you just don't really care about planners, but you want to support the project anyway) I would love any and all shares of this campaign! Let's get the word out to other Tudor history lovers - or planner lovers who also love history! - and let everyone know that the world just got a LOT more Tudorific, and they can add a dash of history to their lives every day of the year with the 2023 Tudor Planner!
Thank you so much for taking the time to consider supporting the Tudor Planner, and for those of you who do support it, I want to add an extra big Thank You.
Yours in Tudor Love,
Heather
PS - here are the rules for the Tudorcon tickets drawing:
1) everyone supporting at the $25 level or above will be entered into the drawing to win 2 tickets to Tudorcon 2022 - learn more about Tudorcon here: https://www.englandcast.com/Tudorcon
2) The prize is for the tickets to Tudorcon itself (normally $349 each) and does not cover your transportation or hotel.
3) If the winner is unable to make the event, I will draw another winner and continue doing that until we have a winner who can attend.
4) If the winner already purchased tickets to Tudorcon, they will receive a refund for the tickets they purchased (up to 2 tickets to cover the prize).
5) The contest is open to anyone who supports the planner IndieGoGo at the $25 or up perk level.
6) I will announce the winner within 5 days of the close of the IndieGoGo by notifying the person via email, and then making an announcement here once that person accepts (so that we refrain from announcing publicly until a winner who is able to attend).