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The Bunny on the Hill - A Children's Picture Book

The Bunny on the Hill - A Children's picture book about growing up queer

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The Bunny on the Hill - A Children's Picture Book

The Bunny on the Hill - A Children's Picture Book

The Bunny on the Hill - A Children's Picture Book

The Bunny on the Hill - A Children's Picture Book

The Bunny on the Hill - A Children's Picture Book

The Bunny on the Hill - A Children's picture book about growing up queer

The Bunny on the Hill - A Children's picture book about growing up queer

The Bunny on the Hill - A Children's picture book about growing up queer

The Bunny on the Hill - A Children's picture book about growing up queer

Austerity Nissenfeld
Austerity Nissenfeld
Austerity Nissenfeld
Austerity Nissenfeld
1 Campaign |
Belleville, United States
$610 USD 9 backers
4% of $15,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Choose your Perk

Supporter

$5 USD $10 USD (50% off)
Est. Shipping
April 2022
0 claimed

Early Bird Softcover

$15 USD $25 USD (40% off)
Est. Shipping
December 2022
3 out of 50 of claimed

Softcover

$25 USD $30 USD (16% off)
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December 2022
0 claimed

Early Bird Hardcover

$30 USD $45 USD (33% off)
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December 2022
3 out of 50 of claimed

Hardcover

$45 USD $50 USD (10% off)
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December 2022
1 claimed

Love, softcover edition

$50 USD $75 USD (33% off)
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December 2022
1 claimed

Love, hardcore edition

$80 USD $100 USD (20% off)
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December 2022
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Distribution, softcover

$200 USD $400 USD (50% off)
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December 2022
0 claimed

True Ally

$300 USD $500 USD (40% off)
Est. Shipping
December 2022
1 out of 10 of claimed

Major Sergeant Major

$5,000 USD $9,999 USD (49% off)
Est. Shipping
December 2022
0 out of 1 of claimed

The Bunny on the Hill takes us through the journey of the Little Stone trying to find acceptance in who they are among brethren who only see them for what they look like on the outside. It has moments of joy and moments of sadness within its 40 pages. The language and imagery is simple and accessible to people of all ages.

This isn't the first children's book I've written but it is the first one I felt the true weight of needing to get it out to the world. My name is Austerity Swift Nissenfeld, I was born in 1978 so by the time you're reading this I'll be 40 something years of age and even in 2029 and beyond I'll still be 40 something. I started transitioning in April of 2020, right as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. I was an avid reader in my youth; mostly enthralled by sci-fi and fantasy, especially anything by Zelazny or Pratchett. I've done most anything that needed doing at some point: I used to write stage scripts and direct a theater group. I've operated TV studios, reported on local and national sports, cooked at a diner. I write to get the words out. In this case the words were fewer but the weight of them feels a lot heavier.

The initial draft for this book was written in October of 2020. Much of the world was still isolating as Covid-19 tore through the population. Here in the United States the social and political climate was... tenuous, especially for us queer folk, and even more especially for my trans brothers and sisters. I wouldn't feel the true weight of being a trans woman until some time in May of 2021; the time my spouse found out I had been transitioning since the prior year. The feelings of still hiding myself from everything and the anxiety over being accepted by society at large weigh on me today as they did back then but it felt differently.

Hiding from everything and everyone except the select few people on social media with whom I interacted with was a different world. Different anxieties, different stressors, certainly a different kind of dysphoria. I'm not entirely sure why I wrote this book. Sometimes I think it's because I wish books like this had existed when I was a child. Maybe part of it is for parents and their children to have one more resource to help them understand the things their child may be going through. Maybe it is worth writing stories that are simple to understand and obvious in their application for trans and queer people of all ages.

 

Illustrations

There's a few of the final drafts of the pages scattered about but the illustrations are being done by the amazing Bethany Evelyn. Please click on her name and check out the portfolio!

 

Timeline

The full book will be done by June of this year and the current estimate of December 2022 for fulfillment is more of a buffer in case this campaign really takes off to get them all signed, personalized and shipped. I'm a small team (of one person) handling all of the mechanicals and I don't want to set an unrealistic date.

 

What We Need & What You Get

The illustrations for the book, the cover and 37 pages, comes to around $7,000 USD. This campaign is to generate enough funding above the cost of bulk printing and shipping the rewards to cover that amount plus any stretch goals for translations, audio books and making those available for purchase.

You get.. the books. Signed and personalized copies. Your name on the website and in the book potentially as backers. Additionally this ensures the rest of the book will absolutely be paid for and illustrated and the possibility of future books.

 

The Impact

I'm not the only trans person who's had the idea of writing literature about being trans. I'm not the only one with children in mind either. The world needs more of this, though, and not just about being trans. The rest of my books cover growing up autistic, ADHD and schizophrenic.

I didn't suddenly realize I was trans at 42. I knew this long, long ago. It took me this long to realize I could be trans, though, and it's because I found someone, and then even more people, who were publicly trans. People who weren't hiding it and just trying to pass silently.

All of this forced me to come to terms with hiding things about myself; how much I was hurting by masking everything all the time. I wrote these books to get those feelings and emotions out of my head and now I'm publishing them because I know someone somewhere might benefit from seeing it.

Stretch Goals

Base (15,000): An English audio-book done by myself, the author.

15,500: Upgrade to the audio-book done with myself and trans streamer Tahr Fantastico.
16,000: Spanish translation and audio-book
17,000: Alternate cover art, available after the campaign ends as an option, done by the incomparable trans artist Solient.

18,000: Additional english audio-book done by trans streamer and master of voices Nikola Ophan.

19,000: French translation and audio-book

20,000 and Beyond

  • Securing more translations and potentially audio-books to be done by trans people. I'd like to have one for every major language at some point and an audio-book voiced by a trans person for all of them.
  • Commissioning alternate cover art from trans and queer artists to be made available as add-on options for the campaign and future sales.

Risks & Challenges

This book will be published regardless of this campaign. Half is paid for and the other half will be met no matter what happens here. There are no risks or challenges I have not already conquered.

It'd be nice to know people want to buy this book, though, and possibly recoup the cost of illustration before publishing.

 

Other Ways You Can Help

Get the word out. Twitter, Facebook, where ever you can. I know not all of the press for this will be positive but I'll need everyone's help to make sure it gets seen.
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