The Little Book of the Icelanders in the Old Days

Hello!

Four years ago, I published a wee book called The Little Book of the Icelanders. At the time I tagged "Vol. 1" onto the end of the title, which was a private joke meaning that I had SO MUCH MORE to say. Well, my joke was so private that I was the only one that got it, and ever since, people have been asking me when Vol. 2 was coming. Because they wanted MORE.

Well, the time is upon us. The Little Book of the Icelanders Vol. 2 is now about to hit the shelves (or your mailbox)!

Around the time that I finished Vol. 1 I started doing a bit of studying up at the University of Iceland and became fascinated by all the things my people (the Icelanders) got up to in the days of yore. Because, you thought the Icelanders today had a lot of quirks and foibles? Wait until you read what they were like back then. 

Example, from the chapter "Grunge scene" - on the Icelanders' hygiene (as it were):

Then there were the clothes and bed clothes. People washed their shirts every two weeks or so, but their underclothes far less frequently. There was this one man, for instance, who was known to wash his underclothes once a year, at Christmas. He would then wear them until the summer, at which point he would take them off, turn them inside-out, and wear them that way until it was time for another washing.

Or this, from the chapter on haymaking (which was the most important task of the year):

Apparently the pinnacle of humiliation for the menfolk was if the women or children caught up to them. Naturally, then, the men busted their butts to make sure they were well in front. If the women managed to catch up to them it was either called að raka þá upp að rassi, "raking them up to their asses," or að gelda þá, "to castrate them." Whoa. Not hard to imagine how much male pride hinged on this, then. In some instances the men were even known to grab the women's rakes and snap them in two - particularly if the women were making fun of them, which supposedly was part of the game.

Oh, there's more ...

• sex with hidden people
• the dastardly debauchery of dancing (see photo)
• old-style porn
• corpses standing up in church
• visitors kissing everyone on the mouth
• log deliveries from Siberia
• Icelanders going to town
• foreigners in the Iceland of yore

... and still more! (But for that you have to buy the book.)

Please note that this is an experiment, and I'm not sure what will happen after this initial print run. Meaning that if you want to guarantee yourself a hard cover, illustrated copy you should order now. The book will go into distribution in Iceland, but will not be available for routine orders in this format after the campaign ends. 

The Little Book of the Icelanders in the Old Days is a small hardcover book around 160 pages long, which makes it around 50 percent longer than the first Little Book (... so much more to say). All the illustrations will be done by the wonderful and talented Megan Herbert, who also did the illustrations in the first Little Book. It is based on my folkloristics and ethnology studies over the past two years, and so yes, it has been researched (meaning I'm not just making all this stuff up). 

If you liked Vol. 1 I guarantee you are going to love Vol. 2. The Little Book of Icelanders in the Old Days is THE perfect gift, for yourself or someone else. 

ALSO! I have now started a Tumblr blog where I share the process of getting this book out to the world, so you can see how your contribution funds are being used.

What I Need & What You Get

So, to make this happen, I need your help. On this book I have decided not to work with a traditional publisher like I did on the last Little Book, which means that I have to bear all the costs of production by myself. This includes the cost of illustrations and the printing of a first print run of 3,000 copies. Those will be mailed to those of you who pre-order a book, and the rest will be distributed to book stores in Iceland. (My plan now is to hit the ring road and distribute the book myself while blogging the experience ... more on that later.) The printing and illustration part alone costs around USD 9,000, and Indiegogo takes a substantial cut of whatever is collected. So all in all I need to raise a minimum of USD 10,000.

I am producing this book on an absolute shoestring: a group of amazing volunteers have helped, or are helping, with the editing, and my wonderful husband is designing the book and (like me) won't get paid until all the other costs have been paid. 

What I am asking you to do is to pre-order a copy of the book and/or to help by pledging. A list of perks may be found off to the right here. In the event that I don't raise the full amount needed, I will still use what comes in to print as many copies as possible (in other words you will definitely get your book). If I exceed my goal (oh happy day), the proceeds will be used to pay a little extra to my illustrator (who is keeping her costs to an absolute minimum), to pay the graphic designer (EPI), and to print more copies. 

I should mention that the printed version of the first Little Book of the Icelanders has not been readily available outside of Iceland. It is possible to order it from the publisher, but the shipping and handling fees are higher than the cost of the book, so it is expensive. A lot of people have voiced their dissatisfaction with this, and unfortunately it has been beyond my control. If you order the new book through this campaign, however, I will be happy to ship it to you – whether you live overseas or in Iceland. I am keeping the shipping fees to an absolute minimum … you pay only what I pay for shipping, and the handling is free.

One more thing: I cannot guarantee that overseas shipping will be possible after this initial print run – or, indeed, if there will be another print run. That all depends on how this venture works out. In other words, if you want to make sure that you get your hands on a copy of the book, you should definitely order now, and not wait until later.  

The estimated delivery time is May-June.

Thanks in advance for your help - you rock!

Other Ways You Can Help

I realize that not everyone is able to contribute financially. If that's you and you still want to help, I would love it if you could help get the word out there and make some noise about this campaign. If you want you can use the sharing tools provided by Indiegogo. All and any help is deeply appreciated!