About The Travelling Canary in Alachua County

The Travelling Canary in Alachua County is a coffee table book, art book, memoir, and history of life in Gainesville, FL, USA. The book is divided into eight sections with thirty to fifty drawings each:

• Nature & Parks
• Culture
• Civic Services
• Schools & Universities
• Religious Spaces
• Retail & Recreation
• Restaurants
• Homes

In order to capture the essence of each moment, all the drawings in this book were drawn from life. It is my hope that the drawings in this book spark fond and poignant thoughts in the reader as they do for me.

This project was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, and by the Art Tag Grant of Alachua County. You can support this fund, which helps to fund projects such as the production and dissemination of this book, by purchasing a "State of the Arts" license plate at your local Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Office. The author proudly sports one of these plates on his car.

While I was in the hospital last year, I compiled two books of drawings from my years at THINK Global School to share with my students and colleagues as a gift. Then, I decided to collect my drawings of life in Alachua County, Florida, USA into this book. The title is both an homage to Chiang Yee, the Silent Traveller, and my own unfortunate ability to fall ill everywhere I travel—the proverbial canary in the coal mine. As it happens, I am running this indiegogo to coincide with the one year anniversary of stay at UF Health Shands hospital from May 20th to June 5th, 2023.

Hopefully, this book will serve as a valuable memento of life in Gainesville for all who have lived, worked, visited, or been connected to this place. I'm inspired by the work done by the Sister Cities Program of Gainesville—art exchanges between ordinary "citizen diplomats" from Gainesville and Novorossiysk, Duhok, Kfar-Saba, Qalqilya, Rzeszów, Mejdlaya, Deir Alla, and Jacmel. I envision this book as a perfect gift for such cultural exchanges. It's also great for tourists,  graduating students, people who have lived here for a long time—and anyone touched by this lovely place. And if you, my dear friend, have ever wanted to know about life in Gainesville, the place that created a Terrence (as well as others), this is the book for you!

Logistics

I have the necessary capital to fund this project, but I don't know how many copies to make. That is the main function of this indiegogo campaign—ascertaining and meeting demand. Furthermore, if the campaign is fully funded, I should also be able to furnish our local museums and stores with copies. The goal amount of $4,000.00 funds

• Production of 200 copies of the "definitive paperback" with Alta Systems: $2,645.80
• Shipping for 100 copies  to be individually shipped via USPS Media Mail with bubble mailers at ~$7 per book: $700
• ISBNs and barcodes through Bowker: $395.00
• Production of proofs through Mixam, Amazon, and Renaissance Printing: $256.36

The inserts look to cost an additional $306.90

Any hardcovers (likely exclusive to this campaign) ordered will more-or-less pay for their own production and shipping. Additional funding beyond the costs incurred will go towards the production of more books and to compensate the time and material put into this project. Drawing is more expensive than it might seem - sketchbooks, pen, and ink cost me $452.45 last year alone.

All copies sold through this indiegogo will be signed. The cheapest version of the book is already available on Amazon and is not part of this indiegogo campaign. If you simply want a copy there, you can purchase it for $19.87.

Perks

The focus is on the books here, so one can purchase hardcovers or paperbacks and then add additional things like prints, mugs, cards, and commissions.

• The hardcover is unique to this campaign (unless there is sufficient demand for more afterwards).
• Digital prints of any of my drawings (including those in the book) can be added on. These come from my extensive library of 10,000+ drawings and even more photographs from my website. They are organized by location in myriad ways.
• Physical prints will be made locally at Renaissance Printing and shipped to you. This will take a bit more doing on my part, though I'm very happy to create them to demand
• Commissions would ideally be of something I can draw from life, though I do draw from reference on occasion.
• The mugs I made for my Aplastic Anemia Support Group were received well, so I will happily make mugs with my artwork. These are available on my new Etsy.
• Cards of my artwork can be printed locally at Renaissance Printing.

I only want you to support the campaign if you genuinely find the work valuable. I hope that it reminds you of moments, people, and places in Gainesville. In the spirit of this, I've tried to support local businesses—engaging Alta Systems to make the books instead of doing it online, printing proofs at Renaissance Printing, and furnishing local stores with the finished product.

Please tell everyone who might be interested about this book. I've set what I hope is a modest goal with this project, but I can also imagine a massive demand for my book if all of my students, colleagues, friends, and their respective networks are as proud of it as I am. Share the link with your circles—through indiegogo itself, through the link, through socials—whatever you feel it merits. The reach of this project is truly reliant on community.

FAQ (formats poorly in indiegogo)

Q: Which places are in the book?

A: You can review the index here.

Q: How many copies will be produced?

A: If we reach the indiegogo goal, 200 copies of the large paperback will be printed. Ideally we far exceed the goal, as I hope to print enough to have copies carried at local institutions. The Amazon version is not limited by demand, and will always be available.

Q: What are the earning margins for the books?

A: There are three sizes for the book: 6.57"x8.5" paperback, 8.5"x11" paperback, and 8.5"x11" hardcover. The margins vary by size as follows.

• Amazon takes a 60% cut after the initial print cost of $6.24 for the small paperbacks, so I receive $5.68 per book (I make 29% of the sale price.)
• Alta Systems production costs (200ct.) are $13.22 each for the large paperback, and $1.10 for the inserts, so I receive $14.78 per book (I make 51% of the sale price.)
  • These will be listed at around $39.99 at stores after the indiegogo, as stores typically take 40%-60% of the list price, or $19.99, leaving me then with $5.68 (I'd make 14.2% of the sale price.)
• Mixam hardcover production and shipping costs (25ct.) are $26.94 for the large hardcover, and $1.10 for the inserts, so I receive $20.96 per book (I make 43% of the sale price.)
  • If, and only if, there is extraordinary demand for these (>200), then I may be able to get them produced by Alta for the same production price. Then I would be able to have them carried at stores at $64.99, leaving me with $6.96 (I'd make 10.7% of the sale price.)

tldr: You pay the least and I make the most through the indiegogo campaign.

Q: Where will the book be carried?

A: I will make the book available on my website after the end of the campaign. Aside from the small version on Amazon, the book will be available for ~$39.99 at the following retailers:

• 108 Vine
• Archer Railroad Historical Museum
• Artisans Guild Gallery
• Artology
• Barnes & Noble
• Books Music Wormhole
• Cade Museum for Creativity and Innovation
• The Civic Media Center
• Dasha Collective
• Gainesville Fine Arts Association
• Harn Museum of Art
• Matheson History Museum
• Micanopy Historical Society Museum
• Mosswood Farm Bakehouse
• R.E.I.
• Satchel's Pizza
• Uppercrust
• and free to check out through the Alachua County Library District (where you can also find my two TGS drawing books)

Currently working with (check back if you're curious):

• University Bookstore
• Colsie Coffee
• High Springs Museum
• Hawthorne Historical Museum and Cultural Center
• 2nd & Charles
• Books-a-Million

I also have book signing events in the works at:

• Archer Historical Railroad Museum
• Barnes & Noble
• Matheson History Museum
• SL8 Gallery

Q: Where can I buy the small paperback and other work?

A: All of my extant books, including the softcover version of this one, are available on Amazon on my author page.

My music can be found on my website under albums.

Mugs and sketchbooks can be purchased here on Etsy.

If there's any specific artwork you'd like for a mug or a sketchbook, I can create that product easily. Just advise me which one!