Funded! A Scary Halloween.

Kickstarter, Kickstarter, Kickstarter. Yes, you could say that word has dominated much of my thinking for the last 4+ weeks. I find it somewhat ironic that we reached our Kickstarter funding goal for Noble Ark on Halloween day. That's not irony, you say? No, it's not, but my terror at reaching my goal could go into the is-it-irony debate arena. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled. It's just that I'm also terrified. All of these people have stepped up to the plate in absolute support, and I have to deliver what I've promised by the time I promised.

Can I do it? Yes. Everything is in order. I've talked to the artist and though the contract isn't signed yet, she sounds eager to get started. The contract is signed with the editor. I'm in the process of self-publishing a small short story anthology as practice, and if that doesn't go well, I have several typography quotes from reliable companies and I can hand the mess to them for some money out of my pocket. It's all good, but I'm still scared because this is something I've never done before.

I think this hits all of us a few dozen to thousand times in our life; the step into the dark unknown. The point where all our preparation comes down to one thing...doing something we've never done before. Without human being's ability to risk and try, none of us would know how to walk, throw, swim, or a dozen basic things that we do in life. At one point, we decided the risk was worth the cost of failure, and we tried. It amazes me how many of us lose that ability to risk. Of course, we don't want to risk death because we'd like to try flying from a building. There are stupid risks that shouldn't be considered, but so many times we won't try something new, or attempt to learn a skill, or make steps to improve ourselves. Is it a fear of failure or is it fearing the responsibility we associate with success?  For me, I think it's a little bit of both. I should have started this Kickstarter months ago, but I had to work up the gumption to risk the consequences.

Now, it's time for the next risk, to publish the book. Again, I'm not sure which I fear more, failure making me obscure, notorious success, or some mediocre level in between. I know this, the risk is worth the rewards. If there's anything out there you want to do, learn, or become, I hope you can gauge your opportunities with a level-minded, hopeful eye, put fear aside, and take the risks that move you in the right direction.