The Arrival of Gandalf.

The Kickstarter met its goal with less than 24 hours to go!

“Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the east.”

There’s something special about community rallying together to support someone, especially when it feels like hope is lost. Any time there is that moment in a book, movie, or TV show, something wells up deep inside.

When I created Fictionsmith Family, I didn’t know how many people would be interested, or even care. Setting up the Kickstarter was a moment of vulnerability to put myself out there (alongside my child, which I wrote about earlier).

And then…a few lovely people showed up. They are people I am immensely grateful for jumping in and supporting our endeavors.

But this was my 4th Kickstarter, and I know that Day 2 is usually half the number of backers who show up on Day 1, and Day 3 is half of Day 2… then it’s a low baseline (sometimes zero) until the last 48 hours.

I’ve been fortunate in my previous 3 Kickstarters. After the first 48 hours, I was either funded or close enough that it would just be a matter of time to get there. There was very little doubt that it would succeed.

This one? Lots of doubt. The numbers weren’t trending in the right direction. I genuinely considered canceling it after 3-4 days.

With the last day looming, we were still 23% away from our goal. There was some hope, but nothing close to a guarantee.

Then last night, I got a text from a friend that we were funded. Some friends showed up in a big, meaningful way that I will never forget.

I am grateful. I am humbled. And I am excited to dive into the work ahead of us.

The Lost Saint will go into a hardback print run, and Fictionsmith Family will launch right here on Substack in mid-May.

For those discovering this for the first time, I’ll be creating a series of videos of lessons and activities designed to help parents and children connect over storytelling that model what I’ve discovered works well with my children.

Thank you all for being on this journey with me, and hopefully this will be the last reference to a Kickstarter campaign for a bit.

All the best,
-Ryan (half of C.W. Task)