Final Thank-You

The last of the Five Little Zombies And Fred perks have arrived into the hands of the wonderful people who supported our IndieGoGo campaign.

At this time, I’d like to give one final brief thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for your support and the amazing feedback I have received and continue to receive.

Every time someone tweets me to say they love the book, or sends me an e-mail to say that they think it is fantastic, or say other really positive things about it, it really means more to me than I could say. This is the first creative thing I have done in quite awhile of which I am extremely proud, and with which I am completely in-love. I was so incredibly worried that people would not be enthusiastic about it, or would hate it. And this would have been even more unfortunate because this book was made possible thanks to people’s generous contributions. People took a chance on me, and thankfully, that chance paid off.

This is one of the few times that it would suck for people to not like it, just because of the emotional attachment I have to this book. It is a weird book. That is for sure. It is quirky and a little offbeat. One of my favourite reviews of the book says, “this is the weirdest kids book I have ever seen, which is pretty cool.” And it is those types of responses that I was hoping for.

The book was never suppose to be something serious. The intent of the book was to both mock and pay homage to the zombie genre; a genre that I don’t quite understand why it is so popular. And it isn’t because I think zombies suck. It is that I find all things zombies to be quite hysterical — even The Walking Dead makes me laugh. So, I was hoping that the book would translate some of my feelings about zombies to other people, while giving them something they could also love, plus adding Easter eggs to play tribute to other parts of geek culture. Let’s just say, the fact that Fred is wearing a red shirt is completely intentional.

I also want to give a HUGE thank you to my illustrator Matt Schubbe. Seriously, this dude is a FREAKING GENIUS!

When I approached Matt about the book, I gave him the text, gave him a TERRIBLE two-page drawing done via my iPad of what sort of look I wanted for the book, plus gave him a written storyboard for each two-page spread. It involved words like, “Happy little trees, and happy little flowers, a happy sun, happy little squirrels, every thing is so happy and then BAM, death and mayhem  But I want the death and mayhem to also look cute, cos dude! Wouldn’t that be hilarious!!” I also instructed him to go crazy and add any extra elements and Easter eggs he wanted, as long as every thing was happy, even the violence, and Fred has a red shirt.

Very quickly, he sent me the rough sketches of the book. It was as if dude crawled inside my brain and pulled out exactly what was in there. Again, FREAKING GENIUS!

This book would not be at all awesome if it were not for Matt’s ridiculous talent, and his ability to give me exactly what I want and more.

If you are ever looking for someone to do some design work for you, hire Matt. He’s super quick, and super talented. Matt’s website is here.

Many people are asking about a sequel. I will say I have ideas brewing in my head. But, before I commit to anything, Five Little Zombies And Fred  needs to sell better than it is. I need more people to know about it. I need people to talk about it. I don’t want to ask Matt to work on another project with me, only to be unable to pay him what he’s worth for his talent. Even if Matt were willing to do it again at pretty much the price of free, I am not comfortable asking that of him. He deserves to be compensated… I’ll get off of my soapbox now.

So, I have one more favour to ask of you completely awesome people. Tell people about our book. If you have a copy, share it. If you have the PDF, please do not be afraid to share it. Yes, I’d prefer people purchased the PDF, BUT I also want people to see my book. Blog about the book. And, if you would be so kind, leave a review on Amazon.

Also, telling people about the merch and the music album will help make more things possible.

If nobody talks about it — and not just once, but continually — then I won’t be able to create more pieces of what I hope will be awesome. And I would really like to create more.

Again, THANK YOU, YOU FABULOUS PEOPLE, YOU!

<3 from,

Jules

Five Little Zombies and Fred

Five Little Zombies And Fred is a not-for-children children's book, written and illustrated to speak to the child in every one. It tells the story of our hero Fred who finds himself in the middle of the zombie apocalypse. Will he survive with the help of his friend the Mountie? It is written by Jules Sherred and illustrated by Matt Schubbe, with songs written and performed by Errol Elumir and mixed/mastered by Chris Cogott, and video by Andrew Edgar.