Today I decided that it's about time to share the imperfect, first version of the book that I printed 10 copies of, on the 22nd of February this year ( 22-02-2022 ).
I am talking about The Life of Hypersensitivosaurs - 22 Short Stories about Dinos and other animals.
Not the print but the digital version ( in PDF or JPEG).
So more like this:
Today I finally decided that it's good enough ( to share with you ), just the way it is.
It's about time to get over my perfectionism ( something I mentioned plenty of times and am realizing more and more, recently ) and to just share this special first version with the public, free of charge.
That is, unless you want to pay me. Let's make it pay what you want or gift or tip me afterward. And don't feel guilty if you don't do this.
Although, I wouldn't mind if it makes you feel like paying me for my future books. Preferably because you like my work and not to get rid of your guilty conscience ;<)
And, in case you're wondering:
No, making the payment optional is not because I undervalue myself.
It's just that I want to give / gift you something, while you wait for a possible future version of this book ( hopefully with different illustrations, less typos, improved grammar, formatting and so on and so forth ). I shared a bunch of these illustrations ( my lino art ) extensively this Spring, so in case you didn't see this, feel free to scroll back half a year or so, to the posts I wrote between April and June of this year.
My creative process is so random that I keep on surprising myself, so whatever I say here won't necessarily will probably not happen ( that way ).
My priority, book wise, is still to finish Hypersensitivosaurus and Cold Turkey, as stated in my recent blog posts. But, as my 22 Short Stories book was already pretty much finished last February and a bunch of you kept asking me about it, I felt it's about time to just throw it to the lions.
I hope they ( = you ) devour it the way I tend to devour books that I enjoy.
So, without further ado, I am ready to send you a digital version of the first print of my first book, eventhough I didn't prep it for E-reader yet.
The only thing I need from you is an email address and I can then WeTransfer the PDF to you. And, if you do have an E-reader, you can send me the email-address connected to that device and I'll send it there. But I ( the perfectionist in me, he just can't help himself! ) also suggest that you just open it on your laptop or other device, as - imperfect or not - it will look a lot prettier in color ;<)
Feel free to forward it to other people that might enjoy it or whom it might inspire ( fellow creatives, wannabe writers, illustrators, etc ).
And if you want to gift me some Hive or HBD ( you can transfer it to me ) via your Hive wallet. In the memo field you can add the email address that I can send the PDF to.
Warning : if you're a perfectionist like me, you are going to see all kinds of imperfections but I dare you to ignore them and just focus on the stories and illustrations.
This is all about the process and I am notorious for sharing the process in all ways possible, warts and all.
If I like the effect of this BETA ( or should I say ALPHA ) testing, I might follow a similar pattern with my future books. Sharing imperfect versions with my audience sure sounds like something I wish more creatives - writers included - would do.
Was signed,
Hypersensitivosaurus aka Vincent Nijman
Hairy the ape, just one of many characters ( and illustrations in my book )