WE DID IT!!!
What a fabulous Father's Day this must be for Rob! What a triumphant end to a fabulous campaign!
Collectively, we donated over $11.5K to Team Gleason, and the Kickstarter rose above $10K just hours before the end! You guys purchased more than 200 copies of Rob's baby, Invention Is a Mother. (I can't resist a dad joke—especially not on Father's Day!!)
A huge thank you to everyone who made this success possible. We are so excited to get these books into your hands as soon as possible! We'll send you production updates as we have them, so stay tuned for the cover reveal and other exciting news!
Also shoutout to Amanda Palmer and everyone who jumped into action and supported the book when she mentioned it in her newsletter:
Amanda Palmer's newsletter mention of Invention Is a Mother
Big hugs to Amanda and everyone else here whose lives have been touched with sorrow because of ALS. I hope Invention will bring you hope, comfort, or at least a few belly laughs!
I don't think Rob exactly set out to be an inspiration, but I am definitely inspired, and I know when you read the book, you'll feel exactly the same. It has been one of the truly greatest honors of my life to work with him on this project.
This is a huge accomplishment. Writing a book is hard. Publishing one is an entirely different challenge, and doing a Kickstarter as an introvert?! Forget it. But he did it. And look what he was able to achieve!
Rob, here's to you! I'm proud to know you.
Alessandor, the editor who promises I'm not crying, you're crying.
We're in the home stretch!
We are a few short days from the end of the preorder campaign for Invention Is a Mother and the fundraiser for Team Gleason. Both campaigns end this Sunday, June 19, and it looks like we're lined up to finish with a bang!
163 copies of Invention Is a Mother have been preordered so far, and the Team Gleason fundraiser sits at $10.5k!
We're extremely happy with the response the book has received, and your support has exceeded our expectations every step of the way! THANK YOU!!! Thank you for making this the whoppingest success in the whole grand history of whoppings and successes. We could finish now and be so, so happy. But who knows what might happen in a week?!
The end is creeping closer, with stealth only matched by a wormhole seven martinis deep into a night with a handsy lawyer—which, for the sake of the uninitiated, is startlingly stealthy! So if you know just one person who would get a kick out of reading Rob's book or putting a smile on his dear sweet face, shoot them the link to the Kickstarter and tell them to hop to!
Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robbrownell/invention-is-a-mother
Team Gleason: https://teamgleason.rallybound.org/creative/RobBrownell
From Rob:
Thank you again to everyone for your amazing support of Invention Is a Mother and my Team Gleason ALS fundraiser! It's been a wild ride.
Seeing the interest in my book and getting positive reviews for what I wrote has been first and foremost an incredible relief, given my self-doubt, but beyond that I feel incredibly thankful for everyone's generosity.
All donations to Team Gleason, no matter the size, are a huge help to someone living with ALS, and our combined giving is sure to have a life-changing effect. Team Gleason helped me personally by funding my wheelchair seat elevator. They funded my digital voice so I can continue to communicate with my loved ones and bark commands at my caregivers. ALS can try, but with Team Gleason's help, it won't take that away from me!
We raise our glasses to you!
Alessandor, the weepy-once-again editor of Invention Is a Mother
"I see Dead Wood" T-shirts now available!
We are proud to reveal the T-shirt design created by artist Jack Van Thomme and inspired by Invention Is a Mother:
From Invention Is a Mother:
Noticing movement on his own belly, Shaughnessy discovered Sammy had slipped an advertisement onto his identiTee. The animation featured a hieroglyphically stylized eye plastered across his front. The enormous eyeball swiveled in a socket, studying everyone within range. Above the eye, across his chest, the advertisement read, I see Dead Wood!
How to get yours:
The T-shirt is available as an “add-on” that you can add to your original order. If you’ve already preordered a book, you can change your reward and add the T-shirt, an InAction!! beanie, or a Lean MFG kitchen towel. Also available in a reward combo with the paperback!
These happy looking people can see Dead Wood. Can you?
When someone asks you what the T-shirt means and you’re embarrassed to admit that you don’t know because you haven’t yet read the novel—or never intended to in the first place—just answer, “I’m against deforestation!”
At least you’ll sound environmentally in the know. The full explanation is much more convoluted.
My GIF to you!
Hi, gang!
Lots of cool developments happening behind the scenes! I wanted to let you in on some of the things we're currently working on.
Production is chugging along on the book! It's currently being formatted, and it looks AMAZING! We introduced some custom design elements we think you'll really appreciate.
The preorder campaign is SUPER close to 300%!! Like 5% away!!! You guys are fabulous.
Remember when Rob promised everyone I would do a fun stunt to celebrate 200% on the Kickstarter AND Team Gleason? Well, he told me getting a line from the book tattooed was off the table, but we both love Pink Floyd and cheesy lip syncing, so I am putting together a video of me "performing" The Great Gig in the Sky! Here's a sneak peek:
The Great GIF in the Sky!
We've got an artist (a real one, not me this time!) working on a new merch design, which we're hoping to share with you later this week!
And we came up with a funny smear campaign to share on social media, with some silly quotes attributed to various "Critics." Here is a sampling to give you an idea:
The above format is ideal for sites like Twitter, Reddit, and blogs.
The above format is ideal for sites like Instagram and Facebook.
The above format is ideal for sites like Twitter, Reddit, and blogs.
We've got a smattering of other quotes, like, "This book puts the gross in engrossing!" and, "It fills the void in literature between profound and profoundly stupid."
In other news, June 2 — today! — is Lou Gehrig Day. Lou Gehrig was a Major League Baseball player who had ALS, which used to be called Lou Gehrig's Disease. You can learn more about the man and the day at the Major League Baseball website.
That's all I've got for now! As always, thank you for your contributions! We appreciate it more than we can say!
Alessandor, editor and aspiring professional lip-syncer
New Merch Reveal!!
We've got an extra special surprise available today! InAction!! beanies!
Just in time for summer!
From Rob:
Thank you everyone for supporting my Invention Is a Mother book launch and my Team Gleason fundraiser! We have more than doubled my initial goals on both accounts! In recognition of that achievement, Alessandor will be recording an emotional lip-sync'ed rendition of Pink Floyd’s The Great Gig in the Sky and she’d better be posting that soon.
In celebration of our near future — when AI and robotics and athletics finally coalesce to create exercise equipment and sportswear that can operate without our exhausting participation — this week we are offering InAction!! headgear paired with a paperback copy of the book.
This sporty, soon-to-be stylish beanie features an embroidered InAction!! logo. Early adopters like electric bicycle and Esports enthusiasts will love the sense of movement the dynamic graphics add to their seated positions! A perfect gift for the sedentary athlete in your life. Taoists love them too!
InAction!! and Lean MFG are fictional companies that appear in the text of Invention Is a Mother. Buy them on a lark, preorder your copy of the book to discover what the heck they mean!
From Invention Is a Mother:
His dangling feet stop inches from the stage, above a pair of bunched yoga pants. The pants shimmy their way up his calves, up his thighs, like a serpent swallowing its prey whole.
“Our InAction!! family is extremely proud to present... Self-Actualizing Yoga Pants!” Gloria gestures to redirect attention to her husband, but all eyes are already trained on him.
The crowd can’t help but gasp as the pants cinch tight and mold Walton’s midsection into something resembling a waistline, his backside into perfectly-formed curvature-continuous buttocks.
Get your favorite color!
The pompoms are easily removed, if you aren't excited to have fluffy bits of thread atop your head!
Many of our plans for merch incorporate brands, products, and startups from the book. We'll be sharing a brief snippet about each when we reveal the designs! Stay tuned for more as our creative team works tirelessly to bring you cool ways to rep your future favorite book!
Stats
The Kickstarter stands at 269% funded! And we've still got 21 days of the preorder campaign to go!
As of today, we've also raised $7, 303 for Team Gleason! That's AMAZING! Our original goal was $3,000. With your help, we've flown way above and beyond. Thank you!!
Rob Brownell Trivia!
While doing research to assemble the Jeopardy game for the launch party—which you can play now at the bottom of this post!—I came across something absolutely amazing!
In this May 1998 interview with Computer Graphics magazine, Douglas Adams praises the Apple Newton for its backlit display, which was at the cutting edge of technology at the time.
The latest Apple Newton has a dpi of 100, is backlit, and already that is making a big difference -- even "real" books don't have the backlit feature!
Why is that a big deal?
Well, Rob actually worked at Apple between 1991 and 1994 as a mechanical engineer, and one of the products he worked on was the Apple Newton! The version Douglas Adams is referring to is obviously a slightly later model. But still, in a sort of indirect way, Douglas Adams was a fan of Rob's work. And I think that's pretty dang cool.
Stats for today
The Kickstarter stands at 264% funded! And we've still got 22 days of the preorder campaign to go!
As of today, we've also raised $7, 303 for Team Gleason! That's AMAZING! Our original goal was $3,000. With your help, we've flown way above and beyond. Thank you!!
To celebrate, we'll be doing a design reveal for a new merch offering from a brand in the book later today! Stay tuned!
Design Reveal: Towel Day Exclusive Towel!
The launch party starts in half an hour! It's free to attend. Details here.
This fun design will be embroidered on kitchen towels!
From Invention Is a Mother:
"Welcome! I’m Dorothea. Here at Lean MFG we say, ‘The G stands for gourmet!’ We specialize in vegetables,” she said.
“We begin our preparation by working through the issues that might negatively affect flavor. We counsel the vegetables about their fears of being flayed, dismembered, boiled alive, and eaten and have group sessions for those suffering PTSD from insect infestations. We reassure all our ingredients that they’re going to a better place, which, admittedly, is a matter of perspective.
"We don’t serve genetically modified vegetables.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “They think they’re a superior race. It only encourages them.”
Many of our plans for merch incorporate brands, products, and startups from the book. We'll be sharing a brief snippet about each when we reveal the designs! Stay tuned for more as our creative team works tirelessly to bring you cool ways to rep your future favorite book!
Kickstarter #ProjectWeLove, Towel Day, 234% funded!
Today is the day! Towel Day! And the day we all get together over Zoom to celebrate the launch of Invention Is a Mother and recognize the amazing things we have achieved together! 3PM EDT!
If you want in on that action, here's a link to the Eventbrite page. Admission is free: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-for-invention-is-a-mother-and-towel-day-party-byot-tickets-339528588147
I have a few more exciting announcements! Kickstarter has welcomed us into Projects We Love! To thank everyone for the amazing support, I will be performing an embarrassing stunt and uploading it for you all to see, since we are now well over 200% on both campaigns!! We are also extending the Early Bird Special ($10 off the hardcover edition of the book) for another week! And in a nod to Towel Day, we've decided to create a custom kitchen towel—available today only!—embroidered with the logo of Lean MFG, a fictional restaurant from IIaM.
Dorothea explains:
"Welcome! I’m Dorothea. Here at Lean MFG we say, ‘The G stands for gourmet!’ We specialize in vegetables,” she said.
“We begin our preparation by working through the issues that might negatively affect flavor. We counsel the vegetables about their fears of being flayed, dismembered, boiled alive, and eaten and have group sessions for those suffering PTSD from insect infestations. We reassure all our ingredients that they’re going to a better place, which, admittedly, is a matter of perspective.
"We don’t serve genetically modified vegetables.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “They think they’re a superior race. It only encourages them.”
Many of our plans for merch incorporate brands, products, and startups from the book. We'll be sharing a brief snippet about each when we reveal the designs! Stay tuned for more as our creative team works tirelessly to bring you cool ways to rep your future favorite book!
Are you ready to party?
The launch party for Invention Is a Mother is coming up this Wednesday, at 3PM EDT on Zoom!
May 25 is Towel Day, as if you needed reminding! Towel Day is a celebration of Douglas Adams, who wrote Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
In honor of Towel Day, we’ll be having a BYOT (Bring Your Own Towel) Contest. May the best towel win!
Be the hoopiest frood on the block with a super exclusive embroidered kitchen towel, the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have! It features the logo of a restaurant from the novel—many of our merch offerings are designed with ridiculous fictional brands that appear in the book. Available only on Towel Day! We'll post an update on Wednesday to reveal the design!
Hitchhikers, or Invention? HHGTTG, or IIaM? Douglas Adams, or Rob Brownell? We'll play a Jeopardy style game to guess where the quote came from!
Anyone who makes a donation to Team Gleason or preorders INVENTION IS A MOTHER on Kickstarter during the party will be publicly and loudly flogged with acknowledgement and gratitude!
You’ll also have the opportunity to win a digital advance reader copy of the book—read it before anyone else!
Join us for an afternoon of fun, towels, and frivolity! Be there or be Marvin!
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Stats and Stunts
When Rob sent out that message yesterday telling you I volunteered to film myself doing an embarrassing stunt if you guys helped us reach 200% on both fundraisers, I figured I wouldn't have to worry about it for a few weeks yet.
But guys!
As of right now, we're at 223% on the preorder campaign and 184% on the Team Gleason fundraiser! That embarrassing stunt is coming up much faster than I anticipated. Do you have any creative ideas for what I should do? Let us know!
FULLY FUNDED!!!
Thank you so much for your support! The response has far exceeded our expectations! We did not expect to fly right past all the milestones in just one day, so we need time to come up with witty ways to repeatedly thank you for the next month as we keep working on getting the book in the hands of millions of adoring fans.
We’ll be hitting you with a longer update tomorrow, so stay tuned!
💛🍌💛
Alessandor, the editor
Eighty-Eight Percent Funded!
Hihi!
I’m Alessandor, Rob’s editor. I’ve been watching the numbers on both campaigns all day in nervous excitement! We hit the ground running and are off to an amazing start!
I must admit I got a bit weepy a few hours in because I was blown away that we had reached 30%. Thirty percent! And now we’re almost at 90%!
It’s absolutely incredible, and from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for supporting Rob and the book. I can’t tell you how proud I am or how much this means to me. And if I’m THIS excited, imagine how he must feel!
Here are our current stats:
Kickstarter is $2198/$2500
Team Gleason is at $2250/$3000
Let’s see if we can tip both campaigns over 100% before Rob wakes up in the morning! 😜
The link for Team Gleason again is https://teamgleason.rallybound.org/creative/RobBrownell
Remember, if you make a donation of at least $100 to Team Gleason AND purchase a copy of Invention Is a Mother, you will be listed in the acknowledgments of the published book!
Thanks again for your support!