Latest News

Matlock's Majickal Pid-Pad into Kickstarter...

Published: 1 Jun 2014  - updated: 19 Sep 2014

Author-Artist team Phil and Jacqui Lovesey talk about their crowdfunding project, and the majickal world of Winchett Dale...

To 'kickstart’, or not to 'kickstart’ - that was the question. Whether it would be nobler to suffer the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune’ (in our case, most probably sitting with a disinterested loans adviser as we outlined our plans to self-publish the second in the Matlock the Hare trilogy) - or 'to take arms 'gainst the sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them.’

We opted for the latter - using the online world of Kickstarter and crowdfunding as our 'arms’, launching our 28 day funding campaign on Sunday 25th May, gingerly hovering and clicking the mouse over the big green 'Launch-Project’ button, hoping that the weeks of hard work in preparing our 'pitch’ would pay off...

To date, (three days later, at the time of writing this) we’re 59% funded, leading to high hopes that we will be able to finish and publish The Puzzle of the Tillian Wand with our 'saztaculous’ publishers - SilverWood Books.

Nail (or paw!) biting as it is - everything has to be considered in your pitch, from the reward scales, fees, target amount, the video and a host of other things besides - once you finally push the button and actually know that it exists somewhere in the deep ether of cyberspace for 'backers’ to stumble upon, perhaps appraise - and hopefully consider backing! - it’s also incredibly rewarding. The pledges you receive are given willingly - there’s no lengthy forms or interest agreements to sign - folk pledge because they like what they see, believe in what you’re doing, and - most importantly - really want to see your project come to fruition...

It’s peffa-perfect online democratic philanthropy in action, and long may it last. (Interestingly, on the very same night we went 'live’ - Richard Branson announced plans to bid for Indiegogo, another prominent crowdfunding site, saying that if crowdfunding had been available in the fledgling days of his music empire, he’d have turned to it for funding without any hesitation.)

So after three 'sun-turns’ (Winchett Dalespeak for 'days’) Jacqui and I have been both stunned and overwhelmed by the response we’ve had so far - from long-time Matlock fans, loyal friends and also complete strangers who simply want to take a chance and back our project.

And what - you may well ask - are the downsides? Well, firstly, despite what some folk may assume it isn’t free money. It’s a long and exhaustive business creating, then running your pitch - with an elaborate reward structure given to backers in order that you are sure they are genuinely getting 'value’ for their pledges, and feel (quite rightly!) involved in every aspect of completion of the final project.

And of course, it you don’t reach the goal - you don’t get a 'drutt’...so as an all-or-nothing risk, it can be a little nerve shredding at times...

However, that being said, the last few days for Jacqui and I have been truly exhilarating and 'saztaculous’. Seeing the confirmation, there in a building green line under our project image, that folk believe in Matlock as much as we do is just the best feeling - a fabulous justification for all the hard work we have put into creating Matlock and the entire world of Winchett Dale over the last two years.

Sometimes, it really seems incredible to us that all we’ve done so far has come from just a few people wanting to more about a majickal-hare Jacqui first painted as a miniature watercolour many 'moon-turns’ ago...and over the next few weeks, it’ll be fascinating to see just how far Matlock the Hare will pid-pad...

To see our pitch for The Puzzle of the Tillian Wand - just click here...

Want to know more...?

Explore the majickal world of Winchett Dale and its famous resident Matlock Hare at matlockthehare.com.

Follow Matlock on Twitter @MatlockHare.

Keep up to date with the blog here.