Wow...we made our target!
Massive thanks to everyone who supported our campaign - through pledges and shares!!
We nearly made our secondary target of  $18,555 - and will aim to create the Audiobook within this reduced budget.
Stay tuned...

If you are looking to purchase a copy of Zobi and the Zoox or our first book - The Squid, the Vibrio & the Moon - please use the reward links on the Right-hand side of this page, or our Small Friends Bookshop.

ABOUT ZOBI AND THE ZOOX - POZIBLE CAMPAIGN (SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED NOV 30th)
Our new book Zobi and the Zoox is an illustrated science-adventure story starring microbes, molecules and mucus – members of the tiny symbiotic society who live within a coral polyp named Darian.

When their home is under threat Zobi (a brave Rhizobia bacterium), teams up with a family of slow but steady Zoox (zooxanthellae). The ocean gets too hot, the coral is gravely ill and the other bacteria go crazy...so Zobi and the Zoox have to work together to try and save the day.
Zobi and the Zoox is the second, science-adventure story in the Small Friends book series. Initiated and self-published by Dr. Gregory Crocetti and Briony Barr from art-science collective Scale Free Network, the series aims to create beautiful stories about some of the many intimate symbiotic relationships between the very small (microorganisms) and larger forms of life found throughout nature.

This new book Zobi and the Zoox is the second time that Scale Free Network have partnered with writer Ailsa Wild, visual ecologist Aviva Reed to create a storybook.
This campaign is your chance to pre-order copies of this new book – posted in time for Xmas – and also support us to reach our bigger goal of creating an Audiobook, iBook and Education resources…
 
Here’s a little background:
Our first book The Squid, the Vibrio & the Moon has been really well received (thanks to our supporters for making it Pozible!!)


Here are a few quotes from readers of our first book:

“I read your first book The Squid the Vibrio & the Moon to my four-year-old grandson and he was absolutely riveted. As soon as I finished, he demanded that I read it again. He was swept up by the story, the incredible characters in it and wonders of the relationships that have evolved. I look forward to the series to come.”
David Suzuki (Scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster)

“Congratulations, the book is superb…It’s very clever and great fun.”
Robyn Williams (The Science Show, ABC Radio National)

“He talks about guardian haemocytes. He likes to tell people how they protect his body from bad bacteria. Such a lovely book.”
Mother of a 3 year old book-owner
Earlier this year – we gained support for Zobi and the Zoox from Arts Victoria, and have used this funding to pay our team to develop the story and create something even more amazing than last time!
Our creative team has again partnered with Microbiologist Prof. Linda Blackall and this time also worked with Molecular Ecologist – and coral expert – Dr. Madeleine Van Oppen (Australian Institute of Marine Science). We have now completed a new, illustrated manuscript and are nearly ready to publish Zobi and the Zoox.
Unlike our last campaign, we are aiming to achieve an ever larger vision – to turn the storybook into a series of digital resources:
an Audiobook, an iBook, and Digital Teacher Resources. If successfully funded, we will create these new resources – and make them available to download for our Pozible supporters for no charge. Our gift to you.

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
For us, these books are about telling positive stories about our small microbial friends – without which, life as we know it would not exist. To sum it up, here is our microbial symbiosis manifesto which appeared on the first page of our first book.



A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE ZOBI AND THE ZOOX STORY
Zobi and the Zoox tells a tale of coral symbiosis, a story of the ‘coral society’ living inside a single coral polyp named Darian. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (where the story is set) is one of the natural wonders of the world, and yet corals are not well understood by most people. For starters, coral is an animal! An animal supported by trillions of micro-oganisms, who live inside it and keep it alive as it builds the reef. In our story, you’ll meet Zobi, our Rhizobian heroine, one member of the incredibly diverse microbial community who make their home within Darian’s walls…

We have created this storybook for children aged 8%20 to read on their own. But our favourite kind of audience is definitely adults and children (4%20) who read together. At the back of the book there is a science section that explains key points of the story in an accessible (and admittedly, slightly nerdy) way.

A more detailed breakdown of our budget can be found below.
However here are the basics.
There are 3 levels to our funding plan:

GOAL 1. Raise $14 105
Sealing the Deal!
We will use the bulk of funds raised from pre-ordered copies of the book to go towards publishing, postage and administration. Zobi and the Zoox will be printed by the amazing Arena Printing, our local printer who uses 100% green energy,100% recycled paper and vegetable inks. 

We will also donate $1/book towards the Mackay Conservation Group, an awesome grassroots non-profit community organisation. They have identified that our iconic Great Barrier Reef is suffering from multiple assaults, including rapid industrialisation of the coastline, increased shipping, nutrient run-off from agriculture, and most significantly, climate change. MCG has directed much of their limited resources to fighting the proposals that will escalate these threats.


GOAL 2. Raise an additional $4450
Wow!!
If we reach our second level target - all our Pozible supporters will also receive a free copy of the audiobook. Yes, that could be you!!
Basically, we will use these funds to pay for Brisbane-based electro-new-new-wave musicians - Brainbeau - to create a soundtrack for the audiobook version of Zobi and the Zoox. We with these funds, we can also record our writer Ailsa narrating the story, pay for a recording studio, audio engineer and mastering.
Here’s a link to the audiobook of our first book that we created on a shoestring budget!

GOAL 3. Raise a further $8150
Smashing!!!
If we reach our third level target of $26,705, you will ALSO receive a free iBook version AND Teacher/Education Notes (Android users - stay tuned).
The majority of these funds would go to our e-developer (Mark Gilliland) who would create an interactive iBook version of Zobi and the Zoox. The narration and musical score from our audiobook could also be incorporated into this digital book version. A small portion of this additional money would also pay for Scale Free Network to create an art-science teaching resource to accompany the book.


This project is supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria.

Since the major part of the project is already done (researching and creating the story), there are mainly only logistical hurdles left. These include: proofing the manuscript to within an inch of its life; getting the files to the printer on time; managing the postage of the published books to our amazing Pozible supporters; and making sure they get to people before the Xmas deadline.
The good news is that since this is the second time that we have faced these challenges as a group, we have a very good plan formulated with a clear timeline to guide us and a strong belief in our ability to deliver our goals effectively and efficiently!
One of the benefits of working with such a diverse team is that we have many skillsets at our disposal. You can be assured that Dr. Gregory Crocetti was born for the role of coordinating this schedule.