Update 12/19

We've retreated deep into the editing and design cave for the next few months, however if you're kicking yourself that you've missed out on picking up a copy of Ex Libris, you're in luck. I can still take some preorders until the files go to the printer.

Send me a message via my web site and we'll be able to work something out.

https://www.simongroth.com/#/ex-libris/

Update 11/19

We did it! Thanks to everyone who has contributed and sent messages of support. I really appreciate it. The campaign will remain open and accepting orders until Monday so there's still an opportunity to reserve your copy if you haven't already.

Ex Libris is a novel with twelve chapters that can be shuffled into any order, yet will always present as a cohesive story arc.

This project aims to make a print run where each individual copy contains chapters that have been arranged at random, each one a unique version of the story, created just for you.

Believe it or not, this story has nearly half a billion possible combinations. Each copy will be one of a kind, yet all of them will tell the same story.

Print Edition

Each copy will look like a regular perfect-bound paperback book. But, thanks to the magic of digital print technology, no two copies  will contain the same order of chapters. Each one will one will be unique, a version of the story that has never existed before and will  never exist again. Each print edition will also include:

• Personalised bookplate: Give us a name and we'll print 'This book belongs to...' you.
• Unique serial number.
• Your name in the acknowledgements page that will go in every copy.

Ebook Edition

I'm not one to deny anyone who wants to read on screen. The ebook edition is a zip file containing the novel in three ebook formats (PDF, EPUB, Kindle). Each of these copies will contain unique shuffles of the story so they'll be different from each other. This edition won't contain any personlisation.

In a hyper-networked surveillance state, a small band of subversives calling themselves the ‘free readers’ has been quietly attempting to rebuild a library from the fragments and scraps of old books that have survived. In the process, they have built an elaborate and formidable organisation away from the otherwise ubiquitous eyes of the feared ‘committee for public safety’.

This is the story of four people drawn to the free readers variously by circumstance, romance, force, and curiosity. Dock dreams of relief. Inkle is looking for trouble. High seeks enlightenment. And Trace is chasing a legacy of written stories passed down to her by her grandfather before he was ‘erased’ by the authorities. 

My work has been published in Australia, Canada, and the United States. My books include the non-fiction Off the Record: 25 Years of Music Street Press (with Sean Sennett, UQP, 2010), the literary remix Hunted Down (if:book, 2016), and the young adult novel Infinite Blue (with Darren Groth, Orca Book Publishers, 2018).

From 2010 to 2016, I was the director of if:book Australia, creating a series of projects and events that explore technology and publishing, including the 24-Hour Book and the award-winning Memory Makes Us. In 2017, I was the project lead for #8WordStory, publishing microfiction to billboards throughout Brisbane that amassed more than 10,000 submissions. I am currently a contributing editor for The Writing Platform.

A complete draft of the novel is currently with my editor, Sue Wright (from Tiny Owl Workshop). She and I will spend the next few months refining the story and getting it right.

When the text is ready, multi-award-winning book designer Alissa Dinallo (Young Designer of the Year in 2015, Best Designed Independent Book in 2016, Best Designed Commercial Fiction Cover in 2018) will take over to create the cover and the internal page block. 

The finished book will also include an introduction from Ryan O’Neill (author of The Drover's Wives and Their Brilliant Careers, winner of the 2017 Prime Minister's Literary Award).

The coding and workflow in order to create randomised copies of the story is ready to roll (for those of you interested, you can see in the video the magic is all done with a combination of Applescript and Automator). 

Our printer is waiting and ready to turn at least 200+ individual print-ready files into finished ink and paper. 

We're ready to make Ex Libris a reality.

It’s a way of generating funds for a project on an all-or-nothing basis. All-or-nothing campaign funds are paid out only if we reach or exceed the funding target set from the beginning. For me, that target covers the cost of editing, design, and printing. If we don’t hit the target, the project doesn’t happen and no money changes hands.

Think of it like pre-ordering a book when it's part way through the publishing process. And—bonus—it means we can do cool stuff like customised bookplates and printing your name in the acknowledgements.

The budget for the project is pretty simple. 

The funding target is based on a print run of 250 and is broken down into three areas: printing, design and platform and merchant fees. 

As you can see, nearly than two thirds of the budget will go into the laborious bespoke printing process. I'm covering other costs such as editing and supplies separately.

The project has an ambitious target. And keeping the cost of the print edition as reasonable as possible means setting a high target for the number of copies sold to break even. That represents the biggest risk for the project, which is why your help to spread the word is absolutely vital if Ex Libris is to be made a real, physical thing.

If we succeed and meet the target early, the stretch goal will be to extend the print run further. The more support you can lend, the more copies we can send out into the world.