The sequels to the nerdtacular kids book My Little Geek has reached its US$10,000 funding goal on Kickstarter with a week left to go.
With the initial goal out of the way, the Auckland parents behind the books – Andrew and Sarah Spear – are aiming high, targeting a stretch goal of $32,000 which will let them tour the US to do book signings in preschools.
To make up the US$22,000 deficit (and also do a bit of good for the community), Andrew Spear tells Idealog that the Kickstarter campaign now allows backers to add $10 to their purchase, which will put towards sending extra books to needy schools.
The Kickstarter campaign ends on June 25.
Original Story: The Kiwi creators of the adorably geeksome children's book My Little Geek, which taught children about androids and electromagnetism, are scribbling away at their latest project for kids and the kids-at-heart. Two new books (Nerdy Numbers and Sci-fi Shapes) are in the works to teach children about numbers, shapes and the meaning of life, the universe and everything: 42. The books' writers are taking to Kickstarter to get their latest creations published.
Auckland parents Andrew and Sarah Spear's Kickstarter campaign launched on Tuesday and already it's achieved 17 percent of its US$10,000 goal.
Despite their first book receiving acclaim from notable technoratti such as Guy Kawasaki and Robert Scobles, My Little Geek wasn't a financial hit says Andrew Spear.
"We sold a few thousand copies and broke even within a year … It didn't' give us enough money to go ahead to do a sequel, but saw there was a lot of interest in this kind of book which is why we've started this campaign," he says.
Accompanying the printed books is an iOS app to be developed by Auckland-based dev shop Elucid Code, which has digital versions of the three stories along with 12 mini-games. An Android version of the app is also under consideration, but may require more funding.
The $10,000 goal is to publish the two new books and get the iPad app developed, but if the campaign reaches $32,000 Spear says he and his wife will do a publicity tour through US preschools to promote the book and raise money for those schools.
Spear, who's a web developer by day, says he's not sure the My Little Geek range will ever become a full time job – and that's the way he wants to keep it.
"I don't want this to become a full time thing. I love dabbling in it and doing lot's of projects. I love this one particularly because it's the only thing I do that isn't 100 percent code-based," he says.
The Spear family's long-term goal is to create a movement a geeky parenting movement. Spear's is working towards launching a parenting blog later this year which focuses on fund things parents can do with their children, which he hopes will inspire grown-ups to spend more time with their kids.
