
Kickflip My Heart Audiobook campaign
Donation protected
We fully funded the book's publication now let's make the audiobook a reality.
Audiobooks are the bread and butter of the book market. They allow readers of all genres to have the book with them anytime and anywhere. They can read your book while driving, while taking a bath/shower, while on the treadmill at the gym, or even while cleaning the house. It makes your book so much more accessible. You have the chance to reach your reader in such a profound way. They are literally making your book part of their daily routine that's so intimate and extraordinary.
When I was fourteen years old and didn't know I was autistic, I wondered why I had such trouble relating to my male counterparts. They seemed to only want to talk about three things: girls, cars, and video games. So one day sitting in creative writing class and longing for a chance to date a guy in that class, I thought, why not write a book that appeals to men instead of women? It will be romantic but a little snarky instead. Kinda like a romantic satire instead of a romance novel.
At this age, my favorite book series in the entire world was the Sweet Valley Junior High Series because instead of chapters, the book was just written in vignettes. Each character had one and it would go back and forth between perspectives. I noticed being an avid reader, that a lot of books were not written in this first person perspective but in third person omniscient. So I sought out to write a romance book for men, one that was easy to read and appealed to them through humor and sarcasm.
And Dream Girl was born...my parents had no idea I was writing a novel but instead knew I was working on a short story project for my creative writing class. Surprisingly and because I was an IB sophomore, the entire school broke out in hysterias about having a teenage author in their midst. I even got several newspaper articles written about me, and several bookings because the entire community seemed to back me. Yet, still no dates so I wrote and published the sequel.
Jessica's Choice was born. Unlike Dream Girl, and having a better cover, the book was printed without any edits, and filed under mystery instead of romance.
While in college, a girl I befriended found out that I had a book, and bought it, and instead of pulling me aside, and discussing the book privately with me, offering her feedback as an English Major, and someone who was writing her own books with plans to publish them. She had 10 of her friends buy the book and leave reviews for it on Goodreads, and basically harshly left me wondering if writing was a career I should stick out.
Then, in 2017, I re-wrote the two books as one regular size novel since they were basically novellas by themselves, and with a murder mystery component, using another draft novel as the building piece, and inspired by how they wrongly published Jessica's Choice under mystery.
With the novel always being surrounded upon the idea of appealing more to men who don't read and turning them into readers, I knew exactly what I would call the book.
And so, Kickflip My Heart was finalized at it's fourth draft in 2017, but an idea for another book formed while working at a toxic workplace, and Sticks & Stones was written, edited, published, then re-formatted, added to, and republished under the title Sticks & Stones: Full Story Edition. The entire process of republishing S&S: Full Story Edition took about $1200 to $1500 back in December 2021 but the book itself was launched in 2022. It was a best-seller on Amazon India staying at #50 on Inspirational and Religious Poetry for an entire month. Once republished, it hit #11 in four different countries for an entire week upon it's launch date on 2-22-22 on the same list on Amazon. It has about 61 reviews online with most of them being 4 and 5 star reviews including industry big-wig Kirkus calling the collection "Timely."
I would be honored to have your support to edit, format, copyright, certify, and publish Kickflip My Heart. Any extra money raised will help me promote the book as well as publish the audiobook with Audiobook Network.
The story follows Jessica Cortez a hugely famous actress (think Demi Lovato or Selena Gomez) who heads to Orlando, FL for a trip to Mouseland Resort. She invites Pete Young, an old high school crush who is now a male model, and Jeremy Koeingzfield, a fellow actor and industry friend but celebrity crush since she was only 14. Now 25, Jessica is hoping to find a love that not only lasts but seeks to understand her, and longs to journey through life with her like the greatest adventure. Little does she know, that love is also seeking her. While vacationing and going on dates with the men she invited, a murder occurs on the Mouseland Resort property. Now the question begs asking: Can true love withstand a murder investigation?
If you can donate anything at all, I would appreciate it.
Thank you,
Chelsea DeVries
Organizer
Chelsea DeVries
Organizer
Hudson, FL