"The True Story of Kai the Hitchhiker" Book

I'm Philip Fairbanks. I'm an indie journo who has been covering the case of Caleb McGillivary (better known to the world as Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker) for 5 years now. At the moment I've been finalizing the book. This year alone I have spent a couple thousand dollars or more (about 10% of my pre-tax take home annual income) on public data searches, PACER docs, background searches and other paid services. Now I'm a matter of weeks away from having the book ready to publish, but there are a few things still left to do and I'm a bit short compared to what I need.

I would like to get a Kirkus review to hopefully help with sales and get the story out to more people

$450 for the Kirkus review, book layout interior design (cover is already paid for) for the book and the companion volume with all the interview transcripts and court docs referenced in the book will be between $200-250

I've spent several hundred to have the interviews transcribed but still have a couple more to go that will run around $150. There's also a vital public database that is only available with annual subscription that's going to run $101.

I also hope we can raise at least the $195 for a single licensed photo of Kai from Shutterstock, would go great in addition to the artist's rendering of the iconic shot from the interview. Part of the money goes to print copies/shipping to anyone who donates $20 or more if there's any left over that will go to ad spend money and if there's not, well I guess I'm spending out of my pocket. That said this story is bigger than me and I'm going to do all I can to get it out there so hopefully people will get engaged and active in helping bring this corruption to light.

So at this point, that's nearly a grand that I literally do not have that needs to be raised before this book can become a reality. If you can help I will ensure you get a free copy (signed if you like, unless you're afraid it will hurt resale value lol). All seriousness though, I spent 5 months in bed last year fearing I would become quadriplegic before I broke down to start a GFM for surgery. But THIS? This is bigger than me. It's bigger than Kai as well. This is his story but also a larger story about injustice and unequal treatment before the law.

FYI, if you so desire anyone who donates can get name in dedication/thanks section (or pseudonym so long as its not a vulgar phrase or something).

And remember! A share is as good as money. I know times are tough and money is tight, and hate to even ask, but it doesn't cost a penny to share/retweet this (or any other worthy GFM causes).