The past seven months or so have been the most difficult in
my life: from a collapsed lung and subsequent near-fatal haematoma last October,
to the death of my beloved Mum on March 17th of this year, and trudging
through that grief... it’s been rough going… it still is, at times, and I’m
sure I’ll have plenty of low moments in the months ahead, but that’s life and
life must go on.
That said, my ‘life situation’ is quite precarious right now
and I could use some help in overcoming that… hence the proposal in this blog
(which is essentially a crowd-sourcing initiative, though I’m not using
IndieGogo or KickStarter due to the urgency to resolve said situation).
I’m not asking for charity – rather, I’m looking for people
to invest
in Lesism
and the potential of my writing… be it a few pounds/dollars or hundreds of them…
and as well as getting what I hope is an attractive perk for their contribution
level, they will – in time – receive at least twice the initial sum
invested – which is a bit more than other crowd-sourcing options return.
So, say, you contribute £25 (eBooks for life), not only will
you get every eBook I ever publish in my entire life, but as soon as I can,
I’ll give you back £50.
Now, I’m sure some will be thinking right about now that
there are dubious maths on this deal, and it would be difficult to double the
investment on every contribution I receive, but the truth is I’ve barely begun
to develop Lesism to its full potential… yet, I think it’s fair to say
that I’ve already done remarkably well in creating a mighty foundation for
what’s to come.
I passed through an astonishing ONE MILLION page views on my blog, yesterday, which was exactly two
years to the day since I really began pushing my Lesism writing in social
media circles.
This translates to approximately one page view per minute,
since May 14th, 2011.
In that time, I’ve built up a Twitter following of more than 120,000 people,
and there’s a highly active and slightly bonkers crowd of just over 6,500
‘liking’ my Facebook Page (something I’ve only recently been developing).
Where
can I take this in another five years, particularly if I can raise the capital
I need to turbo-charge my endeavours?
There’s no reason why I can’t build a multi-million pound,
ethical business around my writing… extending my reach into seven or even eight
figures…
It’s not about high scores, though: it’s about the amount of
people that I’m humbled to be able to say my writing has helped. I’ve received
countless messages over the past two years from souls I’ve never met,
physically, but who chanced upon my blog and read something that touched their
heart, or gave them food for thought enough for them to step away from the
brink of something tragic.
Many of the people who have needed the most help have been
pointed to these blogs by their friends… people like you… and that’s what’s so
beautiful about this new cyber-world we share… literally that we can share our
thoughts and experiences and help make a real difference, even from thousands
of miles away.
Present Awareness/Mindfulness (the main theme of my Lesism
writings) can, without doubt, alleviate anxiety and depression and even save
lives, and I’m very fortunate to have the experience and ability of expression
to help teach others this practice.
With your support, I can get the stability, space and the tools
I need to record audio books and video content for a new, media-rich website; utilize
Skype for one-on-one chats with people in need; hold webinars and move on to
public speaking, eventually running retreats, as well as training others.
I mean, these are things that will happen and I’m already
working towards, but with a bit of capital, I can bring them about much quicker
- by a factor of months or even years, in some cases - and I truly believe that
if I can do that, we can make a positive difference to a great many lives.
I don’t want to give anyone the illusion that there will be
a fast-track turnaround on their investment. It’s going to take time to
translate these ideas into substance on the Interlands and elsewhere before I
begin to make a profit.
And most of the perks don’t actually exist, yet – at least
not outside my brain. The closest to completion is an eBook of edited Lesism
blogs, which would have been released in March, if it weren’t for the events of
the past few months, but it’s now scheduled for publication at the end of June.
I guess you’d have to approach any contribution as a pre-order of products to
come.
Also, I’m not asking people to invest what they can’t afford…
On the ‘risks’ front… well, there is a possibility that I could die of natural
causes or through a bizarre act of God, be assassinated for some reason I can’t
currently think of, or suffer terrible brain damage after inhaling Weetabix
crumbs, but otherwise, since I don’t have the body to be a pole dancer or a
gigolo, what I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life is writing.
Finally, before I list the perks available, I just want to
say thanks in advance to those who do contribute… like I said, it’s a difficult
time and I really appreciate your faith and support, and for helping making a
big difference to my life when I need it most.
Hugs,
Les x
P.S. If you have any questions, please give me a shout at LesFloyd@Gmail.com, and I’ll get back to
you as soon as I can.
Perks
(Remember – as well as receiving the perks, you will also
receive twice the initial investment, as soon as it’s feasibly possible
for me to pay it... and this will be repaid on a first-come/first-served
basis.)
£5 - Blank Page – A big, heart-felt thank you
and an eBook copy of ‘Lesism – The Blogs’ (due for release in June, this year)
£10 – Letter – An eBook copy of my ‘Awakening’
book, to be released in Nov/Dec, this year, plus the above.
£25 – Word – Every eBook I ever publish, for
life, plus all the above.
£50 – Sentence – A 30-minute Skype chat and an
unique, limited edition, badly-drawn cat, sent to you in a traditional
envelope, via physical mail (like in the olden days) along with a hand-written
‘thank you’ message… plus all of the above.
£100 – Paragraph – A 60-minute Skype chat, every
Audio Book I ever produce, for life, plus all of the above.
£250 – Chapter – Everything I ever publish,
ever, including lifetime membership subscriptions to websites, first-edition physical
copies of books and other printed material, plus all of the above.
£500 – Book – The recipe for my world-famous
lasagne, a bespoke short story, with you (or anyone you nominate) as the lead
protagonist, plus all of the above.
£1000 – Trilogy – Two months hands-on assistance
in helping you build up your Twitter and Facebook presence (very useful for
business), plus all of the above.
£5000 – Saga – A 5% ‘share’ in the profits of
all my Lesism and literary endeavours, for life, plus all of the above. (Limit
of 5)
 |
| A Ferocious Cat |
