One of the lovely things about traveling by book is that you can pack for an entire adventure by finding your reading glasses.
No luggage restrictions. No connecting flights. And if the destination turns out to involve time travel, suspicious activity, or trouble in deep space, you can face it with your favorite beverage close at hand.
The tricky part can be deciding where to go next.
Sometimes you want a familiar author and the comfort of knowing you are in good storytelling hands. Sometimes you want someone new. Someone whose characters, humor, and particular brand of trouble might be exactly what you have been hoping to find.
That possibility is at the heart of Books in Your Pocket, and I’m excited to be part of its upcoming Kickstarter campaign, planned for October.
Our invitation is simple:
One Passport. Endless Worlds.
Books in Your Pocket brings books from hand-picked indie authors together in an easy-to-explore reader discovery hub. You can browse by genre, follow your mood, and meet authors you may not have encountered before, including bestselling and award-winning storytellers.
Perhaps today calls for a mystery. Tomorrow might require a romance, a trip to another world, or a few hours somewhere everyday worries have trouble finding you.
There is room for all those reading moods. You don’t have to defend your favorite genre or have a worthy reason for wanting to disappear into a book. “It sounds like fun” is an excellent travel plan.
The hope behind Books in Your Pocket is to make finding your next story easier, warmer, and more enjoyable. Less time searching. More time reaching the part where you tell yourself you’ll read just one more chapter.
We all know how that goes.
The Kickstarter is an invitation to help support this new discovery hub while taking a guided journey through its authors’ worlds. The campaign’s tiers are being shaped around discovery: places to explore, things to collect along the way, and opportunities to get to know the people creating the stories.
That connection matters. When you discover a book through Books in Your Pocket and buy directly from its author, you are supporting the person who dreamed up the characters, puzzled over their predicaments, and worked to bring their world to life.
And yes, I will be opening a few doors into my own perilously fun corners of the universe.
My contributions include printable world postcards—little invitations to imagine your next fictional destination—Protocol Zero, an original origin short story from The Cyborg Chronicles, and some other fun goodies. If cyborgs are on your preferred travel itinerary, that is one to watch for.
I’m also contributing Time Twisters, a story worlds field guide. Because when your reading adventures involve time travel, a field guide seems like a sensible thing to have within reach. Whether anyone follows sensible advice is, of course, another matter.
For readers who would enjoy a closer look behind the stories, there is Pauline’s Perilously Fun World Patron Packet.
Here is a small peek inside: a delightfully retro digital badge, an exclusive Letter from the Chrono Current— a sneak peek behind the scenes of my worlds—and a few other fun things (I hope!). There will also be an invitation to a relaxed virtual Traveller Lounge chat, where we can talk books, weird research rabbit holes, brave heroines, good-guy heroes, and the occasional pet with a plan.
Bring your curiosity. Questionable travel advice may occur.
Those are a few of the stops I’m preparing. Other authors will be opening doors into their worlds, too, and that is part of the pleasure of this whole adventure. You might arrive curious about one familiar author and leave with several new names on your reading list.
Your next favorite author may be someone you haven’t discovered yet.
If you would like to come exploring, you can follow the Books in Your Pocket Kickstarter campaign to be notified when it launches. I’ll have more to share as we get closer to October, but for now, consider this your first glimpse of the itinerary.
One passport. Endless worlds. And plenty of room for book friends.
Where would you like your next story to take you?
Perilously yours,
Pauline