Welcome to the Crowdsourcing Mornings segment! Every weekday morning, Geek Alabama talks about and features one crowdsourcing project from crowdsourcing sites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and others. The hope with Crowdsourcing Mornings is to feature and help a project be successful and reach its fundraising goal. Please enjoy today’s featured project!
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In Japanese folklore, the god of the sea is a great dragon called Ryūjin who lives at the bottom of the ocean in a fabulous coral, pearl, and crystal palace called Ryūgū. Ryūgū and Ryūjin are the theme upon which The Palace of the Dragon King, my fifth yokai encyclopedia, was compiled.
The Palace of the Dragon King features more than one hundred entries on creatures from Japanese folklore and mythology; including the dragon palace and the dragon king himself, his royal daughters, and his servants who work in the undersea kingdom. Every entry in the book has been translated and adapted by me from original Japanese sources. Many of the stories and creatures in it have never been published in English before!
The yokai in this encyclopedia are divided into five chapters:
- On the Land: featuring a wide range of ghosts, monsters, and spirits found in forests and mountains throughout Japan
- In a Garden: food-related spirits that you might find lurking around your garden
- By the Water: yokai that live near rivers, lakes, and along the coast
- Out at Sea: sea monsters and other yokai that live far from land, or deep under the ocean
- At the Royal Court: creatures related to the dragon palace and its inhabitants
As an artist, the goal with my books has always been to not only educate and entertain by sharing folklore that is for the most part inaccessible outside of the Japanese language, but also create a beautiful book full of art. Each entry in this encyclopedia is accompanied by a large, full color illustration. In addition, each of the five chapters begins with a two-page spread illustration, and there is a colorful map of Japan in the beginning of the book. That’s over 100 unique paintings created especially for this book! This is the kind of book you can leave out on your coffee table for guests to browse through, or flip through by yourself and let your imagination wander.
As of December 6th, this project has raised $108,000 of their $2,718 goal. This project has 30 days left to raise as much as it can. For a pledge of $11, you will get one eBook. For a pledge of $34, you will get one paperback book. To learn more and to pledge money, go to: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/osarusan/the-palace-of-the-dragon-king?
Categories: Crowdsourcing Mornings Stuff
