Notes from Chris

Episode 408

As a professional architect and journalist, David Dewane has always believed in the unique power of the written word. Then, as a lifelong fan of books, it’s little surprise that his passion for literature became his side hustle.

David spends his work days thinking about how to build ideas and bring them to life in design. But like many good ideas, the inspiration for David’s side hustle came out of nowhere. Or more specifically, it came from a bus ride. His snowy, slow bus commute in south-side Chicago was the one place he could zone out during the day, at least for a few minutes. It was (and still is) a route he takes at least 5 days a week, and this trip was not unlike the rest of them. What was different, though, was that David noticed that everyone on the bus was looking down at their phone, except him.

He was holding a pocket-sized book in his hand, with dog-eared corners and worn out pages from regular reading. He had taken his phone out of his pocket to check a text from a friend when he noticed that his phone and book were pretty much the same size. They were both easy to travel with. And furthermore, they both held worlds of possibility.

The more David thought about it, the more he realized that everyone holding a phone was reading. And if they were already reading while commuting, or waiting in line at the grocery store, then it wouldn’t be hard to read something else if it were within easy reach. He looked around the bus again. Everyone had their eyes glued to their phone. If people had a real book in their pocket, something that gave them a richer and more engaging experience than scrolling through Instagram, David wondered if they be more likely to pick that up instead of their phone.

After printing a limited run of 100 copies for his friends for Christmas, he found the validation he was looking for and thought about how he could get his pocket-sized books in the hands of others. That’s when he turned to crowdfunding; he took the leap and launched Mouse Book Club's first Kickstarter campaign. It was a huge success and raised his first $50,000 of capital from over 1,000 backers. David used $20,000 to print and ship the first run of Mouse Books.

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Mouse Book Club: Turn a new page yourself and head on over to David's website!

• Kickstarter: The crowdfunding platform that David used to fund Mouse Book Club
• Drip: The Kickstarter extension that allows backers to support creators through recurring, monthly donations
• Project Gutenberg: The volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks"

SEE ALSO:

• Designer Turns Bad Parking Into $25,000 Per Year: Ever been annoyed at someone who double-parks? This Los Angeles designer turned his frustration into a novelty gift item with growing sales
• Alcohol Fueled Idea Sells Over 1,500 Shirts in Less Than a Year: After a night at the bar, three friends come up with an idea to add huge pockets to the front of t-shirts
• Unusual Men’s Fashion Item Romps Way to $100k: After spotting a viral Kickstarter campaign for men’s rompers, two young professionals decide to create their own fashion line

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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