About a year ago, read "50 Shades of Grey". It was not a very good book, yet it was being read by hundreds of thousands, probably even millions, of people. I figured "if they can get all these people to read this, it can't be that hard to get something out there that actually has some substance"
That's the thinking of Walter Blake Knoblock. Born, raised and schooled in Michigan, Knoblock decided that he was going to focus his attentions on something that had substance, because the Great Lakes weren't getting enough buzz. He's hoping that through the website Kickstarter.com he can successfully produce a book about the U.S.'s favorite big bodies of water. To the top backers he's offering some add ons like a vile of water from the lakes and original oil paintings. He and the fans of http://.thegreatlakesbookproject.com/ are sure that he can do it.
As of January 3rd 2012 he has 14 days left raise his goal of 3,000 dollars to produce the book. The way Kick Starter works, if he doesn't get all the money, he gets none of the money. If that happens the book will likely be brushed very far under a rug in a abandoned apartment, no one will see it. Unfortunately it seems like that's the way it's going to go. Knoblock is optimistic but with so much time already elapsed, and still another thousand to go on his deadline it seems unlikely that he will make it.
"Grass roots everything" is how a lot of artists are trying to find new funding and life for their projects. Unfortunately unless enough people pay attention and decide they want something unique and with "substance" it may not make much of a difference for a lot of the projects out there. Some great ideas never get the funding they need. Let's hope it's different for Knoblock's Great Lakes Project.
