I launched my “Talking To Animals” project on Kickstarter.com Monday around noon, and I’m very happy to report that 48 hours later, the project is 84 per cent funded. I’ve struck a nerve.  I’ve raised $7,626 as of 10 a.m. Wednesday,  I need about $1,400 to fund “Talking To Animals” fully and successfully. On Kickstarter, no money is exchanged unless the project is fully funded. I hope to do that this week, possibly today or tomorrow.

This is exciting new terrain for me, I am surprised how exciting it is, I am surprised how comfortable it is. The biggest difference is that it is the opposite of corporate funding. There is no marketing department to battle through, nobody is doing focus groups on creative projects, the backers are the people who are interested in the project and want to see or read it. The people offering support are enthusiastic, there is not tension about it, most are happy for the opportunity to support the projects they believe in. It is a truly interactive, collaborative project, the notion of patron of the arts has been upended.

Creative people have always had to go outside of themselves to seek funding for their work, Kickstarter is not really that different from a publisher except it is a genuine partnership between creators of things and consumers of things, and I have a community of people eager to share in my work and receive the final results. We each get something valuable.

On Kickstarter, a very sophisticated well-organized site, I can message my  backers every day, and I will keep them posted on the progress of the project. It is, in a way, similar to the community that has formed around the blog, and many of the bedlamfarm.com bloggers have joined in the “Talking To Animals” project, I am very lucky to have them.

Yesterday, the pledges ranged from $10 to $1,000, I appreciate that kind of faith in me. The money will go to buy a new camera and equipment and time for me to write a book and e-book – “Talking To Animals,” and I will give all of the backers something – updates, findings, some photos, books, e-books. So far, 174 people have pledged money – I am asking for pledges of $25 or more. If the pledges go over $9,000, I will devote all of that money to the project.

Initially, this was a difficult thing to do, just like the subscriptions,I am not yet easy asking other people for money (although I have been asking publishers for money most of my life) but it is impossible not to be excited at this new way of producing books. I am also learning this is something people are eager to do. Without this money, I simply would not be able to do this book in the way I would like, and with the depth, time and imagery it deserves.

As with the blog, we are forging a new kind of creative community, one that will keep many arts projects alive and many creative people doing their work. America is a generous country, do not believe the news.

So perhaps this is the final leg of this remarkable experiment – $1,400 is a lot of money, but I am much affirmed in the worth of this project by the response of the first two days. I thank those who have pledged and those who will. Come and walk with me into the future. I am honoring Henry Beston’s call to find a new language with which to communicate with animals, I believe I have been doing that for 15 years and I want to share what I have learned. Come and see. I mean to be fully funded for this work, perhaps my most significant. You can pledge here if you are so inclined.