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Vigilante Soft Launch of New Kids Book "Vigilant Kids"

Vigilante

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I got a call from the mysterious @Kak who was following this thread from the shadows and bought a copy of the book.

If he likes it I have done something right (and sure to offend at least half of America.)
 
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Vigilante

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Got the book yesterday! I'll definitely be gifting these to friends with kids.

I'll try to get a review up on Amazon later today.

Thanks. Like all good projects, it started from my own selfish ambition. I wrote it to better protect my family, my friends, and my inner circle (of which you are now a part of having bought this for your friends and family).

If you flipped through it, you'll be able to testify to the fact that it is no ordinary kids book.

I'd tell you to bring it next week so I could sign it for you, but that would probably make it worth less, not more. :)
 

G-Man

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Got the book yesterday! I'll definitely be gifting these to friends with kids.

I'll try to get a review up on Amazon later today.

I just saw it got delivered to me yesterday too, but those bastards at the UPS store didn't send me an email. I'll shoot for getting a review up over the weekend.
 

Bellini

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Great idea @Vigilante

The timing is good too in light of all the rampant child kidnapping and pedophilia that is going on.

I do a good bit of public relations and marketing these days so will be happy to do what I can to spread the word about your book after I read it. I'm all for protecting kids.
 
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Kak

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I got a call from the mysterious @Kak who was following this thread from the shadows and bought a copy of the book.

If he likes it I have done something right (and sure to offend at least half of America.)

Nice picture you painted there. You sound like a writer. ;)
 

Scot

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corius

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Read it, loved it, definitely one of the ones that will be a bedtime story for my little ones and birthday present for all the niece's and nephews.

Thank you again not only has your wisdom help guide me, now it is also guiding my family.
 

throttleforward

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I got mine the other day - love the illustrations! It will definitely spark some interesting conversations with my boy (which is, as you lay out in the preface, the whole point).
 
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Unknown

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My copy is on the way. It's the least I can do after all of the great info you've given me. I can tell from the cover alone that it's going to do well.
 

Vigilante

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My copy is on the way. It's the least I can do after all of the great info you've given me. I can tell from the cover alone that it's going to do well.

The back cover is really great. The front cover will set the branding strategy for some other related projects featuring the Vigilant Kids.
 

Jamie T

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My new book just arrived!

0410171720a.jpg
 
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MidwestLandlord

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Got the book yesterday. I love it! My kids love it too!

My 6 year old had no trouble reading it. It was an extremely easy read for my 9 year old.

The book fits in exceptionally well with conversations my girl's and I have had multiple times, so it compliments my parenting style nicely.

The artwork is great. Kept the kids engaged and now they want to dress just like the main gal in the book haha.

On a more personal note, I wanted to thank you personally @Vigilante for being politically incorrect with this book. The 8 year old boy in me can attest to the fact that not all bad guys are men, and I was quite pleased to see a woman as a bad guy in your book. Both genders can be evil, and kids (and their parents) need to understand this.

So...thank you.

I'll get an Amazon review up today.
 

Vigilante

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Got the book yesterday. I love it! My kids love it too!

My 6 year old had no trouble reading it. It was an extremely easy read for my 9 year old.

The book fits in exceptionally well with conversations my girl's and I have had multiple times, so it compliments my parenting style nicely.

The artwork is great. Kept the kids engaged and now they want to dress just like the main gal in the book haha.

On a more personal note, I wanted to thank you personally @Vigilante for being politically incorrect with this book. The 8 year old boy in me can attest to the fact that not all bad guys are men, and I was quite pleased to see a woman as a bad guy in your book. Both genders can be evil, and kids (and their parents) need to understand this.

So...thank you.

I'll get an Amazon review up today.

Your words mean more to me than you know, as does the rest of the encouragement I have drawn from you and the rest of those who have commented thus far. As MJ and others can attest to, when you fling your manifesto out to the world you never know how it will be received.

I do think we have a story to tell. It may seem funny to some that my manifesto came in the form of a kids book, but when my hearts mission is to keep kids safe from a predatory world that in many cases intends to do them harm, this is the medium that makes the most sense.*

Your note came at the right time as my wife and I were sitting at the kitchen table concepting the next book. This one took a year to get done (mostly the artwork, obviously) so if we're going to follow this one up, we need to get cracking on the next one.

The forum has been invaluable to me as a sounding board, a learning tool, and my reinforcements. I appreciate you (and all of you) for your kind words about this project.

May your kids never need the words of that book. -Dave

* for now
 
Last edited:

Vigilante

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P.S. I called Rachel (my grown daughter) to tell her that your little girls wanted to dress like the girl in the book. That was literally one of the greatest sentences you could have ever written us.
 
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G-Man

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Your words mean more to me than you know, as does the rest of the encouragement I have drawn from you and the rest of those who have commented thus far. As MJ and others can attest to, when you fling your manifesto out to the world you never know how it will be received.

I do think we have a story to tell. It may seem funny to some that my manifesto came in the form of a kids book, but when my hearts mission is to keep kids safe from a predatory world that in many cases intends to do them harm, this is the medium that makes the most sense.*

Your note came at the right time as my wife and I were sitting at the kitchen table concepting the next book. This one took a year to get done (mostly the artwork, obviously) so if we're going to follow this one up, we need to get cracking on the next one.

The forum has been invaluable to me as a sounding board, a learning tool, and my reinforcements. I appreciate you (and all of you) for your kind words about this project.

May your kids never need the words of that book. -Dave

I flipped through it before I read it with my wife, and I gotta be honest, I wasn't sure she'd be down with it (what with all the kicking, biting, and eye gauging), but she was nodding her head the whole time. She actually loved the idea of training the kid to "fight dirty", and she, like @MidwestLandlord loved that there was a woman villain. She spends all day every day with our kid, so she had quite a different perspective. When I'm carrying our son around somewhere, people never approach me. Apparently, when she's out by herself with him, people approach her all the time, usually women wanting to hold him. She said people need to be reminded that a lot of these criminal types use women to do the child abducting because people let their guard down around ladies.... so, even though you book is for 4 year olds, I learned something. :rofl:
 

Vigilante

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I flipped through it before I read it with my wife, and I gotta be honest, I wasn't sure she'd be down with it (what with all the kicking, biting, and eye gauging), but she was nodding her head the whole time. She actually loved the idea of training the kid to "fight dirty", and she, like @MidwestLandlord loved that there was a woman villain. She spends all day every day with our kid, so she had quite a different perspective. When I'm carrying our son around somewhere, people never approach me. Apparently, when she's out by herself with him, people approach her all the time, usually women wanting to hold him. She said people need to be reminded that a lot of these criminal types use women to do the child abducting because people let their guard down around ladies.... so, even though you book is for 4 year olds, I learned something. :rofl:

Worth reading : Mom Approached By Stranger, Then Something Odd Happens
 

MidwestLandlord

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She actually loved the idea of training the kid to "fight dirty",

Both my kids wanted to practice throwing punches after reading the book too. I might have encouraged that though...haha.

Now my stomach, chest, and arm hurts.

Both those girls can throw a punch! (I was a brown belt in Aikido as a teen, so they know how to hit)
 
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Vigilante

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Read it, loved it, definitely one of the ones that will be a bedtime story for my little ones and birthday present for all the niece's and nephews.

Thank you again not only has your wisdom help guide me, now it is also guiding my family.

I was thinking about that. I am glad you loved it! I will probably avoid the bedtime story using this book though, and save it more for Saturday mornings. The imagery might be too strong for bedtime. Let me know if your kids have any favorite parts of the book.
 

G-Man

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My wife apparently had something similar happen that I just learned about: a very old lady (not sure from where), kept trying to hold my son. My wife was trying to be more polite than she normally would have been (the lady was very old, so you feel like you have to be gentle and respectful to her, plus she thought maybe this was just an incidence of different cultural expectations about personal distance). She didn't give the lady the baby, but didn't walk away either, trying to be polite. At this point, she notices a a man standing a ways away that's clearly watching them, so she leaves, and goes about her shopping. Coming out of the store and walking into another area of the mall she notices this older lady having the same awkward interaction with another young mother, and sure enough, when she scans around that dude is close by. She at that point got very rude.....

Clearly the world has changed since the 80s when I was a kid. Who knew you had to look out for sweet little old ladies :frown:

EDIT: removed an indicator of where the lady was from so the thread doesn't go flame war... sorry Vig.
 

Vigilante

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My wife apparently had something similar happen that I just learned about: a very old lady (not sure from where), kept trying to hold my son. My wife was trying to be more polite than she normally would have been (the lady was very old, so you feel like you have to be gentle and respectful to her, plus she thought maybe this was just an incidence of different cultural expectations about personal distance). She didn't give the lady the baby, but didn't walk away either, trying to be polite. At this point, she notices a a man standing a ways away that's clearly watching them, so she leaves, and goes about her shopping. Coming out of the store and walking into another area of the mall she notices this older lady having the same awkward interaction with another young mother, and sure enough, when she scans around that dude is close by. She at that point got very rude.....

Clearly the world has changed since the 80s when I was a kid. Who knew you had to look out for sweet little old ladies :frown:

EDIT: removed an indicator of where the lady was from so the thread doesn't go flame war... sorry Vig.

Scary stuff when you put it together with the same model playing out in that article.

I have NO ISSUES teaching kids how to come home safely. There was one several months back where a guy grabbed a kid in a dollar store and carried her out the front door.

Parents would fight tooth and nail for their kids. Parents would fight TO THE DEATH for their kids. Kids should do the same thing.
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Amazing the response you've received here at the forum with a target market that isn't exactly precise. I'd dare imagine what would happen if you reached a target audience of parents with younglings. You still wanting to buy that house with a gym?

Moreover, this kind of project taps into a potent meaning-and-purpose .... very Unscripted . ;)
 

Vigilante

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Amazing the response you've received here at the forum with a target market that isn't exactly precise. I'd dare imagine what would happen if you reached a target audience of parents with younglings. You still wanting to buy that house with a gym?

Moreover, this kind of project taps into a potent meaning-and-purpose .... very Unscripted . ;)

The trade show that we are launching at in June is the BookExpo at the Javits center. Most brick and mortar buyers and librarians from across the country will be there, and we have a pretty decent sized booth at the show. I will post more on that in the progress thread. We'll also be there for a few days after the private industry trade show, when they open it up to the public for BookCon (Same company that puts on ComiCon). So we'll have two days of meeting with retail buyers, followed by two days of "selling" to consumers. Should be a great way to get the book mainstream awareness, and have a chance to engage with the public directly.
 

throttleforward

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If you're thinking of a topic for your next book, might I suggest a book that explains allergies to children (and parents). My boy has some life-threatening allergies - explaining to him (and adults) what the allergies are, whats happening inside his body, what an epi-pen is, what is going to happen when you call 911, how to refuse food from well-meaning friends and adults, etc. would have been a lot easier with a children's book. It's a concept my wife and I have talked about for years.
 
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JAJT

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For some reason I thought this wasn't available in Canada (at this point it's almost force of habit...) but it IS listed on amazon.ca, albeit with a "ships in 1-2 months" tag.

Would it help you more if I purchased it now when most other people might avoid it because of that tag (and thus any rank / review benefit might be minimal), or should I wait until it's available more speedily for Canada and thus the purchase would likely bump it up so others more likely to buy it will see?

You've helped me so much along the way that buying a copy is the least I can do (and I'm sure my kids will love it). Just want to make sure I do it when it's worth the most to you.
 
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Vigilante

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For some reason I thought this wasn't available in Canada (at this point it's almost force of habit...) but it IS listed on amazon.ca, albeit with a "ships in 1-2 months" tag.

Would it help you more if I purchased it now when most other people might avoid it because of that tag (and thus any rank / review benefit might be minimal), or should I wait until it's available more speedily for Canada and thus the purchase would likely bump it up so others more likely to buy it will see?

You've helped me so much along the way that buying a copy is the least I can do (and I'm sure my kids will love it). Just want to make sure I do it when it's worth the most to you.

Interesting. In the US, Amazon is using Print on Demand. No idea why it is available in .ca but with a ridiculous lead time. Wait until I get them available in Canada for real. BTW at the meetup yesterday one of the guys was thankful and talking about you specifically as an influence on him. You're having an impact.
 

JAJT

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No idea why it is available in .ca but with a ridiculous lead time.

Yeah, even says "in stock" when you search for it. It's only on the product page that it shows the 1-2 month shipping time.

I SUSPECT (but this is a shot in the dark, truthfully) that Amazon might "queue up" book orders from the USA for Canadian buyers and when it hits some threshold or time frame they ship them in bulk to one of their fba centers and then from there out to the end users. Just a guess but it's the only reason I can think of right now.

Wait until I get them available in Canada for real.

Will do.

BTW at the meetup yesterday one of the guys was thankful and talking about you specifically as an influence on him. You're having an impact.

That's awesome to hear!

They're helping me just as much, if not more, whether they realize it or not :) Connecting with people and problem solving together has always been a huge source of fuel for me.
 

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