The Angel Guardian Donation

After several years attending events to share The Angel Guardian, we decided to gift our remaining books and dolls to the non-profit organization, Scooby Van of San Antonio. You can follow them on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/scoobyvansa/?hl=en

It’s been such an adventure, and one I would happily do all over again.

If you’re a writer looking to chat with someone about self publishing, feel free to reach out to me any time. I love to share lessons learned.

If you’re looking for an additional book or doll, send me an email and I’ll pull one from the small box I kept just in case…

The Angel Guardian Officially Launches!

We're excited to announce the official launch of The Angel Guardian book and doll at this year's Texas Book Festival!

We'll be in Tent #6, Booth #614, with the books and dolls, along with a lot of fun activities for kids. Our fabulous illustrator, Nessa Dee, has created coloring pages, and our three little angels will be applying Angel Guardian tattoos to our booth visitors. Grab a gift for the holidays at a super discounted price. We hope to see you there!

Look for a post next week with pictures from this weekend's event...

The Angel Guardian books and dolls will also be making an appearance at The Texas Children's Bookstore at the 2016 A Christmas Affair Event.

 

The Angels are Here!

Yippee!! The Angel Guardian dolls have finally arrived. Kickstarter rewards are being packaged and sent out over the next week.

We are so excited to have the dolls in our hands. What's next? We might be changing the book from the original Kickstarter version, and that decision will be made over the next month. If we decide NOT TO change the book, then we'll begin the marketing campaign for The Angel Guardian book/doll combination. If we decide TO change the book - well - then we have a lot more work to do before the marketing launch.

Happy Holidays, Chris & Michelle Miller


Update on The Angel Guardian Doll Prototype

We are STILL working on perfecting The Angel Guardian doll. Prototype #9 is close - we've requested changes to the smile, the dress stitching and the undergarment. We're hoping #10 is the winner. Our manufacturing partner is keeping their fingers crossed too - they have been very patient with us. Once we give the okay, it will take approximately 100 days to create and ship the dolls to the USA.

Once the doll prototype is finalized, we'll begin working on packaging options. The goal is a box to hold both the book and doll that is cool enough to grab the attention of kids and parents alike. If you have any ideas, or examples we should check out, please send them to info@theangelguardian.com!

Then it's time to finalize the marketing plan to get the book and doll out to the world. The official launch is planned for September, 2015. 

The Angel Guardian Bathtime Book

We've started playing around with ideas for The Angel Guardian Bathtime Book, which would come with a washable angel doll that kids can play with in the bathtub (once we get the original doll right!).

Here's a sneak peek at some of the drafted lines for the book:

There’s only one challenge

If you want to keep score.

No drops of bath water

Should land on the floor.

 

Now where did those three jars of soap paint go?

It’s time for a masterpiece a-la-Vincent Van Gogh.

 

You’ll know when you’re ready

To come out and get dry.

If you develop the ailment,

Prunefingeritis. Oh my!

 

Don’t forget me.

I need to towel off too.

Angel Guardians get chilly,

Just like kids do.

 

The Expedited Books Have Arrived

The Angel Guardian books are here. 48 of the 100 expedited books arrived by FedEx Air yesterday. The same FedEx driver came by today with another box of 24. Somewhere in Austin, the last box of 26 books is waiting to be delivered. Not very efficient delivery on FedEx's part, but I'm happy to have the books we do.

Our elves found them this morning...

So excited to get the books out to our Kickstarter backers! Starting that process now...

An Inside Look: From Sketches to Final Artwork

I thought it would be fun to give you a sneak peek behind the scenes of my book. To show you the initial sketches from my illustrator, Nessa, transformed into beautiful, three-dimensional pieces of art for the final illustrated printing.

Here's an example of the initial concept in sketch...

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Next, Nessa made a three-dimensional storyboard...

Then she hand-painted the image, digitized it, and added the text to turn it into a spread for the book...

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Pretty cool, right?

Kickstarter Update #2 - We're $991 Away!

The response to our Kickstarter campaign has been great so far. Thanks to our 105 backers, we have less than $1,000 to go, and 12 days to do it.

New rewards have been added to the campaign. We've added a way to share the book with school classrooms and children in hospitals in Central Texas. An Angel Guardian removable car decal, along with buttons, is now included for all backers at the $2 level and up. If we exceed our funding goal, we plan to add some more great rewards for our backers as well.

We need your help on this last stretch. We have a new sharing contest in place with bonus rewards exclusively for backers that you can earn just for helping to spread more awareness. Along with the bonuses, everyone who shares, or increases their pledge, will be entered to win a $50 Amazon eGift Card. Check out the special "Thank you for sharing" rewards here: http://www.kickdriver.com/c/531/ks/1415034130.

Thank you for your support! 

Sincerely,

Chris & Michelle Miller

 

Kickstarter Update #1 - We're at 74 Backers and $2,748

I'll be writing updates about my Kickstarter campaign on the blog here, as well as communicating directly with our backers through email updates. 

We are five days into the campaign and I'm so thankful for all of the support received so far. The campaign has 74 backers and is more than a third of a way toward our goal of $7,500.

Please share the link with friends and family! http://bit.ly/angelguardiankickstarter



An Inside Look: The Original Characters

I was created by my authors, Chris & Michelle Miller and my illustrator, Nessa Dee. I started out in their imaginations, and then came to life on paper.

Nessa got me right on her first try! Well, she gave the authors two choices and they picked the less wild hairstyle. I also originally had a halo, but I let them know Angel Guardians don't actually have halos, so that was removed on future versions.

This is one of the original sketches for me - with my very curly hair. As you may know by now, I prefer to wear it in a bun. It's so much easier to see everything, especially when I'm flying.

Nessa is such a great illustrator that the authors didn't make many changes to her original sketches. But one request they did make was to the age of the little girl in The Angel Guardian. 

This was the original girl Nessa created:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my updated friend - a little more grown up and a lot more fashionable:

That's your sneak peek for the day! I can't wait to share my entire story with you...

The Angel Guardian is Born

One night, it seemed we’d never get our young children to bed. They needed another hug. They were thirsty. They were afraid of noises and monsters and nightmares. They were lonely, and it didn’t seem fair that they had to go to sleep by themselves.

The idea for The Angel Guardian was born.

This whimsical and magical little angel would be there to guide children through every step of the bedtime routine.

She’d be there to whisper secrets to and share dreams with.

She’d watch over and comfort them.

She’d make “going to sleep” fun!

THE ANGEL GUARDIAN BOOK AND ANGEL DOLL ARE COMING SOON!