Be the Badger

Photo credit: Tatterdemalion! via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

Photo credit: Tatterdemalion! via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

A recent lunch with a friend and publishing colleague has surfaced a new mantra: “Be the badger.”

My friend, Ericka, has spent more than 20 years in publishing, working on projects of all shapes and sizes, including editing books for KiCam. She has an amazing way of putting things into perspective and bringing out the best in other people, both in their writing and in their daily lives.

I was telling Ericka about some of the challenges KiCam faces as a new, independent publisher, about some of the frustrating aspects of distribution and the difficulty in getting the heavy hitters to take you seriously (and take your calls).

Ericka quickly flipped the situation on its head, extolling KiCam’s mission, the uniqueness of our purpose and passion, and the flexibility of our mixed traditional/print-on-demand distribution method. She reminded me of all the reasons a writer would want to work with us (blog post on that coming soon!) and helped me see that being new and independent is actually a great thing during this era of publishing.

Everything is changing, so why shouldn’t we help drive that change? 

I felt re-energized and ready to take on the world! That’s when Ericka brought up the badger, the scrappy little animal that just doesn’t care. It works, it perseveres, it never gives up. It’s perfectly delighted to be a badger; it’s not trying to be, say, a rhinoceros. It does its thing, and it does it well. “Be small, but think and act big,” Ericka says.

And so I must issue my pre-emptive apology to every media member, book blurber, interviewer, reviewer and potential partner out there in the world: I’m going to call you. And email you. And probably call you and email you again. Because it’s my job to be the badger for the good of KiCam Projects and our family of authors and filmmakers.

To those of you reading this post, I encourage you to be badgers, as well. If you’re an author, keep going after us publishers until the right one hears your voice! If you’re a fellow publisher, keep fighting the good fight. If you’re a reader and book lover, keep carrying the flag for the little guys, even as you enjoy the great work coming out of the major houses.

Be the badger you were meant to be! And never stop thinking, and acting, big.

Real to Reel

In addition to the book projects we have in the works for 2016-17, the KiCam Projects team is thrilled to be producing our first documentary film, tentatively titled “Before the King.”

The film, by Lanny Brannock (left), takes viewers to small-town Paris, Ky., the home of Corey Allen Williams, who was one of the top high school basketball players in the country in 1987. He started varsity as an eighth-grader and was destined to make millions in the NBA.

But then that destiny derailed.

Williams became addicted to drugs, spent the majority of 18 years in prison, met his long-lost son while incarcerated, and ultimately returned to his hometown to try to rebuild his life. Twenty years after he was heralded as The Next Big Thing, Williams works a temporary factory job to support his family and coaches youth basketball, all the while trying to stay out of trouble and, most important, away from drugs.

“Before the King” is a story of great promise, wasted talent, drug addiction and finally—hopefully—redemption.

Releasing in March 2017, “Before the King” will be the first of many KiCam Projects films dedicated to spotlighting true stories that present an unvarnished look at what it means to be human: to dream, to struggle, to survive and to overcome.

Check out KiCam Projects’ social media channels for updates on this and all our projects. Find us at Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.