Introducing our next book: Ellie Saves the Day!
almost 6 years ago – Tue, Jun 26, 2018 at 10:28:57 AM

Hello amazing Kickstarter backers! We're excited to share the news that the campaign for our second book, Ellie Saves the Day is live! A new book means a new project video (which we really hope you'll watch, it turned out great!) new rewards and a new custom STEAM component kit! We'd love for you to check it out, and tell a friend or two!

And whether you decide to back our next campaign or not, we're so grateful for the support and encouragement we received over the last year as we published our first book. We started this journey with an idea that you helped to make a reality, and we can't wait to continue the story with Ellie Saves the Day!

Brandon

Ellie Saves the Day is coming, and we need your help!
almost 6 years ago – Mon, May 28, 2018 at 05:55:38 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Ed Gets His Power Back goes wide tomorrow!
about 6 years ago – Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 11:11:11 AM

Hey friends!

Thanks to those of you who provided feedback and testimonials for the book. Your input is up on a new, re-skinned website (https://store.carrotpantsstudios.com) and the book page on Amazon. If you've not had a chance to send us feedback yet, there's still time, so feel free to email us at [email protected] if you or your kids want to share your thoughts on the book with us.

Now, as we enter the next phase of our journey, we need your help getting this book into the hands of more maker kids and families. You can help us out in a few ways:

• Write a review of the book on Amazon
• Share the Amazon page and our website with a friend

Every review and every share helps, so thank you so much for your support!

Stay bright!

Brandon

Thank You!!! (and what's next?)
about 6 years ago – Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 07:26:46 PM

In the summer of 2015, I sketched out the initial idea for Ed Gets His Power Back on a whiteboard in my home office. It was an idea that I furiously scribbled down with some enthusiasm. It was an idea that I pondered and chewed on, before it became dormant. It was an idea that stayed on that whiteboard for a long time before we decided it was something worth pursuing.

Last summer, we took a chance and shared this idea on Kickstarter. Our hope was that enough people would think it was an idea worth pursuing and that we could fund a full print-run to bring a book to life.

You all believed in that idea--in a promise--without knowing what the end result would be. We are so grateful that you chose to support us; that you had faith we'd meet your expectations.

So, first and foremost, thank you. We are grateful, and honored.

Today, many of you have the book in your hands, or will very soon. We've gotten Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram messages as you've read the book and built the projects alongside the little ones in your lives. Your photos and kind words have been a joy to see and read. For all of you, I hope the product we delivered (early, no less :D) exceeded those expectations.

So what's next?

We've had several people express their enthusiasm for the next book, and if you've read to the end of Ed Gets His Power Back, you know that there will indeed be a second book. I've already designed the circuit for that book, mapped out the characters and the basic plot and plan to start writing next week. You all will, of course, be the first to hear about when and how we plan to make book #2 available.

We need your feedback!

In the meantime, there are a few short term projects we wanted to let you know about, and for which we need your help. Specifically, we need your feedback so that we can make future books better, and we need your testimonials for our website and public sales.

Now that we've fulfilled Kickstarter rewards and pre-orders, it's time to get the book out on other channels, including Amazon (Hardcover and Kindle), Apple iBooks, and more. We're planning to make the book widely available on February 1st. We're also revamping our website and online store. For both, we'd love it if we had some real-world testimonials from our backers to help other parents discover the world of Breadboardeaux.

If you have feedback or a testimonial for us, please email me directly at [email protected]. You can share anything you want, your impressions of the book, something you learned as an adult, a cool thing your kids learned. Anything you want!

And we'll take constructive feedback too! If there was anything we could do better next time, we'd gladly hear it.

Again, thank you all, and stay bright!

Brandon, Sarah, Benjamin, Jack and Matthew (as well as Ed, Patty, Zara, Rita, Bobby, and Mr. Resistor...

... and also Ellie, who can't wait to meet you all.)

Digital rewards are coming!
over 6 years ago – Fri, Jan 19, 2018 at 04:36:32 PM

Hi everyone,

It's Friday, and we come bearing gifts! For those of you who backed at the E-Book level or above, you'll be getting download links to Kindle, Apple Books and PDF versions of Ed Gets His Power Back today! Book + STEAM Kit backers and above will also get a link to the PDF STEAM Guidebook. Keep an eye out for an email from BackerKit with those links, and we can't wait to hear what you all think of the book and guidebook!

Books and kits should also start arriving for backers today, and continue into next week. We've gotten the majority of shipments out the door and plan to drop the rest off at the Post Office on Monday. If you've not gotten a tracking # from BackerKit yet, it will be in your inbox by Monday.

Finally, as you read the book, go through the guidebook, build the circuit, etc, we'd love to see how your families are enjoying the book! Feel free to post pics and videos, and tag them with #ShineBrightWithEd on Twitter (mention us @CarrotPantsPub), Facebook and Instagram (for both, tag us @CarrotPantsPress) so we can see the your little makers in action!

Have a wonderful weekend, and stay bright!

Brandon