An epic romantic fantasy: deluxe gold foil edition with illustrated dust jackets, illustrated end papers and interior art. Signed & numbered by author/artist.
Journey through the stars on board the 'Black Maiden' on an epic adventure filled with danger, secrets, and a dash of romance.
Do you love:
Epic romantic fantasy novels like "Throne of Glass" by S.J. Maas, "The Wayfarer Redemption" by Sara Douglass, or "Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan?
Angels, demons, shifters,pirates, & monsters with unique magic,expansive worlds rich in lore, and epic battles?
Forbidden love, soulmates, journeys of self-discovery, morally grey characters with dark pasts, epic quests and cute side kicks?
Then this campaign is for you!
Presenting not only one, buttwo illustrated collector's edition hardcoversin gold foil with illustrated dustjackets!
I am re-releasing Star Found in this newly illustrated and upgraded collector's edition in conjunction with the new release of Star Awakened, the long-awaited sequel of Star Found. An epic romantic fantasy, promising hours of entertainment and gorgeous art to display on your bookshelf.
These books will be a true work of art that collectors will cherish on their shelves. A true labour if love and art.
Evie should never have been born. Her very existence heralds death and chaos.
For a millennium, war has ravaged the Borderlands. The celestials’ blood-wards all that stand between the gateway to the Tri-Realms and the demons’ conquest to unleash another Time of Chaos, an event which had torn the realms apart.
For this reason, it is forbidden to breed with the demons. Allowing an Infernal—half-blood children—to live is punishable by death.
Serena knows this, but when a mysterious force bonds her with a demon prince, she can no more deny him than she could her own soul. And she will do everything to protect the child born of the union and give her a chance at life; even if her own would be forfeit.
Her child—Evie—just might be what the world needs to restore balance between the celestials and demons and put an end to the war. Or she might be the very thing which will destroy them all.
Star Found & Star Awakened is an epic romantic fantasy adventure of two people finding themselves in a world that hates them simply for being born. They must learn to trust each other and rely on one another to overcome the odds and face not only the monstrous demons of the Abyss, but also the demons of their pasts. If they don’t, the fate of not only their hearts, but also the entire realm is at stake.
If you love books about outcasts finding their place in the world, soulmates, redemption, and forbidden love with broody heroes and shy heroines who fight side-by-side to save the world, you will love Star Found & Star Awakened.
Immerse yourself in the world of the Tri-realms! A high epic fantasy world filled with monsters, magic, a sword fight or two, and swoon-worthy steamy romance.
Both books will come with: ✨ illustrated dust jacket ✨ gold foil naked covers ✨ illustrated end papers (2 designs per book) ✨ a full colour map (Star Found) ✨ 4-8 full-page interior illustrations in both colour and black & white ✨ illustrated chapter headings ✨ 13 pt text (larger than regular editions) ✨ premium paper - cream ✨ BONUS content ✨ sprayed edges ✨ coloured head and tail bands ✨ silk ribbon
Sprayed edge art will span across 3-4 books. Here's the art as one illustration.
A visual story for your bookshelf
Above is just a few of the interior illustrations. All art are done by Therena Carlin (the author)
Below is a sneakpeek at my author proof. Sprayed edges and dustjacket not featured.
Important Note: "Star Found" is completely illustrated, edited & formatted. Featuring 4 brand new illustrations. "Star Awakened" is in the final stages of completion. It is currently at the editor and I am busy illustrating the final end paper and interior art. Final dust jacket designs may vary.
Star Found
Mock up only, final design may vary
Cover art (dust jacket/naked cover art front and back) - naked cover will be gold foil
End papers - full colour illustrations featuring artistic interpretations of scenes from the novel
Front end paper
Back endpaper
Interior art - There are 12 interior illustrations including colour & black and white. (I went a little overboard in the last campaign). This edition includes brand new illustrations and remastered fan favourites!
Star Awakened
Mock up only, final design may vary
Cover art (dust jacket/naked cover art front and back)
Front end paper art - back end paper not shown to avoid spoilers 🤫.
Interior art - 4-6 interior illustrations. Currently being illustrated, possibly more unlocked as stretch goals. Here's is the SFW version of the first illustration and tip in design.
All Evie ever wanted was to belong, to have a family, and to be normal. But normal isn't the life of an infernal, let alone one who can't control her budding magic. Hunted at every turn, she must find a way to either embrace her growing power or be consumed by it—becoming the monster everyone believes her to be, or worse—a weapon for the demon lords.
A fallen star’s magic rips Evie from her life, revealing the dark secrets of her true bloodline. However, discovering the truth about her past comes with a price—and the demands of a goddess. She must travel to the Abyss, into the heart of the demon realms, to save her father. Her only hope of success lies in secrecy and her awakening magic.
In a race against time, she battles her own growing power, risking everything to do what is right. But doing what is right just might mean losing the man she has come to love and putting the whole world in danger.
Cain:
Cain thrives in darkness. He toes the line between the hatred and anger which claws at his soul, and the man he knows his mother would have wanted him to be.
As a demonkin—a half demon/human—the world hates him, and violence follows him. Never backing from a fight, he embraces his reality. With every battle, he relishes the strength he gains. The day will come when he faces the demon who had hurt his mother—and this time he will kill him.
The last thing he wanted was to find someone who stirred feelings in him. However, when the fates interfere and place Evie in his destructive path, he cannot refuse the need to protect and save her. Nor can he fight the desire she stirs in his heart and soul.
Never had anyone accepted him for who he was without compromise. But she comes with the unreasonable demands of a goddess he had long since turned his back on and sworn to never let into his life again. Now he must choose between getting his revenge and ignoring the goddess’ demands, or losing Evie forever.
Immerse yourself with the ultimate collector's book box. Get lost in the world with these exclusive, and sometimes limited edition items. Each item has been carefully curated to go with the stories to give you the most magical experience.
Both deluxe hardcover editions of Star Found & Star Awakened
Signed tip in
Personalized/numbered holographic bookplate (Numbered 4-18) Numbered bookplates will be by backer number (though I reserve number 1-3 for myself)
2 x Limited edition Gold foil postcards (Edition of 50)
2 x Limited edition "Star Found" & "Star Awakened" teas (Custom blend from a local tea company)
A beautiful custom hand-made candle with dried flowers and focii (gemstones) (Made by a local artist)
A 1" Menos pin
An exclusive, limited edition NSFW "Passion" Oracle card (Edition of 20)
Star Found & Star Awakened cover sticker set 2x3"
Holographic Star Found Bookmark (Limited Edition of 200)
Holographic Menos Sticker (Limited Edition of 200)
Handmade Moon soap (Made locally)
2 Gemstones, just like Evie's Focii
Moonstone heart (Just like Akmenos' Soulstone)
5 - 6x9 art prints
eBooks x2
Izanami postcard
Qualifies for the Booktopia pin when you back both me and my partner's campaign
Physical stretch goals
Digital stretch goals
Five 6x9 art prints
Collect one or both Deluxe Gold Foil hardcovers for your library. These will be exclusively available through crowdfunding, in person & on my website.
There will be only 150 copies of signed tip-in hardcovers available of each book. Due to the extra cost of shipping the signed tip-ins back & forth, these are slightly more expensive than unsigned versions, but significantly more valuable as they are not only personally signed but also come in a beautiful book box.
Includes a signed tip-in page personally signed by me.
Comes in the beautiful collector's book box
Includes the eBook for both books
Qualifies for the Booktopia pin when you back both me and my partner's campaign
Includes all physical and digital stretch goals
Single Deluxe Hardcover Tier - $90 (~$67 USD)
Choose between Star Found or Star Awakened deluxe gold foil edition hardcover
Includes the eBook for the books you buy
Qualifies for the Booktopia pin when you back both me and my partner's campaign
Includes all physical and digital stretch goals
'Black Maiden' pin tier - $35 (~$25 USD)
A beautiful 2" glow-in-the-dark collector's pin featuring Evie's ship, the Black Maiden.
Qualifies for the Booktopia pin when you back both me and my partner's campaign
Includes all physical and digital stretch goals
Digital Tiers - $15-25 (~$11-20 USD)
This digital eBook version will include all the artwork not included on retail versions.
Choose one or both eBooks
Includes all digital stretch goals & wallpaper
Get the eBook for Star Found as soon as the campaign ends, and Star Awakened by October 31st, 2 month before retailers.
Does not qualify for the Booktopia pin or physical stretchgoals
All tiers include 2x exclusive High-res Digital Wallpapers (16x9)
Welcome to Booktopia — a celebration of creativity and collaboration from a vibrant collective of writers, authors and artists collectively running crowdfunding projects from September 5th - September 26th.
Bring the magic of fantasy to your home with the limited edition collector's set of pins.
Get BOTH for FREE when you back both my and my partner's campaign as part of Booktopia!
*NOTE: Only physical tiers qualify*
The celestial pin will be shipped together with my campaign and the phoenix will ship with my partner's campaign.
Complete your set by backing both!
A little about my partner:
I met Sarah 2 years ago when she commissioned art from me, and ever since I have helped her create beautiful special edition books filled with art for her campaigns. And this project is no different! In fact, I have illustrated almost as much art for her campaign as my own, from continuous endpapers, sprayed edges and two page full colour chapter art featuring a siren & phoenix!
Sarah's book will be a true work of art, one I think collector's will cherish on their shelves. So if you love dystopian romantic fantasy, go check out her campaign! Oh, and did I mention the gorgeous bookbox and slipcase? 😍
BOOKTOPIA details:
Limited Cross-Collaboration Freebies — All 50+ Booktopia creators have paired up with a fellow participant to create two unique and limited freebies together. If BOTH projects successfully fund, backers who support BOTH will get the TWO [2] cross-collab freebies listed on their campaign page, one will ship from each creator. The more pairs of Booktopia creators you support, the more freebies you will earn
1 FREE Limited Edition Booktopia 2024 reward if you back FIVE [5] or more projects. Exclusive reward for Booktopia - Black Metal Bookmark (design coming)
*Limited print run - extras will be available as an add-on post campaign for$30, but there is no guarantee I'll have any left over. So back both to claim yours!
I'm sure it comes as no surprise that creating fancy books & pins can become quite costly. Especially when you have to first ship it to me and then to backers. Each book costs $30 to ship to me and that's just shipping, nevermind the cost of printing, which comes to $40+per book just for the fancy hardcover (unless I order 1000s of copies). But I think we can all agree it will be worth it!
While I am fortunate enough to have the art, I don't have a treasure hoard large enough to fund the shinies. Which is where crowdfunding comes in. With books there are huge costs from print costs to editors, proofreaders & more on top of just the cost of the books and shipping. And with this specific edition, I want to do a print run, which means a much higher up front cost to me. ($12,000 to be exact)
With your help, these fancy books can become a reality. And it is my experience that the community of people who crowdfund are the best type of people out there!
I love crowdfunding myself, as it helps me discover new creators and to be able to support them directly vs paying large companies for the hard work of artists and creators. Crowdfunding is also my favourite way of connecting with new fans!
Hi, I'm Therena. Normally, I prefer to hide in my cave where I can avoid people while I create fantasy art and write fantasy novels. But occasionally I emerge from the dark to interact with awesome people like you through my campaigns.
I have run 8 successful crowdfunding campaigns so far. Ranging from Epic fantasy novels, to photography art books, an oracle deck, a kids' book, dragon pins and, of course, my illustrated dragon art book! As you can see, I am a multi-disciplinary artist who draws, writes and makes books. I am no stranger to crowdfunding and pride myself with perfection and quality.
I have an obsession with fancy books. (In case that wasn't obvious yet.) And I have my own growing hoard of special edition books! It is what inspired me to try my own hand at them after all!
I live on the beautiful Vancouver island, Canada, with my husband and 3 kids, who are all eagerly awaiting their own share of treasure from the campaign! (Perks of having an artist mom, I guess ^_^) But they are my biggest cheerleaders, and as such they each have their own growing hoard of awesome stuff.
I am a geek at heart, I have loved fantasy long before it was the cool thing to do. My entire world is saturated with fantasy themes, and I am thrilled to have you along for this adventure!
If you love my art, I want to invite you to follow me online.
As a backer of over 180 Kickstarter campaigns, I know the importance of transparency and communication. This is my 9th campaign, with 8 successful ones under my belt. I have learned a thing or two about making sure I give my backers the best experience possible!
For this reason, I try to have as much work done before I even create a campaign! That means that for the exception of new art, final editing, and extra stretch goals, the books are mostly done.
This gives me the confidence to know that I can offer your fancy new books in a semi predictable fashion (Barring acts of god, wars, another outbreak of the plaque or a sudden shortage of metals...). Based on these experiences, here is my anticipated timeline to get your treasure to you.
Important note: This is an estimate only using the assumption that we hit the goal of funding a print run and using overseas printers. The timeline will be less if we don't.
Shipping will be based on weight per country and final fees determined after the campaign ends when I have a better idea of how many pins & books people have and how much they weigh! These are rough estimates only based on previous campaigns & includes a $5 packaging fee:
Note: Shipping is untracked unless otherwise marked
Pins & cards only:
Canada - $12-25
USA - $16-30
Europe - $25-35
Africa/Australia - $25-35
Books: 1 book - 2 books
Canada - $20-30 (tracked)
USA - $35-55 (tracked)
Europe/UK - $65-90 (4-12 weeks surface)
Africa/Australia - $45-100 (4-12 weeks surface)
Backer Responsibility
As a backer you are responsible for completing your survey and paying shipping fees within a timely manner, to receive your rewards. As creators we are only able to communicate with backers through project updates and reminder emails (email correspondence will be sent to the email on file for your pledge). As a backer it is your responsibility to check and read project updates, and to check for survey emails. If you fail to stay updated and do not complete your survey, you could forfeit your rewards. (Read more about reward forfeiture below)
Forfeiture of Rewards Once the project shipping is completed backers will be notified via a campaign update. This campaign update will have a final survey completion date. If your survey is not completed by this date, and your shipping costs not paid, you will forfeit your pledge payment and rewards. I will not fulfill forfeited rewards and pledge levels after the completion date.
Lost or never received packages - Forfeiture of rewards I make every attempt to get your package from my home to yours. However, sometimes packages are lost in the mail. I will notify backers with an update when the project is near completion and rewards shipped. If you have not received your package by the completion of the shipping process, you will have an extended period of 1 month to contact me about a missing package. If you do not contact me within that extended period of time about a lost or never received package, you will forfeit your rewards and I will not provide a refund or re-ship your rewards.
Damaged pins/books If your pins/books arrive damaged you will need to contact me with images within the same 1 month timeline as above. I will do everything in my power to make it right. However, I am not responsible for damaged pins due to wear or use. And I will not replace pins after this one month time has passed.
Please note that a large part of the pin-making process is still done by hand, and as such some pins might have minor scuffs or 'imperfections', or colours may vary by a degree (colours are still hand mixed pigment!). Consider these "little touches of love" by human hands. For there is beauty in each unique scuff. However, your pin should not be falling apart when you receive it!
If you are new to Backerkit, or crowdfunding in general, it can be a confusing process. So I'm here to help.
1 - a creator sets a funding goal ($3000 in my case) based on the bare minimum cost of creating the awesome stuff (books & pins for me!)
2 - the campaign runs for a few days (21 for this campaign) at which point a creator tries to gain as many "pre-orders" also known as backers. The more we get, the better, as it not only supports us, but often helps unlock awesome cool stuff like new art for you.
3 - When you back a campaign, you aren't charged until two things are met: the funding goal and the last day of the campaign. So while you pledge early, you won't get charged unless enough backers support the campaign and not until the very end. You only pay if the campaign is a success!
4 - Backerkit then collects all funds (we aren't involved with that process) and it takes about 2-3 weeks to get to me.
5 - Once I have the funds I start ordering books, pins, stretch goals & add-ons. Since everything is already designed it's a simple matter of knowing how much to order.
6 - Manufacturing varies on the items with pins/books taking the longest (about 6-8 weeks from the time I order till I receive it)
7 - About 3-4 weeks after the campaign ends I'll send out a survey (via Backerkit pledgemanager) to get addresses. You will have the opportunity to order some extra goodies and add-ons at this point. You'll also give your information to pay for shipping. Once again, you aren't charged until I am ready to ship everything to you.
8 - About 10-14 weeks after the campaign, once everything is sorted, packed and ready to ship I will charge for shipping. This is done through Backerkit and you will get reminder emails.
10 - then it's a matter of sitting back and waiting for your awesome stuff to arrive! You should have everything sometime in April/May 2025 depending where you live!
