A ghostwritten book about a fictional version of myself that lets the public design the manifestation of my personal erotic fantasy.
The Book
This will be a work of self-published ghostwritten crowdsourced crowd-funded faux-autobiographical erotic fan fiction.
The ghostwriters have written a prologue and we've come up with the first set of questions for the backers. What happens next is based on your choices. The smallest details, biggest plot points, and how explicit the book is.... The story is in your hands...
The Process
This project involves many things I love. I love crowdfunding and I love Kickstarter (this project was launched on KS). I also really love finding creative people to collaborate with. The ghostwriters will be incorporating the feedback of the backers to build the story of my fantasy-self. I'm going to be as surprised as you are in what gets produced. EXCITING!
But the best aspect of this project is crowdsourcing the plot. At every pledge level you get a certain number of votes. As the writers share the story they will present options for you to vote on. Everything from the background of the characters, to major plot points, sexual escapades, and even the brand names of objects... Everyone casts a vote (multiplied by how many votes you have) and that is how we'll know what happens next.
By incorporating the readership into the development of the story the collaboration is integral to the whole project and the opportunity for things I would never have thought of is guaranteed. Together we can write the best book ever.
Background
There is no greater honor than being immortalized in erotic fan fiction. But let's be honest, that isn't likely to happen to most of us. I'm taking matters into my own hands and producing erotic fan fiction about me.
But I'll be honest with you, I don't know enough about erotic fiction to make the right calls, so that's why I'm letting you vote what happens. This will be like a collaborative "Choose Your Own Adventure."
THE HONEST TRUTH: I just turned 40 and my last relationship is in shambles. There isn't much chance I'm going to become a dashing globe-trotting billionaire bad boy conquering the world in business and sexual encounters. But that doesn't mean I can't dream about it! (As my mentor Shia LaBeouf says "Don't let your dreams be dreams!")
My ghostwriting team is these two amazingly smart and culturally savvy writers. One is a prolific writer and college professor, the other has been writing erotic scenarios for years. Combining their talents with the input and direction of the "wisdom-of-the-backers" is a recipe for wild success in the world of erotic entertainment.
THE UPSIDE: Together (me, the ghostwriters, and you) we can make a book better than 50 Shades of Grey. I read that book, it's not that great! And if we get even 1/20th of the success of that book we can get a Hollywood movie deal (I just moved to Los Angeles, everyone here is making movies!).
THE DOWNSIDE:The highly sexual fictional version of myself might become more famous than the real me ever will and everyone will think I'm way more sexually experienced than I actually am. To be frank I was a bit of a late bloomer.
THE UPSIDE AGAIN:OH MY GOD, what if it*DID*become a movie and then someone wrote erotic fan fic about me and the fictional version of myself from the movie!?That would be the most beautiful thing to happen in my entire life.
Budget
We initially raised $5,000 because we want to
- a) offer a print edition when this is all done and
- b) we're making a special voting system for the backers.
About Me
I'm Mike Merrill. If you know me it's probably because I sell shares in myself. That project was written about in Wired, The Atlantic, CNBC, and I also got on the Today Show. And then Jason Bateman got interested in making a movie about it (which hasn't happened yet, but fingers crossed!).
I'm also a Techstars alum (twice!) and co-founded a fintech company four years ago. Before that I was a game designer and before that I worked at the best software company in the world. I taught a dog to play the piano, recently moved to Los Angeles, and if you google "kmikeym" you'll find out a lot more.
Endorsements
"You better not put me in your goddamn book!"
-Claire L. Evans, writer, singer, and artist.
“Boy, I wish I was confident enough to do something this horribly inappropriate.”
-Daniel H. Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse
"I’ve always found Mikey charming. But erotic? I mean, I guess…? Seriously though, good luck to him. What’s the worst that could happen?"
-Rick Turoczy, PIE founder and startup godfather.
"This is weird, even for Mike."
-Andrea Chalupa, writer, journalist, producer.
"I invested in Mike's company and this is how he's spending his time?"
-Drew Fletcher, angel investor.
"I love the idea of a choose your own adventure book. Unless I don't. Turn to page 15 if you think I do. Turn to page 30 if you think I don't."
-Morgan Evans, writer, actor, producer.
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