The Ask

This is a pitch for my new book "Fat Kids: Truth and Consequences." And this is a time when it is critical a book like this is written. Kids are struggling. Fat kids, skinny kids, girl kids, and boy kids. The pressure to be thin is overwhelming. I was just a precursor to the devastation that is happening to kids because of weight, bullying, shame, fear, pills, surgeries, and profound pain. The childhood obesity crisis around the world may be troubling, but not only because kids might be fatter. And everyone, kids, their parents, and all the good intentioned people trying to protect the kids from their fat bodies, need to know the truth and consequences. We must protect their hearts, souls, and sanity as well. These are stories of fat kids, former fat kids, and kids who think they are fat. They need to be told. They will make you cry, and then they will make you think.

Support this project, for the kids. I’m still a fat kid, and I need your support.

Book Summary

“Fat Kids: Truth and Consequences” is a narrative nonfiction account of people’s life experiences growing up fat and being the parents of fat children, the methods that were used to cause weight loss, and the outcomes of these experiences. Interviews will be coupled with relevant research, social anecdotes, author commentary, as well as personal accounts of the author, and the history and present day reality of weight and children. The book will be an honest and forthright portrayal in a storytelling style. Humor is used to make a serious subject engaging and accessible.

... And More

Not an academic work, Fat Kids is intended for a wide audience. It is insightful, revealing, and objective in a way not typical for an issue rife with controversy and most often addressed in a polemic nature. Fat Kids will address many questions and concerns of parents and children during a “childhood obesity crisis.” The focus of the book is not to promote dieting and weight loss, but rather to explore the actual experiences outside the current politically correct position on children and fat. Whether the experiences are good or bad, true accounts will be told, and put into the context of our current social milieu.

There is no similar book currently published. All book relating to children and weight are diet related. Comprehensive discussion on this important and timely topic is sparse, but much needed.

Written employing the same general format of “Fat Sex: The Naked Truth,” research and social anecdotes will be interspersed as the individual stories unfold. In a sort of memoir style, the writing will be poignant, entertaining and funny, moving, inspire thought and further education, challenge perceptions, and be highly relatable.

The Previous Book

In June, 2012, with the support of a successful Kickstarter campaign, and a foreword written by Margaret Cho, I published "Fat Sex: The Naked Truth." Fat Sex is a compilation of true stories, cultural references, and narrative commentary. "Fat Sex: The Naked Truth," tells the honest, and often heroic, heartbreaking, and hilarious experiences of large-size women and men in their romantic, intimate, and sexual relationships.​​​

If there are two subjects that are universally fascinating and rife with controversy, they are sex and fat. Though our culture is obsessed with both, the two commingling are sometimes seen as offensive, obscene, or even grotesque. Fat people are not viewed as sexual beings. Of course, this perception is far from accurate. Fat people have normal and peculiar sex lives, just like everyone else.

Among the amazing reviews, it was said:​

An outstanding work -- better than I imagined it could be. - Bill Fabrey, NAAFA Founder

Real talk beyond popular perceptions. - The TODAY Show

A heartfelt, informative page-turner - Mark Ebner, Journalist & NY Times best selling author

Despite its jump-off-the-page title, Fat Sex: The Naked Truth is much more of a pleasant surprise than a shocking one.... Fat Sex's greatest charm is its heartbreaking relatability." - The Portland Phoenix

Fat Sex affirms what I have known intuitively all along -- women of all sizes and shapes are sexy, passionate, desirable creatures with romantic and sexual lives. - Adios Barbie

Everyone deserves to feel love and to have good sex. We're glad to see this conversation continue.... We only get one body. If we don't love ourselves and treat ourselves well, who will? - Yahoo! TV

PeopleOfSize.com

PeopleOfSize.com is an online community that provides information, support, and interaction for "people of size" of all ages. We are not a diet site, though health and fitness are part of what we address. We focus on all aspects of life, from medical to fashion, relationships to daily living, entertainment to emotional well being.

We provide comprehensive information and access from many perspectives and offer a forum for discussion and social interaction. All subjects include a social networking function; people of size can communicate about their favorite plus/large size fashions, size friendly vacation spots, health questions and concerns, job, family, and relationships, political and social issues, and everything in between.

The PeopleOfSize.com e-community is a welcoming place for all people of size, recognizing everyone should have the opportunity to live life to the fullest, learn and grow, be healthy and happy. We are a community with no judgment, just opportunity. Of course, PeopleOfSize.com is totally free.

We also have a very active community on facebook.

Why Me?

I have been fat, off and on, since I was four and my parents got a divorce. A pediatrician put me on my first diet in first grade and my teacher told the entire class I was not allowed to eat birthday cake. In Girl Scout Camp my bunk-mates would chant "here comes the tub" when I would walk by. I did many things to not be fat. Many of them dangerous, and none of them stuck. Though there were periods of not-so-fat, like after two summers of "fat camp" and later a lot of uppers -- in the end I got progressively fatter. In law school one supposedly kind and caring professor told me I would never get a job because of my body. Every aspect of my life, since before I can remember, was punctuated with what was apparently the most important aspect of my being: My fat body.

If my own life experience wasn't enough, when I started working on PeopleOfSize.com I saw the pain, and that I was not alone. And it was not actually about body size, it was about shame. Fat people can't hide their bodies in the closet, but their shame is tucked neatly away.

Fat people are mere mortals, and they need a voice. I am just one person trying to give that voice to those whose shame keeps them from speaking. There is no institution behind me, or a curator for this page. It is me, my computer, and the wonderful people who tell me their stories, which I try to tell with compassion, empathy, honesty, and enough humor so we all don't jump off a bridge.

The Money

This one is, and my last one was, an "Indie-book." Basically that means major publishers don't think the books will sell enough copies to make it worth their while. And they may be right. I sold enough copies of Fat Sex to break even. That's all right, the book is out there doing its job, as this one will be. Anyway, as a self-publisher I have to pay all the expenses a publisher normally would, plus promotion. I keep it as modest as possible. So ...

In broad strokes, here's how I plan to spend your money:

$200 website development

$300 cover art

$500 graphic design

$1,000 editing

$1,000 book production

$300 technology management (email marketing, website fees, etc)

$1,700 book promotion

This is a tight budget. If I am lucky enough to raise more than $5,000, that money will go toward book promotion and expenses I haven't accounted for.

The Artwork Rewards

First of all, why? This is a true crowdfunding project. I need the money to make the project happen, I am not "pre-selling" cool stuff. So to give out great rewards I need to crowdsource that too. Joyce Ellen Weinstein is a world renowned artist. She also happens to be my mother. She can't give me cash, but she can support me through offering her art as rewards. That helps me and you. All the artwork is valued at twice or more the reward amount. It is also apropos; the series "Blind Leading the Blind" speaks to the world of being a fat kid. Plus, it's beautiful. Check out the options below:

All artwork is from the series "Blind Leading the Blind."

For $50 and $100 Pledge:

Giclee Print 8”x 10” and 11" x 14"

For $250 Pledge (one):

Silk Screen/Linoleum Block Print Limited Edition, 15" x 13"

For $500 Pledge (one):

Silk Screen/Linoleum Block Print, Limited Edition, 25" x 19"