Graphic Novel Book Tour in Sweden

Badin and the Secret of the Saami is a revolutionary graphic novel that vindicates an 18th century Swede of African origin through historical fiction. Its creator, Eric Basir, is boldly touring the country of his mother's ancestors (Sweden) to reclaim the respect Badin was never given. In turn, this will help inspire Swedes of foreign backgrounds to take a more active and unified place in their country. All Swedes will benefit from being reintroduced to this important historical figure through a mythical perspective.

Originally, Mr. Basir planned to start his month-long journey as a guest among Swedish scholars for Black Swedish History week at the Museum of Ethnography (October 4-8, 2017) however, the goals were not met in order to have books printed for the trip. So he has chosen to extend the campaign through 2018 in order to raise enough money. A separate bank account and regular reports regarding donations and banking fees are published regularly in the Updates section of this campaign.

The details:

Using a rented recreational vehicle as an office, warehouse and mobile home, Eric intends to spread the word about Sweden's forgotten Black Prince. This will include the promotion of two other children's books about Black Swedish characters: Knös the Giant and the Swedish Girl of Motala . While meeting Swedes, Eric also intends to find ways to gather support for a Swedish and Saami language translation for the graphic novel. Meeting with government representatives to have Badin officially recognized as a member of the Royal Family is also a high priority while in Stockholm.

Two very important facts about this project:
1) The graphic novel is complete. Not many people complete graphic novels of high quality. So that is half of the battle in winning your trust.
2) A Swedish translation for the book is being paid for out-of-pocket by Eric (as of August, 2017).

A full accounting of all money raised and used will be submitted every week. This will include daily blogs, videos and livestreaming of events through the Badin and the Secret of the Saami website and Facebook page.

Here's the breakdown of estimated costs (rounded up to the nearest $100):

Airplane tickets to and from Sweden (1-stop during May-June 2018 season; this cost may go up or down depending on how soon we reach the goal): $3,000

RV Rental $3,000

Fuel $1,500

RV Campsite (avg. $25-$80/night ever other day) $900

Camping Key $20

Food ($80/week) $320

Laundry $55

Parking/Tolls $200

Cab, train or bus rides (when RV cannot be used) $400

500 Books (Badin and the Secret…) to Sweden $4,500

100 Books (Knös Jätten) to Sweden $950

100 Books (Motala's Svenska Flicka) to Sweden $1,000

30 $500 awards (Badin graphic novel) $900

Emergency fund (For illness, mechanical breakdown or shipping of additional or unsold books) $500

TOTAL $17,245

All supporters of this effort will be given a reward of the digital edition of Badin and the Secret of the Saami graphic novel . Those who give $500 or more will receive a signed paperback edition of the graphic novel. A donation of $10,000 or more will earn one lucky person the original thumbnail sketch layouts for the graphic novel.