The Good, The Bad, and the Really, Really Annoying.

Photo used courtesy of John Downer Productions.

... Thanks!

First things first: the good stuff. Our donations page is now up and running:

http://www.createafund.com/dakiniBooks/Tigers

I've set it up so that people can donate any amount they like, but we're hoping that most people will go for the book pre-order option - everyone who chips in £29/$45 or more will receive a copy of Tigers. Not a bad turn out so far - there's been a steady flow of visitors to the site. Now we just need another 4000 or so people to order a book...

I've also been chatting to the lovely people at WWF - in the UK, in Russia, and in Malaysia - about how we can work together to raise funds and awareness, using the book and otherwise. So far, we've decided to dedicate 30% of all funds raised, including through book sales, to WWF's Tx2 Campaign to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022. The WWF are co-hosting the Heads of State Tiger Summit in Vladivostok this September, which means that they will be especially well placed to target world leaders, and the media, over the issue, and so we've been going over different ways that we can combine our resources to really make sure the message gets across.

So, all positive on that front.

Now for the headaches.

Headache 1. Back in the office last week, we came up with a genius stunt to get people talking about tiger extinction over here in London. However, the technical and artistic details were a teensie bit out of our skill set... apart from anything else, it involves complicated life-size sculpture at below-melting point temperatures, which I just don't think my AS-level art credentials will cover.

After extensive research (i.e. calling the other half, who works in design) I was advised to get in touch with the talented young design collective Puff&Flock, who would know about this sort of thing, when they got back from Milan - where most of the design world was headed last week for the Design Fair. But, judging by the photos of steadily gathering clouds of volcanic ash splashed across the news today, it would seem that this is where much of the design world will be staying for the foreseeable future.

This is at least the first time in my life that I can say my plans have been scuppered due to a giant plume of sulphur grounding all flights across the continent.

Headache 2. Now, this is a serious headache. As I've said, we're making a book, on tigers, to raise money for various tiger charities and to raise general awareness for the issues affecting tiger survival. We've found the photos we really love, and the photographers - in principle - are quite happy for us to use them. But, it turns out that they leased the photos to a different publisher several years ago, and now we have a potential rights quibble on our hands.

This was for a very different kind of book, and the people I've managed to speak to there have even said it shouldn't be a problem. Nevertheless, we like to do things properly, and we just wanted to check with them that this won't cause any trouble.

I've now been trying to get hold of the right person at said publishers for the past month to clear this with him. All I need is a simple "Yes, that's fine" or "No, you'll need to do this", but a dozen phone calls and emails later I still haven't heard back, due, it seems, to a mixture of bad luck, bad timing and... well, I wouldn't like to speculate. Rumour has it, though, that he will be at the London Book Fair tomorrow. Looks like it might be Press Passes at Dawn...

The Countdown Begins...

Image used courtesy of John Downer Productions. Thanks!



Firstly, let me explain how dakini works.



We're a media company, and we (mainly) publish big, beautiful, photo-led coffee-table books. We have a brainstorm every month or so where we say, what would we like to make a book about? Then we have a scout about for the very best writers and photographers, we find a way to pay for it, we make the book, and the book gets sold.



Back in 2008, our director, Lucky, went on safari in India, fell in love with the big cats, and decided that what she really wanted to make was a book about tigers - with all profits going to tiger and wildlife charities. The idea has been floating around ever since, but the opportunity never quite came round to make it happen.



In the meantime, the world's wild tigers have continued to head steadily towards extinction. Poaching, deforestation and a whole host of other issues are making it increasingly difficult for them to survive, and if we don't act soon, it will be too late.



Then, we heard that, this September, the WWF, the World Bank and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (a keen tiger conservationist) are hosting the world's first Heads of State Tiger Summit. So, we got in touch.



The idea of the summit is to address the issues facing tigers, and to figure out how best to meet the WWF's Tx2 campaign targets to double wild tigers by 2022. As it stands, Russia is the only country that has managed to increase its tiger population in recent years, making the country well placed to offer advice to other countries on how to achieve this.



The fact that this issue is the subject of an international summit is a very positive sign, but if it is to be successful it will need to become a global priority. This can only happen with the full support of the public, and the media.



So, we've decided that now is the time to make the Tiger book happen.



It's the Year of the Tiger and the governments of all tiger-inhabited countries are at last poised to discuss what can be done. It is incredibly important that that the event receives extensive press coverage, and that we all make an effort to demonstrate our engagement with and support for the project, now, to make sure that these heads of state take notice, and action.



We want to use the book to create global awareness possible for the campaigns underway, and to raise as much money possible to support the charities and organisations behind these. We are planning to work with newspapers, TV stations, websites and a wide range of organisations to ensure that the book's message reaches a wide international audience.



Over the coming weeks and months, we will be keeping you updated on our progress, and letting you know how you can be involved. We won't be able to get this off the ground before September without support, and so we will be looking for people who are as passionate as we are about the saving the future of tigers in the wild to help us make this work!



dakini x