You can help one of the world’s best stories remain evergreen.

Dear Reader,

When I first read Henry David Thoreau’s Walden in 2014, it changed my life. His ideas on simplicity, consumerism, and the cult of busyness were years ahead of his time. But while widely quoted, the book’s readership is dwindling. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to prevent Walden from becoming a collection of motivational posters for cubicles and half bathrooms.

Some of you may know that I’m in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign that I hope will solve that problem.

I initially set out to modernize Walden through a full-scale adaptation. Last week, it became clear that there was a better, more respectful way to go about this. We made a radical, risky decision to forego the adaptation, and instead publish a new hardcover edition of Walden with the original text and annotations tailored for a modern reading experience. The book will still be beautifully designed and produced — a treasure for any collector’s library.

I’m writing today to ask for your help. More than 400 backers have already joined me on this journey, but we still have a long way to go if we are to meet our goal in the next 13 days. If we do not raise the necessary funds in that time, this project will not be brought to life.

Here are three ways you can show your support:

1. Watch our video, and consider pledging to this campaign if you haven’t already.
2. Within the coming week, tell at least five people about the campaign. If each and every backer gets five more people to pledge in the next few days, we will quickly meet our fundraising goal.
3. Share the campaign on Twitter and/or Facebook. Here’s a sample post you can use:
   If you are a fan of both Thoreau and design, you’ll love this .@kickstarter by .@TheNewWalden: kck.st/1LrsW9G #waldenkickstarter

Our annotations are designed as side notes which hang in the margins next to the passage in reference. Right there when you need them, unobtrusive when you don’t.

Thoreau believed that reading a good book “is a noble intellectual exercise” that challenges the reader, requiring them to “stand on tip-toe to read.” My intention all along has been to get more people to read Walden, and I believe this new direction will make that happen.

“If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry, more immortal — that is your success.” — Thoreau, Walden

If this project is funded, then I will create more of these collectible, annotated classics. I want to help the world’s best stories remain evergreen. Together, we can make that happen.

Will you join me?

With love,
Matt Steel