Early Reviews

Early reviews of Saving Maya  are coming in and so far they’re reflecting what we’d hoped readers would take from the book. There’s a powerful message running throughout it, that confining dogs to lives of breeding is wrong. And there are many ways to have a dog in our lives which doesn’t involve buying puppies from such backgrounds. We have early reviews from readers who have been following the creation and development of the book through my social media and also via our Kickstarter campaign.

We sent copies out to all our backers and their early reviews show how powerful crowdfunding is. This has never been clearer than right now for me. It’s not only helped us as creators, but also for our backers who are an integral part of making something happen they have invested emotionally into this project. Which means the message will be further helped on its way out into the wider world of non-dog-aware readers; the very people we have to reach to stop the suffering.

The success of the Kickstarter goes beyond enabling us to publish a children’s book we wanted to see published, it reaches much further. It’s not only about a book, it’s about the campaign against the cruelty of the modern puppy trade. Every backer and all the early reviews are proving the power of literature and art to impact people’s hearts, minds and actions. It’s what Annabel and I firmly believed can happen, to see it manifesting is truly special.

Take these early reviews from recent days:

Early reviews from Kickstarter backers

Then there’s the target audience: young readers who one day may find themselves in the position of sourcing a dog. Or, be persuading their parents now that they’d like a dog in their lives. These are the people we hope this book will reach for years to come and early reviews are encouraging as the story sits in their minds and makes them think:

Then there are the seasoned campaigners. The ones who know more than anyone what the suffering of dogs in the puppy trade is. First-hand accounts from investigators helped me to get inside the head of ‘Maya’ and imagine her life in the breeding shed. Images from Puppy Love Campaigns helped Annabel illustrate certain drawings in the book. This review from Veronica Lambert, of Puppy Love Campaigns is so pleasing and I hope I’ve done her hard work justice with my literary interpretation of her factual accounts:

Just read Saving Maya by @SusieBSchnauzer Fantastic book 2 educate children. Brilliant author and wonderful campaigner. #puppyfarming

— Puppy Love Campaigns (@puppylovecamp) July 7, 2016

Keep the reviews coming in, and help us to get the book out and under the eyes of young and older readers. We definitely can influence how they source their dogs, the written word can be powerful and live in minds way beyond initial reading.

Saving Maya is available from all major online retailers, some bookshops and all can order it in if you ask for it. Right now, there’s 20% discount on orders direct from our publisher on this link, using CODE:MAYA are checkout. For overseas orders the Book Depository offer FREE worldwide shipping. It’s also available on Amazon and as an ebook via Amazon, apple iTunes and other major digital options.