A sapphic second chance romance with magic, found family, and two exes still hopelessly in love after 20 years apart. Welcome to Springwell, where everyone knows your name, your coffee order, and who did what, and when.
After a wedding puts a guarded bookseller and the woman who left her back in each other’s path, their forced proximity turns into a second chance complicated by amnesia, mystery, and a pinch of magic.
After years of running, Safi has finally settled down in a scenic mountain town known for its sweeping views, luxury weddings, and the promise of a fresh start. When her cousin ropes her into helping with her wedding at the local luxury lodge, Safi expects chaos, family drama, and maybe some decent cake.
She does not expect Nai.
Glamorous, guarded, and more famous than ever, Nai built a multimillion-dollar brand knowing exactly what to show and what to hide. But when she walks into Safi’s town, and back into her life, everything she thought was buried and lost begins to surface.
They were each other’s first love. Then, one summer, everything ended. The strange part? Neither of them remembers why.
As old friends arrive and forgotten memories begin to return, Safi and Nai are forced to face not just their past, but the unsettling sense that something deeper is unfolding beneath it. That last summer wasn’t just magical—it was impossible to forget. And yet they all did.
Do you love The Craft and The Breakfast Club, but wished It was way more queer and sapphic? Yeah. Me too. 😌 Then add a sprinkle of two loveable disasters still hopelessly in love even after 20 years apart, found family, and some moments so spicy it may leave your free hand... otherwise occupied. 😈
Second chance romance
Indonesian plus-size FMC
Trans lesbian FMC
Sweet & spicy romance (20% heat 80% plot)
Dual timeline & POVs (1993-95 & 2015)
Light magical mystery
Hurt x comfort
Amnesia (literally no one remembers the last summer they spent together)
Finally some real queer spice for real sl*** and beautiful emotions in a wondrous scenic setting! The perfect read for cozy season!
I love the world, I love the women, I love the friend group.
Second chances, found family, magical adventures and spicy sapphic yearning. The Wishing Well is all that and more. I cried, laughed, smiled and occasionally yelled at the characters. I couldn't put it down.
The Project
This campaign aims to raise enough funds to publish the highly anticipated The Wishing Well and print some gorgeous limited edition hardcovers.
By backing this project you'll get the books in October 2026 before anyone else. Book 1 releases in early 2027 on Amazon and book 2 releases in early spring 2027.
At over 180K words, The Wishing Well is being split into 2 books. But for those daring, brave souls who crave everything as one thick story, we have something special: a beautiful omnibus edition including both books, art, endpapers, foil printing, and a vellum insert. The book comes signed with printed goodies.
Foil letters and UV printed butterflies
Printed edges
Foil printed stars on the back of the cover
By backing this project you're helping The Wishing Well get published. 🥰
Rewards
Please note that all reward prices in these graphics are set to USD converted from SEK. The amount shown in the Pledges tab is shown in your local currency, so it may vary slightly depending on exchange rate.
Tier 1
$5 Tier 1 The Tourist:
Ebook Wishing You Well This Christmas novella $5
$10 Tier 2 The Transplant:
eBook 1 & 2
$15 Tier 3 The Resident:
eBook 1 & 2
Wishing You Well This Christmas novella
$20 Tier 4 the Ghost Tour Guide:
eBook 1 & 2, ebook novella
The MeetCute Match, a short story
$25 Tier 5 The Innkeeper:
Everything from previous tiers
Digital character art
Digital wallpaper
Digitally signed ebook 1 & 2.
$35 Tier 6 Park Ranger:
Everything from previous tiers
The Wishing You Well This Christmas audiobook
$65 Tier 8 Springwell Legend:
All eBooks
The signed limited edition Hardcover Omnibus
Art prints
Name in acknowledgments.
$75 Tier 7 Town Council: DIGITAL REWARD ONLY
Everything from previous tiers
A place on Springwell's Town Council. We work together to chose your name, title, and area of responsibility for a town council that will appear in the next story set in Springwell.
A mention on Springwell's website
$100 Tier 9 Springwell Legend: SOLD OUT
Everything from previous tiers
Official Mayor Of Springwell Certificate
Your mayoral portrait sketched printed and digital that will appear on Springwell’s website.
Printed: Springwell brochure and tourist map (illustrations in graphic is placeholders only. Final artwork will be revealed once the art is done.)
$250Tier 10 Founding Family: SOLD OUT
Everything from previous tiers (Except Mayor of Springwell Certificate)
Your Founding Family portrait sketched printed and digital that will appear on Springwell’s website.
Become part of Springwell!
We collaborate on how you'll leave your mark on Springwell and become part of the town!
There are 5 categories to choose from:
Own A Springwell Business: Maybe the florist? A grocery store? Or a small B&B?
Put Your Name On The Map: Name a trail, lane, bridge, or other minor landmark
Enter Springwell History: Your name or your family appears in the town's historical records or maybe there's an article in the Springwell Gazette about your founding family? Or maybe there's a local anecdote about you or your family that everyone in Springwell knows?
Become A Springwell Local: Become a minor character in a planned, future Springwell story.
This will be a collaboration but I retain the final creative control and rights.
These awesome stretch goals will start unlocking once the project has been funded!
$5000 Printed colouring page (Mieoi has signed on to illustrate it!) ✅
$5500 Bonus journal pages from Safi and Nai ✅
$6000 Recipes from the books ✅
$7000 Extra epilogue. We also donate $250 to an Indonesian LGBTQAI+ org, helping trans women affected by the ongoing violence in Indonesia. ✅
$8000 Anthology of Safi and Nai short stories from cozy and romantic to a smutty Christmas Day unwrapping 😌😈 will be added as an add-on and to all-inclusive tiers. 🪫93% there!
$9000 when we hit this goal, the audiobook will go into production and added to all-inclusive tiers and as an add-on.
The Art
All art for this book and project has been commissioned by human artists who do not use AI. These will be available as prints and the tarot cards will be printed bookmarks. All the artists can be found on Instagram.
All text and art for this project has been created by humans. I’m very strongly against generative AI and the effect it has on humans and the environment. Aside from, you know, techbros stealing our works to train AI on.
All the graphics used were made in Canva with AI filtering on, ensuring to the best of my ability that none of the elements have been created using gen AI.
No generative AI was knowingly used in the creation of this project.
Who Am I?
Well, hi! 👋🏾 I'm Elm or LM when we're being fancy. I'm a small (4"11') Swedish trans indie author who writes sapphic romance. I also dabble in the zombie post-apocalypse genre, infusing it with queerness and diverse found family.
I love writing stories with a more diverse main cast. Growing up, I never got to see myself, an Indonesian, brown, queer kid, in the stories I loved. Certainly never as the protagonist. For a long time, I settled for characters I could relate to if I bridged enough gaps. But eventually I realised that wasn't the same thing. For once, I wanted to read characters who were actually like me.
So now I write unapologetically queer, diverse, and inclusive stories.
You can find my previous books on Amazon. If you want to know more about me, you can always check out my Instagram. 🌈
Why Backerkit?
As you all know by now, I'm a small indie author (both literally and figuratively). This means all costs that are associated with publishing books fall on me. Things like:
Editing
Art (and I love to support my human artists!): cover art, interior art, art prints
Formatting
Production of printed books
Shipping
Import fees
And while I could print regular books with the devil itself (*cough* Amazon *cough*) readers have been so incredibly excited about The Wishing Well and Safi and Nai. I really want to produce the best book I can. Running this campaign will help me shoulder some of the costs involved with printing a pretty special edition book like this. Even without the fancy hardcover, it will still help me cover editing, marketing, and cover art costs.
So why Backerkit and not Kickstarter? Well, essentially, they're the same thing. You help fund a product and you get cool rewards for it! (Including my undying love). But I felt Backerkit leans more into building a proper community and relationship with my readers. I love the Launch Party where I can post fun little updates, posts, and sneak peeks of what I'm creating for you as rewards.
Shipping costs will be collected separately after the campaign through the pledge manager once final postage rates are confirmed. This allows us to charge the most accurate shipping rates possible and helps avoid overcharging backers during the campaign.
Backers will receive detailed instructions after the campaign ends. Orders will not be shipped until shipping has been paid.
The printer advises 25-30 days shipping to me, but could take up to 30-45. Adding time for customs and preparing the packages for transit, I'm aiming to start shipping out the physical books by March-April 2027.
Unfortunately with the new EU waste regulation I can no longer afford to offer the physical book to readers within the EU. Sweden is exempt to this rule.
FAQ
Why isn't shipping included?
Shipping costs vary significantly by country and may change between the campaign and fulfillment.
Shipping will be collected separately after the campaign through the pledge manager. Orders will not be shipped until shipping has been paid.
Charging shipping separately allows us to calculate the most accurate postage rates and keeps the campaign pledge price focused on the book itself.
What happens if my book arrives damaged?
If your book arrives damaged, please contact us within 14 days of delivery and include clear photographs of both the damage and packaging.
Replacement copies may be provided from available reserve stock at our discretion.
Minor cosmetic imperfections, including small corner dings, light scuffing, or other imperfections that do not affect readability, may not qualify for replacement.
My parcel got lost. Can I receive a replacement?
We are responsible for ensuring your package is shipped and provided with tracking.
If a package is confirmed lost in transit by the carrier, a replacement copy may be provided from available reserve stock.
Packages marked as delivered by the carrier are considered fulfilled. Please check with household members, neighbours, building management, local collection points, and your postal service before contacting us.
We cannot guarantee replacement of packages that are lost, stolen, or misplaced after delivery.
Replacement requests for packages marked as delivered are considered solely at our discretion and are subject to available reserve stock.
We will not replace items if the package was not delivered due to unpaid fees or if it was deemed undeliverable by the courier, the address provided was incorrect, or if there is minor damage to a dust jacket, or minor scratches or blemishes on the page edges.
Can I return my book if I don’t like it?
Due to the crowdfunding nature of this project, all sales are final.
Returns, exchanges, or refunds are not accepted for change of mind, buyer's remorse, or dissatisfaction with the content of the book.
Please review the project page carefully before pledging.
Time Frame & Risks
Once the campaign has ended, providing we reached our funding goal, and all funds collected, all digital rewards will be sent out. Estimated time: mid-October to November.
For the hardcover book, my printer will get to work on the books as soon as all funds have been collected. Production time is 25-30 days. After that it'll take between 25-45 days to get to me. Adding a 2 to 3 weeks for customs to do their thing.
By the time the books arrive at my place prints and goodies should already be prepped and ready to be packaged together with the book and sent off.
Depending on how many books I have to buy postage for, pack, and drop off, it may take a few weeks before everyone has received their shipment. Because it's just me, myself, and I, please allow me enough time to make sure your book is packaged safely before sending it off. 💛
My hope is that I'll start sending out books by March-April 2027.
RISKS
The only risk with this could be delays from the printer or during shipping. In that case I'll reach out to the affected backers and keep them updated. I've chosen to work with a well-established printer in China that has many years of experience with printing books specifically for Kickstarters and similar funding campaigns. I'm confident they'll do their best to avoid any delays.
The manuscript is already being edited, so there is very little risk the ebooks won't be sent out.
All art is already done and waiting to be sent out.
