Lifelong Lebanon County resident fundraises for debut children’s book

Update Feb. 2, 2026:

“How to Pet a Porcupine” is now available for purchase. Find purchase links at EthanEshleman.com or purchase in-person at Witmer’s Clothing Store in Myerstown.

Ethan Eshleman said in an update email that the title will soon be available to borrow at the Myerstown Community Library and Richland Community Library.

“If you’d like to see it available at more locations, please request it at your local library,” said Eshleman.

---

A lifelong Lebanon County resident is attempting to raise at least $10,000 to help cover the costs of self-publishing his debut children’s book.

Ethan Eshleman, who was born in Richland and now lives in Lebanon city with his wife and their two sons, discussed How to Pet a Porcupine and the Kickstarter campaign behind it.

“I’ve enjoyed writing pretty much my whole life, and I always thought it would be fun to publish a children’s picture book,” Eshleman said. “And in the last two years, I got more serious about pursuing that.”

About a year ago, Eshleman was brainstorming ideas for a how-to book when the title, How to Pet a Porcupine, popped into his head. Over the span of a few days, he completed the first draft of what will be his debut children’s book.

“I shared it with friends and different people, and I could tell that people really enjoyed it,” he said. “Some people really encouraged me to turn it into a picture book. So, I started the process for that.”

Eshleman is part of a writer’s group, which he described as “a group of friends who all enjoy writing,” that meets virtually. He shared the story with the group to get it critiqued and reworked parts of the story in response.

Later on in the writing process, Eshleman hired published author Pam Halter to help polish the story. With the story of How to Pet a Porcupine in its complete 32-page form, Eshleman decided to pursue self-publishing it.

He then began the search for an illustrator and came across the work of UK-based illustrator Nathalie Kranich on Reedsy.

“I got three different illustrators to do a sample illustration, because I wanted to be really certain that I got the best illustrator for this project,” Eshleman said. “It was hard to choose between them, but I decided I liked her illustration of a scene from my book the best. So, I decided to go with her.”

To help cover the costs of illustrating and self-publishing How to Pet a Porcupine while rewarding backers, Eshleman decided to use Kickstarter. The international crowdfunding platform operates on an all-or-nothing basis, meaning backers will only be charged — and rewarded — if the creator reaches their fundraising goal.

Because of this, Eshleman set his initial fundraising goal at $500 to be reached by 11:59 p.m. Thursday, May 29. He reached it within 30 minutes.

As of Saturday, May 10, 51 backers had raised $2,891. Although Eshleman is attempting to raise at least $10,000 to help cover the costs, he has already signed a contract with Kranich and will publish the book regardless.

At this point, Kranich has completed the cover and one illustration spread for How to Pet a Porcupine.

“After I got the first illustration done, I had it printed out, and [one of my sons] came up to me so many times either with the picture or, if we were talking about it, he would say, ‘Can you please turn this into a book?'” Eshleman said. “So, it’s been really fun to see how excited he is about it.”

After the Kickstarter campaign ends, Kranich is set to complete a mix of single-page illustrations and illustration spreads for the rest of the children’s book. Eshleman said the process will start in June and take three to four months to complete.

Eshleman hopes to start the printing process this fall. For the hardcover version, he will use IngramSpark. For the softcover, he will use Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. Both platforms allow print-on-demand.

Eshleman plans to send the book to Kickstarter backers by December before launching the book in retailers in early 2026.

“My hope for the book is that it’ll be something that parents and kids can enjoy together,” Eshleman said.

The soon-to-be self-published author said How to Pet a Porcupine is geared for children between the ages of 4 and 8 and will feature some humor that parents can appreciate.