A SOMERSET illustrator will see her book idea become a reality after she raised over £4,000 during a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Katherine O'Shea is publishing, marketing and sourcing funding for her picture book, Molly's First Festival. 

The book will be about a little girl's visit a famous music festival with her family, inspired by Katherine's toddler's first trip to Glastonbury.

Katherine launched her crowdfunding campaign on the Kickstarter website at the start of November and successfully raised £4,141 from over 90 supporters, exceeding her £3,000 target.

Rewards for backers include being named in the contributors' page, receiving a copy of the book when it is published and being drawn into the crowds.

Somerset County Gazette: Illustrator Katherine O'Shea and her daughter Molly.Illustrator Katherine O'Shea and her daughter Molly. (Image: Katherine O'Shea)

She said: “The response was really amazing, with the target of 3k being reached a week before the finish date, going over the original target by £1,141.

“The campaign was also selected as a ‘Project We Love’ by the Kickstarter platform and was even endorsed by the CEO himself, who made a pledge.

“As a way to thank all those involved in the project, there were a number of family-centered rewards for backers - including custom play-festival merchandise, original festival portraits for people to keep and even being drawn into the crowds.

“It means that this book will now be full of real-life families.”

Katherine has worked on some of the illustrations for the book during short residencies at Clayhill Arts, a converted farm near Bridgwater.

She is now set to return to her former university to speak to students about running a successful crowdfunding campaign.