Prior to the ambitious Thesaurus Canada book project, the plan is to have a local, Manitoba treasure hunt. Free, on a new website, $1,500 prize. This will be a signal flare/pilot project for Thesaurus Canada. New stuff for me :-|
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I'm starting to look favourably on a crawl, then walk, then run model. That is Plan O, self-published TC with training wheels, then Thesaurus Canada.
 
 
 
 

What is the flavour problem? Treasure hunts are fun games where you try to get a treasure. But the location of the treasure is secret; you have to figure it out. If I use flavour A for an early treasure hunt, people will associate that style with Manitoba, me, when it's used in Thesaurus Canada. We also want to avoid a situation where people won't buy books because there are no active hunts in their province. Flavour A hunts could have other little issues too. See above.
 
 
 
 

Publishers, proper publishers vs. self publishing, is a separate topic.

I've been checking out publishing.

Self publishing would have its ups and downs. One advantage of self publishing is you would have control over timing. Self publishing is apparently good for niche books. A book series works well. This self publishing business makes it feel more doable.

Traditional publishing would have advantages. A bigger publishing house would offer an advance, which would come in handy. There would be an editor for the narrative treasure hunt. Cover art and layout would be taken care of. They would work on the accounting.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thesaurus Canada works in English and in French. Right? It's thésaurus in French (shouldn't the last s be silent?). The accent shakes things up. Thesaurus Canada was chosen because the Greco-Roman word works in English and French. Thesaurus Canada might be renamed. What should it be renamed to? Treasure Canada? Uninspired, but also unambiguous. Treasure Hunt Canada (THC) would be interesting.
 
 

Should I use the term criteria, quotas, or requirements?
 
 

Should I use the term variety instead of diversity? Same meaning, less baggage.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Does one person do one treasure hunt, or could there be multiperson involvement? I've gone back and forth over this. This refers to two different things: puzzle person vs. treasure placer, and also a treasure hunt that is a multi-author patchwork.
 

Someone may not be inclined to plop a treasure out there for wwhatever reason. A different person may not be built to make puzzles, but is mobile and otherwise built to place treasure. Of course these two could be in different provinces. The author would not be tied to one zone for this book series.
 

Having multiple distinct parts from multiple authors attached together to make one treasure hunt would be interesting, different. This seems like something I would have dreamed of when I was young. Something for later in the series.
 

In both cases it's cleaner to have one person do the whole hunt. Payment, responsibility, vision and evaluation would be cleaner. People might just not want to do this with someone else anyway.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

If these conditions are not met, the project will not happen (well ... see the Book page).
 
 

This is ambitious and has the criteria to be followed. The first book in the series could be Thesaurus Canada light, TC with training wheels, with fun hunts but the criteria do not have to be followed. Could be self published.
 
 
 
 

Make whatever kind of treasure hunt you feel like. Having said that, a hunt with illustrations Whistill, The Secret 13th is useful. Even better is a narrative hunt, a story, partly because it would pad out the page count.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Different types of treasure hunts are desired, so there is a soft quota. Narrative, poems Utah, salad, ciphers, pictures Masquerade, word play, map, word search. Sequential puzzle, where one clue helps you figure out the next. Sequential road trip, going from spot to spot like in a Hollywood movie. A hike in the country. History (more subject than puzzle type).

Salad is my vague term meaning a treasure hunt uses a number of these types of puzzles at once. A ticket, a newspaper article, a photograph, some weird symbols over there ..

Narrative hunts include autobiography (the famous big hunts do this), history, story Dyscordia, mystery, I propose a ghost story. A long-winded narrative treasure hunt is not just desired but needed, even in a relaxed TC light. That's because it would fill out page count.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Here is an early look at what to do about money. Designers would get paid a percentage of sales as a fellow member of the team. The person who places the treasure should be compensated; it's more work than it sounds. A designer would be paid twice for two treasure hunts. Tasks like website work or translation would not be compensated. Would treasure hunt art be paid for by the designer? The person who puts together the book, arranging this and that, would get .. Money would have to go toward, oh, a cover artist.

Money going toward treasure would be .. a mess, if you think it through. I have decided that each designer must provide the treasure for his own hunt. Potential designers might recoil from this, but here are some things to consider. This would mean cleaner lines. Responsibility and decisions would be decentralised. It's actually normal for designers to fund the treasure for their hunts. What should we do if John has a big $12,000 treasure, or Veronica is impoverished?

If you aim to make money, you've probably come to the wrong place. Lady Liberty
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Treasure placers do more tasks than you think.

You probably need to choose the location. The place needs to be integrated with the puzzle. You need to get the treasure, plus a container, some money shuffled around. Heavy? Big? Certainly valuable. Protecting the treasure from the elements should be considered. You want to make sure you don't get caught placing the treasure, the nightmare of creators. Ideally placing a test treasure and seeing if it is discovered over time should be tried in advance. Once the book is out, the treasure should periodically be checked to see if it is there and communicating this (the finder is also encouraged to report that is was found). The treaure placer might be roped into responding to e-mails. Somebody needs to have a documented (photo and video?) explanation for the place and how the clues lead to there. This is both for when the hunt is evaluated before it is published, as well as revealing the explanation to searchers when it is over. And you have to keep everything secret.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Vancouver. ~ New to me. This, as well as Silver Dragon, are examples of using a map. I can't see the map for either of these. The treasure is classic, thematic, a treasure chest containing real coins with real value. Thirty grand, a great amount. A family won. It's nice to think of families doing these things, but apparently it happened here. They have tough rules which probably come from experience. "Evidence of working in online groups outside of official teams will disqualify you." Interesting, also hard to enforce. I suspect that's about getting people to pay.