Greek Heroes narrate their tales with academic insights and over 130 full-page images by award winning illustrator Tyler Miles Lockett
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Book editing is done! woohoo! š„āļøThe Trojan War Cycle begins, āļøš„ and more surprises in store....
7 months ago
ā Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 01:54:49 AM
š„āļø The Trojan War Cycle Has Begun! āļøš„
I have officially started designing characters for my upcoming Trojan War Cycle illustrated book (launching 2026). This project will bring to life the Iliad, Odyssey, epic fragments, and Greek tragedies of Troy with over 100 full-page illustrations.
š Join me on Patreon to follow the journeyābehind-the-scenes sketches, WIP videos, exclusive art reveals, and access to a private Discord community.
It took so much longer than expected, but with 3 editors helping me, the edits are officially finished! Woohoo! And the final PDF is at the printer for a mockup. Iāll share photos and video once it arrives. If approved, weāll move straight into full production.
Unfortunately, editing took Much longer than anticipated, so š Delivery is now expected in JanuaryāFebruary 2026 (instead of December), but Iām incredibly proud of how the book turned out, and I know youāll love it.
Interactive eBook Sneak Peek
Weāre building an interactive eBook edition of Greek Gods & Heroesānot just a flat PDF. Planned features include: 1ļøā£ Pop-up Definitions for Greek or academic terms and characters 2ļøā£ Clickable Ariadneās Links to related pages within the book 3ļøā£ Interactive Mentor Quizzes 4ļøā£ Star Map Guides to make the art pieces interactive
Hereās a rough mockup of whatās coming for the star maps:
āļøš¹ Coming in 2027: The Godhunters š¹āļø
My passion project over 10 years in the makingāThe Godhunters, a dark fantasy illustrated novelāwill arrive on Kickstarter in 2027.
That's it for August folks! As always, thank you for your interest and support. LOTS of cool stuff on the horizon. Happy to have you on board for this epic journey! xoxo
In Myth and Magic,Ā
Tyler Miles Lockett
*Sorry!* PDF book link is now fixed for "Greek Gods and Heroes"
8 months ago
ā Sat, Jul 19, 2025 at 09:41:02 PM
The PDF link became broken from the last update. here's the updated PDF link
Beta readers needed on Discord
I am finally locking down the final text in the book pages and visual layouts. MILESTONE REACHED! You can peruse the entire PDF book manuscript here: (its a big file, so give it a moment to load)Ā CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF
If you have the free time, would love to get your Beta reader skills to help us catch any final grammar or spelling mistakes. Come join me on DISCORD to collaborate and give me feedback and corrections needed on the manuscript in the "feedback" section.Ā
Hey everyone, Backerkit Surveys have been emailed out. Still time for "add-on" extras or to upgrade your tier
8 months ago
ā Sat, Jul 19, 2025 at 08:42:38 AM
Hey all! Hope everyone is doing well!
Backerkit Surveys
A few announcements:Ā
Just a reminder that I've sent out Backerkit surveys, for you to input your address, add any add-ons to your order, like an extra book or two, or upgrade your tier to a higher pledge. We will lock these orders in mid August, so there's still time left to make your changes. Your address can be changed or updated for months to come, until we lock addresses closer to shipping later in the year.Ā
And for those Titan Tier folks: The backerkit survey is your opportunity to list your names which will be included in the "Pantheon of Patrons" endpaper illustration at the back of the book. *Please limit your names to two words. I will send another survey out in a week or so for those that missed it.Ā
For those folks who pledged within the first 48 hours, you can apply your $5 credit when we charge for add-ons or upgrades in a few weeks, or in a few months when we charge for shipping. (after the full book run is printed)
BOOK COVERS: Ā I've got 2 different book covers I'm considering. 1.) the "clean" version, and 2.) the "weathered/worn" version. come join us on discord and let us know which you prefer. Discord will be a great community for us to build in the coming months as i begin to share art and process pics from the next book project.Ā
Beta readers needed on Discord
I am finally locking down the final text in the book pages and visual layouts. MILESTONE REACHED! You can peruse the entire PDF book manuscript here: (its a big file, so give it a moment to load)Ā CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF
If you have the free time, would love to get your Beta reader skills to help us catch any final grammar or spelling mistakes. Come join me on DISCORD to collaborate and give me feedback and corrections needed on the manuscript in the "feedback" section.Ā
And my newsletter is a great place for work in progress images and updates on all projects moving forward. In the current newsletter I have a video showing off the "white mockup" of the book bundle.Ā https://subscribepage.io/TylerMilesLockett
Next update will be the full color mockup of the book received from the printer with gold foil and edge paper sprays and more. Cant wait to share it with you all!Ā
In Myth and Magic,Ā
Tyler Miles Lockett
Hey everyone! a new update! *crawls out of a mountain of book pages and laptops
9 months ago
ā Fri, Jun 20, 2025 at 12:31:58 AM
Hey Everyone! I hope all you lovely supportive folks are doing well.Ā
Apologies for my radio silence in the previous weeks. Rest assured I've been diligently working behind the scenes to bring you all the most amazing book and extras I can conjure. It's a massive art book, with the final page count coming in at around 350 pages! It's a beast!
regarding adding your addresses and for "Titan tier" folks: adding names for the "Pantheon of Patrons," I'll be sending out the Backerkit survey for that soon. So don't worry, you haven't missed anything in the last month or more. Ā
With my Editor Charlie, (a recent classics graduate), we've spent weeks going through the text content, adjusting and adding in more cultural and historic content. Then, my second editor, Attica, (a professional Classics editor) has given her pass on the chapters as well. So on the text/content side we are looking good! I'd say we are about 98% done there.
Regarding the print merch: magnetic box, slip case, postcards, etc. this has taken a little longer than expected as its my first time to design 3-d products and prepare print files for the printer within designated templates, proper CMYK color profiles, masks for gold foil sections, etc, so it's been a steep learning curve, but a really great experience. We are almost done uploading all the necessary files and the mock ups should will coming next. I'll definitely share pics of the mock-ups with you when they get printed and shipped to me. :)
With my assistant, James, we have also begun to design the Ebook. We are incorporating some fun features here, for example, all Ariadne's links (at the bottom of pages) will be clickable with your finger, directly taking you to the related characters/ art scenes. In addition, we are making two clickable buttons at the top of every page so you can 1.) jump to a new chapter directly, or 2.) jump to another art piece/scene within the chapter you are in. So ease of navigation and accessibility to content is key here! We don't want to just simply offer a lazy, flat pdf, we want something that stands on its own value and has some unique features.Ā
I'm not just a freelance artist offering a book- I'm creating an entire art brand from scratch, and "Storytelling Studio," which I have named 'LOCKETTTOPIA'. The goal of the company will be to continue offering illustrated books on mythic and literary topics, but also offer illustrated genre fiction works in episodic chapters on our brand new website. which takes us to the next project: a new website with my web designer, Nicole, where all the art pieces from the book will be viewable in their respective chapters, as well as a fully integrated Shopify store and, as I mentioned, episodic fiction content. I can't wait to share this with you in the coming months. super excited for this!
As soon as we get the files out to the printer for book production I will move onto my next book, the Trojan war cycle. In the evenings now I'm pouring through the sources: Iliad/odyssey, fragment poems, and tragedy plays, to come up with a master list of illustrations covering the scenes. I'm currently estimating around 250 full-page images, which would make this the most comprehensive illustrated portrayal ever attempted of this epic tale. If I go that ambitious, I would likely break it into 3 volumes, with the goal of publishing one each year. On the other hand, i may try to fit it all into one book at around 150 images. either way, once I begin I will be offering all the process art, photos, and videos on Patreon. But for now, I have created the Kickstarter page for 2026:
So, as you can imagine, I'm pretty deep in the trenches. A lot of the things I'm currently juggling are first time attempts, so there is quite a bit of growing pains happening as I fumble. But I am semi-gracefully fumbling forward! And each time i learn a new skill or process, I know it will serve me on future projects and products. So I'm just building my foundation of skills now to handle such a diverse array of mediums, from web, to eBook, to physical products.Ā
So thank you for your patience as I conquer these ropes, and thank you all as always for your support and interest in what I'm building here. The best is yet to come! xoxo
In myth and magic,Ā
Tyler Miles Lockett
Ā
āØThe Kickstarter has ended and...we hit 100K! Woohoo!! āØ
12 months ago
ā Thu, Apr 03, 2025 at 08:43:49 PM
Dionysus helping us celebrate a creative win!!
ā”ļøWE DID IT!!!ā”ļø
Thanks to over 1,666 incredible backers, we raised $100,393 to bring this dream to life! You helped unlock stretch goals like gold foil embossing, a magnetic box, sprayed page edges, two custom endpaper illustrations, and even a brand-new website for the project!
A massiveTHANK YOU to everyone whoās followed my artistic journey over the past three yearsāand to those whoāve been patiently waiting for this book to come to Kickstarter! And to all the new folks who found me through ads or the Kickstarter browserā¦ welcome! Iām so happy to have you join us on this mythic quest.
Itās been a long roadāone of sacrifice and dogged consistencyābut now this book is stepping out of my studio and into the real world. I couldnāt be more excited to craft the final details and make it an object to be cherished for generations to come.
The success of this Kickstarter has been incredibly validatingāboth for my mission and my morale. I feel like Iāve got a brand new tank of creative fuel to power through the next stages of the journey: ā”ļøediting, book layout, printing, fulfillment, and shippingā”ļø. Please be patient with me as I navigate this process for the first time!
Iāll be sending monthly updates here and through my personal newsletter to keep you informed on timelines, along with behind-the-scenes glimpses of the book in progress. At the end of the year, Iāll also be launching a YouTube series to help other creatives learn how to self-publish and bring their own visions to life through Kickstarter.
subscribe to my free email newsletter with behind the scenes art, book updates, and a 15% Etsy print shop discount code.Ā
Also, if you or a friend are late to the party, the book is still available to pre-order in my backerkit pledge manager for another six weeks while we prep the final print files.Ā
https://linktr.ee/tylermileslockett
Iām so grateful to have such a kind, passionate community in my corner as we continue building this artistic, and educational brandāLockett Illustrated. Thank you again for supporting an independent artist chasing a dream powered by passion and perseverance. I'm beyond lucky to have you sharing this journey with me!ā”ļø
