You can give here.
Currently, there is not a single magazine, online or otherwise, that consistently reviews books by African American writers. I would like to change that.
Update with Good and Bad News: The last project I did was a complete success in American dollars! Good news. Unfortunately, I put down the English Pound by mistake and therefore didn't succeed in the pledge drive.(Bad news, obviously.) However, I have corrected the mistake and put this pledge at $2000 American dollars. Before the community had managed to raise about 1700 by way of the English pound and $2600 dollars in American dollars, which is what I wanted.
What I'm asking for is simple: If everyone who pledged before pledges again we can meet the goal within the next seven days and then some.
I want to model the site on Shadow And Act, which is not only a review site but a news and blogging site as well. It really is excellent and I want to match it. If this third time is the charm, we can revamp the Writers of Color blog and fill it with 100 posts per month, about 10 to 15 book and story reviews and as many television and movie reviews that I can handle. That's a lot of work but this money will allow me to do something I love. If this pledge is successful, then we can start this by July 8th and it could be self sustaining with the right advertising. (All backers will be emailed and thanked once more...!)
Thank you for your support and I hope I can get it at least one more time.
Original Pitch
Currently, there is not a single magazine, online or otherwise, that consistently reviews books by African American writers. I would like to change that.
As you may or may not know, there used to a bi monthly review of African American books called Black Issues Book Review. It wasn't a great magazine--not on the level of say the Comics Journal or Locus--but it had decent writing and prominent African American writers would make the cover. Unfortunately, due to the usual financial problems, that magazine died in 2007 and was never replaced. As a lover of African American fiction and non-fiction, I would like to replace it online with a small team. A third of the money would go toward freelancers and the rest would go to me, where I would attempt to review three to four books a week. I believe Black Issues reviewed about 20 to 30 books every two months. I think I can match that, and potentially write even higher-quality reviews. I would love to do this as an African American writer. PS: I'm a professional freelance writer and reviewer. You can find some of my reviews here: http://writersofcolor.blogspot.com/
This is not a get rich scheme. This is more a "Live in Modest Poverty for Many Years" kind of scheme. We're looking for an initial $2000 or more that could fund us through three months. And hopefully, since we're the only game in town, we could get advertising to become self sustaining. That magic number is about $1 grand a month.
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