A Small Press - A Big Boost

Hello, we are the small press Atthis Arts out of Detroit, Michigan.

THANK YOU FOR GETTING US THERE. From every depth of my heart. I won't be out shouting about this anymore, but donations do still help! See below to hear about our bills and debt.

TL;DR ~ Emily here. I had to make a quick call on taking on a translation project. I knew going in taking it would not allow us to do all the other things we were hoping to raise money through sales to do, but I believe in this book, that the universe put it in our path, and jumped on faith. I know this is a one-time thing, and I promised to make it work so I really, really need your help! - ♥ E.

Our Story ~ We have put our lives and our futures into this tiny global press. And every year, every week that has gone by since over the last ten+ years, we have felt new progress, new momentum. And we feel so close: we were featured by Amal El-Mohtar in The New York Times holiday edition. We just received our first Lammy finalist and our first Aurora finalist. We've been blurbed and supported by the best in the business: e.g. Wole Talabi, Brandon O'Brien, Martha Wells, Kate Heartfield, Andrea Hairston, Julie Czerneda, Bradley P. Beaulieu, Indrapramit Das, we are working with the best artists in the business: e.g. Matthew Spencer, Grace P. Fong, G.D. Bee, LA Draws, and Ulla Thynell, and we are publishing the best in the business: e.g. Bogi Takács, Vajra Chandrasekera, Tlotlo Tsamaase, Carlos Hernandez, Premee Mohamed, Cheryl S. Ntumy, Joyce Chng, Somto Ihezue, A.D. Sui, Cat Rambo, and voices you will know in the future. Students. Visionaries. Human beings.

Yet we can't quite get there. We don't have the cash to take on the work we want to do. We can't swim if we can't find the surface. And so, we are asking for your help.

This fundraiser is to ask the literary community to gather around, this one time, like a big community trampoline, and let us jump to the next level.

We are equally grateful for donations of any size, and with this, we also hope to reach people with resources in our industry. People who understand the importance of a press like ours surviving and also thriving. Of being there to support bold presses and bold moves.

If you are more comfortable contributing through sales, please see our catalogue or Patreon.

The base goal will be primarily used for upfront costs to translate and publish The Factory by Ihor Mysiak, who was killed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Reaching this base goal will prevent us from having to cancel Emily's print run and our WorldCon trip. - I promise these are not frivolous things, for our business, morale, or mental health.

What we can offer you:

Our values are, unabashedly:

We have made it this far on your support, without question, and this fundraiser is a one-time ask. A gift registry for our coming of age party, if you will, and the registry is: send money. We believe that with a big enough push forward, we will hit momentum with our catalogue and projects. But we're not getting there, and we can't keep going on like this, including for our own health and our own children.

So we are asking for your help.

The numbers?

$15,000 - Really need this, and I promised Chris I'd get it, so here I go. This will fund enough of our upfront costs for the Ukrainian translation, getting to WorldCon, and printing that we can hope to make the rest in sales and promotions. I will stop stressing if we get this. The other amounts are just (waggles hands) in case we're seen and also to help understand the scope of why this first amount is necessary.

$55,000 - This would pay off our company (not personal) credit card and our small business loan - and let us stop paying interest and put that money toward art and community.

$150,000 - Here we could buy a community space and share it with other presses and writers. We would open a recording booth, stop paying ever-rising rates for storage. This would be incredible and we would do so much good with it.

Budget Plan:

Hi, we were asked for a breakdown of how the money would be spent. For the base amount, these are current 2024 bills that we would pay:

Translation* of The Factory: $7400

Print and production for The Factory: $3800

Payments to assistant: $3000

Travel to Scotland: $1000+

Upcoming print needs: $5000+

Company credit card debt: $40,000

(*) Good news! On May 16th, we learned we've been awarded a grant from the Ukrainian Book Institute to reimburse this translation, but we will not receive the funds until 2025, and that hope was already factored into this ask. As you can see above, we need at least this $15,000 lift to keep us doing this work. (And Emily can't stop until we get there.)

Media:

Things I've been Reading (novel edition), Ada Hoffman, May 2024

Infomancy - Small Press Spotlight, Stewart C Baker, May 2024

Tell Me - Emily Bell, Jennifer Brozek, April 2024

Endorsements:

"If you can, support this small indie press doing big things." - Wole Talabi

"A small press that's worldwide by way of Detroit is my kind of small press." - Zig Zag Claybourne

"Everyone complaining about how there isn't enough science fiction being published? Well, here's how you fix that." - Alex Brown

"This is my favorite small press I have ever worked with, and every project they put out is full of love and hard work, please donate if you can and share if you can't." - Jennifer Lee Rossman

"I know Atthis Arts people and they are good people." - Evan May

"Atthis Arts took on Rosalind's Siblings after the original press who bought the stories went out of business. The anthology literally wouldn't exist without them. They also took on the Ukrainian antho that had a rocky path too. So if you enjoyed those, now is a way you can show some support!!" - Bogi Takács

"Atthis Arts was one of the small presses listed at ICFA as doing something 'genuinely interesting'." - Mari Ness

"Please support this principled, innovative press and check out their books. They have already published some of my favourites in the genre in the last few years, and I would love to see what they can do in the years to come." - Kate Heartfield

"Emily and eir associates are some of the most devoted & passionate people on Earth. they are utterly committed to doing the best, most meaningful projects in the rightest and bestest way humans can do them. If you have even a few spare dollars, this is as worthy a way i can think of to spend them." - Ty Schalter

Hey hey hey, you know what's good? Supporting a beautiful and amazing indie press, AKA Atthis Arts. Take a look at their books: www.atthisarts.com. So many great titles, including Embroidered Worlds: Fantastic Fiction from Ukraine and the Diaspora + Rosalind’s Siblings: Fiction and Poetry Celebrating Scientists of Marginalized Genders AND MORE. - Maria Haskins

"A great press, worthy of any support and spreading of the word you can do!" - Gregory A. Wilson

"Boost this and if you can, donate!" - Joyce Chng

"Atthis brought Pluralities into the world when I was certain it would stay in the trunk! Emily and Chris believe in everything they publish—and have put immeasurable time and resources into making it all possible. Please give this post a boost, and if you have the resources, donate donate donate " - Avi Silver

"Go go go! Send an amazing small indie press some love (and money tbh). " - Minerva Cerridwen

"Let's give a boost to a small press! Atthis Arts are amazing and publish stories of comfort that would not be heard otherwise (please spread the word)" - Ava Kelly

"We need our small presses! Support if you can!" - Devan Barlow

"Atthis Arts published my story 'The Ocean Is Not My Lover' in their anthology Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove. It’s a strange little story, but it was also a quirky concept for an anthology, and E.D.E. Bell fought to include my piece. She isn’t afraid to take risks. Please support this small press!" - Christine Hanolsy

"This press brought me two of my favourite books last year, and has put together invaluable projects. Please check their work and support them!!" - Claudie Arseneault

"Just as the lifeblood of game publishing is creators working out of their basements and corner-of-bedroom 'offices,' the lifeblood of fiction publishing is indie small presses. Please consider supporting this one: Atthis Arts out of Detroit, Michigan" - Ed Greenwood

"Please help support a great small press doing amazing work to support Ukrainian authors!" - Elizabeth Bear

"Hey, Atthis Arts could use a hand, and soon. Please take a moment to do so, if you have the resources to help." - Scott Lynch

"Atthis took a chance on my first novel and went the extra mile for an amazing cover, additional sensitivity reading to cover our blind spots, and more. They've only published wickedly cool work since and I want to see more in years to come. Please share widely!" - Brandon Crilly

"Please consider supporting this indie press publishing awesome stories by amazing authors!" - Xan van Rooyen.

"The excellent people at Atthis Arts are running a campaign – a fundraiser, a /community trampoline/ – that will let them publish more great books like THE FACTORY by Ihor Mysiak, a writer who was killed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and ROSALIND’S SIBLINGS, an anthology, edited by the fantastic Bogi Takács, of fiction and poetry celebrating scientists of marginalized genders Take a look and help them do more." - Interzone Magazine

"Atthis Arts published one of my favorite novellas last year (pssst it was 'Pluralities' by Avi Silver). we need small presses like Atthis Arts so we can keep getting such amazing and weird and wondrous books like Pluralities! Atthis Arts is a terrific place to throw some support if you can! not only do they publish terrific fiction, they’re run by a compassionate and dedicated person. a whole entire package of good. if you can afford to, please donate! if not? please boost!!" - Jordan Kurella

"Atthis Arts does good work and I would love to see them stick around. They've been working so hard and are almost at the finish line for this fundraiser!" - André Geleynse

Also boosted by: Neil Gaiman, Locus Magazine, Reckoning Magazine, Queen of Swords Press, Vajra Chandrasekera, Tanya DePass, Jen Donohue, Eileen Gunn, C. S. E. Cooney, Toiya Kristen Finley, Paul Weimer, Martha Wells, P.A. Cornell, Premee Mohamed, Cislyn Smith, John Chu, A. P. Howell, Merc Fenn Wolfmoor, Mina Li, Charles Payseur, LaShawn M. Wanak, Phoebe Barton, Nino Cipri, A.D. Sui, Gigi Ganguly, Somto Ihueze, Kelly Robson, Cait Gordon, Lisa M. Bradley, Valerie Valdes, Alex Acks, Sarah Pinsker, Vanessa Ricci-Thode, Patricia E. Matson, Arturo Serrano, Matt Forbeck, Shaun Duke, Richard Lee Byers, Zelda Knight, Erin M. Evans.