FLINT, MI Independent Publishing in 2020
Donation protected
My name is Connor Coyne and I like to keep busy.
In 2010, before moving back to my hometown of Flint, Michigan (the greatest city in the world) I registered Gothic Funk Press as an offshoot of the Chicago-based Gothic Funk Nation (2004-2010). I originally intended the Press as a way to help publish my own work, but in the years that followed, the Press assembled a loyal and talented staff of volunteer editors and designers. We have published several issues of a multi-media arts journal , an anthology of experimental writing from Flint , two anthologies of teen writing from Flint (through a program sponsored and administered by the Flint Public Library), a community scavenger hunt and a Mardi Gras krewe . Gothic Funk Press is also a cofounding entity of the Flint Festival of Writers, which is now entering its fourth year.
I am proud of everything we have achieved in the last decade, always on a shoestring, paid for out-of-pocket and with small individual contributions, and under a perpetual time crunch.
But Flint is a hungry town.
That is, it is a town filled with brilliant and creative people eager to tell their stories. I want to empower Gothic Funk Press to be a Flint-based independent publisher of experimental work featuring degrees of romanticism, darkness, depth, and swagger. As an independent literary voice in Flint I want Gothic Funk Press to nurture connections between Flint and Mid-Michigan writers and the larger literary world, to promote essential and ground-breaking work, and to plant nourishing roots in this resilient, imaginative, strange town.
I would like to raise $4000 by December 15th, 2019 to support this mission. These funds will give us the opportunity to publish two full-length books during 2020, to host community engagement events based around themes of culture and storytelling and, hopefully, to lay the groundwork for grantwriting and organizational fundraising and programming in the years to come.
Please join me in this wonderful adventure!
More details on financial commitments and rewards below.
FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS
My goal is for 2020 to be a test run of Gothic Funk Press as a hungry and engaged literary force based in Flint.
This fundraiser assumes a budget of $4000 to fund activities in 2020.
With these funds:
Gothic Funk Press will publish two books by up-and-coming writers. Our goal will be one collection of poetry and one book of fiction, with at least one of these writers based in Genesee County. We will utilize a print-on-demand model via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing with Gothic Funk Press as the publisher and imprint. This model will dedicate $800 per title toward stipends and fees for publishing services (editors, proofreaders, illustrators, and designers), and $700 for administrative and printing expenses as well as promotional needs. Under this model, authors will retain rights to their creative work and will collect 100% of royalties. I am happy to answer more specific questions about this process for anyone who is interested.
Gothic Funk Press will offer 2-4 community engagement events. Based upon community interest, we will apply the final $1000 to offer seminars, workshops, readings, salons, or other community events for the Flint community.
Additionally, other Gothic Funk Press programming, such as the teen writers anthologies will continue as supported by outside sources, like the Library and the Flint Festival of Writers.
I should stress that these numbers are elastic. $4000 is the number around which I've based this campaign, but...
If I raise $300, I will be able to organize a quarterly curated reading series for a full year.
If I raise $1000, I will be able to publish a single book on a shoestring under a 100% royalty model.
If I raise $7000, we can publish two books as well as multiple community engagement events, including literary events like a reading or salon series, and more unorthodox projects like the scavenger hunts and Mardi Gras festivities we've organized in the past.
If I raise about $10000, I would apply the extra resources toward legal and organizational structuring and grantwriting for 2021 and beyond.
If I raise about $25000, we cross a line and I would approach community partners about buying/leasing space in a Flint neighborhood for readings/events/performances in 2021 and beyond.
Basically, we can do a lot with a little and with a lot we can move mountains.
Regardless of how much this campaign raises, the ultimate goal is to establish Gothic Funk Press as a long-term presence in the Flint literary community and to promote the careers of underserved writers and an underserved city. This is a worthy goal. Whether you give $1 or $5 or $20 or $500, you are helping to take stories out into the world, and for that I thank you.
REWARDS
Because the ultimate reward here is supporting and sustaining an emergent literary community, I don't want to bind too much time and energy in tracking and dispensing rewards. That said, there are some special treats available for helping to support us as we build our framework for 2020.
Any amount: Named recognition for your contribution in a blog post and mailer update for your contribution at the conclusion of this campaign. You will also be automatically added (unless you opt-out) to a special mailing list to keep you posted on Gothic Funk Press events in 2020 and beyond.
$10: A handwritten thank you note.
$25: Registration fees waived for any 2020 Gothic Funk Press events (does not include select Flint Festival of Writers events).
$50: Complementary advance copies of any Gothic Funk Press publications in 2020.
$100: All of the above awards.
$250: All of the above awards, plus a book basket featuring selections TBA by writers from both Flint and from the wide wide world.
$500: All of the above awards, plus ultra-rare Gothic Funk Nation and Gothic Funk Press collectibles (may include beads, CDs, and out-of-print publications). Yay!
$750: All of the above awards, plus a loaf of banana nut bread. Wow!
$1500: All of the above awards, plus a cherry pie. That's wild!
$2500: All of the above awards, plus a red red rose. Off the hook!
$10000: Mysterious and TBA.
In 2010, before moving back to my hometown of Flint, Michigan (the greatest city in the world) I registered Gothic Funk Press as an offshoot of the Chicago-based Gothic Funk Nation (2004-2010). I originally intended the Press as a way to help publish my own work, but in the years that followed, the Press assembled a loyal and talented staff of volunteer editors and designers. We have published several issues of a multi-media arts journal , an anthology of experimental writing from Flint , two anthologies of teen writing from Flint (through a program sponsored and administered by the Flint Public Library), a community scavenger hunt and a Mardi Gras krewe . Gothic Funk Press is also a cofounding entity of the Flint Festival of Writers, which is now entering its fourth year.
I am proud of everything we have achieved in the last decade, always on a shoestring, paid for out-of-pocket and with small individual contributions, and under a perpetual time crunch.
But Flint is a hungry town.
That is, it is a town filled with brilliant and creative people eager to tell their stories. I want to empower Gothic Funk Press to be a Flint-based independent publisher of experimental work featuring degrees of romanticism, darkness, depth, and swagger. As an independent literary voice in Flint I want Gothic Funk Press to nurture connections between Flint and Mid-Michigan writers and the larger literary world, to promote essential and ground-breaking work, and to plant nourishing roots in this resilient, imaginative, strange town.
I would like to raise $4000 by December 15th, 2019 to support this mission. These funds will give us the opportunity to publish two full-length books during 2020, to host community engagement events based around themes of culture and storytelling and, hopefully, to lay the groundwork for grantwriting and organizational fundraising and programming in the years to come.
Please join me in this wonderful adventure!
More details on financial commitments and rewards below.
FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS
My goal is for 2020 to be a test run of Gothic Funk Press as a hungry and engaged literary force based in Flint.
This fundraiser assumes a budget of $4000 to fund activities in 2020.
With these funds:
Gothic Funk Press will publish two books by up-and-coming writers. Our goal will be one collection of poetry and one book of fiction, with at least one of these writers based in Genesee County. We will utilize a print-on-demand model via Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing with Gothic Funk Press as the publisher and imprint. This model will dedicate $800 per title toward stipends and fees for publishing services (editors, proofreaders, illustrators, and designers), and $700 for administrative and printing expenses as well as promotional needs. Under this model, authors will retain rights to their creative work and will collect 100% of royalties. I am happy to answer more specific questions about this process for anyone who is interested.
Gothic Funk Press will offer 2-4 community engagement events. Based upon community interest, we will apply the final $1000 to offer seminars, workshops, readings, salons, or other community events for the Flint community.
Additionally, other Gothic Funk Press programming, such as the teen writers anthologies will continue as supported by outside sources, like the Library and the Flint Festival of Writers.
I should stress that these numbers are elastic. $4000 is the number around which I've based this campaign, but...
If I raise $300, I will be able to organize a quarterly curated reading series for a full year.
If I raise $1000, I will be able to publish a single book on a shoestring under a 100% royalty model.
If I raise $7000, we can publish two books as well as multiple community engagement events, including literary events like a reading or salon series, and more unorthodox projects like the scavenger hunts and Mardi Gras festivities we've organized in the past.
If I raise about $10000, I would apply the extra resources toward legal and organizational structuring and grantwriting for 2021 and beyond.
If I raise about $25000, we cross a line and I would approach community partners about buying/leasing space in a Flint neighborhood for readings/events/performances in 2021 and beyond.
Basically, we can do a lot with a little and with a lot we can move mountains.
Regardless of how much this campaign raises, the ultimate goal is to establish Gothic Funk Press as a long-term presence in the Flint literary community and to promote the careers of underserved writers and an underserved city. This is a worthy goal. Whether you give $1 or $5 or $20 or $500, you are helping to take stories out into the world, and for that I thank you.
REWARDS
Because the ultimate reward here is supporting and sustaining an emergent literary community, I don't want to bind too much time and energy in tracking and dispensing rewards. That said, there are some special treats available for helping to support us as we build our framework for 2020.
Any amount: Named recognition for your contribution in a blog post and mailer update for your contribution at the conclusion of this campaign. You will also be automatically added (unless you opt-out) to a special mailing list to keep you posted on Gothic Funk Press events in 2020 and beyond.
$10: A handwritten thank you note.
$25: Registration fees waived for any 2020 Gothic Funk Press events (does not include select Flint Festival of Writers events).
$50: Complementary advance copies of any Gothic Funk Press publications in 2020.
$100: All of the above awards.
$250: All of the above awards, plus a book basket featuring selections TBA by writers from both Flint and from the wide wide world.
$500: All of the above awards, plus ultra-rare Gothic Funk Nation and Gothic Funk Press collectibles (may include beads, CDs, and out-of-print publications). Yay!
$750: All of the above awards, plus a loaf of banana nut bread. Wow!
$1500: All of the above awards, plus a cherry pie. That's wild!
$2500: All of the above awards, plus a red red rose. Off the hook!
$10000: Mysterious and TBA.
Organizer
Connor Coyne
Organizer
Flint, MI