Bonus for all campaign visitors: Download two issues for free in PDF format!

We'll ask for details about your donation—such as which art print you've selected or which school you've designated to receive a book—after the campaign ends October 1st. BackerKit makes perk fulfillment easy! Details »

Received a postcard? Choose “get one + one” to reserve your copy of any issue of Ember and we’ll send a second copy of that issue to the classroom or library you specify!

This campaign comes on the heels of our first-year collection, which contained forty works in two issues ranging from delightful (like “Cat Tail” and “The Frog Who Swallowed the Moon”) to poignant (“The Precipice” and “The Anniversary”).

You can read our first two issues for free in PDF format.

Each volume of Ember contains two issues: Fall and Spring. Volume 2 has firm shipping dates of late October 2015 and late April 2016. The content and artwork of the Fall 2015 issue are complete, and we’re working on final editing and layout.

One of the most exciting things about each issue is the opportunity to feature work from young writers in addition to great stories for young readers. Our Issue 1 lineup includes six contributors aged 18 or under, designated below by the Ember quill:

• “Red” by Susan Boesger
• “Shadow” by Uche Okonkwo
• “Silver” by Susan LaMoreaux
• “Frankenstein’s Gryphon” by Mary E. Lowd
• “The Balloon Man” by M.H. Liu
• “Don’t be Scared” by Dylan Boyle
• “The Cycle of the Seasons” by DJ Tryer
• “The Last Giant Ammonite” by E.M. Eastick
• “The Snake Changes His Wardrobe” by Nels Hanson
• “Fear of Sudden Things” by Jennifer Pruiett-Selby
• “Forging Destiny” by Michael Pignatella
• “Sea Change” by Anna Zumbro
• “The Listening” by Nathan Harris
• “The Storm Witch” by C.I. Kemp
• “Then Came a Spider” by Amanda Lara
• “Fire” by Sophia Cabana
• “Forget” by Sabrina Polly
• “Here” by Hannah Manetsch
• “Jazz Sequins” by Gloria Keeley
• “Time” by E.N. Loizis

We want each issue of Ember to be exquisite—a true work of literary and visual art. The cover art for this issue is a custom commission from artist and illustrator Choong Yoon, created just for us!

Reprising her role as Ember illustrator, Casey Robin (www.caseyrobin.com) has created beautiful and unique illustrations for our Fall 2015 issue. Here are just a few of them—can you guess which stories and poems they belong to?

• “Black Tears in Heaven” by Dany G. Zuwen
• “Stockholm Syndrome” by Anne Lawrence Bradshaw
• “A Tibetan Epistle” by Sreyash Sarkar
• “Close to Tomorrow” by Emily McCosh
• “The Spider Shows You How” by Nels Hanson
• “Bury the Pages” by S. Thomas Summers
• “Grandma’s Leather Sofa” by Shannon Lawrence
• “Vacated Plots” by Liesl Nunns
• “The Panoptimom” by Erica L. Satifka

Sean Greenberg’s “The Carrot is Mightier than the Sword” is one of my favorite paintings, and Sean agreed to expand the original into a full landscape illustration that will wrap around the book.

Why mess with perfection? I love working with Casey Robin, and I look forward to featuring her amazing illustrations in Spring 2016, too.

 

All sponsors of this campaign (at every level) get digital full-color copies of our first four issues in PDF format.

Value: $25 / Your Donation: $10 — Despite best efforts to ensure quality, the first print run of any book often contains errors that are corrected in subsequent printings. The interesting side effect is that even with these errors, first printings of many books become highly collectible because only a limited number exist. For our first issue, we printed 250 copies before making corrections. For our second, just 500 were printed on the first run. We anticipate each of our next first-run printings to be between 500 and 1,000 copies at most. Of course we’ll print more as justified by demand, but there will never be a second “first run”!

The next 100 funders can choose a signed First Printing copy of one issue of Ember for just $10—that’s a $25 value.

A note on availability: Volume 1 Issue 1 (Fall 2014) first printings are sold out. Volume 1 Issue 2 (Spring 2015) has about 100 copies left from the initial run of 500. We will create between 250 and 1,000 copies for each of the Volume 2 issues, depending on the demand from this campaign.

Margaret Dilloway is the award-winning author of Sisters of Heart and Snow, The Care and Handling of Roses With Thorns, and How to Be an American Housewife. Her new book for younger readers—the first in a series—was enthusiastically picked up by Disney-Hyperion and will be released in early 2016. In Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters, young Xander Miyamoto would rather do anything other than listen to his sixth-grade teacher drone on about weather. But when Xander’s father disappears in an unexpected storm, the boy embarks on an epic journey to find him, and in the process—guided only by a comic book as a guide against acid waterfalls, angry giants, volcanoes, and more—discovers that he’s the latest in a line of Momotaro heroes.

How the book is connected to this campaign: I first met Margaret in 1992 at the California State Summer School for the Arts when we were both students there, and reached out after purchasing her first novel a few years ago. When she announced Momotaro last year, she also mentioned that Choong Yoon was doing the book’s cover art. That led to me contact the same artist to inquire about a commission for Ember—resulting in the perfect cover for our Fall 2015 issue.

Disney-Hyperion has donated 10 copies of Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters to this fundraiser, and Margaret Dilloway has graciously agreed to sign them for you! The book itself will retail for $17 in April 2016.

Bonus: When you select this perk, you may also choose a copy of any issue of Ember: A Journal of Luminous Things.

Authors and poets with work in our first four issues, together with selected staff at Ember, have created an eBook of writing prompts to inspire you on your own creative journey! Sentences, scenes, paragraphs, and instructions, this collection is sure to unleash your imagination. Which is why, not coincidentally, we’ve asked Enkel Dika to use his artwork “Unleashed Imagination” as the digital cover for this book of writing prompts! The list of contributing authors and poets who are providing these prompts will grow, but the participants so far include:

• BC Flinton • Jennifer Pruiett-Selby • Liesl Nunns • Mariva DeBorde
• Bert Lowe • Kacey Vanderkarr • M.H. Liu • Stone Showers • JC Hemphill
• BL Draper • Mary E. Lowd • Gloria Keeley • John Biggs • Aidan Doyle
• Nathan Harris • Nels Hanson • S. Thomas Summers • Amanda Lara
• Michael Pignatella • Shannon Lawrence • C.I. Kemp • E.N. Loizis
• Erica Eastick • Susan LaMoreaux • Gerri Leen • P. Jo Anne Burgh
• Emily McCosh • Renee Carter Hall • Dany G. Zuwen

All funders will receive a copy from our first printing of each issue while supplies last. Volume 1 Issue 1 (Fall 2014) first printings are sold out. We have about 200 first printing copies of Volume 1 Issue 2 (Spring 2015) left. We will create between 500 and 1,000 copies for each of the Volume 2 issues, depending on the demand from this campaign.

Just One Issue
Your Donation: $20 — Pick any one issue of Ember from our first two years! You’ll be able to specify which issue you want when we send out our end-of-campaign survey.
One for You + One for Them
Value: $40 / Your Donation: $20 — Get the Ember issue of your choice, and we'll send a second copy of that issue to the classroom or library you specify! A great way to ensure that young readers have access to these collections. Plus, for the next 100 people who select this option, we'll cover all the shipping—worldwide—to you and to the classroom or library. You’ll be able to specify which issue you've reserved when we send out our end-of-campaign survey.
Pick Any Two
Value: $40 / Your Donation: $35 — Get two Ember issues of your choice. They don’t have to be sequential! You’ll be able to specify which issue you've reserved when we send out our end-of-campaign survey.
Gotta Read ’Em All
Value: $60 / Your Donation: $50 — Get all four issues from our first two years of Ember and start filling your bookshelf with the complete collection!
Class Pack
Value: $100 / Your Donation: $60 — Get five copies of the same issue for your classroom, library, or family! You’ll be able to specify which issue you've reserved when we send out our end-of-campaign survey.
Lifetime Subscription
Value: $400+ / Your Donation: $150 — You're a rockstar, and you deserve a rockstar perk. Donate $150 or more and get a trade paperpack copy of every past and future issue of Ember.

We want Ember to be exquisite, a true work of literary and visual art. All art prints are created on high-quality archival paper and are suitable for framing.

Browse all available cover art and illustrations at emberjournal.org/perks/artwork!

Illustrations by Casey Robin
Your Donation: $25 — Every story in our Spring 2015, Fall 2015, and Spring 2016 is lovingly and masterfully illustrated by artist and illustrator Casey Robin. Every illustration is available on two paper sizes: 8.5" × 11" (11" × 8.5" for landscape) and 13" × 19" (19" × 13" for landscape).
Below are just a few that work well in the smaller size, or you can browse them all here.
Illustrations by Casey Robin — Large Size
Your Donation: $40 — Some pictures are just better ... bigger! Every Casey Robin illustration is available on two paper sizes: 8.5" × 11" (11" × 8.5" for landscape) and 13" × 19" (19" × 13" for landscape).
Below are just a few that work well in the larger size, or you can browse them all here.

Cover Art by James R. Eads
Your Donation: $60 — Our inaugural issue features “Portals” by artist and illustrator James R. Eads, commissioned and created specifically for Ember. Limited Edition prints from a total of just 60 were provided by the artist. All but the 10 available here have sold out—this is your last chance to get one! Each 12" × 18" high quality giclée print on archival paper is hand signed and numbered by the artist with a white border suitable for framing. Prints are shipped in a clear protective sleeve in a sturdy flat mailer.
Cover Art by Keliana Tayler
Your Donation: $60 — Each high quality fine art print is hand-embellished on stretched canvas, then signed and numbered by the artist. This edition is limited to 30 prints, with all but 12 prints sold out. Prints are shipped in a rigid stay-flat mailer. We commissioned this artwork to go along with the story “The Frog Who Swallowed the Moon” by Renee Carter Hall, which leads our Sprint 2015 issue. The result—I'm sure you'll agree—is astounding! Limited Edition prints of “Frog and Sister Moon” by were provided by the artist.
Cover Art by Keliana Tayler — Open Edition
Your Donation: $45 — Open edition prints are high-quality giclée on 19" × 13" Epson Velvet Fine Art Paper suitable for framing, and are shipped in a clear protective sleeve in a sturdy flat mailer.
Illustrations by Sean Greenberg
Your Donation: $25 — In addition to providing the cover art to our Springt 2016 issue, Sean Greenberg illustrated selected works in our inaugural issue! Every illustration is available on 8.5" × 11" art paper.
Below are just a few of Sean's illustrations, or you can browse them all here.

Because we are a United States non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, your completed donations are tax-deductible in most jurisdictions.

Our U.S. Federal Tax ID:
Empire & Great Jones Creative Arts Foundation
46-1209424

Our Mailing Address:
6100 Horseshoe Bar Road
Suite A-133
Loomis, CA 95650

Here are some details on where the money goes.

Ember contributors receive an offer of 2¢ per word (or $20 per work, whichever is more). That’s what is known in the industry as “semi-pro” pay rate, and while it’s important that authors are paid for their work, it’s really not much. If we meet our fundraising goal, however, we’ll be able start offering professional rates to all contributors.

If you’re not a writer, you may wonder why you should know or care what we pay our authors and poets. While there are many good reasons, it comes down to these two: quality content and fulfilling our mission.

Quality Content: When we pay professional rates, we attract even better stories and poems for you to read.

Fulfilling our Mission: What better way to foster and encourage talented writers than by paying them a rate that demonstrates the value of their work? When we pay new writers the same rate as established pros, we send a clear message that we recognize the quality of their work and value of their talent.

There’s a reason each issue looks so good! From cover art to interior illustrations, every collection’s artwork is vibrant and engaging. So far, we’ve worked with James R. Eads, Keliana Tayler, Choong Yoon, Sean Greenberg, and Casey Robin—always contracting with the best artists to get the best work at the best price.

To ensure the highest quality presentation possible, we work with Alexander’s Print Advantage to create a perfect full-color trade paperback on sturdy, coated paper. The illustrations are crisp and the book feels great, too!

At E&GJ Press, we’ve been working with Alexander’s Print Advantage for about three years and have consitently enjoyed personal customer service, great prices, and top-tier printing expertise.

Don’t worry, I’ll cover these expenses—they are not coming out of this fundraiser—but I want to at least disclose what some of them are.

• Website hosting fees
• Payment processing fees (for store.egjpress.org)
• Fulfillment service subscription fees

Actually ... no.

No one on the Ember staff is paid, including me. Everything you see is the work of a team of amazing volunteers who handle everything from reading manuscripts to sending responses to typesetting to marketing.

I’d actually like to change my volunteers to paid employees, and I certainly welcome your contributions toward making it happen, but paying the Ember staff is not part of this fundraiser. If you’d like to help me thank these volunteers, or if you’d like to join them, please contact me at editor@egjpress.org.

This campaign comes on the heels of our first-year collection, which contained forty works in two issues ranging from delightful (like “Cat Tail” and “The Frog Who Swallowed the Moon”) to poignant (“The Precipice” and “The Anniversary”).

We’ve shown that a collection with content appropriate for younger readers can be accessible but still provide challenge and stimulation for advanced students.

That the stories in Ember can be enjoyed by adults.

That our products are beautiful and high-quality publications.

To underscore that, and in the hope that you’ll be as excited as I am (and convinced to support this fundraiser), I’m offering you both of our Volume 1 issues free in PDF format just for taking the time to listen. Simply click on the covers above to download your digital copy!