Hippocampus Magazine, founded in 2010 and named for the seahorse-shaped part of the brain where memories are formed, is an online publication set out to entertain, educate and engage writers and readers of creative nonfiction. 

Since our first issue went live in May 2011, we've published hundreds of essays, memoir excerpts and flash pieces from emerging and established writers. On the education end, we've featured scores of interviews, reviews, craft articles and writing life columns. And our loyal and growing community is a testament that we're indeed heartily engaging with our audience on our website, through email and on social media.

We're proud of what we do. I'm incredibly grateful for a helluva volunteer staff (that's who I mean when I say "we"!) and am thankful for some great opportunities to tell our story via some fantastic interviews this past year, which you can read here.

As founder and publisher, I'm personally asking for a little help as we take our magazine to the next level!

Expanding Our Reach

Hippocampus Magazine is an online only publication that serves people all over the world, but we LOVE people. And we want to meet them, share with them, learn from them.

Now that we're reaching our fifth year, we're ready to fulfill our mission even further by bringing an otherwise virtual community to life via a creative nonfiction conference in August 2015. We're thrilled about HippoCamp! And from response we've received so far, others are too!

What We Need & What You Get

HippoCamp will ideally be an annual event, and the goal is that the conference will  fund and sustain itself moving forward, but the nature of it being the first year means we need a little help with seed money--a buffer, if you will--for up-front expenses such as:

• Marketing campaign (printing, postage, advertising costs)
  
• Deposits for keynote and other speakers (announcement coming Jan. 1; if you know creative nonfiction, you'll know this name.)
  
• Venue-related fees

We know that lots of small gifts add up so we didn't set any giving levels at more than $150, and we created perks geared toward writers and non-writers--and some with a local flair since part of this event is to bring people to Lancaster. We hope you will think they are fun!

Whether we meet our $2,500 goal or not, any funds raised through this campaign will be an immediate, incredible jumpstart for the conference.

Indiegogo allows payments through PayPal (our preference, but listed as second option) or credit card. Please note that  you do not  need a PayPal account to check out with PayPal.

The Impact

HippoCamp: A Conference for Creative Nonfiction Writers is an in-the-flesh extension of our three-fold mission.

This three-day event will feature notable speakers, engaging attendee-led sessions in three tracks, interactive panels, readings, social activities, networking opps and optional, intimate pre- and post-conference workshops in Lancaster, Pa., a city rich in history, arts and culture. There's lots happening behind the scenes as we speak, and lots of more details to come.

HippoCamp (isn't the name awesome, by the way?!) will strengthen ties with our readers and attract new ones; it will bring people from all over the country to a hip city, as well, giving our magazine a sense of place and a way to share where we (at least a few of us!) live.

In addition to the keynote and panelists, the conference will feature several sessions led by attendees (we had an open call for session proposal submissions over the summer and into the fall), giving writers a platform to share their knowledge and help build credentials.

Risks & Challenges

It's important that we understand the potential event-planning risks. As any conference organizer knows, when working with certain venues, such as the amazing location we selected, there are food minimums and room blocks to fill. (This means our attendees will be well fed and sleep comfortably!) Knowing that, we set our budget with a certain attendance goal in mind, and we're being cautiously realistic. 

As we shared, we're hopeful the conference will fund itself, but registrations are typically, as an industry-wide rule, sporadic and/or last-minute, hence the need a just a little bit of help from kind folks like you to help with deposits and up-front costs.

To encourage early registration, we're, as most conferences do, offering an early bird rate. Still, we're looking to build a small buffer. 

Other Ways You Can Help

If you're not able to help us out with a few bucks now, no worries. I'd still love you to get involved! Just being aware of us supports us more than you know.

• Read our magazine; we'd love you to visit! We're certain you'll find a story that sticks with you!
  
• Share a link to our conference website on social media; if you're sharing on Twitter, use #hippocamp15
  
• If you write creative nonfiction, submit your work for consideration. 
• If you have writer friends, tell them about our magazine; maybe we're a good fit for their work!