The Writers' Rooms is a non-profit organization that focuses on providing a free, safe environment to all writers. Our various Rooms consist of two-hour writing sessions where people can write and socialize together. We gather at local Iowa businesses to run our Rooms and help support these establishments. We're writers supporting writers.
Each year, we publish a community anthology which allows us to showcase the talent we're surrounded by here in Iowa City, the UNESCO City of Literature. Our anthologies feature not only previously published authors but also emerging artists who have never been published before. This is their chance to share their voices with the community in a professional way. Even more, being published helps writers feel validated, that their piece is finally good enough to share.
Now we need your help to publish our next anthology Iowa Writes of Winter and make these writers' dreams of publishing a reality. As a non-profit, we rely on the good will and donations of the community we serve.
Iowa Writes of Winter features 15 artists sharing their interpretation of winter through short stories, poetry, and photography. The pieces consist of a mix of genres like speculative fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, historical horror, poetry, fairytale retellings, parodies, and more.
What We Need
In order to publish our anthology, and also support the monthly expenses of our organization, we are looking to raise $1,000. These funds would go toward:
- Formatting Costs
- ISBNs for paper and e-book
- Ingramspark costs
- Marketing Costs
- Ordering proof copies for review
- Printing books to distribute to readers and bookstores
- Printing and shipping costs
- Anthology launch party
- Monthly expenses to maintain The Writers' Rooms
- Pride and convention fees where we sell anthologies
Perks of Backing our Campaign
We have a lot of awesome perks for backers!
- $2: Thank You!
- $5: Acknowledgment in our new anthology.
- $10: E-book of Iowa Writes of Winter
- $20: Physical printed copy of Iowa Writes of Winter
- $30: E-book & Physical printed copy of Iowa Writes of Winter
- $50: E-book & 2 Physical printed copies of Iowa Writes of Winter
- $150: 5 paperback copies (one of each of our past anthologies & Iowa Writes of Winter) plus acknowledgement on our website.
- $500: 5 paperback copies (one of each of our past anthologies & Iowa Writes of Winter), guest of honor at the launch party, acknowledgement, and added as a donor to our website.
If we don't reach our entire goal, our priority will still be to publish and print the anthologies. Likely we won't be able to do nearly as much marketing, and we won't be able to order additional copies to sell at events. The books will have to be print-to-order.
It's important to us to encourage and share the voices of our writers. As we mentioned, publishing this anthology will give some authors their first chance to see their piece in a published book. Anthologies hold a special place in our heart, too, because they give readers a chance to experience different genres they might not otherwise read. Some can even can introduce readers to a new favorite author.
While e-book copies are amazing, there's something special about holding a physical book in your hands, especially knowing you helped bring it to life. Our anthologies are also featured in numerous bookstores and libraries. Literacy is extremely important to us, and what better way to spread our love of stories and words than through our anthologies.
Book and anthology campaigns have done well in recent years, especially since well-known authors have started backing book campaigns. This has led to more campaign successes.
We hope you'll be part of our book success! Our authors will thank you.
As with every project, this one comes with risks. Shipping has become more complicated and expensive, and often takes longer than usually expected. So we want to be upfront if shipping of rewards gets delayed at all. We will be transparent and communicate timelines and expectations so you'll be made aware if there are any issues or delays. Also, we've had some book sizing issues in the past that we hope have been rectified, but this could also delay printing.
That being said, we strive to fulfill our promises. One of our organizers has led a successful campaign in the past and delivered everything on time.
We completely understand that you may not be able to support this project monetarily, and that's okay! There are other ways you can help!
- Share this campaign on social media: Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok, etc.
- Share this campaign word-of-mouth! Get your friends involved. Show them how they can help a creative community.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We can't do this without you!
Cheers!
The Writers' Rooms Publishing Committee