Who Am I and Who's the Community?
My name is Erin Casey, and I'm an urban fantasy and YA fantasy writer, as well as the Director of a writing organization called The Writers' Rooms. TWR is a non-profit corporation focused on providing a free and safe environment to all writers no matter their gender, skill set, background, income, etc. I focus on bringing communities of writers together to help them learn from one another. This is what drove me to want to write about the diverse community in The Purple Door District series.
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The Purple Door District and Wolf Pit started out as part of a canon that AE Kellar and I are writing together and hoping to publish in the future. PDD was a smaller component of it, but I fell in love with the concept and asked if I could write a series based on it to help support our main canon. She has been vital in helping me make sure I keep my facts straight! We jokingly say that she's the brain and I'm the heart of our series. I couldn't have done this without her.
So what is Wolf Pit about? Here's the blurb:
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My dream is to become an author and help inspire other people. Community plays a big part in my life now, because it was something I grew up without as a child. Last year I ran a campaign and it enabled me to print The Purple Door District. Now I'm looking for help to print Wolf Pit and also support the creative minds who are helping me.
Your generous contributions will allow me to publish the books and support additional creators:
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Not only would this ensure the production of this book, it would open up the possibility to a series that would continue to bring more work to you and invest in these members of the literary community.
What I Need
My goal is to be open and honest with everyone, so here are what the funds will go towards:
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Editing through Leona Bushman $500+
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Business Cards $40
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Book printing through Ingramspark ($6.74 per book) x 100 $850 (shipping included)
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Ingramspark Print and Ebook Set up $50
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Art Marketing $150 (for Oni)
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Promotional Publishing/swag $300
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Cover $50 (for artist on Fiverr)
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Copyright $25
- Additional Costs (additional marketing/publicity, donation books, office supplies, ec).
What You Get
- Character art! Just look at that awesome picture by Oni!
- Book swag!
- First look at items to be sold alongside Wolf Pit and the first chance to receive them!
- Jewelry and items that I and Amanda Bouma create for The Purple Door District and Wolf Pit.
- E-books
- Printed copies
- A one-on-one writing talk with me
- and much more!
The Impact
I can't even express how important your support is. Self-publishing is becoming a more respected form of publishing, and I can't do it without your help. In a time when our country feels so divided, I think it's valuable to bring a book with a diverse cast to the community. You get to read through the eyes of characters who are Latino/a, Native American, black, Caucasian, Indian, Chinese, LGBT, etc, and with those who have different beliefs to survive. Even if the different parahumans have prejudices against one another, they're able to put it aside to make their community safer for themselves and for their children. I hope that people who read this will see themselves in these characters. As I get deeper in to the series, I want to bring in more people of different nationalities, beliefs, and abilities so they can feel represented as well.
Here are just a few of the reviews from The Purple Door District about the world:
- This book has a great group of characters that are diverse in many ways, and the author will have you falling in love with each one of them. The PDD is a safe haven for all parahumans and it is interesting how all of the different species co-exist together. --Amazon Review
- THE PURPLE DOOR DISTRICT has everything I want from an urban fantasy series--a big, diverse community of characters who have the same general goals but are at odds with each other as far as how to achieve them, a great blend of high stakes action scenes and poignant emotional moments, and the looming threat of a group of Hunters determined to track down and eliminate magical beings. --Amazon Review
- It has been a very long time since a book has made me cry, in sadness and joy. The emotion in these characters is so moving, you can't help but feel you are there with every character through a ride of a story. The people of the Purple Door District are multi-dimensional and it was so great to see such diversity among the characters in a modern fantasy book. --Amazon Review
You have the opportunity to see a group of creative minds come together to create this book and its future series. We can do this together, and in December, I hope you'll feel proud holding this book in your hands.
Other Ways You Can Help
I completely understand that you may not be able to donate, and that's okay! There are other ways you can help!
- Share this campaign on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, etc.
- Share this campaign word-of-mouth! Get your friends involved. Show them how they can help a creative community.
- Let me know what you would like to see promoted. More jewelry? More art? What representation do you want to see in future books?
- Want to make a smaller but still powerful contribution? Consider becoming a patron on Patreon and receive chapters of the book before everyone else!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I can't do this without you!
Cheers!
Erin Casey
www.erincasey.org