Community of Magic Pens Anthology

Magic Pens - Submissions So Far
over 4 years ago – Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 11:22:25 AM

Hi, everyone. Submissions opened on the 15th, and run through January 15th. I've learned to say as little about them as possible while they are open, because everything I say influences them. If I think it's important, I will add updates to the guidelines. I've added a few so far, at the link below.

I will just add, especially now while there's still plenty of time to write a short piece, please please let people know about the call, especially if they are a voice from a marginalized community. (I love all voices, but some I already know will submit stories.) Any list is going to be awkward, but in case these remind you of anyone: I'd love to see more voices from Arab, Muslim, Jewish, Black, International and especially Continents other than Europe/NA, Small Town or Remote, Indigenous, Immigrant, Latinx (Puerto Rican), Intersectional, and other communities. If you know someone (or a group) please send along the link. Let them know they are welcome here.

Thanks again for your support. The link to share is:

atthisarts.com/magicpens

Additionally, Detroit artist Journey is working on artwork for a cover. I hope to be able to reveal that sometime in February. And it turns out she and I have the same birthday! It's not a super common one so I thought that was neat. So now she's 18, and I'm...43. Hey, plenty of time to work this out. : )

Happy Holidays to each of you!

Emily.

Thank you!
over 4 years ago – Sat, Nov 30, 2019 at 10:36:56 PM

I simply want to say thank you to all of you for your support, love, and sometimes energy when mine was running thin. I am so excited to help create what I know is going to be an amazing collection. I really do know that. And I'll keep you posted!

If you know anyone who would like to pre-order a copy and continue to help us cover the costs of paying professionally qualifying rates, we'll keep the pre-orders up at:

https://magicpens.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Thanks again, and we'll be in touch!  - Emily.

Happy Thanksgiving!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Nov 28, 2019 at 09:14:20 AM

Ok, my AMA was like every party I've ever been to. We'll scrap that idea. (Though if you do have a question, the offer stands until campaign end.)

I am glad to see new backers to the campaign, and I hope that we can keep bringing in more wonderful readers prior to the campaign close Saturday night. As that will be Small Business Saturday here in the US, I want to thank you again for supporting indie publishing. In an environment where larger companies are dominating so many aspects of entertainment, we truly do think indie publishing is an critical part of that ecosystem. Indie publishing brings things that are new, important, and as you can see, not so profit driven. So thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate today, or to all, I offer a moment to be grateful, to all of you, all over the world. I see you, I appreciate you, and I really hope you'll love these stories. Submissions start soon!

Thank you  - ♥ Emily.

Comment AMA!
over 4 years ago – Mon, Nov 25, 2019 at 10:44:04 PM

Hi, everyone! Thank you so much again, so much, for being here and believing in this project. It's hard to post exciting updates about a project that hasn't happened yet, so I'm going to try something I might regret.

AMA = Ask me anything! Ask me (Emily, the editor) anything in the comments to this update. About the book, about me, about writing, editing, Michigan, love, veganism, the universe, whatever. Open through the end of the campaign.

So - last few days! Please let people know we're here and trying to do something good and unique for storytelling:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/atthisarts/magicpens/

And now:

Don't make it awkward. - Emily.

A very special boost!
over 4 years ago – Sat, Nov 23, 2019 at 01:55:38 PM

I'll keep this short - I've had bronchitis as well as a fierce asthma flare up for the past week (and no, let's not blame the walk), so my energy has been low!

However, a beautiful author of middle-grade angel tales (lovely, sweet, literary, and suitable to religious or secular readers) believes deeply in Atthis Arts and didn't want me to be stressed over Thanksgiving. So she gave a very generous pledge and brought us over the minimum funding. Thanks so much to L.L. Reynolds for her continued support!

I have also been contacted by another reader who will soon make another pledge, pushing us past the minimum even further.

So now we move from whether we will proceed (we will!) and to seeing what support we can get in this final week. Remember, to cover our costs, we'd need to push to $10K USD. While I don't see that happening (though it's possible with the right nod), all pledges help. Large pledges help for obvious reasons, but all individual book pledges help a ton - not only do they notch up the funding, they also increase visibility and momentum in this critical last week. Plus, it gets what I know will be awesome stories into more hands. : )

Here's the link to share: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/atthisarts/magicpens/

Thanks to L.L. Reynolds, thanks to all of you, and I hope each of you has a lovely week filled with gratitude for all that is good out there. I'm grateful for you!

♥ Emily.