Once upon a time, someone starting a new publishing house would either have a personal fortune or would seek large private investors. Crowdsourced fundraising allows the masses to chip in for projects they believe in.
Tu Publishing is one that I’m excited about. Tu Publishing is a small, independent multicultural SFF press for children and YA and they are raising money for startup costs right now. I’ve had the opportunity to correspond with Stacy Whitman in my role as SFWA secretary and she’s sharp, knows the industry and is passionate about YA and SF.
The catch is that the fundraiser only has four more days to go and they only have 40% of their total.
Fantasy and science fiction, mystery and historical fiction–these genres draw in readers like no other. Yet it is in these genres that readers of color might feel most like an outsider, given that such a large percentage features white characters (when they feature human characters). It is the goal of Tu Publishing to publish genre books for children and young adults that fill this gap in the market–and more importantly, this gap in serving our readers. By focusing on multicultural settings and characters in fantastic stories, we also open up worlds to all readers.
Now, given my history with fundraisers, I want to let you know that Kickstarter rocks. It’s a very solid platform. I’ve talked to the developers and experimented with donations on the site. It’s beautifully done.
Please consider donating to get Tu Publishing off the ground.
Your HTML’s busted on the LJ entry. Had to do the ass-over-elbow way to get here to tell you, lol. I’ll see if I can toss something their way.
Thanks for letting me know. I’ve fixed it.
What a great cause!
Yay! Another publisher = more books. Donation is in!
Thanks!