Crowdfunded poem plan
This is a followup to the misnamed poll a couple days ago (I can't keep crowdsourcing and crowdfunding distinct in my head). Anyway! I am not sure if crowdfunding poems will work, but I'm going to try it for a week or two and see how it goes.
(This is just the plan, btw; I'll make another post today to announce the start etc).
Clarifications (to questions that came up in the last post):
1) The amount is not per-donor, it's total. So if 10 people chip in a dollar, then yes, that counts as $10 :)
2) I will not offer rough drafts. I will not offer poems that should be trunked. I will not offer poems that I've sent everywhere possible and failed to sell, though I may offer poems that I've sent a few places, if I believe they were bounced for reasons of fit rather than quality.
I will only offer a poem if it is a) done and b) of quality comparable to my published work.
(For minimum standards, here are the last three poems I was happy enough with to post, but not about to try selling.)
(Context: Since about March, I haven't had the energy to send anything out at all unless there's an obvious potential fit with markets I know and love, or unless someone says SEND IT TO X! Because, health.)
2b) I may still post rough drafts under lock. They will have nothing to do with this :)
Details:
I'll post to tell you a little about each poem I offer, so that I'm not asking you to fund them blind.
I was surprised that so many of you care about poem length! I'm personally most impressed with very short poems that aren't slight, because I can't write them. (And I happen to think most of the long spec poems I've read need serious pruning). HOWEVER since you do care, here's what I figure I'll do:
If I'm funded by noon on the relevant day, Pacific time, I will post a poem every Monday and Thursday while the Clarion 2010 workshop runs. That's for the next 6 weeks, starting Monday.
If I don't meet threshold, I'll send the poem to all donors, but will not post it, and will not continue to offer it.
I'll do this on the honor system -- if you donate, post the amount in comments to the latest relevant post or send me email at shweta @ shwetanarayan dot org. I do need to know amounts in order to figure out if I've reached threshold.
For a short poem (under 25 lines), my funding threshold will be $10. For a long poem (25 lines or longer) it'll be $20. All donations go to the Clarion Foundation, and I will match donations up to $150.
Be aware, though, that credit card fees eat about 30c of each transaction, so if you send in a dollar Clarion will get a bit less than 70c. So a larger single donation helps Clarion more, though it won't affect what I'm offering.
(This is just the plan, btw; I'll make another post today to announce the start etc).
Clarifications (to questions that came up in the last post):
1) The amount is not per-donor, it's total. So if 10 people chip in a dollar, then yes, that counts as $10 :)
2) I will not offer rough drafts. I will not offer poems that should be trunked. I will not offer poems that I've sent everywhere possible and failed to sell, though I may offer poems that I've sent a few places, if I believe they were bounced for reasons of fit rather than quality.
I will only offer a poem if it is a) done and b) of quality comparable to my published work.
(For minimum standards, here are the last three poems I was happy enough with to post, but not about to try selling.)
(Context: Since about March, I haven't had the energy to send anything out at all unless there's an obvious potential fit with markets I know and love, or unless someone says SEND IT TO X! Because, health.)
2b) I may still post rough drafts under lock. They will have nothing to do with this :)
Details:
I'll post to tell you a little about each poem I offer, so that I'm not asking you to fund them blind.
I was surprised that so many of you care about poem length! I'm personally most impressed with very short poems that aren't slight, because I can't write them. (And I happen to think most of the long spec poems I've read need serious pruning). HOWEVER since you do care, here's what I figure I'll do:
If I'm funded by noon on the relevant day, Pacific time, I will post a poem every Monday and Thursday while the Clarion 2010 workshop runs. That's for the next 6 weeks, starting Monday.
If I don't meet threshold, I'll send the poem to all donors, but will not post it, and will not continue to offer it.
I'll do this on the honor system -- if you donate, post the amount in comments to the latest relevant post or send me email at shweta @ shwetanarayan dot org. I do need to know amounts in order to figure out if I've reached threshold.
For a short poem (under 25 lines), my funding threshold will be $10. For a long poem (25 lines or longer) it'll be $20. All donations go to the Clarion Foundation, and I will match donations up to $150.
Be aware, though, that credit card fees eat about 30c of each transaction, so if you send in a dollar Clarion will get a bit less than 70c. So a larger single donation helps Clarion more, though it won't affect what I'm offering.