We launched an exciting new campaign on GoFundMe today, and we’re offering exciting incentives, from t-shirts 
and tote bags, to editing services, to even a few manuscript consultations with Dinty W. Moore, Jen Violi, and more. I hope you’ll take a minute to check it out! The following is a letter I have posted on the GoFundMe Campaign page which will give you an update on what we’re doing and why. I hope you’ll take a second to look it over, and remember, even if you can’t donate, take a second and share our campaign on your social media pages. We will be very grateful! I mean, even more so than we are already. I think y’all are some of the best supporters out there!
Greetings all! I hope you are doing well this fall. I wanted to take a minute and update you on how things are going at Burlesque Press. This month marks our one-year anniversary, and we are gearing up for some exciting events over the coming months. This December, our first Hands On Literary Festival and Masquerade Ball will take place, with Dinty W. Moore delivering the keynote. People will be traveling from as far away as Washington State and Maine, and participation in this conference has already exceeded my expectations. We’re very excited about this year’s festival, and hope you’ll take a minute to check out our line up online if you haven’t already!
Also this year, The Burlesque Press Variety Show opened up to public submissions. The Variety Show has already become a thriving online journal, publishing new fiction, poetry, reviews, and essays 3-5 times a week.
Likewise, we are about to open our registration process for our first writing retreat in Krakow, Poland. Writers Moira Crone, Shelley Puhak, and Rodger Kamenetz will join us in Krakow for ten days of writing and exploring. Our retreats focus on helping individual authors achieve their writing goals, with a combination of free writing time and lectures and workshops to inspire you to start something new–or help you complete something in progress.
All in all, our ten-day trip is sure to be spectacular, and spectacularly productive. We’ll be opening up registration very soon, so please stay tuned for more info, and in the meantime, let me know if you have any questions! We have future retreats planned for Iceland, Edinburgh, Italy, and more.
Lastly: we also will be joint hosting, along with three other lit mags, a great literary party and reading at AWP in Seattle. If you’re planning on going to AWP this year (and I hope you are!) do come by and see us at our table. We are in the midst of nailing down our readers right now, and so, while I have to be coy right now, I think this is one event you WON’T want to miss at AWP!
In other words, it’s been a great first year for Burlesque Press, and we’re excited to expand the press even further. A year ago, I started this company to help build a sense of community among writers, and to provide opportunities at home and abroad for writers to meet, share ideas, and work on their craft. I wanted to combine the best elements of literary festivals, writing retreats, and literary publishing in one place, and to break down some of the barriers that currently stand between aspiring authors and the publishing industry, between writers and readers, and between writers and other writers. We’ve already got the press off to a great start, and I’m thankful for all the writers, readers, and presenters who have helped to build this wonderful community.
Now we would like to expand our reach, and to do that, we are looking to raise some extra funds. For this, we need your help. We’re launching this Go Fund Me campaign to enable us to offer writers more opportunities to publish their work and connect with each other professionally, at home and abroad. I’m very excited for this campaign. Please take a look at the cool incentives and giveaways we’ve put together, and whether or not something catches your eye, please consider sharing the campaign on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever new and incredible social media platform has just been invented!
To make things more exciting: if we meet our goal by December 15, I will add new reward incentives, both for people who have already donated and for new contributors.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
And thanks again to everyone who has helped make Burlesque Press what it is, and for your continued support as we grow!
Jennifer Stewart
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BurlesquePress
Twitter: @1burlesquepress
Burlesque Press 