Dear Literary Journal Editor,
I’m sending this to you due to your status as a literary journal editor, managing editor, or possibly even former editor. I’m doing so in hopes that you will find it of value, and please forward it along to the mailing list of authors and subscribers that your journal has put together. Or possibly post something about it on your journal’s website or blog? I’d really appreciate it. The following went out to members of the EWN (and so a few of you may have received it already) a little over a week ago.
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I want to alert you to a Dzanc Books‘ project coming up and hope that you might find the program worth participating in.
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As you may know, Dzanc Books is a non-profit organization, established to not only publish great books, but to work nationally in set communities to provide writing workshops and year round programs for students and adults alike. These programs include our Dzanc Writer in Residency Programs, The Dzanc Prize, programs with the Ann Arbor Book Festival, author readings, single session and weekly session workshops which function in a slightly different capacity than our year-round DWIRPS.
With the economy coming completely off its rails, traditional means of raising funds – writing grants, corporate sponsorships, etc. – have become less successful. Here at Dzanc, we like to try and make raising money both as fun, and valuable, an experience as possible. With this in mind, we have come up with an alternative and interactive plan which we think not only furthers our mission but is something those participating in will enjoy. If it sounds like something you’d like to participate in, please email us at info@dzancbooks.org.
DZANC BOOKS WRITE-A-THON
The idea behind the write-a-thon will be similar to bowl-a-thons, or walk-a-thons, or, well you get the picture – other a-thons that you’ve probably supported or participated in during your lifetime, only with writing being the catalyst to the raising of funds. For one day, people will volunteer to write to help raise money, and they will ask people to fill out a donation sheet to support their efforts.
For volunteers
1. Saturday, November 15, 2008.
That will be the date that those helping out Dzanc Books by raising money will be writing. Again I’m asking that you writers out there please consider being one of those that help us raise money that day. If you are interested, please email us at info@dzancbooks.org.
2. Dzanc Books will provide a donation sheet that you’ll have sponsors fill out – you can see an example of this at our website.
3. Your sponsors will be able to make donation pledges based on either a) the number of words you write during the session, or b) flat rate donations – whichever they prefer and get most excited about.
{example – a sponsor could offer you 2 cents per word. You end up writing a 1200 word essay. That sponsor would effectively have pledged $24.00. Or, sponsors can simply pledge a flat rate – $1, $5, $10, $20, etc., whatever total they simply will pay no matter how many words you write, so long as you participate and write something}
4. The morning of the 15th, we will send out a prompt or topic, and will post it on our website. Writers will then spend the day writing stories, or poems, or essays, using that prompt or topic (this will give those sponsoring, especially those donating based on word count, a good feeling that the work done was all done on the 15th).
5. Those donating will be sent proof of your participation via email. We will send out the proof of participation notices beginning on Monday the 17th.
6. Those donating can then either complete their donation via Paypal through our submission page (we’ll set up a special Write-a-Thon button to use), or by sending a check made out to Dzanc Books.
Our goal for this event, considering there are over 2000 writers in the Emerging Writers Network, is $20,000, or, an average of $10 raised per person. To put this in a proper context, that would pay for just under 3 full Dzanc Writer in Residence Programs. We will obviously be thrilled to find out after the fact that we were shortchanging ourselves with that goal. We do hope each and every member of EWN, and those who have become fans of Dzanc, will participate in our inaugural Write-A-Thon.
Your support means everything to us. We at Dzanc are truly trying to make a contribution through our charity programs and the works we publish, and while we are dedicated and diligent and will not fail in our intent, without your support, our efforts become increasingly difficult. We thank you in advance for joining us in our Write-A-Thon and your continual support of our programs and authors.
Again, for those that wish to participate, or those who wish to donate but do not know of any writers that will be participating, please contact us at info@dzancbooks.org. Dzanc Books will also be giving a full run of their titles, from Roy Kesey’s Nothing in the World and All Over up through a limited edition Advanced Reader Copy of Michael Czyzniejewski’s Elephants in Our Bedroom (14 books in all) to the writer that raises the most money on November 15.
Thank you,
Dan Wickett
EWN/Dzanc Books
