Alliteration Ink Presents
Steampunk Universe: A diverse steampunk anthology featuring aneurotypical and disabled characters.
We keep getting told that steampunk is not diverse.
We want to keep proving them wrong.
Two and a half years ago, we brought you the award-winning anthology Steampunk World, a diverse collection of steampunk fiction. Since then, there have been a number of other prominent anthologies and works of diverse steampunk fiction. That is exactly what we hoped would happen.
But it is not enough.
We want to see even more diversity. We want to see characters like all our friends and all the members of our families. We want fully developed characters in steampunk - and all fiction - who are disabled or aneurotypical. We want more than "token" characters, and clichéd plots.
We were told it was too hard - especially in a genre like steampunk.
We are going to prove them wrong again...and we want you to join us.
Join editor Sarah Hans, our cover artist James Ng, and contributors Ken Liu, Jody Lynn Nye, Maurice Broaddus, Malon Edwards, Emily Cataneo, Pip Ballantine, Victor Ocampo, Suna Dasi, Lyndsay E. Gilbert, Kate Coe, Liam Hogan, Zach Chapman, Andrew Knighton, Matthew Bright, Candida Spillard, and Diana Pho today.
Steampunk can be diverse. And if steampunk can be diverse, it can be done anywhere.
GETTING THE BOOKS
When you pledge $5 or more, you will receive the eBook in all three major formats: PDF, ePub, and Kindle. Every reward level above $5 includes the eBook. When you pledge $15 or more, you will get the eBook and you will also receive the trade paperback with the gorgeous cover.
BUT WAIT. We make it easy for you to pledge for the number and kind of books that you want. Want to get the paperback and the hardcover? Want the hardcover and a story critique? No problem.
We also offer add-ons for more copies to ANY REWARD LEVEL! If you want more than one copy, increase your pledge by the appropriate amount - $15 + shipping ($5 US/$15 worldwide) for the trade paperback, $40+ shipping ($10 US/$20 worldwide) for hardcover.
Please do this as part of your pledge; to keep costs down we do not utilize any third-party Kickstarter fulfillment companies.
If you have questions, send us a message on Kickstarter!
OUR GOALS
$6000 - Once we hit this fundraising goal, the project will be able to pay all the creative folks for their work. All authors will get at least the current SFWA professional rate.
$7000 - Once we reach this fundraising goal, it will add value to all backers by adding interior line artwork to half the stories!
$8000 - Once we reach this fundraising goal, it will add value to all backers by adding interior line artwork to (the other) half of the stories!
$9000 - Once we reach this fundraising goal, we will be able to give all the authors a pay increase for their stories!
...and beyond?
Where is the money going?
Our initial goal is enough to pay everyone involved - the authors, the editors, and the cover artist - a professional rate. Here's how the funding percentage for our initial goal breaks down. A percentage of retail sales will be earmarked for supporting and developing new diverse authors.
Who is Behind This Project
Sarah Hans is a Buddhist steampunk horror writer and editor. She enjoys long walks on the beach, crocheting blasphemies, and dressing anachronistically. Her work has appeared in Still Hungry for Your Love, What Fates Impose, Heroes!, Time Traveled Tales, Historical Lovecraft, and more. She previously edited Sidekicks! and Steampunk World with Alliteration Ink. When not writing, blogging, or seeking enlightenment through crafting, she can be found traveling the aether aboard The Airship Archon, which frequently docks at science fiction conventions across the Midwest.
The publisher is Alliteration Ink, who has a track record of fulfilling Kickstarter-backed anthologies and making sure that backers get the rewards they signed up for. Please see our crowdfunding policies if you have any questions.
Our cover artist is James Ng. Ng (pronounced Ing) was born in Hong Kong, where he spent most of his childhood drawing monsters and robots, making his own elaborate cardboard toys, and playing soccer. Ever since, he has been on the move between Hong Kong, Vancouver, Chicago and New York. His travels have greatly influenced him, allowing him to combine Eastern and Western cultures in his artwork. The artwork is in production; an early version is shown above.
Risks and challenges
In all projects that involve contributions from multiple people and companies, there's the possibility of an unexpected delay here or there. That said, we already have the stories and are working on editing at this time.
If we reach the additional artwork level, it will take time to obtain quality art for your books.
That said, we're stacking the odds in our favor. We already have the cover art and all of the listed stories in our hands, but there are details, revisions, and production schedules to consider. We will do our best to get this book to you on schedule.
Alliteration Ink has a robust crowdfunding policy at https://github.com/uriel1998/ainkpolicies/blob/master/kickstarter.md
We've also successfully fulfilled several Kickstarters so far, and whenever problems have arisen, we've been transparent about what the difficulties were and getting them fixed.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterQuestions about this project? Check out the FAQ
Support
Funding period
- (30 days)