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Writer's Bloq is taking on an enormous problem. Only .03% of manuscripts submitted to publishers are published, and the average self-published book sells under 20 copies. At the end of the day, it's the same story; it is extremely difficult for writers to get discovered and publish successfully without the substantial backing of money, celebrity status, or luck.
Writer's Bloq is created for writers, by writers who have experienced this problem first hand. We want to meet and discover the greatest writers of our generation. But we can't do it without your help.
If our Kickstarter is successful, we will deliver Writer's Bloq directly to you in Kerouac fashion. Our writers have agreed to sacrifice their day jobs to go on the road and host Bloqparties -- to share their stories, to toast the art and pursuit of writing, to reveal their passion -- for you, with you.
So, to solve a big problem, we've created big rewards. Scroll down to see what Writer's Bloq has in store!
Bloqnote: Both Claire Hollander and Angela E J Koh, the novelists below, are members of the Writer's Bloq Collective Presse.
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"Red" is a novel by Angela E J Koh.
Sera, an attention-seeking outcast, sets free a demonic
criminal in this energy-enhanced otherworld. Punished with the death of
her mother and exiled from a systematic society, Sera seeks refuge on
Earth and trains for vengeance under her new OCD-conscious teacher and
ill-fated love, the criminal.
In this Murakami-meets-Kill-Bill
tale, Sera is stuck between righteousness and carnage and learns the
limits of her body while she ventures through worlds of diamonds, jade,
and perpetual sunset. Her goal: to obtain the animalistic and
all-consuming level of red. Sera’s fight is a fight that ignores
the inner voice of dogged fear that she must learn most—her own
desperation for forgiveness.
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"Something Right Behind Her" is a novel by Claire Hollander.
When sixteen-year-old Andy discovers her best friend, Eve, is dying,
her life changes forever. She is haunted by terrifying nightmares and is
forced to face the sometimes mundane, sometimes horrifying
transformations her friend endures with characteristic bravery. And then
there is Andyʼs own life, her family, friends and, of course, the guy
she should like, and the ones she shouldnʼt...
Through all her
bedside vigils and her one valiant attempt to get Eve down to the Jersey
Shore for a day of ordinary teenaged fun, Andy struggles to face both
the inevitable and her own sense of loss and estrangement. Andyʼs
struggle is the struggle of the one who is left behind, the girl who has
lost her best friend and is left alone with her secrets.
The Writer's Bloq Quarterly is a collection of writing by the top writers on the Bloq as decided by the registered community. The Quarterly will include short stories, poetry, essays, and short shorts, all the pieces composed by talented writers with unique, undiscovered voices.
As a special treat, Writer's Bloq commissioned some of the most talented artists to create incredible art based on each piece of writing. The artwork comes from different mediums and encompasses various subjects in order to offer our readers a never-before-seen collection of coupled art and writing!
Excerpts from the Quarterly Writing:
"In bed, wrapped in layers of clothing and sleeping bag, I feel the stillness and purity of the air around me. Quite a contrast from the dance of dust and smoke that occupies the daytime, that has followed me since arriving in Africa. There’s been jet streams from the plane, ocean trails following boats off the Tanzanian coast, clouds of dust belched out of buses on the dusty road from Dar Es Salaam to Arusha, wisps of grey from the sporadic fires in the settlements along the main road. Now it is dark, the grey has turned to black and the smoke has turned into stardust. I am smitten, I am smote." -Aditi Sriram
"Now, your tongue.' Sandra leaned in close. Her sweaty fingers brushed my thigh. I flinched when her wet hair swung across my shoulder and the bitter stench of dried chlorine settled in the space closing, too quickly, between us. Then she touched our tongues together, just the softest parts. The tips at first. Her tongue was warm and slippery, a fleshy lump against my own, moist, with a muted hint of mint or iron." -Paige Cohen
Below is a sneak peek at our Quarterly Art, created specifically for the Writer's Bloq Quarterly.
* Each original art piece will also be included in a silent auction during the "Bloqparties" below!
In May, Writer's Bloq had its first event, Unsolicited, at The Strand in New York City. We were completely overjoyed at the outcome, following an intimate night of readings, half of our readers were contacted by industry professionals. We realized that we have an incredible opportunity to bring writers, readers, and industry professionals together, to celebrate quality writing and create opportunity where it should have existed before.
So now, we're bringing Bloqparties to the rest of the East Coast! If our Kickstarter is successful, Writer's Bloq will hit the road and crash 10 cities. Each event will open with an Art Gallery exhibiting our unique art collection, created specifically for the Quarterly, and close with a reading of the top pieces on the Bloq. On November 2nd, we will launch our Bloqparty Tour:
- November 2nd: Opening Event in Portland, ME
- November 3rd: Cambridge, MA
- November 3rd: Boston, MA
- November 4th: Providence, RI
- November 4th: New Haven, CT
- November 5th: Princeton, NJ
- November 6th: Philadelphia, PA
- November 7th: Baltimore, MD
- November 8th: Washington, DC
- November 9th: Closing Celebration in New York, NY!
Don't see your city above? Don't worry! This is just the start. If our Kickstarter is very successful, we have a couple surprises in store...
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CREDITS
A special thank you to the following people. Without you, we wouldn't exist.
Writers featured in the Writer's Bloq Quarterly: Rowan Buchanan, Chloe Campbell, Diana Clarke, Paige Cohen, Jared Frieder, Storm Garner, Forsyth Harmon, Claire Hollander, Angela E J Koh, Halle Murcek, Connie Mae Oliver, Sarah Nicole Smetana, Aditi Sriram, Diane M. Stillwood, Charline Tetiyevsky, Emily Thibodeaux, Boris Vassilev; Artists featured in the Writer's Bloq Quarterly: Guy Ben-Ari, Jacob Hicks, Susan Hostetler, Shannon Kenny, James Keul, Matthew de Leon, Penelope Lin, Rachel Malin, Leah McCloskey, Kat Mills, Azikiwe Mohammed, Maryana Oliynyk, Oksana Prokopenko, Bryson Rand, Yaz Rosete, Matt Shain, Sara Teramo, Frank Zadlo; Cover for "Something Right Behind Her": Kat Mills, Trailer for "Something Right Behind Her": Turn the Page Book Trailers; Filming for "Something Right Behind Her": Marc Katz; Music for "Something Right Behind Her": Incompetech; Cover for "Red": Cheikh Clark; and Trailer for "Red": Ranjan Das and Emily Zuch. A shout out to Matthew Rosenberg and the boys at Cameo for their sage advice and guidance. And an enormous, gigantic thank you to Ranjan Das, our animation guru, for creating an amazing Kickstarter video with only a shot of whisky.
And our biggest thank you goes to you, our backers, for supporting the best writers of our generation and helping us beat the natural self-doubt of the writing process. We raise our quills in your honor!
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Funding period
- (32 days)