Third Update: We just received the final donation that put us at our goal! Thank you so much, Paula, and all the rest of our donors. We are truly blessed, y'all.
Our hub is in development right now; the programmer is testing it with some datasets, and when he's happy with that, we will go live for a short closed alpha test run - and then fully live for a beta period. The promised advertising will be scheduled at this point, and hopefully we will be able to raise everyone's profile and create a real marketplace for books we all want to read.
THANK YOU! With hard work, faith, and your support, we may
have just created a game-changer for how we right-leaning creators can find our audience.
Second Update: thank y'all so much! We are over 80%, and have initiated development of the site. We are targeting June 15 as our launch date - a couple of weeks later than hoped, but still pretty fast, I think.
We need JUST a little bit more to put us over our goal of $1500. I know money's tight with the Biden economy and everything, but we would really appreciate any further donations. And remember, with every $30 donation we are providing a free 1-week banner advertisement for our writers - or whoever wants to take advantage of it. We want to give back, not just take.
Think about it - a marketplace where readers looking for OUR kind of storytelling can go to find books that won't insult them, their beliefs, or their intelligence. This kind of resource could become a fantastic marketing tool, and it could be just the thing to amplify our voices, ensuring our stories are told by us, not someone else. How could you use a resource like this?
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An update: We are halfway to our goal!!! This means we can purchase the software and start the work, and Good Lord willing, we can target June 1 as a launch date.
We aren't done yet. Those of you who have donated so far, thank you so so very much! and tell your friends. As you realize, this is an idea whose time has come, and the sooner we can get it up and running, the sooner y'all can incorporate it as part of your marketing strategy
Let's rebalance the culture together and get our stories not just told, but read.
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Who says conservatives don't read fiction?
The liberal management of mainstream publishers think if your politics lean right, you don't read. Or at least, while you may read the latest nonfiction about Trump or voting rights or Covid, you don't have the imagination necessary to read and appreciate fiction.
You and I know they are wrong, but that doesn't help conservative fiction writers.
Because the Big Four publishers and most second-tier publishing companies won't publish fiction that has conservative themes, plot lines, or heroes, right-leaning authors that create these stories are forced into using very small publishing companies or simply self-publishing them. This creates a problem.
Their reading audience can't find them.
Big publishers have deals with booksellers to place their books in prominent positions. They own most of the text space in publications like Publishers Weekly or the New York Times Review of Books. Thousands of online outlets promote their books.
Conservative fiction writers do not have these resources.
Conservative writers research for hours to identify places they can advertise or market their books. They spend money they don't have on great covers and paid advertising. Yet it seems they slip further and further behind in sales. We estimate that there are at least 5,000 good-quality published conservative writers in this position.
Readers who want conservative stories are in even worse shape. If they aren't interested in reading Christian fiction all the time, they can't find conservative fiction books at all. These readers may constitute a third or more of the fiction reading market!
Enter my idea: the creation of a searchable hub where writers can add their books and readers can find them.
I own the website conservativefiction.com, and I want to turn it into a database of conservative books and writers. Once completed, readers can perform a simple search and locate conservative books by genre, plotline and writer, and then follow links to online outlets including Amazon and Smashwords to purchase these books.
Writers will be able to create an account and enter book information, ensuring readers have all the information they need. Additionally, writers will be able to post inexpensive advertisement, or use a small secondary database to find right-leaning or agnostic industry professionals like artists and editors who can help them create their next masterpieces.
We - I and a talented project manager who is generously donating her time - can have this database system up and running within just a few months, and introduce a fully functioning search system as early as June. In order to do this, we need to purchase two pieces of software for a total of around $250. We have retained a designer who can create the system for about $1000, then maintain it for $50/month. That's it. That's all we need.
But we can't do it alone; we need funding.
I am asking writers and readers alike to contribute just a little to the fund so we can create this for everyone. And to sweeten the pot: for each writer who contributes at least $30, I will provide a top-of-the-page banner ad for one week on the main search page, with time slots starting one month after the database launches to ensure you have a reasonably sized audience. All I ask is that you send a note with the date, time and amount of your donation to my contact email at conservativefiction.com.
