What's your story?
Donation protected
A Message from Tiffany Vakilian
"The past isn't dead. It even isn't past." --William Faulkner.
I’ve had a lot of time to chew on this due to social restrictions.
America is reevaluating its historical oblivion to ever-present racial injustice. Now telling your story can, at last, impact the change we have all been waiting for. As the president of the San Diego Book Awards and the project manager of A Word with You Press, I see an opportunity born of the horrific death of George Floyd.
Suddenly, America is listening.
For over ten years, A Word with You Press has been (mostly) an apolitical venue for both beginning and seasoned writers to develop their skills and share experiences online with a community of kindred spirits.
But here's the paradox: Being apolitical is highly political. Neutrality is for the Neutered. Acquiescence is no longer viable; complacency is no longer an option.
Let me say that again. Complacency is no longer an option.
Help us, help me, to hand over the megaphone to those who have only whispered until now. They, and their stories, are dying to live. There has never been a greater urgency to speak truth to power.
After absorbing feedback from many of you, we have decided to embark in a new direction: A Word with You Press will apply to become a not-for-profit entity, formally known as a 501 (c)(3). This will enable us to solicit foundational grants to cover publishing costs for those whose work might otherwise be excluded by the profit motive. We’ll be able to expand our activities to include full-time, full-throated marketing and distribution of books that inspire us with their social message. With their truth.
We need $8500 to cover consultations and legal fees to become a 501(c)(3), and to subsidize the cost of publishing our next anthology, stories, and essays written by you.
Maya Angelou said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” I cry out in agreement travailing the truth in my own works. And for this reason, WE ARE NOT GOING TO WAIT UNTIL OUR NON-PROFIT STATUS HAS BEEN APPROVED to publish our first anthology. We are actively encouraging submissions from Black Americans, Asian Americans, Indigenous Americans, LGBTQ communities, and others marginalized by our shared history of oppression, both overt and subtle. We want to hear from White America, as well—we want to promote dialog, not monolog. The need is too urgent, the message too important.
What’s your story? Tell your story.
Tell it while America is still listening.
Talk to me at [email redacted], and please contribute what you can towards our goal. I need your help to accomplish great things. As Leonard Cohen so poignantly confesses, “I can’t move this thing, alone.”
Help me move this thing.
Thank you.
Tiffany Vakilian,
Project Manager
A Word with You Press
Editors and Advocates for Fine Stories in the Digital Age with offices and affiliates in the USA, the UK, Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic
www.awordwithyoupress.com
"The past isn't dead. It even isn't past." --William Faulkner.I’ve had a lot of time to chew on this due to social restrictions.
America is reevaluating its historical oblivion to ever-present racial injustice. Now telling your story can, at last, impact the change we have all been waiting for. As the president of the San Diego Book Awards and the project manager of A Word with You Press, I see an opportunity born of the horrific death of George Floyd.
Suddenly, America is listening.
For over ten years, A Word with You Press has been (mostly) an apolitical venue for both beginning and seasoned writers to develop their skills and share experiences online with a community of kindred spirits.
But here's the paradox: Being apolitical is highly political. Neutrality is for the Neutered. Acquiescence is no longer viable; complacency is no longer an option.
Let me say that again. Complacency is no longer an option.
Help us, help me, to hand over the megaphone to those who have only whispered until now. They, and their stories, are dying to live. There has never been a greater urgency to speak truth to power.
After absorbing feedback from many of you, we have decided to embark in a new direction: A Word with You Press will apply to become a not-for-profit entity, formally known as a 501 (c)(3). This will enable us to solicit foundational grants to cover publishing costs for those whose work might otherwise be excluded by the profit motive. We’ll be able to expand our activities to include full-time, full-throated marketing and distribution of books that inspire us with their social message. With their truth.
We need $8500 to cover consultations and legal fees to become a 501(c)(3), and to subsidize the cost of publishing our next anthology, stories, and essays written by you.
Maya Angelou said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” I cry out in agreement travailing the truth in my own works. And for this reason, WE ARE NOT GOING TO WAIT UNTIL OUR NON-PROFIT STATUS HAS BEEN APPROVED to publish our first anthology. We are actively encouraging submissions from Black Americans, Asian Americans, Indigenous Americans, LGBTQ communities, and others marginalized by our shared history of oppression, both overt and subtle. We want to hear from White America, as well—we want to promote dialog, not monolog. The need is too urgent, the message too important.
What’s your story? Tell your story.
Tell it while America is still listening.
Talk to me at [email redacted], and please contribute what you can towards our goal. I need your help to accomplish great things. As Leonard Cohen so poignantly confesses, “I can’t move this thing, alone.”
Help me move this thing.
Thank you.
Tiffany Vakilian,
Project Manager
A Word with You Press
Editors and Advocates for Fine Stories in the Digital Age with offices and affiliates in the USA, the UK, Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic
www.awordwithyoupress.com
Fundraising team (3)
Tamara Weitzel
Organizer
Temecula, CA
Derek Thompson
Team member
Tiffany Vakilian
Team member
