Florin Marksteiner

HELP US GIVE ROMANIAN POETS A BOOK — WITHOUT MAKING THEM PAY FOR IT I made a promise to a friend who is no longer here. I intend to keep it. My name is Florin Marksteiner. I am a Canadian author and life coach with Romanian roots. In 2024, a dear poet, Marian Bamboi, friend of mine passed away. Before he died, he had a dream: He wanted to find a way for talented Romanian poets to be published without having to pay for their own books. I understood his pain because I had seen what happens to poets who simply want their work to exist. THE PROBLEM In Romania, famous Eminescu’s country, now many poets are expected to finance their own publishing. They pay for editing, they pay for design, they pay for printing and they receive just some boxes of books. And then, because they are poets and not necessarily business people, they often give those books away to friends, family and people who appreciate their work. The result? They can spend thousands of euros creating a book and recover very little—or nothing—of that money. Some even go into debt simply because they wanted to publish their poetry. This happened to my friend. And I couldn't accept that his dream would disappear with him. So I decided to do something about it. A SIMPLE IDEA I started a Poetry Festival in Romania in his memory: VIATA IN VERSURI (Life in Lyrics) The concept was simple: Discover the best poets through a poetry competition. Give the winners the opportunity to have their work professionally published. And don't make the poets pay for it. I contacted 65 Romanian publishing houses and invited them to collaborate with us, taking one single author and publish their book pro bono. Unfortunately, not one responded to our call. So, I made a decision. If nobody else was willing to do it, I would build the solution myself. I started a publishing house specifically to fill this gap. And we made a promise: The best poets discovered through the festival would be published for free. I PUT MY OWN EFFORTS, TIME AND MONEY BEHIND THE PROMISE I didn't want this to remain just an idea. So, I took a bank loan and personally financed the publication of: 10 poetry books The first festival anthology These books have already been created and published. The poets have their books. The dream became real. And that is something I am incredibly proud of. But I also learned something important: I cannot finance this entire mission alone. WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP The second edition of the festival is coming this October. We want to continue discovering talented Romanian poets and giving the winners something they may otherwise never be able to afford: A professionally produced book with their name on it and a way to earn with their talent. Publishing a book properly is not simply a matter of pressing “print.” It takes approximately €1,000 to publish one author from manuscript to finished, promoted book. That includes: Editing — preparing and correcting the manuscript Book layout and interior design Professional cover design Printing Dealing with the necessary authorities and publishing requirements Promotion and marketing Preparing the book for sales and distribution In other words: €1,000 can help transform a poet's manuscript into a real book. A book they can hold. A book they can show their family. A book they can share with the world. And, most importantly: A book they did not have to go into debt to create. WHAT YOUR DONATION CAN HELP MAKE POSSIBLE Your contribution will help us fund: - PUBLISHING POETS The biggest part of this campaign is creating the funds necessary to publish the winning poets without charging them. - THE POETRY FESTIVAL Venue rental, prizes, diplomas and medals, and the practical costs of organizing the competition. - PROMOTION Marketing the festival, the poets and their books so that these authors have a real opportunity to be discovered. - BUILDING SOMETHING THAT CAN LAST Our goal is not to depend forever on donations. We want to build a publishing and cultural initiative that eventually becomes self-sustaining through book sales, partnerships and other sources of revenue. But we need help getting there. THIS IS BIGGER THAN ONE FESTIVAL I believe something important is happening here. There are talented writers who have never had the opportunity to publish professionally. There are voices that deserve to be heard. There are poems that may never be written down if the people creating them believe that publishing is financially impossible. And there are poets who need to see that their work has value. I want to help change that. Not just for one poet. Not just for this year's festival. But for the poets who will come. HELP ME KEEP MY PROMISE When my friend died, I couldn't save him. But I can keep his dream alive. I can make sure that his belief—that talented poets deserve an opportunity to be published without being financially destroyed by the process—doesn't disappear. I've already put my own time, effort and money behind this. I've already created the festival. I've already started the publishing house. I've already published 10 poetry books and our first anthology. Now I'm asking for help to take the next step. YOU CAN HELP PUBLISH A POET. A donation of €10, €25, €50, €100—or whatever you can comfortably give—brings us closer to that goal. €10 Help us keep the project moving €25 Help bring a poet closer to publication €50 Help fund part of a poet's book €100 Help publish 10% of a poet's book €250 Become a major supporter of one poet €500 Help bring a poet halfway to publication €1,000 Sponsor one poet's complete publication And if enough people contribute, we can do something extraordinary: We can give dozens of poets the chance to proudly say, “I am a published author.” If you believe poetry matters, please donate. If you believe culture matters, please donate. If you believe talented people deserve an opportunity, please donate. And if you cannot donate, please share this campaign. Your share could reach someone who can help. ONE BOOK CAN CHANGE A LIFE I don't know how many poets we will be able to publish. I don't know how far this project will ultimately go. But I know this: We have already started. The books exist. The poets exist. The festival exists. The dream exists. And with your help, it can grow. Help us turn €1,000 into one poet's finished book. Help us give Romanian poetry a future and give back the Romanian People their poetry international pride. Help me keep the promise. ❤️ Thank you for believing in this mission. Donate or share the campaign here: https://gofund.me/21e4b5829