Emily reached out to me a few weeks ago to introduce me to her upcoming Conversations: A Collection of Short Stories, which she's planning to publish through Inkshares, a crowdfunding website.
As Emily was explaining the thought process behind her book and the path she was taking to get it published, I thought the idea of crowdfunding publisher was interesting; I felt there was a guest post buried in there. And so I asked her to share her story with you....
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I write stories.
Crack open the core of me and words would undoubtedly pour out. It has always
been this way, for as long as I can remember.
At the age of
eight I was scribbling stories in notebooks, fascinated by the ways in which
people interact with one another and try so very hard to understand themselves.
I wrote before I could spell or had anything close to legible penmanship. I
wrote before I knew what it was to grow or to live. I wrote even before I knew
what it meant to be a writer.
As the years
passed I developed an equally passionate interest in film, and it has been the
blending of literature and cinema that has had the greatest impact on me. From
dialogue-fueled films and reflective, quiet novels I have shaped my style. I
began telling people that I wanted to be the literary love child of Jane Austen
and FIGHT CLUB (the film, not the book). The comparison is surely strange and
seemingly nonsensical, but I've remained committed to it all the same.
Currently I am promoting my
latest work, CONVERSATIONS: A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES through Inkshares
publishing. This contemporary work of
fiction is composed of conversations, each of which stands as a separate story.
These conversations take many forms, and often lead to very different results,
but all of them explore the distinguishing marks of human nature.
This idea of
"real-time" fiction is something I wanted to explore while earning my Bachelors
degree. I was fascinated by films like Alfred Hitchcock's ROPE (1948), where
dialogs serves primarily as action and the characters are forced to interact in
a single setting.
It is not easy
to put out a fiction collection. On top of an already competitive market, most
publishers aren't looking for a short story collection unless it is tied to an
already established author. Knowing this, I decided to opt for a slightly more
unconventional publishing route.
Inkshares is a new publishing
model based on the idea of reader-promoted content. Through crowd
funding, authors raise
support for their work. Those interested in purchasing the book may do so via a
donation, though they are free to make non-purchased based donations in any
amount. If the funding goal is reached, contributors receive their copy of the
book. If the goal is not reached, then all donations are refunded.
When
that designated goal is reached Inkshares steps in as the publisher, backing the
book by editing, designing, producing, and distributing the work locally and
around the country. The idea behind this is that readers, not companies, decide
what they want their books to be.
My
aim is to publish a collection of fiction that means something and that upon
reading these stories people are able to explore the bruised and battered nature
of humanity.
For more on the project, feel
free to visit: https://www.inkshares.com/projects/conversations-a-collection-of-short-stories
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BIO
Emily
Ruth Verona received her Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing and Cinema Studies
from The State University of New York at Purchase. She is the recipient of the
2014 Pinch Literary Award in Fiction and a 2014 Jane Austen Short Story Award
Finalist. Previous publication credits include work featured in Read. Learn.
Write., Fifty Word Stories, The Toast, Popmatters, Bibliosmiles, and
Enstars. She lives in New Jersey with a rather small dog.
For more, visit www.emilyruthverona.com
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