New Crowdfunding Project Challenges Science Fiction and Fantasy's Lack of Latino Authors

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Jan. 6, 2014 - PRLog -- A California author has launched an online fundraising campaign to counter a lack of diversity in mainstream genre fiction publications, especially a lack of representation among Latino authors. Her goal? To raise enough funds to publish illustrated short stories every month featuring characters of diverse economic and racial backgrounds, with a special emphasis on LGBT and women’s issues.

“It’s really shocking how little diversity there is in the genre fiction publishing world, even in 2014,” author Julie M. Rodriguez says, when asked why her project is necessary. “The big publishers still largely put out work written by straight, white men, and those are the stories that mostly win industry awards. There are a few well-respected African American writers getting published, but it’s almost impossible to find Latino authors at all.”

This lack of representation impacts the subject matter of the stories as well, she claims: “Growing up Latina and queer, I had a hard time finding stories about characters I could relate to – women who weren’t just love interests, openly LGBT characters, or characters of color who weren’t just comic relief or sidekicks. While there has been great progress in genre fiction over the years, these stories still frequently go untold in mainstream SF magazines.”

Unlike a traditional crowdfunding campaign, where an author might use a site like Kickstarter to publish a completed collection of short stories, Rodriguez is looking for readers to donate small amounts to support her writing as stories are released, starting at just $1-2 a month. If she’s able to reach her ultimate $1,000 per month goal, Rodriguez plans to set aside the funds to finance a print anthology at the end of the year.

The project eliminates one of the major risks of traditional crowdfunding – Rodriguez is using a platform called Patreon, which charges her supporters only after she has released a story for the month. This marks a dramatic shift from the Kickstarter model, which requires backers to donate to fund the creation of projects which do not yet exist.

Rodriguez is already an established nonfiction writer, so the project represents a turn in her career. She says, “I’ve always written fiction as a hobby, and I’ve had a few short stories published before. I really have the same goal whether I’m writing fiction or nonfiction: to make people think deeply about the world that we live in, and to see how our everyday lives fit in to the greater whole. I always try to examine all sides of a story, so that everyone’s experience gets to be heard.”

Rodriguez’s crowdfunding campaign formally launched last week, but her stories will remain freely available on the internet for all to read regardless of what funding she receives. To attract new backers, she’s offering a variety of extra rewards that aren’t available to the general public, like original artwork, free copies of her completed book, and even the chance to choose the subject of her next story. Anyone interested in reading Rodriguez’s fiction or supporting the project can visit http://www.patreon.com/julierwrites to learn more.