purplecakepress Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Update: The deadline for story submissions is now April 1, 2015. Please send your stories to purplecakepress@gmail.com before that date. Thanks! Hi everyone :) I've been writing, editing, and self-publishing for quite a few years now, and I'm starting up a new project I'm hoping a few people here on AVEN might be interested in -- an Asexual Anthology. The project will feature true stories from asexuals around the world. It will be similar in concept to Chicken Soup for the Soul (no affiliation!) -- real people telling real stories, sharing their experiences and sending a supportive, positive message about asexuality. So you could write about pretty much anything relating to your asexual experience, such as: Your first asexual relationship (or your first sexual relationship as an asexual) How you discovered you were asexual How you came out to your friends/family about being asexual How asexuality has shaped your life What being asexual means to you How you deal with being asexual in a sexual world Anything else you think might be interesting! It can be a story of romance, a story of aromance, a story of personal success, or just a random, quirky snapshot into your life as an asexual. This is supposed to be an uplifting book -- intriguing, hopefully entertaining, and above all helping to spread awareness of the asexual community. I should stress that your stories do not need to be 100% perfect, error-free, all-around brilliant pieces of literature. If they are, that's obviously fantastic. But I'm a very experienced editor, so if you think you have a story worth telling, just get it down on paper, and I'll take care of the editing and polishing. Don't worry, I'll run the edited version by you before it goes to print! This is a passion project of mine -- and, sadly, I'm not exactly rolling in cash. So I can't offer any payment in return for your stories. What I can offer is a free print copy of the book when it goes live on Amazon, as well as a bio section in the book where you can introduce yourself to the world. I'll also send you the ebook (in multiple formats), so you can give it out to your friends/family. I truly wish I could go around giving out hundreds of dollars in return for your amazing stories, but unfortunately that's just not financially in the cards for me right now. Hopefully the promise of seeing your name and story in print, in a professionally edited and designed book, will be enough temptation :) If you're at all interested in this project, please contact me at purplecakepress@gmail.com. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have, and I sincerely look forward to meeting you. Additional notes: Story length = 500 - 5,000 words Story rights = non-exclusive (meaning you can publish the story somewhere else if you want) No payment (but you do get a free print copy of the book once it's published) Story language = English Tentative deadline = March 2015 Thanks for reading! Link to post Share on other sites
Betty Badinbed Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Hi Purplecakepress - what a great idea :) I've been thinking of writing my story for some time, but haven't been sure of the framework for it. Being within a collection of stories could be just the thing. I guess it would be OK to use a pseudonym? While I've been interested in passing on my personal experiences, it would still be under the cloak of anonymity. Though... I guess if I wanted to say, eventually talk to my family about my aceness and was finding it hard, I could give them your book to read. Anyway, I will be in touch by email soon. Link to post Share on other sites
purplecakepress Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 Hi Betty :) Pseudonyms are 100% allowed and encouraged. Everyone will be writing their own bios (who knows you better than you?), so if you want to use a pen name, go for it! And that's a great point about using the book as a way of educating people about asexuality. Ultimately, I'm compiling this anthology because I want to help other asexuals embrace and accept their "aceness", as you so awesomely put it. For those who are still struggling with the concept, it could help them come to terms with their aceness. For those who are trying to figure out how to tell their friends and family, the book might provide inspiration, or even a way of breaking the ice and getting a conversation started. That's the goal, that's the dream ... now I just need to make it a reality, lol. Link to post Share on other sites
thylacine Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I have a nice article I did awhile ago... I will send it. I will be happy with just a print copy. I have 2 jobs so money is not a big problem for me right now... Link to post Share on other sites
FallOutAtTheMotionCityDisc Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I'm very interested, I want to be a professional author, so just a little story in a book like this will help me! I will email you now with a quick question or two, and then submit my story soon after :) Link to post Share on other sites
Loodwring Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I'll think of something. Link to post Share on other sites
Sparrows Fart Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I'll see what I can come up with an shoot you an email when it's done. Link to post Share on other sites
iff Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 interesting, I have one story that comes to 389. i'll give some more thought and look at further ideas on this. i have a couple more ways of expanding. and capitalising my first letters of each sentence also :D Link to post Share on other sites
Certified Cake Decorator Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I'd like to participate, just maybe give me a week to write? Im such a procrastinator... Link to post Share on other sites
deltaX Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 This is an awesome idea! I don't really think I'd be able to contribute since I'm awful at writing and my story isn't very interesting, but I am interested in reading the book if/when it gets published. Would you be posting information about it here on AVEN? Link to post Share on other sites
Stained Glass Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 sounds like a wonderful idea! Link to post Share on other sites
purplecakepress Posted January 31, 2015 Author Share Posted January 31, 2015 First of all, I just want to thank everyone for their interest -- it's really encouraging! When I came up with the Anthology idea, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find any writers, but you are all surpassing my expectations :) To answer questions: Yes, I'll post information about the anthology on the AVEN forum once it goes live. That definitely won't be for at least a few months, though. If you want to keep up-to-date on the project, I've started a blog -- purplecakepress.wordpress.com -- where I'll be posting updates I didn't include a deadline in the original post! My bad. Since I'm not sure how long it will take me to collect enough stories to fill an anthology, there isn't really a set deadline for submissions. What I've told a few people now is that the "soft" deadline is March. If you can get something to me by then, that would be great. If you need longer, let me know :) Thanks everyone, and have a great weekend! Keep hitting me up with questions if you've got them! Link to post Share on other sites
deltaX Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Thanks for the update, I will definitely be following this! If the deadline is March, I may even have time to attempt to write something. I won't guarantee anything, but if I think of something interesting to write about I will do my best. :) Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Darkhorse Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Oooh this sounds great! I'm glad you're doing this - count me in! I've got a story that I just need to tweak a little bit, and it should be good to go. Link to post Share on other sites
Squirrel Combat Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Would excerpts from larger works count? Link to post Share on other sites
purplecakepress Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 An excerpt from a larger work might be okay. 1) It would need to be a self-contained story -- like, we can't really come in halfway through a chapter, otherwise people will be very confused 2) You need to make sure I wouldn't be violating any copyright law by publishing an excerpt -- for example, if you're publishing the larger work with a publishing house, they might have exclusive rights to it So a tentative yes to the excerpt question, I guess :) Link to post Share on other sites
thisismyname Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 ill be happy to help you, shoot you a email when ive got it done Link to post Share on other sites
pipsuxx Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 this is pretty much an identical concept to the blog i run, to which there's a link in my signature. if you wanted you could contact the people who have submitted their stories and ask them if they want to contribute them to your book. :) Link to post Share on other sites
AcceberNesor Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I'd like to participate! I'll try to write something soon, this week or the next. Link to post Share on other sites
purplecakepress Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 Hey Pippsux -- great idea! I'll definitely check out your blog and see if I can find any interested writers :) Link to post Share on other sites
AgentKEW Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Would you be interested in hearing from a demisexual? Demisexuality is, after all, very closely related to asexuality. I would be happy to share a story. If not, I still think that this is a wonderful idea and something I will happily buy and read when you get it published. It's about time someone wrote a book like this. Or compiled it, as the case is. Link to post Share on other sites
.rose. Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Would there possibly be a way for one to access the book without buying a print copy? (like ebooks, maybe?) I'm really, really interested in reading this, but I'm a minor and not out to my parents yet (still not even sure if it's safe for me to be out ever), so I'm just trying to figure out how I might be able to do that.... This project sounds absolutely amazing! I so wish I could contribute, but there's not really much of a story there yet to tell, haha. I'm still just getting started in the figuring-things-out process :) Link to post Share on other sites
purplecakepress Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 AgentKEW -- Yes, I'd definitely be interested in hearing from a demisexual! Send your story my way :) .rose. -- The book will definitely be available as an ebook, so you can for sure pick it up that way. I've already received a few submissions, and they're great -- hopefully a few of them might be able to help you out with your own situation :) Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Can I be a part of this?! Link to post Share on other sites
Member7783 Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Wish I had seen this earlier. I'd like to be part of something like this, and I'd definitely want to use a pseudonym to keep it separate from my real life work and also from my pseudonym that I've already published under. Link to post Share on other sites
purplecakepress Posted February 6, 2015 Author Share Posted February 6, 2015 Megan Nemeroff -- Yes, absolutely you can be a part of this! Pop me off an email to purplecakepress@gmail.com letting me know you're interested :) Jonitus -- It's not too late! And pseudonyms are absolutely allowed and encouraged. If you're interested in participating in the project, send me an email and let me know! Link to post Share on other sites
thylacine Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 This sounds like an interesting and important project. Maybe the book could be also (in the future) used in studies of asexuality (yah know, to prove we exist & stuff). Link to post Share on other sites
Suma Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Happy to write something if you want. Probably would use a psuedonymn though. I'm not completely out yet, but I'm happy to write something about a successful ace/sexual relationship if you're interested? Link to post Share on other sites
purplecakepress Posted February 9, 2015 Author Share Posted February 9, 2015 thylacine -- That would be fantastic! My dream is that one day people will be able to figure out they're asexual because they already know what it means -- they don't have to Google what they're feeling and then stumble across the answer randomly. Suma -- Awesome! A story about your successful ace/sexual relationship would be a very welcome addition to the anthology. Using a pseudonym is fine -- a lot of the writers I've spoken to will be doing that. Send me an email (purplecakepress@gmail.com) when your story's ready! Link to post Share on other sites
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