Okay now this is putting your money where your mouth is, in the best possible way.
The other day we told you about Rosarium Press and their ambitious slate of books celebrating diversity behind and on the page. they have an Indiegogo campaign running, to help supplement publisher Bill Campbell’s day job in publishing the line of books. Rosarium is looking for $40,ooo in funds.
Now best selling author Rick Riordan has stepped up with a $10,000 matching grant for pledges made today, May 2, through the end of the campaign on May 5th.
Okay, folks. I have now read two great books from Rosarium, a small press that is trying to bring quality diverse voices into the world of publishing, which as we all know is very, very white. I have been REALLY impressed with both works — the short story collection The Assimilated Cuban’s Guide to Quantum Santeria and the graphic novel DayBlack.
This is the kind of business we need to support, in the same way we support independent bookstores, if we value a world of reading that is not boring and monolithic but fully representative of all the amazing life experiences in the world.
One way I can do that personally is to read and review and celebrate the books publishers like Rosarium produce. But Rosarium is also holding a fundraiser to expand their list and keep their books coming. I am donating and I challenge you to join me.
Riordan is the author of the Percy Jackson books, The Kane Chronicles, Heroes of Olympus and Magnus Chase. He can certainly afford to be generous, but let’s not let this matching grant go to waste. Rosarium’s diverse (in content and tone as well as creators) line is well worth supporting on its own, but it’s also a means to give a voice to creators who aren’t always included in a publishing industry that’s way too pale for its own good.
I read DayBlack last year, BTW, and it’s a funny and poetic look at the life of a vampire, a former slave who was turned while in the cotton field, who longs to experience life once again while his job as a tattoo artists gives him cover. I’ll second Riordan in saying its the kind of graphic novel that deserves support.
Heidi MacDonald is the founder and editor in chief of The Beat. In the past, she worked for Disney, DC Comics, Fox and Publishers Weekly. She can be heard regularly on the More To Come Podcast. She likes coffee, cats and noble struggle.