Transgender author launches Kickstarter campaign to promote diversity in literature, proceeds from book sales to benefit LGBTQ+ nonprofits.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gulfport, FL, November 12, 2020: Just in time for Transgender Awareness Week (Nov. 13th-19th), young adult novel, call me him. written by trans writer River Braun, launched its Kickstarter campaign with great success on its first day. Helping amplify voices of transgender stories across the country, this campaign seeks to raise $10,000 for publication and marketing purposes. Proceeds from book sales will be distributed between The Trevor Project, The Human Rights Campaign, and The Transgender Law Center, all of whom provide critical services to the trans and broader LGBTQ+ community.
Of the writing process, author and campaign-founder River Braun said, “At a time when trans and non-binary people are targeted and discriminated against, our youth need more diversity in books to relate to, to remind them they are not only seen but validated.” Mr. Braun explains that he decided to turn to Kickstarter because of the general consensus his agent received from traditional publishing houses. “The overwhelming response was, ‘it’s a great read, but the door for trans coming-of-age stories has come to a close.’ And meanwhile, I see tens of thousands of cis-normative books out there for young adults on the shelves. I wanted to break through that marketing-gatekeeper, on behalf of all trans and non-binary stories.”
“Traditional publishing houses are trying, but they have their hands tied,” River adds. “Barnes & Noble stocks around 48 books categorized as Transgender Fiction. Contrast that with a bookshelf of over 2585 YA novels. Amazon lists about 1,000 transgender YA novels, a small subset of over 90,000 young adult novels. This is not nearly enough.”
As a young adult librarian, Maya Sungold notes in her article, The Importance of Celebrating Trans Stories, “These transgender novels help young queer people work out who they are and know that they are not alone and guide their cisgender peers on how to better understand and support them.”
To support the call me him. Kickstarter campaign, visit the project homepage. Donors can receive a digital copy of the book for as little as $15. The project closes on November 19, 2020.
Contact Information:
River Braun
Author of call me him.
www.RiverBraun.com
Email: realriver42@gmail.com
