Redesign The Velvet -- Indiegogo

Our Story

I'm Logan Rapp, host and administrator of The Velvet. What originally began as a simple fan community for authors Will Christopher Baer, Craig Clevenger and Stephen Graham Jones has grown into a strong corner of the web for writers who want encouragement without condescension, criticism without insult.

We are a sister site for Chuck Palahniuk's The Cult, but we are independent. As an incubator for writers in all mediums for dark, noir-influenced fiction, we've also become proofreaders, comic relief, shrinks and friends for our fellow members.

The Velvet is special. I have met many of our members personally. What people write and post on the Velvet forums isn't behind a veneer of anonymity. They say what they mean. They'll say it online and they'll say it to you at a bar. Many of us have gone on to publish novels of our own since this site began in 2004. Each year, the number of legitimate authors who post regularly increase significantly - including Baer, Clevenger and Jones.

The Impact

Our site is held together by duct-tape. We're writers, not web developers. Everything we've done with the site has been by flying blind, making a change and crossing our fingers hoping that, if it doesn't work, that it doesn't at least destroy the site. Without this redesign, our site will remain on an unstable foundation. We've had one major back-end collapse that we've never quite recovered from.

I'm not entirely certain that we'll survive another one. For a corner of the Internet where authors not only interact directly with fans, but actively answer questions and help with writing their own novels, from pre-writing to contract issues, having the Velvet go under would be a mighty shame for the arts. The future big names of literature are coming out of this site.

What We Need & What You Get

We haven't made a dime off the Velvet. Scratch that, we have made $17.70 since becoming an Amazon Associate, which is on our frontpage that has since collapsed.

What we need is a full redesign. We want to build upon the forums (which is on phpBB), and create a clean, well-designed community portal.

We want to be able to pull news from literary blogs and sites to our front page.
We want the ability to create writing "groups," whether as a collaboration on a single project, or just a quiet corner for writers who know and trust one another to workshop their earliest of drafts.
We'd like to have Facebook Connect enabled, which would play well with our Facebook page for the Velvet.
Specialized sections for reviews and interviews, editorials and the like.
And then, quite frankly, we'd like to make it look good. No one wants to go to a site that's ugly, and the whole point of the Velvet is for people to want to be here.

If we don't meet our goal and it's not enough to hire a developer, all proceeds will go to operating costs for the site.

If we go over our goal, or if we find that our needs don't require the full amount of what we do receive, whatever is left over from the redesign will be split 50/50 between operating costs for the site (hosting fees, etc.) and to Child's Play Charity.

Other Ways You Can Help

Spread the word - send people to The Velvet proper, or to our Facebook community page, or to our pitch here.
If you know a web developer who could provide us with a deal, we'd love that, too.

We didn't build the infrastructure for this site, but it's our home. And a home that we'd like to share with you. Help us make this into a place where people from all walks of life - all ages and backgrounds - can come together as one and help one another achieve the success we wish for ourselves and everyone around us.

Team on This Campaign:

Logan Rapp
Administrator/Host
Flash
Moderator
Sean Ferguson
Administrator
Chris Deal
Moderator
Roger Sarao
Moderator
Pela Via
Esteemed Member
Jesse Lawrence
Moderator

0.814 Complete

$2,035

Raised of $2,500 Goal

0 time left

Flexible Funding campaign

This campaign received all of the funds contributed on Mon Feb 14.

Perks

for your contribution

$5 Donor Wall

We'll place your name and whatever artistic works you'd like to promote on our special section for those who donated. All donors who send more than $5, regardless of what else they receive, will be placed on the Wall. Also, for those who claim this perk, they will receive a story in whatever digital format they require from our members' huge collection. Finally, we will write a brand new hundred word (max) story for you - you just provide the prompt!
$25 Hodgepodge Of Stuff - Level I

With our vast number of writers, we have collected a number of short stories that can be converted to the digital format of your choice. We'll select five stories at random and send them to you.
$50 The Velvet Anthology

We're currently working on an anthology of our writers' best works to date and creating a polished PDF of it that'll work on your Kindle or other e-reader. Donors at this level will have a digital copy of this sent to them the moment it's done, and a paperback copy from the first print run. Donors at this level will also receive the benefits of the Hodgepodge Of Stuff - Level I and be placed on our Donor Wall.
$100 Velvet Workshop - Level I

For this level, we will workshop three of your short stories (up to approximately 7,000 words apiece). Each story will be workshopped by some of our best proofreading and workshopping members, up to three drafts per story. You'll also receive the Velvet Anthology in whatever digital format you require, and a hard copy from our first print run, and digital copies from our Hodgepodge Of Stuff.
$150 Hodgepodge Of Stuff - Level II

We've also amassed a number of hard-to-find novels from our patron saints - Will Christopher Baer, Craig Clevenger and Stephen Graham Jones - as well as copies of novels from our members who're authors in their own right. At this level, we'll provide them with two copies (of different novels) from this box we've collected. You'll also receive the Velvet Anthology in whatever digital format you require, a hard copy from our first print run, and selections from the Hodgepodge Of Stuff.
$500 Velvet Workshop - Level II

If you have a full-length novel (50,000 words or higher) that you'd like to have workshopped, at this level you'll be able to receive input from published authors and members experienced in proofreading and copyediting. This is for up to two new revisions. You'll also receive the Velvet Anthology in whatever digital format you require, a hard copy from our first print run, and selections from our Level I Hodgepodge Of Stuff.