july roundup
cowboys and puppies and fundraisers oh my!
greetings loved ones!
before I get into this month’s roundup, I have to get on my soapbox about 1319 press for a moment.
almost exactly a year ago, I soft launched a theater publishing press on instagram, half-expecting the account to go the way of my bread-baking account (read: very few people wanted to look at my bread). instead, I was shocked by a massive outpouring of support, which gave the company enough legitimacy to receive over 50 submissions to the first open call. turns out, as usual, many of my frustrations with being an emerging playwright are shared by others — in this case, how difficult it is to get your work noticed and selected by commercial theater publishers. and so, 1319 press hit the ground running. since then, we’ve published 41 authors.
sorry, I’m going to say that again because this number is crazy to me.
in one year, we published 41 authors.
that’s 41 people who felt overlooked by the theater publishing industry, 41 people who are working so. hard. every. day. to put their writing out into the world. 41 people who trusted me (!) to take care of their work. 41 people who are now in community with each other as fellow playwrights and creatives.
with your help, we can spend the next year doubling that number.
we are fundraising on indiegogo and our goal is $7,000. at the risk of sounding dramatic, this company cannot continue without financial support from this campaign. there are many lovely perks available, including merch, books, dramaturgy sessions with press authors, a guest role in an audio play, bogo tickets to local theater events, and more!! the lowest donation tier for perks is $15, but contributions of any size, even less than $15, are still immensely appreciated.
and don’t take my word for it! here is why some of our incredible authors think that 1319 press is worth your contribution:
here’s that donation link one more time ; )
ok! what else have I been doing besides launching a multi-thousand dollar fundraising campaign?? lol!!!!
joan & jane at breaking & entering!
what an absolute gift this was! this exquisite group of theater-makers helped me workshop my cowboy-child-abduction-self-defense-joan-of-arc-middle-school-play. I’m finally able to see its shape and think about next steps. speaking of next steps: a new version of the play will be read in early september!
meet & greet at concord oob!
another lovely experience! my harry styles fanfic play the meet & greet made it to the second round of the concord oob festival, alongside a truly fantastic lineup of other short plays and fricking cool playwrights. would not have been possible without this crew:
also, concord gave all the writers not one, but TWO free tote bags just for being in the festival. epic…
other than that, I’m racing towards the finish line with my room with a view adaptation (we read the first 20 pages of act two at the last meeting of my writer’s group!) as someone whose first drafts are usually 40-60 pages and whose final drafts usually clock in around 60-80, the fact that this script is likely going to be over 100 pages is actually insane to me. my group is likely doing public work-in-progress readings the weekend of sept 12th, so keep an eye out if you’re interested :)
[spoiler ahead but guys this book was published in 1908]
and, last but CERTAINLY not least, my boyfriend and I are currently fostering a dog named DAVE through badass animal rescue.
this dog has turned me into a full millennial-core “my dog is my biological son” person and I don’t even care cause he’s so damn cute. he is a 60-lb lap dog, an absolute sweetheart, and only causes havoc like 70% of the time. tldr he is perfect. and available for adoption if you know someone looking!!
catch ya later - thanks for reading - & one more time, here’s that donation link!
x sarah