Feel Good Friday: Every Woman Has a Story

Shebooks Equal Writes Campaign

Shebooks Equal Writes Campaign“Women writers are not getting published—or paid—at nearly the same rate as men. We’re going to change that this year.”

That’s the mission of the Equal Writes Campaign by the team of people at Shebooks, a digital publishing company for short e-books for women, by women. The kickstarter campaign is looking to raise at least $50,000 in order to publish a minimum of 100 e-books written by women this year.

From their campaign page:

Not enough women are able to get their work published today—even the best women writers. Almost three-quarters of the bylines in leading print and digital publications belong to men. What’s up with that? Amazingly, that gender disparity is nearly the same as it was 100 years ago. What’s up with that

We don’t have anything against male writers. But if women don’t have the same opportunities to tell their stories, get them published, get paid fairly, and share them with readers, then…Wow. (Fill in your own depressing conclusion here.) 

Every dollar we raise will go to pay women writers—journalists, memoirists, and fiction and nonfiction writers. Our goal is to raise $50K—but we’d love to raise much more. The more our Equal Writes Campaign budget grows, the more writers we can publish this year. 

If you love reading and care about women’s voices and stories—stories that make you laugh, think, question, get up and do something!—please join our campaign and help us support women writers. 

As a woman trying to navigate the world of freelance writing—through an interesting mix of grant writing, magazine writing, and blogging—I am thrilled when I see genuine efforts to increase the space for quality women’s writing.

Far too often the stories and experiences of men are elevated while those of women are buried; the words men write are acclaimed and read by many, while those of women are overlooked or under appreciated. I see the philosophy behind Shebooks and the momentum of the Equal Writes Campaign as an opportunity not only to see more women’s words in print, but also to create a mainstream dialogue about the gender bias in publishing.

Every woman has a story. Let’s make sure they all get told. Tweet this!

*I’m not affiliated with Shebooks or the Equal Writes Campaign in any way—I’m just a personal supporter of what I believe is a worthwhile endeavor. As of the writing of this post, the campaign has raised over $42,000. Here’s hoping it shatters its $50,000 goal!

Do you have book-writing aspirations? 

Have you ever supported a Kickstarter campaign before? 

photo via Pedro Ribeiro Simoes


17 responses to “Feel Good Friday: Every Woman Has a Story”

  1. Getting a book published is on my bucket list! Honestly I don’t have a bucket list yet, but I know even before I start one that this is on it. Also I contributed to a Kickstarter once, not much, and I promoted the heck out of it. Luckily the goal was met and the project is getting done, which is a great thing. I’m heading over to this campaign now!

  2. I love that Shebooks focuses on short e-books for women, by women. It makes it a lot less intimidating to get our voices heard (and read!).

  3. Wow, I didn’t realize there was still such a difference in the equality between male and female writers. I’m glad to hear this organization is taking strides to change that. I do have aspirations to write a book and am actually in the process of a book proposal right now. I supported a kickstarter campaign for She Reads Truth earlier this year.

  4. While I wish anyone who promotes, supports, and encourages quality writing being published, I have a challenging time with gender issues.

    It seems to me that excellent pieces will be published regardless of gender.

    • Thanks for sharing your perspective, Wendy! I think the motivation for the campaign stems from some stats showing that in 2013, only 29% of the bylines in the New Yorker were female; 35% in the Atlantic; and a mere 23% in Harper’s Magazine. I’m sure there are a lot of reasons for those numbers; I’m just glad someone is ensuring that high-quality writing by women does indeed get published.

  5. I’ve supported a few of my friends’ kickstarter campaigns. This is a fantastic idea. I haven’t had any book aspirations although I wouldn’t turn it down if it came to me 🙂

  6. I love this and tweeted it. Going to go read more about it as I definitely have book aspirations and can’t believe that the ratio of men to women is still so bleh. What’s up with that is right!

  7. What a great mission! I’ve supported Kickstarter campaigns before. I think they are a great way to gain financing and support for projects that would never see the light of day. I hope this one does well!

  8. I have a couple of ebooks in the works – in my head… I am having a really hard time finding the mental capacity to carve out time to write – between my corporate job, four kids, blogging and freelance writing – I am coming up short – and I don’t know why! Ha ha ha

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