Thank you for taking a peek at our new project, Beyond Projections!
Please scroll down for our project goals and answers to other Frequently Asked Questions. Don’t see the answer to your question? Ask in the Feedback Form on the left.
What inspired you to launch Beyond Projections?
During Poets and Muses‘s three-plus-year journey chatting with diverse poets from around the world about their inspirations, I found that aside from providing a platform for marginalized voices, we also want to directly contribute to artists’s economic well-being. This is why, after much research and soul-searching, we decided to launch Beyond Projections, a multimedia project that will pay those we publish (for their artistic reactions to film), as well as those who work on our team.
If we reach our fundraising target, Beyond Projections will follow in the footsteps of the original Poets and Muses podcast by ensuring that those who have been under-represented (and often misrepresented) in media can take center stage and get paid while sharing art that people from all over the United States, as well as the world, can relate to.
FAQs
Got questions? Please read over this FAQs section first before using the “Feedback” form (the floating orange tab on the left) to ask your questions about the Beyond Projections project, and we’ll answer them below.
I. Funding
Are you looking for funds from traditional funding organizations?
Yes. If you work for a funding organization and would like to help us launch Beyond Projections, please contact us via the “Feedback” form (the floating orange button on the left of this screen).
Why do you need a fundraising target?
Given the fact that listing the journal on Submittable (a secure and trustworthy submissions platform) alone would cost at least $10,000 per year, we want to ensure that we raise enough funding to meet our expenses and properly launch Beyond Projections.
Aside from the submissions platform, we’ve also budgeted for hiring editorial and production staff (up to 35 full-time and part-time teammates), paying for website and podcast hosting, etc.
(For those who are concerned that we’ve set our funding target too low for the purposes we listed above, while we are happy to receive donations beyond our target amount, we also want to assure you that the figure we arrived at is designed to build an on-ramp to launch a self-sustaining, rather than a donation-dependent, venture.)
As you can see from the sample expenses above, a lot of work goes into the planning, publication and management of a journal. This is why we want to make sure we’ve fundraised enough to launch a lasting platform that highlights and supports diverse contemporary writers and artists (up to 1,872 per year) into the foreseeable future.
What happens to donations if you don’t have enough funding to launch the journal project?
Please note that as of January 31st, 2023, we’re no longer accepting donations on GoFundMe. If you would still like to support our effort to launch Beyond Projections, please do so on our donate page.
We previously partnered with GoFundMe as our fundraising platform because we thought the partnership would allow us to 1) address our personal-safety concerns while crowdfunding and 2) streamline the donor-refund process, should we not reach our funding goals by January 31st, 2023.
I donated to the Beyond Projections GoFundMe campaign, when will I see my refund?
On February 6th, 2023, we requested that GoFundMe issue refunds to our generous donors to our crowd-funding campaign on their site.
On February 10th, 2023, GoFundMe asked us to donate the refund amount ($236, which = the $270 total donated – $34 fees for GoFundMe), which GoFundMe’s fundraising process mandatorily released into our account previously.
After we did so, the refunds were processed, and according to GoFundMe, would take three to seven business days to be returned to the donors (see GoFundMe’s February 10th refund-notification emails to us below).
Should you (the six donors listed below) not receive the refunds by February 27th, 2023, please contact us via the “Feedback” form (floating orange button) on the left of this screen.
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II. Publications:
1. Launch date:
2023. The exact dates (for team-member hirings, submissions and publication, etc.) will be announced after we’ve reached our fundraising target.
2. Production:
Will you be equipped to handle the frequency of submissions?
If we meet or exceed our fundraising target, we will be hiring a team to work together on the publications and podcasts.
For which roles will you be hiring?
While we will only know our exact hiring capacity after we reach or exceed our fundraising target, we will certainly need editors. In addition, we will also be looking for those with marketing and podcast-production expertise.
I would like to be a part of the Beyond Projections team. How can I get involved?
We’re thrilled for you to join us! As we’re still in the fundraising stage of this exciting project, here are some ways to take part:
- Donate, if you’re able, to ensure Beyond Projections will launch;
- Share this fundraiser with friends, family and people in your social networks; and
- Sign up for our newsletter to find out about updates, including exact launch dates and hiring announcements.
3. Submission Process:
What is your submission period?
Submissions will be open every Sunday through Wednesday.
Will there be submission fees?
Yes, the fees will be tiered with free submission slots available during each day of the submission period.
How many works can I submit?
One piece per entrant per submission period.
How often can I submit my work?
- If your submission has been accepted for publication, we will ask you to wait between three and six months before submitting new works for consideration.
- If your submission is not selected, then we welcome you to submit new works to Beyond Projections during subsequent submission periods.
Will you accept simultaneous submissions?
No.
Will you have blind submissions?
Yes, we will only consider blind submissions.
What do you mean by blind submissions?
The authors’ information will be stripped from the submissions to ensure your works are judged solely based on their quality.
I am an artist/a writer, how can I submit my work to Beyond Projections?
We can’t wait to see your submissions! As we’re still in the fundraising stage of this exciting project, please:
- Share this fundraiser with friends, family and people in your social networks to ensure Beyond Projections will launch; and
- Sign up for our newsletter to find out when we will start accepting submissions.
4. Publication Process:
Who will be published?
As with any NON-vanity press, Beyond Projections will only publish works our editors deem to be appropriate for our publications.
Will you publish the works of those working at Poets and Muses?
No, not while they are working with us. While former colleagues are certainly welcome to submit their works for consideration, since our submission process is blind, their works will also have to go through the same editorial process as those of everyone else.
Will you only contact people if their submissions are accepted for publication?
Whether or not we have decided to publish your work, you will hear back from us. (Unfortunately, there are publications out there that will ghost their submitters, and we think that’s disrespectful to those who took the time to send in their works.)
If my submission is selected by Beyond Projection for publication, will I be paid?
Yes. We will compensate everyone whose works are published by Beyond Projections. Select works will be eligible to be published in both the journal, as well as our anthologies.
- Tiered compensation for journal publication.
- Equal-portion (profit-sharing) compensation for works included in the Beyond Projections anthologies.
5. Companion Podcast:
Who will participate?
While everyone who submits work to Beyond Projections can opt into participating in both the BP podcast, as well as the original Poets and Muses podcast, only those selected for publication will be eligible for final consideration.
