50 Shades of Fundraising
my safeword is "|fname|"
- matt fraction -
Between 2002 and 2012, 15,462 women were murdered by their intimate partners in the United States alone. The number one cause of injury to women in those same United States is domestic violence -- as many as THREE TO FOUR MILLION WOMEN A YEAR.
There's a shitty movie based on a shitty book that that misrepresents a lifestyle wildly and exploits the titillation inherent in sex to present textbook abuse as "kink" targeted to release on Valentine's Day weekend to make that violence appear all the more romantic. It's misrepresentative of safe, sane, and consensual BDSM relationships, and turns unconventional sexual prediliction into an act of sensational violence and sexualized cruelty, romanticing abuse and empowering abusers.
You don't have to be into BDSM or have any kind of kink anywhere in the long green garden hose that is your sexuality to understand that unconventional desires are one thing but abuse is another. You don't have to be into BDSM to think that the abuse portrayed in FIFTY SHADES is wrong. You don't have to want to be flogged to understand someone breaking into your home and monitoring your cell-phone or threatening their intimate partner with actual violence has nothing to do with desire.
A while back Kel and I entered into a partnership with MIGHTY FINE to curate collections of shirts based on the well-known marvel properties on which we worked. Designers/curators like us get a commission for every sale. I give my cut to FUTURES WITHOUT VIOLENCE, a charity foundation that focuses on ending domestic and sexual violence while helping its victims escape abuse (amongst other things; click the thing up there and learn more).
I announced that from 2/12 to 2/16 -- FIFTY SHADES opening box-office window -- I'd MATCH the commission made on any of my curated stuff to FWV. So if I get a buck off a shirt usually then I'd donate that buck and add one for FWV.
In total you bought 790 items -- 703 shirts and 87 bags. Which is amazing -- because my total commission from a cut that big is $2153.55.
Which means I am cutting a check to FUTURES WITHOUT VIOLENCE for $4307.10.
BUT WAIT!
One of those shirts -- the so-called HAWKSIGNS shirt, inspired by the, uh, what was that. 19? Hawkeye 19? The "sign language" issue, I can't remember the number now. And, since it was Rachel Coleman and her daughter Leah that helped me learn sign through their SIGNING TIME show, and Rachel has a charity called the SIGNING TIME FOUNDATION, all of the commissions I make off the HAWKSIGNS shirts goes to THEM -- so what do I do?
I wasn't very clear in my plan (or thinking) and can't abide by the thought that someone might've bought a HAWKSIGNS shirt wanting a cut to go to the SIGNING TIME FOUNDATION any more than if someone wanted a cut to go to FUTURES WITHOUT VIOLENCE.
So I am DOUBLE-DONATING TO EACH BECAUSE I AM AN UNCLEAR DUMMY.
Y'all bought 114 HAWKSIGN shirts and my commission on that would be 557.15; so I'm into Rachel for $1114.30.
(Add to that Q3 and Q4 of 2014 and that's $2816.78 the HAWKSIGNS shirts have raised for THE SIGNING TIME FOUNDATION to date.)
In conclusion this weekend meant $5421.40 out of my pocket. That's more than a few plane tickets, hotel rooms, and medical bills. The stunt got a little play online. People too busy to read decided I was anti-sex and anti-kink and anti-woman; that i was either kink shaming or slut shaming, that I was a sexist or a feminist. I even saw that I was branded both a social justice warrior AND a men's rights activist.
You can call me whatever the fuck you want if it buys a few plane tickets, hotel rooms, and medical bills.
But seriously in conclusion fuck you guys for buying all those shirts FIFTY-FOUR HUNDRED BUCKS you mother FUCKERS. FUCK! Go out and buy all my goddamn books so I can afford to have this STUPID fucking conscience because god DAMN that is a big check. You ASSHOLES.
(thank you. forever.)
mf
- kelly sue demonic -
Bitch Planet #3: The Secret Origin of Penny Rolle is out today.
Preview here.
DRM-free purchase here.
Find your local brick and mortar shop here.
If you're in the Dallas area, Bitch Planet 3 artist Robert Wilson IV will be signing at Zeus Comics today from 11-6 and Boomerang Comics on Saturday from 10-3. Robert's going to be huge, so this is your chance.
Also out today: Barbarella: The Wrath of the Minute-Eater! For real this time.
All right, I'm loading the kids up and headed to Florida today to rep Princess Sparklefists at the Disney Princess Half-Marathon Weekend. If you're in the Orlando area, watch my twitter feed for meet-up plans.
Retailer Box
RETAILERS! Listen, while I’ve got your ear, we’re building a dropbox for retailers with downloadable assets for all of our books. Our wishlist right now includes the following:
• Pitch sheets for each of our titles including a basic summary, bios of creators, best jumping-on points and “if your customer likes BLANK or BLANK or BLANK, this is a good cross sell opportunity.”
• Facebook banners
• 1280x720 images that retailers who run Apple TV slideshows in their stores can use.
• Downloadable/printable shelf-talkers and bookmarks.
…Is there anything else that would be particularly helpful for us to include?
Also, you're in the field, so you probably know better than we do. What books should we list with crossover appeal for the following titles:
Bitch Planet
Pretty Deadly
Casanova
Satellite Sam
Sex Criminals
ODY-C
Thank you!
Feel free to email me directly if you'd prefer -- kellysue@mac.com
#ICYMI
Barbarella review at Forces of Geek.
"The Glass Cliff" And 4 Other Ways Our Co-Workers Treat Us Differently Because of Gender at 99u.
Reviews of Bitch Planet 2 and Prometheus Fire & Stone: Omega at Travelling Man.
The Stars in Your Pocket at Rookie.
Reviews of Satellite Sam 11 and Hawkeye 21 at CBR.
Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren at the New York Times.
Girls Leadership has a new website. Go check it out.
tl;dr
February 18 - Bitch Planet #3 and Barbarella and The Wrath of the Minute-Eater on sale
February 18-21 - ComicsPro Annual Meeting in Portland, OR
February 19-22 - KS at Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend
February 25 - ODY-C #3 on sale
March 18 - Satellite Sam #12 on sale
March 27-29 - Emerald City Comic Con
April 30-May 1 - KS speaking at 99u Conference in NYC
Milkfed Logo by Rian Hughes.