We did it! The 14 day Kickstarter for Songs of Abomination: Secret Songs of Leeds, a tribute anthology to Matthew M. Bartlett, has officially launched! Follow the link above or click on the Songs of Abomination icon below to check out the KS homepage, where we have loads of SMM rewards waiting for contributors.
The Project
One thing I want to spare you is redundancy–our KS homepage lays everything out in quite some detail that we won’t get into here (we strongly encourage those of you interested in participating to read the KS description carefully–there’s a lot of nuts and bolts to this that’ll help you determine your level of involvement with this project). Here’s the basics: Hymns of Abomination: Secret Songs of Leeds is, as it stands, a 25-author tribute anthology to Matthew M. Bartlett, author of Gateways to Abomination, Creeping Waves, The Stay-Awake Men & Other Unstable Entities, as well as a flurry of chapbooks, anthologized stories, and audio performances. Bartlett (check out our 2018 interview with the man himself here) is a beloved figure in contemporary weird fiction with a highly distinct mythos surrounding a fictionalized Leeds, MA. This anthology will consist of stories from various authors set in Bartlett’s demented universe. And we’re talking authors like
The Contributors
Nathan Ballingrud, John Langan, Brian Evenson, Gemma Files, S.P. Miskowski, B.R. Yeager, Jonathan Raab, Tom Breen, Joseph Pastula, Joanna Parypinski, Farah Rose Smith, Scott R. Jones, Betty Rocksteady, Christine Morgan, Kristine Ong Muslim, Christopher Slatsky, William Tea, Donyae Coles, S.L. Edwards, John Linwood Grant, and two collaborative efforts, one between Robert S. Wilson and Jon Padgett, another between Sean M. Thompson and Brian O’Connell
Yeah
we think this is going to be one hell of a book too. We’re excited to put everything we’ve learned with Mannequin: Tales of Wood Made Flesh and the upcoming Nightside Codex anthologies into practice with this one. Expect things like a unique layout, interior illustrations, and who knows what else. It’s all or nothing with this one. We want to make a book that we’d be proud to give to Bartlett himself.
The Funding
Although we’ve had the luck to put out two highly-praised anthologies, this one’s quite unlike any other project we’ve tackled before. Both previous anthologies were personally funded by myself (Justin A. Burnett) and another anonymous individual. Life circumstances have rendered my friend unable to help with funding this time around. Given the profile and caliber of Hymns of Abomination, this project is well outside of my financial scope. We need help if this bird’s gonna fly. Silent Motorist Media has never lined my pockets (we’ve barely broken even on our first anthology)–this has always been a passion project centered around creating anthologies that I’d love to have in my personal library. And I’m fine with that. But if we want Hymns of Abomination to happen, I don’t have the resources as a single dad with a lower-tier day job to do it myself.
The Rewards
That being said, there’s plenty for contributors to enjoy as well. Copies of Mannequin and Nightside Codex are waiting for shipping, and this is a great place to reserve your own copy of Hymns as well. Not only that, stretch goals will include things like open submission calls, a Hymns special edition, and even a limited hardback run of Mannequin: Tales of Wood Made Flesh, featuring an expanded TOC, new layout, an alternate cover, and more! Here at the beginning, I don’t want to assume too much, but if things go well, the possibilities are very, very exciting.
The Link
So here’s the link again. Please head over there and look at all the cool stuff we have waiting for you. If you can’t contribute (we totally get that things aren’t great for everyone financially right now), you can definitely help by sharing the link below. Every share is one step closer to making this book. And remember, we only have two weeks!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/silentmotoristmedia/hymns-of-abomination-secret-songs-of-leeds
Thank you so much for your help! We couldn’t do it without you. Much love, and stay safe out there. Now lets go make an anthology!
Best,
Justin A. Burnett
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/silentmotoristmedia/hymns-of-abomination-secret-songs-of-leeds
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/silentmotoristmedia/hymns-of-abomination-secret-songs-of-leeds
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/silentmotoristmedia/hymns-of-abomination-secret-songs-of-leeds
silentmotoristmedia.wordpress.com 