Quareia Fundraiser – how is it going?
With ten days left to go, we have managed to raise over the half the target amount. I have been overwhelmed by the kindness, wonderful messages, and course feedback that Frater Acher and I have received. The magical community truly is a great family!
Some people have asked why we need to fundraise, and that is a very valid question that I feel deserves a proper, open, and honest answer.
Frater Acher put it very eloquently in a recent discussion Its like creating a public library – you need the funds to acquire space, books, shelves, etc… But once everything is set up ways can be found to maintain it without additional fees. Obviously we do not need shelves and books, but it does need written work, lots of it: latest estimates of the course size has grown to 1,200,000 words (12 books). People who have known my work for a long time know that I tend to put out magical work, help and teaching for free and until recently, my royalties were donated to charity and occult community projects, as our (my husband and I) financial needs were met through both of our jobs. Our circumstances have changed and I have had to change accordingly.
I do still occasionally teach and guide behind the scenes with small groups and individuals, and I still do that for free… we all pitch in our time and we do the work. But Quareia is a different animal altogether. The time that Quareia takes, 36 hours a week of writing, to finish on an 18 month schedule is a lot of work, and I am no longer a spring chicken. I am simply unable to do all of my various jobs and do the writing as well. So dropping one of the bits of work enables me to write and get the course done.
The amount for the fundraising is to cover the rent for 18 months, to ensure that no matter what else happens, this project does not make us homeless. The rest of the bills and expenses, my partner and I work to get; I also get a royalty payment each year (no, writers do not make thousands, sadly!), and we have cut back drastically so that we can live on a very low income.
Through the kind giving that people have done and will do, I hope to be able to write freely without having to stress that I have not made the rent – these days, homelessness is an all too familiar demon lurking in the background. I don’t mind been poor, but a roof is a necessity at my age! Between us all – Michael the editor, Frater Acher working on the website and advising, the various adepts contributing to the course, we all have jobs away from the world of magic, and we all pitch in our time for free. But I am carrying the heaviest work load and even with the best intentions, I simply cannot afford to give that amount of time for free. Rather than ask for the amount that would cover my loss of income, I simply ask for help to ensure we remain housed during this time. And that is not easy for me – I don’t find it easy to ask for help.
The only other option is to write for far fewer hours so that I can do my regular work for longer hours, but that will mean the course would take around ten years to write: the latest estimates for the course size is over one million words (12 books). That is a long time for people to wait.
At least once it is done, it is up there for free, and for decades to come, people will be able to train regardless of their income.We are in difficult economic times and I fear it will get a lot worse before it gets better: far fewer people are going to have spare money to lavish on magical training – it is important that magical training does not become only the pastime of the rich. It must be there for everybody.
So thank you, from the bottom of my heart to all of you who have already donated; you are making this possible.
And if you are considering donating, please do, and any little helps. We have 10 days left to try and raise roughly 3.5k. If you do not wish to donate but would still like to help, posting the fundraising page link on your blogs, or sharing through social media are all wonderful ways of helping.