Welcome to the Crowdsourcing Mornings segment! Every weekday morning, Geek Alabama talks about and features one crowdsourcing project from crowdsourcing sites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and others. The hope with Crowdsourcing Mornings is to feature and help a project be successful and reach its fundraising goal. Please enjoy today’s featured project!
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LGBTQ+ books can be hard to find. At most bookstores, they’re hidden among the shelves within broader genres. If we’re lucky, a handful might be arranged on a table for Pride month once a year. And it’s not much easier online. On sites like Am*zon, there may be an LGBTQ+ section, but the books within it are not well-curated, and all the genres and identities are thrown together in an unwieldy list. (Also, friends don’t let friends buy books on Am*zon.)
What if you could easily discover queer books that you’d be interested in, whether you want to read literary fiction about trans people of color, a science book about bisexuality, or a mystery with a gay protagonist? All the LGBTQ+ books you can imagine, no matter your age or area of interest, all in one place. Plus, the space to discuss those books with other queer book lovers — instead of keeping all your thoughts about that wild plot twist to yourself. That’s exactly what we’re building.
The Lavender Rhino, founded in 2023, is an online independent bookstore, specializing in LGBTQ+ authors, characters, and topics. We aim to solve the discoverability problem with carefully curated lists of LGBTQ+ books, sorted by new releases, staff picks, genres, identities, and more. We will also provide community forums — a safe space in which LGBTQ+ book lovers can discuss books and their passion for reading. In addition, we hope to have a resources page, where LGBTQ+ people and allies (especially queer youth) can access links to helpful resources and tools. Our long-term goal is to open a brick-and-mortar location in New York City, where we can foster the same sense of community in person.
Our mission is to provide a wide selection of queer books across many genres and a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community to gather virtually and share a love for reading in our discussion forums. The Lavender Rhino will welcome queer people and allies of all ages, races, ethnicities, disabilities, gender identities, and sexual orientations with open arms. Our values are steeped in mutual respect and intersectional advocacy for marginalized groups. We live these values in the way we treat our employees and customers, the way we select our merchandise, and the way we engage with our community.
As of August 30th, this project has raised $2,600 of their $10,000 goal. This project has 27 days left to raise the $10,000 or it will not be funded. For a pledge of $25, you will get one bookmark. For a pledge of $50, you will get one t-shirt. To learn more and to pledge money, go to: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lavenderrhino/the-lavender-rhino-an-online-independent-lgbtq-bookshop?
