Author/director Max Emerson, pictured, announced Tuesday that his crowdsourcing campaign to produce a limited edition print of his new novel, The Sparkle Club, continues toward its $30,000 goal. The Kickstarter page will go toward completing his next novel but also to help other queer creatives. The campaign will run through the end of this month. He teases the book on the Kickstarter page by including the entire chapter one of his new title.
The Sparkle Club follows Markle Sparkle, the gaybaiting influencer and social justice warrior who takes a public shaming campaign too far. He gets himself cancelled so hard that he’s forced to spend a summer doing community service in a rural Ohio farming community while living with the family whose lives he destroyed.
The story is told in a Rashomon-esque style, through three alternating perspectives in the past tense. Themes in this dark comedy include authenticity, narcissism, corporate greed and the weaponization of media.
The first edition print will be limited to 1,000 copies that includes his signature and a one-of-a-kind Polaroid picture.
This marks Emerson’s third crowdsourcing project, following his debut novel Hot Sissy and the feature film Hooked in which half the film’s profits are donated to LGBTQ homeless youth support charities.
This campaign is raising money for more than just his own novel.
A portion of funds raised will go toward the independent filmmakers at Tokyo Cowboys to complete their queer romantic comedy feature, shot in Japan, titled Aichaku. The title translates to “attachment” and follows an American English teacher in a small town who falls in love with a closeted Japanese construction worker.
Learn more about the project here.
–From staff reports
