Indiegogo campaign to help publish my book "Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz"

Saxophonist Alisha Pattillo: photo by Pin Lim

I am raising funds to pay a copy editor and graphic designer to complete my book:
Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz.
You can make a donation on the campaign's Indiegogo page.

After nearly three years of work, I am self-publishing my book Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz. Given the subject matter of the book and its potential to reach a large and diverse audience, including students, educators, musicians and jazz music fans, I want the copy to be thoroughly and professionally edited and the cover and interior to look stunning.

My Story

My book Freedom of Expression: Interviews With Women in Jazz, a nearly three-year labor of love, is nearly done. The book is exactly what the title says: a collection of interviews with 37 female jazz musicians of all ages and ethnic backgrounds and representing just about every style of jazz one can imagine. The interviewees include Eliane Elias, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jane Ira Bloom, Jane Monheit, Sharel Cassity, Terri Lyne Carrington, Diane Schuur, Helen Sung, Connie Crothers, Ellen Seeling, Jan Leder, Sherrie Maricle, Cheryl Bentyne, Mindi Abair and many, many others.

The book’s subject, the contributions of women to the art of jazz music, has resonated not only with the interviewees, but with a growing audience of fans of this project who welcome a more thoughtful and inclusive attitude toward women musicians in what is still widely perceived as a male-dominated art form.

Given the range and diversity of perspectives presented, I believe the book will appeal to a wide audience, including high school and college-aged music students, seasoned jazz musicians and educators, both casual and “serious” fans of creative music and persons interested in women’s issues and gender studies.

The interviews are presented in a straightforward Q and A format. The book also includes a 24-page introduction with notes, as well as a short profile of each interviewee.

What I Need

After a great deal of research and conversations with several fellow writers, I have decided to self-publish the book using amazon.com’s CreateSpace platform. This campaign is to raise funds to pay my copy editor and graphic designer. I have both a copy editor and graphic designer on board with the project and ready to go, but I need to be sure I can pay them both a fair rate for their services.

$5,125 will cover the cost of copy editing and graphic design, including designing the book’s cover, interior text, typesetting and art preparation.

Thank you for your support. I do not take it for granted.
  To make a donation and see a complete list of the musicians interviewed in my book,
visit the campaign's page on Indiegogo.