Los Suelos, CA — Grant Report #2

Lauren Lavín — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 22:16:00 +0000

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Project Update

We launched the Los Suelos, CA web anthology as anticipated in February 2022. We successfully raised over $750 for our charitable partner the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation in the first week after launch. All the content, including stories and art from more than 40 contributors, developed over the course of the grant period is live on the website and will continue to raise money through web monetization and direct donations in perpetuity. We experienced some difficulty getting enrolled in the Coil affiliate program in a timely manner, however we were able to resolve this almost immediately after launching the site and still within our project period.

Key activities

Progress on objectives

Develop all the necessary infrastructure for a collaborative multimedia universe
https://lossuelos.com/
We engaged an experienced web developer and Coil consultant (previous Grant for the Web awardee Sam Allemang) and set up social media pages and a Discord server for contributors. This website serves as the platform for a wide variety of interactive media.

Create a baseline of creative work
Over the last 6 months, we identified more than 40 contributors for our anthology. In this time we worked closely with them to develop stories and art through extensive editing and some further web development. This includes approximately 70,000 words of fiction and several multimedia and art pieces as well as the video game we developed, "Welcome to Los Suelos."

Develop a creative platform that fairly compensates artists and writers from diverse backgrounds, and benefits charitable organizations in California
Thanks to the grant from Interledger Foundation, we've been able to pay professional rates to all contributors. Our contributor agreement ensures professional pay on a work-for-hire basis, while also allowing creators to reproduce their work in a personal anthology in the future. We partnered with the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, who has been helping to boost our project within their donor network and on social media.

As the project continued to expand thanks to the enthusiasm and input of our large contributor base, the rpg we developed, "Welcome to Los Suelos", became a bigger part of the overall project scope, far beyond the original point-and-click map we had envisioned in our proposal. All other planned key activities, such as the musical and audio components, fiction, art, and Coil monetization have also been successfully implemented.

Communications and marketing

We created multiple social media channels (twitter, instagram, facebook), including some in-world accounts. The project has also gained visibility through our partnership with CRLAF. Thanks to organic advertisement and reach through our readers, we've been able to raise funds for CRLAF through Coil, direct donations, and sales of the in-universe record on our bandcamp page: https://fluppies.bandcamp.com/album/fluppies. We have also allocated budget for physical media such as bookmarks and flyers to advertise the project. We've also done several interviews with online mags and podcasts. https://www.full-stop.net/2022/02/10/interviews/hannah-lamb-vines/karter-mycroft/
https://onehundredalbums.substack.com/p/oha-vol-2-issue-seven?utm_source=url

What’s next?

We plan to continue building community engagement and releasing supplemental content to build awareness of the project. The Discord server is currently limited to editors and contributors of Los Suelos, CA, but will likely eventually be opened to readers, making the experience even more immersive.

What community support would benefit your project?

We invite all readers to immerse themselves in the world of Los Suelos through the stories and game, and to support CRLAF through Coil membership with lossuelos.com. Because web monetization may seem esoteric to literary audiences, engagement from the web monetization community is extremely appreciated.

Additional comments

Relevant links/resources (optional)

www.lossuelos.com/
www.twitter.com/SurfaceDwellers
www.twitter.com/CRLAFoundation

Los Suelos, CA — Grant Report #1

Lauren Lavín — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 20:30:00 +0000

Project Update

Los Suelos, CA is off to a great start! We received more than 160 pitches for story and art ideas, and now we're working with over 40 contributors to develop a rich, interactive multimedia universe. We have launched a partnership with the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, such that all proceeds from the Los Suelos, CA project will directly benefit farmworkers and other disadvantaged communities right here in California. We anticipate a February 2022 launch.

Progress on objectives

Develop all the necessary infrastructure for a collaborative multimedia universe
We have engaged an experienced web developer and Coil consultant (previous Grant for the Web awardee Sam Allemang) who is in the process of building our website. We set up social media pages and a Discord server for contributors. This website will serve as the platform for a wide variety of interactive media.

Create a baseline of creative work
Over the last 3 months, we have worked to identify contributors for our fiction anthology. They have begun sending us drafts and further developing the universe. Other contributors are developing visual art pieces, audio works, and other components to add to the shared universe of Los Suelos.

Develop a creative platform that fairly compensates artists and writers from diverse backgrounds, and benefits charitable organizations in California
Thanks to the grant from Interledger Foundation, we've been able to pledge professional rates to all contributors. Our contributor agreement ensures professional pay on a work-for-hire basis, while also allowing creators to reproduce their work in a personal anthology in the future. We have partnered with the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, who has already helped to boost our project within their donor network.

Key activities

As the project has gotten underway, we've been able to improve and expand upon its initial scope, energized by the input and ideas of our contributors. Rather than a simple point-and-click map, we are now developing an interactive narrative RPG that synthesizes many of the stories and artworks for the project, which will be Coil monetized. We are also in post-production for several musical and audio components to supplement the Los Suelos, CA universe. Other planned project components such as fiction works, the Coil-monetized website, and visual art are progressing as expected.

Communications and marketing

We have created multiple social media channels (twitter, instagram, facebook), including some in-world accounts. The Discord server, while currently limited to editors and contributors of Los Suelos, CA, will eventually be opened to readers, making the experience even more immersive. The project has also gained visibility through our partnership with CRLAF.

What’s next?

The editorial work is just getting underway as we continue to collect drafts (literary and visual) from contributors. The game is in development and we'll begin beta testing in the near future. As the anthology develops, we're planning to get more exposure through public announcements of our contributors, press releases and reviews of our game and music.

What community support would benefit your project?

Social media support and word of mouth are always needed! Any press releases, especially mentioning the CRLAF partnership.

Relevant links/resources

www.lossuelos.com/
www.twitter.com/SurfaceDwellers
www.twitter.com/CRLAFoundation

The Interledger Community 🌱: Lauren Lavín

Los Suelos, CA — Grant Report #2

Image

Project Update

Key activities

Progress on objectives

Communications and marketing

What’s next?

What community support would benefit your project?

Additional comments

Relevant links/resources (optional)

Los Suelos, CA — Grant Report #1

Project Update

Progress on objectives

Key activities

Communications and marketing

What’s next?

What community support would benefit your project?

Relevant links/resources