Hello and welcome to the Chronically Bookish Disability Pride Readathon!
What is Disability Pride Month?
July is Disability Pride Month in commemoration of the Americans With Disabilities Act which was signed into law on July 26, 1990. The goal of Disability Pride is to celebrate disabled lives and challenge ableism and the stigmatization of disability.
The CDC estimates that 1 in 4 Americans have some form of disability, and WHO estimates that 1.3 billion people are disabled worldwide. Despite the widespread existence of disabled people, disability remains heavily stigmatized, and disability rights are under attack, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom. As systemic ableism and discriminatory laws seek to dehumanize and further marginalize disabled voices, now more than ever, we need disability pride.
What is the Disability Pride Readathon?
In honor of Disability Pride Month I’m hosting the Disability Pride Readathon throughout the month of July. My hope for this readathon is to celebrate disability representation, disabled authors, and the disabled experience. Reading from a diverse perspective increases empathy, and reading and promoting disability representation spreads awareness and acceptance.
This community that I have means the absolute world to me, and it has always been so important for me to use the platform that I have to support disability representation and activism. This Bindery community is an extension of that desire. My hope is that someday we will have enough free and paid subscribers to become our very own publishing imprint that will publish stories starring disabled characters, written by disabled authors. By subscribing to my Bindery for just $5 a month, you are bringing that dream closer to reality and supporting my ability to continue to make the content that I am so proud of. But even if you don’t have the money to spare, just following along on the free tier brings us closer to that goal as well and means so much to me.
As excited for this readathon as I am (and trust me, I am so excited!), I also know that it takes more than awareness and reading books to enact societal change, which is why I will be donating all of the money that I make from my Bindery subscribers during the month of July to the American Association of People With Disabilities (AAPD), a national disability-led disability rights organization. If you are able, I invite you to donate as well to support their work fighting for and supporting the rights of disabled Americans.
The Disability Pride Readathon will be mainly hosted in the Chronically Bookish discord server (which all members of my Bindery community have access to, whether you are a free or paid subscriber) as well as here on my Bindery–entirely on the free tier. I will also, of course, be posting on my social platforms as I read, and I encourage you all to as well to help spread the word.
The readathon will include:
A Bingo consisting of 12 main prompts and 4 freebie/any book spaces + an international Bingo raffle
US giveaways of books with disability rep
Weekly livestream reading sprints
Ongoing discussion, community, and fun in the Discord!
The disabled experience is not a monolith, and that is why this readathon consists of twelve main prompts that encourage you to read across a spectrum of disabilities and intersectionalities:
A neurodivergent main character
An indie/self-published book
Physical disability rep
An LGBTQ+ and disabled main character
A Chronically Bookish book club pick
Sensory disability rep
Mental illness/psychiatric disability rep
Auto-immune disorder rep
Two or more disabled characters
Lived experience rep
Recommended to you in the Chronically Bookish Discord server
A BIPOC and disabled main character, by a BIPOC author
Every book read for the readathon must contain a main character (or major POV character) who is disabled, and though it is not strictly required, I highly encourage you to read books by disabled authors.
Bingo Info + Guidelines
These twelve prompts plus four additional “any book” prompts make up the Disability Pride Readathon Bingo board–and one lucky winner will receive a $25 USD gift card to Bookshop.org (if US-based) or a similar site in their country (if international).
Each book that you read can count towards two different prompts, which means you only need to read two books to get a Bingo, or six to get a blackout.
Your first Bingo = one raffle entry
Blackout = second raffle entry
In order to be entered into the raffle, you must post a photo of your completed Bingo board to the #bingo channel in the Chronically Bookish Discord server. You can post as soon as you get a Bingo and then again when you get Blackout, or you can post once at the very end–your entries will be counted either way. If you’re a Bindery subscriber who doesn’t have Discord but still wants to participate, you can email your completed Bingo card to kaleyreads@gmail.com.
Reading Sprint Livestream Info
I’ll also be hosting reading sprint livestreams throughout the readathon. I’ve always loved reading sprints when I’ve participated in readathons over the years and I’m excited to be hosting my own for this one! The streams will take place on YouTube Live, and the links to access them will be sent out on email via Bindery and will also be posted to the #reading-sprints Discord channel
Reading Sprint Schedule
Sunday, July 6, @ 7:30pm pacific/10:30pm eastern
Saturday, July 12, @ 1:00 pm pacific/4:00pm eastern
Sunday, July 20, @ 7:30pm pacific/10:30pm eastern
Saturday, July 26, @ 1:00pm pacific/4:00pm eastern
Thurdsay, July 31, @ 6:00pm pacific/9:00pm eastern
Giveaways
Alongside the Bingo raffle, I’ll be hosting two US only giveaways during the month. These giveaways will be posted to my Bindery page, and you’ll enter by leaving a comment on the post during the time it’s open.
July 1st - 12th: Fantasy Giveaway
July 13th - 26th: Romance Giveaway
Thank you so much for participating in the Disability Pride Readathon and for all your support in my bookish endeavors–I truly cannot express how much it means to me, and I’m so excited for this readathon!
