The Book Bazaar 2026 is an exciting collaborative crowdfunding event on Backerkit of 39 indie authors who have come together to raise funds for their campaigns. In celebration, and to help promote these authors, we’ll be featuring spotlights through the fundraising period for you to check and out and support! Within The Book Bazaar, you’ll find a variety of genres, including fantasy, sci-fi, horror, queer, and romance, as well as a variety of formats such as novels, novellas, series, anthologies, and audiobooks. There’s something for everyone!
The fundraising period runs from October 29 – November 19. Back 3 or more projects to earn unique bookmarks, and 10 or more projects to receive an exclusive anthology. Want a taste of these projects? Check out the free sampler bundle on Itch.io!
Please welcome The Kingdoms of Kaelum by A. J. Nora in the spotlight!
The Kingdoms of Kaelum is a romantic fantasy with LGBTQ Rep. She thinks she’s a perfectly normal girl, but when her mom disappears, everything changes. Haunted by nightmares, Lana is forced to follow a stranger into the Faerie realm. What will she uncover? The truth? Fate? Or perhaps a love she never imagined?
A romantic fantasy series set in a queer normative faerie realm called Kaelum, where monsters roam the nights and magic is forbidden.
When Lana’s mother disappears under magically mysterious circumstances, her life becomes a nightmare. Her only escape from the creatures that plague the night is a stranger and a portal to a land that she’s never seen, yet feels deeply familiar. If Lana has any hope of going home, or finding her mother, she must uncover the secrets her mother left behind — but can she survive the blood-drinking fiends haunting the moonlit desert?
Do you love fated mates?
Slow-burn romance?
Found family?
Magic + Girls with Swords?If you answered yes to the above, you will love this series!
The author is raising funds to support the re-release of the original book series into a revised trilogy, with new scenes, new lore, new covers, and more! Unlock more with stretch goals.
About the Author
AJ is an ace-spec/pan indie author from the Deep South who writes queer normative fantasy with closed door romance. She loves fated mates, faeries, shifters, and swords. When she’s not reading or writing, she’s probably playing cozy video games with her spouse and their orange gremlin cat.
- Website: AJNoraBooks.com
- Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/ajnorabooks.bsky.social
- Facebook: Facebook.com/people/AJ-Nora-Fantasy-Author/61561948896462
- Instagram: @ajnorabooks
- TikTok: @ajnorabooks
