The Queer Writer: August 2024

Queery-ing: Navigating Agents and Publishers While Queer

• Saturday, August 24th, 2024 from 10:30am to 1:30pm ET
• Virtual via Zoom
• $85, scholarships available
• 12 students maximum

What does a “very nice deal” mean in a publishing contract announcement? What’s a pre-empt? How does the trajectory from query to book deal normally work? Navigating the publishing industry is confusing at the best of times, but when you’re also a marginalized writer, it can feel overwhelming. In this 3-hour crash course, we’ll spend the first half in lecture and information—including query letters, industry language, standard agent contract rates, the differences of publishing houses, and more—and the second half in a mix of Q&A and beginning to build our query letters, all while centering queer writers and the particular challenges they may face.

*This class is intended only for LGBTQ+ writers.

**FREE!** Transcestors Series: Ancient Burial Sites

• Saturday, October 5th, 2024 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm ET
• Virtual via Zoom
• FREE!

For as long as archaeologists have existed, they've been determining sex and gender from remains found in old burial sites. They catalogue these findings to help paint a picture of people, identities, cultures, and societies of the past. But where do trans, nonbinary, and intersex people fall within these categorizations? How accurate are the scientific efforts to determine assigned sex? Is it possible to further determine one's gender identity based on such conclusions? And how have all of these cataloguing attempts affected modern people's views of trans history? This session will look at exhumed ancient burial sites, from Peru to Italy to Finland to Bohemia, and discuss just how far back trans history goes. This session includes images of ancient burial remains (i.e. bones and fragments) and mentions of ancient rituals (e.g. human sacrifices).

Transcestors is a series of free 1-hour sessions focused on trans and queer (but mostly trans) history based on Milo Todd's research for his historical fiction. Those interested must have any subscription tier of The Queer Writer, paid or free, and must use their subscriber email to register for sessions. For safety reasons, sessions will NOT be recorded. A Zoom link will be sent to registered attendees ~15 minutes before a session starts.

*Sessions are open to all identities, but please know Transcestors centers trans and/or nonbinary attendees.

Disclosure: I'm an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Any purchase through my storefront supports local bookstores and earns me a commission. Win-win!

The Palace of Eros by Caro de Robertis

Young, headstrong Psyche has captured the eyes of every suitor in town and far beyond with her tempestuous beauty, which has made her irresistible as a woman yet undesirable as a wife. Secretly, she longs for a life away from the expectations and demands of men. When her father realizes that the future of his family and town will be forever cursed unless he appeases an enraged Aphrodite, he follows the orders of the Oracle, tying Psyche to a rock to be ravaged by a monstrous husband. And yet a monster never arrives. When Eros, nonbinary deity of desire, sees Psyche, she cannot fulfill her promise to her mother Aphrodite to destroy the mortal young woman. Instead, Eros devises a plan to sweep Psyche away to an idyllic palace, hidden from the prying eyes of Aphrodite, Zeus, and the outside world. There, against the dire dictates of Olympus, Eros and Psyche fall in love. Each night, Eros visits Psyche under the cover of impenetrable darkness, where they both experience untold passion and love. But each morning, Eros flies away before light comes to break the spell of the palace that keeps them safe. Before long, Psyche's nights spent in pleasure turn to days filled with doubts, as she grapples with the cost of secrecy and the complexities of freedom and desire. Restless and spurred by her sisters to reveal Eros's true nature, she breaks her trust and forces a reckoning that tests them both--and transforms the very heavens.

This Ravenous Fate by Hayley Dennings

It's 1926 and reapers, the once-human vampires with a terrifying affliction, are on the rise in New York. But the Saint family's thriving reaper-hunting enterprise holds reign over the city, giving them more power than even the organized criminals who run the nightclubs. Eighteen year-old Elise Saint, home after five years in Paris, is the reluctant heir to the empire. Only one thing weighs heavier on Elise's mind than her family obligations: the knowledge that the Harlem reapers want her dead. Layla Quinn is a young reaper haunted by her past. Though reapers have existed in America for three centuries, created by New World atrocities and cruel experiments, Layla became one just five years ago. The night she was turned, she lost her parents, the protection of the Saints, and her humanity, and she'll never forget how Elise Saint betrayed her. But some reapers are inexplicably turning part human again, leaving a wake of mysterious and brutal killings. When Layla is framed for one of these attacks, the Saint patriarch offers her a deal she can't refuse: to work with Elise to investigate how these murders might be linked to shocking rumors of a reaper cure. Once close friends, now bitter enemies, Elise and Layla explore the city's underworld, confronting their intense feelings for one another and uncovering the sinister truths about a growing threat to reapers and humans alike.

The Phoenix Keeper by S. A. MacLean

As head phoenix keeper at a world-renowned zoo for magical creatures, Aila's childhood dream of conserving critically endangered firebirds seems closer than ever. There's just one glaring caveat: her zoo's breeding program hasn't functioned for a decade. When a tragic phoenix heist sabotages the flagship initiative at a neighboring zoo, Aila must prove her derelict facilities are fit to take the reins. But saving an entire species from extinction requires more than stellar animal handling skills. Carnivorous water horses, tempestuous thunderhawks, mischievous dragons... Aila has no problem wrangling beasts. But mustering the courage to ask for help from the hotshot griffin keeper at the zoo's most popular exhibit? Virtually impossible. Especially when that hotshot griffin keeper happens to be her arch-rival from college: Luciana, an annoyingly brooding and insufferable know-it-all with the face of a goddess who's convinced that Aila's beloved phoenix would serve their cause better as an active performer rather than as a passive conservation exhibit. With the world watching and the threat of poachers looming, Aila's success is no longer merely a matter of keeping her job...She is the keeper of the phoenix, and the future of a species- and her love life- now rests on her shoulders.

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other's lives once and for all. Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers. Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but--yeah. It's in the past. All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately. It's not until they board the tour bus that they discover they've both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they're trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. It's fine. There's nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game. And why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition? But sometimes a taste of everything only makes you crave what you can't have.

The Dark We Know by Wen-Yi Lee

Growing up in Slater, Isadora Chang never felt at ease in the repressive small town, even before she realized she was bisexual--but after the deaths of two childhood friends, Slater went from feeling claustrophobic to suffocating. So, Isa took off before the town could swallow her, too. Even though it meant leaving everything she knew behind, including her last surviving friend, Mason. When Isa's abusive father dies, however, she agrees to come back from art school just long enough to collect the inheritance. But then Mason turns up at the cemetery with a revelation and a plea: their friends were murdered by an evil that haunts the town, and he needs Isa to help stop it--before it takes anyone else. When Isa begins to hear strange songs on the wind, and eerie artwork fills her sketchbook that she can't recall drawing, she's forced to stop running and confront her past. Because something is waiting in the shadows of Slater's valleys, something that feeds on the pain and heartbreak of its children. Whatever it is, it knows Isa's back . . . and it won't let her escape again.

Mighty Millie Novak by Elizabeth Holden

Social anxiety, her parents' divorce, and messy friendships won't stop Millie's pursuit of what she wants--in roller derby or in love. But her own lies might . . . Sixteen-year-old Millie Novak is stuck in an "if only" rut. If only she were stronger and faster, maybe her roller derby teammates would take her seriously. If only she had the guts to go back to in-person learning, maybe she'd have a social life. If only she weren't such an awkward mess, maybe she could get the attention of that cute girl on the all-star derby team. And don't get her started on her family! After the one-two punch of her beloved older brother's departure for college and her parents' overdue split, Millie decides it's time to reinvent herself. With the help of her new friend Pumpkin and a little bit of deceit, Millie crafts a plan to cement her status on the team and get her crush to fall for her. But reinvention isn't easy. Millie's constantly shown up by show-off teammate Stork, and the only way she can get her crush's attention is through increasingly elaborate lies. Worse, she begins to suspect Pumpkin is not the supportive friend she'd imagined. Toughest to handle? Realizing the person she's in love with might not be her longtime crush, after all.

Yr Dead by Sam Sax (Author) and Rita Bullwinkel (Editor)

Ezra lights themself on fire and when Ezra dies the world of this book flashes before their eyes. Everyone Ezra's ever loved, every place they've felt queer and at home, or queer and out of place, reveals itself in an instant. Unfolding in fragments of memory, Ezra dissolves into the family, religion, desire, losses, pains and joys that made them into the person that's decided on this final act of protest. Told in lyric fragments that span both lifetimes and geography, Yr Dead is a queer, Jewish, diasporic coming of age story that questions how our historical memory shapes our political and emotional present. 

Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore

Ezra Friedman sees ghosts, which made growing up in a funeral home complicated. It might have been easier if his grandfather's ghost didn't give him scathing looks of disapproval as he went through a second, HRT-induced puberty, or if he didn't have the pressure of all those relatives--living and dead--judging every choice he makes. It's no wonder that Ezra runs as far away from the family business as humanly possible. But when the floor of his dream job drops out from under him and his mother uses the family Passover seder to tell everyone she's running off with the rabbi's wife, Ezra finds himself back in the thick of it. With his parents' marriage imploding and the Friedman Family Memorial Chapel on the brink of financial ruin, Ezra agrees to step into his mother's shoes and help out . . . which means long days surrounded by ghosts that no one else can see. And then there's his unfortunate crush on Jonathan, the handsome funeral home volunteer . . . who just happens to live downstairs from Ezra's new apartment . . . and the appearance of the ghost of Jonathan's gone-too-soon husband, Ben, who is breaking every spectral rule that Ezra knows. Because Ben can speak. He can move. And as Ezra tries to keep his family together and his heart from getting broken, he realizes that there's more than one way to be haunted--and more than one way to become a ghost.

A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen

In Sài Gòn, Lan is always trying to be the perfect daughter, dependable and willing to care for her widowed mother and their bánh mì stall. Her secret passion, however, is A Bánh Mì for Two, the food blog she started with her father, but has stopped updating since his passing. Meanwhile, Vietnamese American Vivi Huynh, has never been to Việt Nam. Her parents rarely even talk about the homeland that clearly haunts them. So Vivi secretly goes to Vietnam for a study abroad program her freshman year of college. She's determined to figure out why her parents left, and to try everything she's seen on her favorite food blog, A Bánh Mì for Two. When Vivi and Lan meet in Sài Gòn, they strike a deal. Lan will show Vivi around the city, helping her piece together her mother's story through crumbling photographs and old memories. Vivi will help Lan start writing again so she can enter a food blogging contest. And slowly, as they explore the city and their pasts, Vivi and Lan fall in love.

Mistress of Lies by K. M. Enright

Fate is a cruel mistress. The daughter of a powerful but disgraced Blood Worker, Shan LeC laire has spent her entire life perfecting her blood magic, building her network of spies, and gathering every scrap of power she could. Now, to protect her brother, she assassinates their father and takes her place at the head of the family. And that is only the start of her revenge. Samuel Hutchinson is a bastard with a terrible gift. When he stumbles upon the first victim of a magical serial killer, he's drawn into the world of magic and intrigue he's worked so hard to avoid - and is pulled deeply into the ravenous and bloodthirsty court of the vampire king. Tasked by the Eternal King to discover the identity of the killer cutting a bloody swath through the city, Samuel, Shan and mysterious Royal Blood Worker Isaac find themselves growing ever closer to each other. But Shan's plans are treacherous, and as she lures Samuel into her complicated web of desire, treason and vengeance, he must decide if the good of their nation is worth the cost of his soul.

The Crimson Crown by Heather Walter

Legends tell of a witch who became a queen--the heartless villain in the story of Snow White. But now the wicked queen is stepping out of Snow White's shadow to become the heroine of her own legend. Her real "once upon a time" begins when she is just Ayleth, a young witch who lives in the forest with her coven. The witches practice their magic in secret, hiding from the White King and his brutal war against witchcraft. Ayleth, however, faces a war of her own. Her magical gifts have yet to reveal themselves, and as the threat of the Royal Huntsmen intensifies, Ayleth fears she will never become the witch her coven needs. To prove herself, Ayleth sets out on a perilous quest that sends her to the White Palace, a decadent world of drama and deceit. There, Ayleth encounters an unlikely figure from her past: Jacquetta, a witch who once held Ayleth's heart--and betrayed her. As events at the palace escalate, Ayleth finds herself caught in the web of the White King, whose dark charisma is as dangerous as the sinister force that seems to be haunting the palace--and perhaps even Ayleth herself. With the threat of discovery looming, Ayleth and Jacquetta must set aside the wounds of their past and work together to survive. As she uncovers the secrets of the White Court--and those of her own heart--Ayleth must find the strength to transform into someone she never imagined she could be. A powerful witch, the very wickedest of them all.

Want a previously published book showcased? Let me know! The given work must: 1) be written by a self-identified member of the LGBTQ+ community, 2) be published within the last five years, 3) has not yet appeared on the ICYMI list, and 4) wasn't included in the Anticipated Books section within the last three months. All genres and independently-published works welcome.

Disclosure: I'm an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Any purchase through my storefront supports local bookstores and earns me a commission. Win-win!

Morally Straight: How the Fight for LGBTQ+ Inclusion Changed the Boy Scouts--And America by Mike de Socio

Weaving in his own experience as a scout and journalist, Mike De Socio's Morally Straight tells a story that plays out over the course of nearly forty years, beginning in an era when gay rights were little more than a cultural sideshow; when same-sex marriage was not even on the radar; and when much of the country was recommitting to conservative social mores. It was during this treacherous time that accidental activists emerged, challenging one of America's most iconic institutions in a struggle that would forever change the country's view of gay people and the rights they held in society. In Morally Straight we meet James Dale, the poster child of Scouting who took his fight for inclusion to the Supreme Court; Steven Cozza, the 12-year-old scout in California who started a movement for inclusion called Scouting for All; Jennifer Tyrrell, the lesbian den mother whose expulsion from the Scouts reignited the gay membership controversy; Zach Wahls, the son of lesbian moms who led the final push for policy change; and an array of other previously unknown Scouters who played smaller--but no less crucial--roles in the fight for full inclusion.

Something Kindred by Ciera Burch

Jericka Walker had planned to spend the summer before senior year soaking up the sun with her best friend on the Jersey Shore. Instead she finds herself in Coldwater, Maryland, a small town with a dark and complicated past where her estranged grandmother lives--someone she knows only two things about: her name and the fact that she left Jericka's mother and uncle when they were children. But now Jericka's grandmother is dying, and her mother has dragged Jericka along to say goodbye. As Jericka attempts to form a connection with a woman she's never known, and adjusts to life in a town where everything closes before dinner, she meets "ghost girl" Kat, a girl eager to leave Coldwater and more exciting than a person has any right to be. But Coldwater has a few unsettling secrets of its own. The more you try to leave, the stronger the town's hold. As Jericka feels the chilling pull of her family's past, she begins to question everything she thought she knew about her mother, her childhood, and the lines between the living and the dead.

My Child Is Trans, Now What?: A Joy-Centered Approach to Support by Ben V. Greene 

As a full-time public speaker specializing in spreading awareness and understanding of the transgender community, what Ben Greene hears most from parents and loved ones is the phrase "I'm sorry." They're sorry for using the wrong word, sorry for asking an offensive question, sorry for not knowing this already, sorry for asking a question at all. The combination of exhaustion from trans people who have become their community's designated educator and the growing trend of "canceling" anyone who says anything wrong has created a culture where people who have good hearts and minimal access to information are so afraid to make a mistake they don't even try. In My Child is Trans, Now What? A Joy-Centered Approach to Support, Greene breaks the mold by offering a judgement-free guide to people across generations, from millennial parents to members of older generations who may not have had previous positive exposure to the trans community. Greene focuses on providing two key resources in this book: information and emotional support. He explains what to expect, what systems exist to support trans youth, and what loved ones can do to help. Using a combination of personal stories and experiences, definitions, and additional resources, My Child is Trans, Now What? is an essential guide for anyone looking to help trans youth thrive.

PR/Events Coordinator for Foglifter Journal

• What: "The PR/Event Coordinator manages events, including securing venues, communicating with readers, devising rosters with ongoing input from genre editors (particularly any/all that will staff/attend the event), and designing programming for approximately 5 events per year. They also research and apply for relevant festivals/conference events, and plan/execute those events in various cities. They ensure that quality photos and video are taken at all Foglifter events. The PR/Event Coordinator also manages press kits/releases for Foglifter events/publications. They write press releases, distribute those releases to media outlets, and manage our media contact list. The annual honorarium for this position is $2000, which will increase to $3000 in 2025. This position must be physically based in the San Francisco Bay Area."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $2,000 honorarium per year
• Deadline: August 1st, 2024

Assistant Fiction Editor for Foglifter Journal

• What: "Foglifter is looking for an Assistant Fiction Editor for our small, all-volunteer staff. The Assistant Fiction Editor is responsible for supporting the Managing Fiction Editor in much of their work. They consistently solicit excellent writers for the journal, keeping the Solicitations sheet up to date and organized. They read and rate incoming unsolicited work in accordance with agreed-upon timelines, flagging anything exceptional to the team for early acceptance. They attend and participate in genre decision meetings, and advocate for work they are passionate about. They stay aware of any contests that Foglifter authors might be eligible for and bring those to the attention of the Managing Fiction Editor. They promptly respond to all Foglifter communications and help the rest of the genre team stay efficient and organized."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $1,500 honorarium per year
• Deadline: August 1st, 2024

Shenandoah: Spring 2025 with Stevie Billow

• What: "For the Spring 2025 issue of Shenandoah, editorial fellow Stevie Billow seeks CREATIVE NONFICTION that explores the relationship between language and identity. Send your personal essays that bend and break the 'rules' of grammar, tackle the translation of self between and beyond languages, ruminate on verbal code-switching, your bilingual and multilingual writing, your emojis and emoticons where words won’t suffice, the words that fail you, the words that feel like home. Stevie is especially interested in promoting the work of emerging writers from marginalized backgrounds, communities, and experiences and highly encourages folks who don’t have an extensive publication history to submit!"
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $80 per 1000 words, up to $400
• Deadline: until 300 submissions received

Bi Women Quarterly Fall 2024: Child Free

• What: "In this very complex world we live in, there are so many reasons one might decide not to procreate. Would you like to share yours? Motherhood and womanhood are too often conflated, and choosing not to parent can carry stigma, no matter your gender. How has this decision affected the way you see your gender, your sexuality, yourself?"
• Fee: $0
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: August 1st, 2024

SCAB Magazine: Issue 15

• What: "SCAB is a transgressive online magazine aiming to represent these very principles in the realm of visual arts and literature. The motto might be something like this: the worse the better."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $0
• Deadline: August 1st, 2024

PRISM International Issue 63.1: Spells

• What: "Consider words as 'performative utterances.' They do not just describe, they do things ー they perform actions....We invite you to share these spells with us and to consider what effects the order of your language might elicit. Send us poetry, prose, and hybrid works that contemplate the meaning and impact of 'spell' in any or all of its manifestations. If you wish, we invite you to weave in traditions associated with spell, drawing on the dialectic between the literary and the magical. Or leave such traditions behind altogether. Go as wide or as narrow with the definition as you wish. We encourage submissions that play with the ordinary expectations of the form and that bring a heartbeat to it....We strongly encourage submissions from Black and Indigenous writers, writers of colour, writers with disabilities, LGBTQIA2S+ writers, and writers from other intersectional and marginalized groups, including low-income earners. If you identify as one or more of the above and would like to let us know, please mention it in your cover letter."
• Fee: $3
• Pay: $40/printed page for prose and $45/printed page for poetry
• Deadline: August 2nd, 2024

Sinister Wisdom: Gender Diverse Lesbians

• What: "Gender nonconformity has long, thick, roots in Lesbianism, but the coexistence of being other gendered and Lesbianism is as varied in its narrative as what is meant by 'gender diverse,' 'nonbinary,' and/or 'other gendered.' The controversy surrounding French Lesbian philosopher Monique Wittig’s statement, 'Lesbians are not women,' provides a snapshot into this tension. This conclusion stemmed from her broader argument that woman is a social and political class defined by the patriarchal heterosexual contract; that man and woman are categories of dominance. Conceptualizing Lesbianism as resistance to the patriarchy-as freedom to be and love whoever despite the existing man-made binaries of humanity’s social roles, places Lesbians outside of 'man' and 'woman.'"
• Fee: $0
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: August 31st, 2024

North Carolina Literary Review 2025 Special Feature Section: NC LGBTQIA+ Literature

• What: "Randall Kenan. Bertha Harris. David Sedaris. Allan Gurganus. Jim Grimsley. These are just a handful of North Carolina authors who write openly and passionately about queer identities, issues, and joy. Whether explored through characters, journalism, memoir, poetry, drama, or other genres, these writers – along with other emerging or overlooked NC artists we hope to learn more about – offer us clear-eyed and profoundly enriching narratives about what it means to be queer in the South. This special feature section of NCLR focuses on NC LGBTQIA+ Literature and its impact on literary and cultural studies."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: August 31st, 2024

Sinister Wisdom: Barbie: the Movie

• What: "In this special issue, Sinister Wisdom will explore lesbians' reactions to Barbie: The Movie. How do we voice the joy and gratitude of this cultural moment where lesbian lives and lesbian culture is expressed in the movie with a major musical plotline from the Indigo Girls and two out dykes with major roles in this movie, now the highest grossing movie in Warner Brothers' history? What else do we think and feel about this cultural moment? Were you expecting to feel deeply personally touched by Barbie? What was a special scene that reflects your dyke life? Were you surprised or shocked by your reaction to the film? How do we understand Barbie's continuing life and its relationship to lesbians and lesbian culture?"
• Fee: $0
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: TBD

The Bitchin' Kitsch

• What: "The B’K is a quarterly art and lit, online and printed magazine prioritizing traditionally marginalized creators, but open to all."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $10
• Deadline: rolling

Bella Books Call for Submissions

• What: "At Bella Books, we believe stories about women-loving-women are essential to our lives—and so do our readers. We are interested in acquiring manuscripts that tell captivating and unique stories across all genres—including romance, mystery, thriller, paranormal, etc. We want our books to reflect and celebrate the diversity of our lesbian, sapphic, queer, bisexual, and gender non-conforming community—in all our glorious shapes, sizes and colors. Our desire to publish diverse voices is perennial. We don’t want to tell your stories for you—we want to amplify your voices....We publish romance, mystery, action/thriller, science-fiction, fantasy, erotica and general fiction. At this time, we are particularly interested in acquiring romance manuscripts."
• Fee: N/A
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: rolling

Rebel Satori Press: LGBTQIA+ Speculative Fiction, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy Manuscripts

• What: "Rebel Satori Press is pleased to announce the start of our new imprint for LGBTQ+ speculative fiction, Queer Space. The new imprint is now open to submissions of queer positive science fiction right on the bleeding edge of what is possible. We’re looking for all subgenres of speculative fiction involving LGBTQ+ characters written by LGBTQ+ authors, including but not limited to: sci-fi, interstitial, slipstream, horror, and supernatural fictional manuscripts."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: rolling

Homebound Publications: LGBTQIA+ Writers (Poetry & Creative Nonfiction)

• What: "Homebound Publications is a Trans/Queer Owned publishing house based in the Berkshire Mountains. Across all our imprints, we are deeply invested in reading and publishing diverse voices spanning across different religions, ethnicities, and marginalized communities. We strongly welcome submissions from of writers within the BIPOC and LGBTQIA communities, writers living with a disability, writers living with refugee status. . . to name a few. Writers from all backgrounds and communities should consider our press a safe space."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: Hybrid publisher; please see website
• Deadline: rolling

Prismatica: Summer 2024

• What: "Prismatica Magazine is a quarterly LGBTQ fantasy & science fiction magazine. Prismatica features short fiction and poetry from emerging and established LGBTQ authors. In the magazine’s stories and poems, readers can find fantasy and science-fiction of all sub-genres and cross-genres. We happily include magical realism, contemporary science-fiction, urban fantasy, and more."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $0
• Deadline: rolling

Baest Journal

• What: Baest Journal, "a journal of queer forms and affects," seeks to publish work by queer writers and artists.
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $0
• Deadline: rolling

Is AI the Bitter End—or the Lucrative Future—of Book Publishing?

by Rebecca Ackermann

The scale of AI-generated content is so overwhelming in part because it’s so cheap to create. That’s because no one is paying for one of the highest-quality sources of training data: books. Investors and leaders in AI know that shelling out for this content would break their business; some have even acknowledged as much. In a response to the US Copyright Office, the venture capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz wrote, “Imposing the cost of actual or potential copyright liability on the creators of AI models will either kill or significantly hamper their development.” Documents filed in the Authors Guild lawsuit against OpenAI showed that two training sets of books (containing some 50 billion words, by the company’s own count) had been deleted prior to the lawsuit. The elephant in the boardroom is that generative AI is booming in large part because some critical raw materials have been free—or by another definition, stolen. “A lot of us would never have consented to such a thing,” [R.O.] Kwon says of contributing her life’s work to AI training. “And now you're saying you can’t afford it? That means this isn’t a workable model.”

…The other impact generative AI may present is on the types of books that make it into the world. After all, the environment in which books are bought and sold can change the kind of work that gets made. When I asked [Ali] Albazaz what he meant by the “best” books on Inkitt’s platform, he quickly replied, “best performing.” Indeed, the tech industry and the world of writers have different definitions of what constitutes a “good” book, as anyone interacting with Amazon has learned. When so many books are available so quickly, the more challenging volumes may not get the investment they need to survive—from publishers or readers. In this climate, it may be increasingly difficult for authors to afford to keep going on complex projects. Spending ten years on a single novel could become too expensive for a writer—if it’s not already—even if those words are one day compensated by AI companies. “The books that I fear losing are the kinds that make us think and understand each other,” [Mary] Rasenberger says. “With any more downward pressure on what authors earn, we’re just going to see more leave, and every time talented authors stop writing books—or write a lot less—we potentially lose great books.” Less investment in deep and time-consuming work impacts authors directly, but the downstream effect on readers and the world may be more intangible and insidious.

“There is a real risk of a diminishing of our culture, of what is available to us to read, which is sad to me,” says [Vauhini] Vara. “There are all kinds of forces that are making the publishing industry more conservative in what it’s publishing, more reluctant to take bets. [AI] feels like part of the same movement.” This tough moment in publishing is not new; the generative AI under the bed certainly can’t be blamed for all of the industry’s woes. But it can cast a scary shadow.

Where Is All the Sad Boy Literature?

by Katie Tobin

There’s no lack whatsoever of novels by cis queer men. But where stories of transmasculinity are concerned, there is a stark shortage. Most of the texts I came across, like Paul B. Preciado’s Can the Monster Speak? and Jack Halberstam’s Female Masculinity, approached the subject through autotheory, blending memoir and critical theory, and other modes of nonfiction. In this sense, Griffin Hansbury’s Some Strange Music Draws Me In stands out as an exception, telling the story of Max (formerly Mel) looking back on his adolescence. Over the course of the novel, Max comes to terms with his experience of having lived as a girl while failing to live up to societal expectations of normative femininity. When I spoke to Hansbury about men and masculinity in publishing, he told me, “I’m troubled by the almost total absence of transmasculine stories. We have a long history of being unimaginable, illegible, and unmirrored by the world. People like me are still largely unwritten and unpublished, with a few notable exceptions.”

As for today’s male writers, Hansbury says, “If young male writers want to tell a different story about masculinity, one that grapples with interiority and all the horrors and wonders of living in a vulnerable, penetrable human body in society, then yes, there is a cultural necessity for that kind of story. It’s going to be a sad story, because to be human is to suffer, and then, hopefully, to make meaning from that suffering. As writers, we ideally offer that meaning to others, to help them make their way in a world that is often difficult to bear.”