Catherine Lundoff#smallpresspublishing 1/4 Gonna be an ass for a minute here: I see another small press is closing (this happens constantly, sadly enough) and there is much mourning…except if I’ve never seen any reviews of any of their books and no one is talking about those books, that is an automatic death knell unless there’s a whole lot of money behind it. Which is seldom the case. It takes an incredible amount of hustle to keep a small press afloat, let alone growing.
#smallpresspublishing 2/4 It is not about the quality of the books as much as it is about the buzz. Buzz comes from readers and reviewers talking about our books as much as it comes from authors doing the same. The vast majority of bloggers and reviewers whose feeds I see talk about the same publishers, the same books and the same authors. Every year, virtually identical year’s best lists. I cherish the exceptions because they’re putting the effort to find us and presses like us.
#smallpresspublishing 3/4 This isn’t just about my own small queer press - it’s about the “Lesbian Visibility Week” lists (as a recent example) that are full of straight authors and big presses and Tor’s greatly beloved “blink and you’ll miss the queer reference/oops, they’re dead now” titles. I love me some Tor books, but I could talk about sfnal books with actual lesbian characters for a solid week and never get to “This is How You Lose the Time War,” whose queerness hinges more on marketing…
#smallpresspublishing 4/4 than any actual queer content. Yes, I think the writing is very pretty too, but… And I saw it on at least 3 lists. As with diversifying your reading so you’re not always reading books by straight white dudes, including small press and indie authors takes some effort. But if we’re only visible to you when we close up shop, that’s lost work, lost voices and missed opportunities and overall, does the field no favors.
Clarissa C. S. Ryan@Clundoff I strongly disagree about This is How You Lose the Time War, but your overall points are dead-on and very important
@wintersweet You could swap the identities for the characters and it would make no difference to the story. Literally the only readers I know who talk about the story as being particularly queer are steeped in sfnal reading, are fans of the authors and are generally big Tor readers. It’s an interesting novella, but no, not about “visible lesbians,” per se.
@wintersweet I have many feels about the Tamsyn Muir books too. 😏
Mike 🍁✔@Clundoff My two were published a few years ago by a small local press, Deux Voiliers. It was a co-op concept, where we all exchanged skills in editing, covers, formatting, etc. Published a member of good books, using various printers, and we all learned from the process. We had book launches, presence at various festivals, and hype from reviews. But it was still essentially a one man show. Made a good stepping stone for the 'owner', but once he got those links he moved on and it's basically disappeared. Too bad, as I have several drafts that could be tweaked and published, just don't want to do all on my own.
Ginnikin@Clundoff If you feel up to it, I would love to get some recommendations.
@ginnikin Sure! Anything in particular you’re looking for?
@Clundoff Oh gosh. Where to start? Got anything like Becky Chambers? I don't do grimdark, and I like small stories. The fate of the universe doesn't have to be at stake. Is that enough to work with?
@ginnikin You might like Elaine Burnes’ ENDURANCE and Heather Rose Jones’s Alpennia series, if you haven’t seen these yet.
@ginnikin NZ author Andy Buchanan has some sapphic witchy novellas you might like - https://andicbuchanan.org/windflower-series/
@Clundoff Thanks! I had a look, and this seems like just what I want. ❤
@ginnikin I also have a list of some older sapphic titles that I’ve read and enjoyed here on Goodreads that might appeal to you - https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/799862-catherine?shelf=sf-f-and-h-w-queer-women-protags
