7 LGBTQ+ Publishers You Should Be Paying Attention To by Rose Atkinson-Carter Which LGBTQ publishers should you be reading? Did you know that around 4 million books published in 2023? Between self-publishing and traditional publishing, new books are filling our shelves every hour, every day. New niches are arriving; old ones are rising to the top. Diverse voices are being shared, and, thanks to some dedicated individuals and imprints, long-standing inequalities of representation in publishing are being challenged. In this article, I’ve listed 7 of my favorite publishers focusing on LGBTQ+ lit ..read more

Search for Complete by Stephen G. Hardy Genre: Literary Fiction ISBN: 9798396061699 Print Length: 382 pages Buy from Amazon Buy from Bookshop Reviewed by Erin Britton There are no half measures when it comes to the desire for completeness. According to Aristophanes, as related by Plato in Symposium, there were originally three types of humans: males, who descended from the sun; females, who emerged from the earth; and androgenous figures, who derived from the moon and had both male and female characteristics. All three types were hugely powerful, and together they formulated a plan ..read more

You Were Watching from the Sand by Juliana Lamy Genre: Literary Fiction / Short Stories ISBN: 9781636281056 Print Length: 176 pages Publisher: Red Hen Press Buy from Amazon Buy from Bookshop Reviewed by Genevieve Hartman A steely-eyed collection of short stories centered on Haitian life, from the Dominican Republic to Florida Winner of the Ann Petry Award, Juliana Lamy’s unflinching debut short story collection, You Were Watching From the Sand, is infused with Haitian culture and mysticism, yet enmeshed with violence. From stolen moments of tenderness between two teen boys to a dis ..read more

You Don’t Belong Here by Jonathan Harper Genre: Literary Fiction / LGBTQ ISBN: 9781590215852 Print Length: 264 pages Publisher: Lethe Press Buy from Amazon Reviewed by Nathaniel Drenner This literary novel bursts at the seams with humanity.  Some writers cultivate a lack of belonging. Only by being on the outside, the thinking goes, can one produce truly clear-eyed, groundbreaking work. But what happens to an outsider without an anchor, an artist without a vision? Are we ever truly free from our obligations to each other, or to ourselves? Jonathan Harper’s You Don’t Belong Here pon ..read more

Morphosis by AJ Saxsma Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / LGBTQ Print Length: 141 pages Buy from Amazon Reviewed by Lindsay Crandall A haunting horror story fraught with tension in which the monsters aren’t always just killers. May 1987. Ollie Hooper and his family relocate to a rural farm in Larton, home to approximately 3,800 people. Hooper is an ambitious man desperate to prove himself. He has taken a job with the Sheriff’s Department, leaving his partner, Dwayne Brenner, as the primary caretaker to Hooper’s two children, Jodi Lee and Sam.   When a murder is reported ..read more

The Possibility of Everywhere by Beth Harkins Genre: Literary Fiction / Feminist ISBN: 9781639887026 Print Length: 318 pages Publisher: Atmosphere Press Buy from Amazon Buy from Bookshop Reviewed by Elizabeth Zender Soar through decades of internal reckoning, feminism, and life choices with The Possibility of Everywhere. Meet Cindy: young, determined, full of possibility and critical thought. She contains all necessary ingredients for a budding feminist. But it’s 1953. Should she stay home and appease her father or travel the world? She’ll do anything she needs to, including studyin ..read more

Colton’s Terrible Wonderful Year by Vincent Traughber Meis Genre: Young Adult Fiction / LGBTQ ISBN: 978-1915905062 Print Length: 239 pages Buy from Amazon Buy from Bookshop Reviewed by Timothy Thomas A heartfelt coming-of-age story that honestly navigates conversations of race, love, sexuality, family, and friendship The experiences we have in our teenage years leave a definitive mark on the rest of our lives. Changing bodies, social contexts, and novel situations (plus many other factors specific to each person) makes those few years difficult, yet memorable.  Author Vincent T ..read more

Just Wide Enough for Two by Kacey M. Martin Genre: Historical Fiction / LGBTQ ISBN: 979-8218116293 Print Length: 328 pages Buy from Amazon Buy from Bookshop Reviewed by Andrea Marks-Joseph A reimagining of Emily Dickinson’s life as a sweet love letter to deep sapphic love in an era when queer romance felt rare and impossible Just Wide Enough for Two is a love story between childhood best friends Emily Dickinson and Susan Gilbert, spanning years of complicated life changes where their passionate connection remains constant. Readers need no previous knowledge of Dickinson’s poetry or ..read more

☆ I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane Genre: Science Fiction / LGBTQ+ ISBN: 978-1646221295 Print Length: 352 pages Publisher: Catapult Buy from Amazon Buy from Bookshop Reviewed by Andrea Marks-Joseph An intimate study of a queer widow’s grief, shame, and parenting under an oppressive surveillance state  Speculative novel I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself follows a newly widowed queer woman named Kris, as she raises her child under both the weight of grief and the control of a fascist state which has criminalized their existence. In this world, instead of going to p ..read more