Adult Fiction

World Fantasy Award winner Emily Tesh‘s SOME DESPERATE GLORY, her debut novel, pitched as Vorkosigan meets GIDEON THE NINTH set in a world reminiscent of Mass Effect, in which a young soldier trains to avenge the murder of Earth at the hands of an all-powerful, reality-shaping alien weapon, before discovering she might have to take everything into her own hands, to Ruoxi Chen at Tor.com, in a good deal, in an exclusive submission, in a two-book deal, for publication in for hardcover in fall 2022, by Kurestin Armada at Root Literary (NA).

Campiello Prize winner Viola Di Grado‘s BLUE HUNGER, an erotic novel tinged with Gothic horror and urban pop—a story of obsessive love between a young Italian woman who is mourning her twin brother and a young Chinese woman who shows her Shanghai’s illicit and abandoned side, to be translated from the Italian by recent NEA translation fellowship recipient Jamie Richards, to Callie Garnett at Bloomsbury, for publication in 2023, by Sandra Pareja at Massie & McQuilkin (NA).

Author of The Hotel Tito Ivana Bodrozic’s SONS, DAUGHTERS, the story of great complexity that depicts a wrenching love between a transgender man and a woman, a demanding love between a mother and a daughter; with all characters deeply marked and wounded by the patriarchy in each owns way; also a story of breaking through and liberation of the mind, family, society through one’s body, and about the power of narration, to Dan Simon at Seven Stories, for publication in fall 2023, by Diana Matulic at Corto Literary Agency (world English).

Claudia Cravens’s RED, a genre-bending queer feminist Western pitched as True Grit meets Sarah Waters, following a young woman’s transformation from forlorn orphan to successful prostitute to revenge-seeking gunfighter, exploring desire, loyalty, power, and chosen family, to Katy Nishimoto at Dial Press, in a major deal, at auction, by Alexa Stark at Trident Media Group (NA).

Winner of the Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award and finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Trans Fiction Imogen Binnie’s NEVADA, previously published in 2013, following a terminally self-aware trans woman living in New York City who, when her life falls apart, embarks on an eventful cross-country road trip, to Jackson Howard at MCD/FSG, for publication in fall 2022, by Julia Masnik at Watkins Loomis (world).

Longlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize Ashton Noone‘s SUBURBAN ANIMALS, an #OwnVoices queer suspense thriller, where a woman on the run from a violent ex finds herself thrust back into a troubling mystery that haunts the town of her youth, to Luisa Cruz Smith at Scarlet, in a nice deal, in an exclusive submission, for publication in spring 2022, by Penelope Burns at Gelfman Schneider/ICM (world).

Coeditor of literary journal The Hunger and author of two poetry books Erin Slaughter’s A MANUAL FOR HOW TO LOVE US, a debut story collection pitched as reminiscent of Alissa Nutting and Samantha Hunt, about the animalistic nature of women’s grief, which queers the domestic and honors the feral and fantastic ways women embrace their wild to claim control, to Emma Kupor at Harper Perennial, for publication in 2022, by Cassie Mannes Murray at Howland Literary (world).

Children’s Fiction

Terry Benton‘s ALEX WISE VS. THE END OF THE WORLD, in which a 12-year-old is reeling from his best friend abandoning him, after he told his friend that he’s gay, and must save his sister and the world when his sister is possessed by the spirit of one of the four horsemen—evil former gods from a parallel world determined to bring forth the apocalypse—all while learning to love himself and accept that he is enough just as he is, to Liesa Abrams at Labyrinth Road, in a significant deal, at auction, in a three-book deal, for publication in fall 2023, by Patrice Caldwell at New Leaf Literary & Media (world English).

Author of QUEER, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE and RAINBOW REVOLUTIONARIES Sarah Prager’s picture book KIND LIKE MARSHA: LEARNING FROM LGBTQ+ LEADERS, introducing young children to important and inspiring historical figures in the queer community, along with empowering them with strong attributes, such as kindness, resilience, thoughtfulness, and more, illustrated by Cheryl “Ras” Thuesday, to Julie Matysik at Running Press Kids, for publication in May 2022, by Carrie Howland at Howland Literary (world).

Veronica Park Anderson’s BLOOD CITY ROLLERS, pitched as a tween Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Roller Girl, a humorous and queer graphic novel following a talented ice skater recruited into an underground roller derby league as the “human jammer” on an otherwise all-vampire team who are hiding out in an abandoned mall, illustrated by Tatiana Hill, to Liesa Abrams at Labyrinth Road, for publication in summer 2023, by Mandy Hubbard at Emerald City Literary Agency for the author, and by Moe Ferrara at BookEnds for the illustrator (world English).

Young Adult Fiction

Alyson Derrick and NYT-bestselling coauthor of FIVE FEET APART Rachael Lippincott‘s SHE GETS THE GIRL, a LGBTQ+ romance in which two college freshmen who are total opposites set out to help each other get the girls of their dreams to fall for them, but as they do they both begin to wonder if maybe they’re the ones falling for each other, to Alexa Pastor at Simon & Schuster Children’s, for publication in spring 2022, by Emily van Beek at Folio Literary Management (world).

Author of HOT DOG GIRL Jennifer Dugan’s MELT WITH YOU, a queer rom-com about two girls on a summer road trip in an ice cream truck, to Stephanie Pitts at Putnam Children’s, for publication in summer 2022, by Brooks Sherman, formerly at Janklow & Nesbit. Dugan is now represented by Sara Crowe at Pippin Properties (world English).

Author of A WICKED MAGIC Sasha Laurens’s YOUNGBLOOD, when a teen vampire transfers into an elite vampire boarding school, she is drawn into a dark conspiracy at the heart of Vampirdom, and she suddenly finds herself falling for her roommate, Kat’s childhood friend and the school’s only out student, to Ruta Rimas at Razorbill, in a nice deal, in an exclusive submission, for publication in summer 2022, by Stephanie Kim at New Leaf Literary & Media (world English).

Actress Asha Bromfield‘s SONGS OF IRIE, set in ’70s Jamaica in the midst of devastating political turmoil, following two girls who must navigate their opposing upbringings as they fall in love and choose between the futures decided for them and the futures they desire, to Sara Goodman at Wednesday Books, for publication in spring 2023, by Emily van Beek at Folio Literary Management (NA).

Non-Fiction

Manuel Betancourt’s THE MALE GAZED, a narrative that uses film and television to examine queer men’s complex and often conflicted relationship with masculinity, mingling personal anecdotes with cultural history and gender theory to offer an exploration of desire, intimacy, and homoeroticism, to Alicia Kroell at Catapult, by Michael Bourret at Dystel, Goderich & Bourret (NA).

Former radio host and Daily Show correspondent Frank DeCaro’s DISCO AT 50, a celebration of the musical phenomenon that brought LGBTQ and BIPOC cultures into the pop mainstream in its 1970s heyday and its continued influence on current music, to Ellen Nidy at Rizzoli USA, by Rica Allannic at David Black Literary Agency (world).

BBC journalist William Lee Adams’s WILD DANCES, a memoir of a queer, Vietnamese American boy from Georgia who survives an unconventional childhood to become the world’s most recognized Eurovision blogger, diving into notions of belonging, identity, how our origins and passions shape us, and the powerful joy, and surprising importance, of the song contest itself, to Alessandra Bastagli at Astra House, in a pre-empt, for publication in spring 2023, by Will Lippincott and Max Edwards at Aevitas Creative Management UK (world).

Queer Kid Stuff host, activist, and TED speaker Lindz Amer’s THE RADICAL NOTION OF QUEER JOY: THE IMPORTANCE OF TALKING TO KIDS ABOUT GENDER AND SEXUALITY, a guidebook for progressive adults who want to create queer-positive spaces for today’s kids but don’t know how, to Sylvan Creekmore at St. Martin’s, for publication in fall 2022, by Claire Draper at The Bent Agency (world).

Global trans rights advocate, model, TV host, and producer Geena Rocero‘s OPEN THE LIGHT, about a young femme born in Manila who grew up to become the highest-earning and most successful trans pageant queen in the Philippines and ultimately one of the most visible and prolific trans women of color in the world, and the persistence, grit, and love that paved her road to self-acceptance, to Katy Nishimoto at Dial, at auction, by Jon Michael Darga at Aevitas Creative Management (world).

Author/illustrator of the 2020 YALSA finalist THE GREAT NIJINSKY Lynn Curlee‘s THE OTHER PANDEMIC: AN AIDS MEMOIR, an illustrated account of coming of age during the gay liberation movement in New York City and living through the AIDS pandemic, losing multiple friends and his life partner, to Yolanda Scott at Charlesbridge Teen, for publication in spring 2023, by Liz Nealon at Great Dog Literary (world).

Journalist Andrew Sampson‘s TOMMY SEXTON: COMIC GENIUS, QUEER REVOLUTIONARY, a biography of Newfoundland icon Tommy Sexton, a groundbreaking gay comedian and founding member of CODCO, to Bruce Walsh at House of Anansi, with Michelle MacAleese editing, for publication in fall 2023 (world).