Monthly Archives: August 2025

Deal Announcements

August 2025 Deal Announcements

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Adult Fiction

Hurston/Wright fellow and Syracuse MFA graduate Erica Frederick‘s FIGHT IN THE NIGHT, a queer coming-of-age novel set during one endless, storm-filled summer that follows a teenage girl—the only daughter of Haitian immigrants—and her five older brothers as they barrel through the Florida suburbs, where she must learn to grow bigger in a world that insists on her smallness, to Emily Polson at Scribner, at auction, by Iwalani Kim at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates (NA).

Continue reading August 2025 Deal Announcements →

Inside an Anthology

Inside an Anthology: Crime Ink: Iconic ed. by John Copenhaver and Salem West

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Today on the site I’m delighted to be offering a peek inside the anthology Crime Ink: Iconic ed. by John Copenhaver and Salem West, a collection of crime fiction inspired by queer icons. How awesome does that sound?? Here’s the gist:

Crime Ink: Iconic is a bold and electrifying anthology that brings together a powerhouse lineup of some of the most compelling voices in queer mystery writing today. Within its pages, master storytellers like Ann Aptaker, Christopher Bollen, Marco Carocari, Katrina Carrasco, John Copenhaver, Meredith Doench, Diana DiGangi, Margot Douaihy, Christa Faust, Kelly J. Ford, Katherine V. Forrest, Stephanie Gayle, Robyn Gigl, Cheryl Head, Greg Herren, Renee James, Kristen Lepionka, Anne Laughlin, Mia P. Manansala, Jeffrey Marks, Ann McMan, Penny Mickelbury, David S. Pederson, J.M. Redmann, Jeffrey Round, and Baxter Clare Trautman deliver gripping, fearless tales that redefine the genre. This collection is not just a celebration—it’s a statement: queer voices are, and always have been, at the heart of crime fiction.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Now peek inside, with a behind-the-scenes look brought to you by editors John Copenhaver and Salem West, and, of course, some of the illustrious contributors!

Continue reading Inside an Anthology: Crime Ink: Iconic ed. by John Copenhaver and Salem West →

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Love Galaxy by Sierra Branham

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Today on the site, I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Love Galaxy by Sierra Branham, a Sapphic Sci-Fi Thriller releasing from DAW on May 5, 2026! Here’s the story:

A romantic science fiction thriller in which a young woman from a dead-end planet gets cast on a reality TV show to compete for the hand of the prince—or princess. But not everyone is there for the right reasons…

Smart, sexy, compulsively readable and fun, this is for fans of Everina Maxwell’s Winter’s Orbit and Arkady Martine’s A Memory Called Empire.

Temmi, a young trash collector stuck in a dead-end job on a garbage planet, finds herself with a golden ticket she never expected: an opportunity to compete in an intergalactic dating show starring the brother and sister heirs to the galactic empire. Twenty-four women will compete on a televised program to marry the prince and princess—and future emperors—and to win the dynasty’s favor for their home planet.

Temmi may have been hand-picked to date the quiet, bookish prince, who is immediately taken by her brash personality and their shared passion for the sciences. But she can’t seem to keep away from the princess—and even though it couldn’t be a worse idea, their chemistry is undeniable.

But when contestants start turning up dead, and conspiracies begin to swirl around anti-imperial motivations of several contestants, Temmi among them, so much more than feelings are at stake.

In fact, very few of the participants of Love Galaxy have come on the show to find love. Sexy, snarky, and revolutionary, this fast-paced thrill ride will hook lovers of reality TV, fans of thoughtful sci-fi, and anyone who lives for drama.

And here’s the out-of-this-world cover, illustrated by Artem Chebokha and designed by Jenna Stempel-Lobel!

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Sierra Branham is the author of the forthcoming science fiction novel LOVE GALAXY, a romantic and political thriller releasing with DAW Books in spring of 2026. Her short fiction can be found in venues like Small Wonders Magazine and Apex Magazine. When not spinning words into stories, she can be found hiking with her goats, juggling knives, or battling existential crises. Find her on Instagram at @authorsierrabranham or sign up for her newsletter on her website at http://www.sierrabranham.com.

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Just Ask Elsie by Ari Koontz

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Today on the site, I’m delighted to reveal the cover of the upcoming Just Ask Elsie by Ari Koontz, a contemporary Middle Grade novel releasing June 16, 2026, from Feiwel & Friends! Here’s the story:

Elsie Parker is having a totally normal fifth grade year.

Fractions and conjunctions―check.
Stressing about middle school―check.
Body-positive puberty class at church that also covers feelings and identities―check.

Okay, maybe that last one isn’t so normal. It’s a little weird (and awkward) to spend her Sundays talking periods, B.O., and pimples. But Elsie’s also learning a lot more than she’s heard in her public-school health class ― like the difference between sex and gender, and what consent is, and what it might mean that she can’t stop blushing around a certain cute girl at her school.

When her puberty lessons become the school’s latest gossip, Elsie’s totally humiliated… until she finds an anonymous note in her locker from a classmate who wants to know more, and realizes that other kids might have embarrassing questions of their own.

Starting an underground advice board wasn’t exactly in her plans, but Elsie won’t pass up a chance to turn her reputation around ― or to share words and labels that have not-so-accidentally been left off their curriculum. But when the principal tries to shut down the unauthorized puberty talk, Elsie has to decide what she’s willing to risk to tell the truth to kids who really need to hear it.

And here’s the adorable cover, designed by Julia Bianchi with art by Isabelle Duffy!

The illustrated cover of Just Ask Elsie by Ari Koontz features a young white girl with blonde hair, standing in the middle of a school hallway and holding a stack of purple magazines that read "Elsie's Puberty Zine." Around her are cut-out doodles of birds and bees, hearts and emojis, and the progress pride flag. In the background, other students stand in front of blue lockers, watching and whispering. The title words are in mismatched fonts, with "Elsie" handwritten in gold sharpie over a piece of purple duct tape. The overall art style is soft-textured but bright, with pastel colors and rounded lines.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N

Ari Koontz is a queer nonbinary writer and educator with an MFA in creative writing from Northern Michigan University. They’re dedicated to telling full-hearted stories of bravery and whimsy in every possible genre, centering the beautiful complexities of queer identity and community, and supporting their local public library. A born-and-raised Midwestern UU, Ari lives close to where the water meets the woods and loves to take long walks when they should be writing. Just Ask Elsie is their debut novel.

Fave Five

Fave Five: Historical M/M Romance, Part II

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For part I, click here.

Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore (YA)

Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig (YA)

A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander

Midcentury NYC by Cat Sebastian

Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Song of Spores by Bogi Takács

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Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Song of Spores by Bogi Takács, a nonbinary/genderfluid Space Opera releasing November 4, 2025 from Broken Eye Books! Here’s the story:

Hugo Award winner Bogi Takács spins a tale of adventure, mystery, and political intrigue in space. Plus sentient fungus!

Three experienced counterintelligence operatives from Alliance Treaty Enforcement are on a mission to find the source of shapeshifting infiltrators within Alliance space. Will the gruff Ereni commander, the Chasidic Jewish shapeshifter, and the cynical insectoid grandma be able to work together? Or will their differences drive them apart before they can reach their goal?

Not to mention dealing with the sentient spaceship and symbiotic pilot, who only signed on to provide transportation, not to be eaten by giant space fungus. Are they even on the right side of history when everything comes crashing down?

Can the galaxy possibly survive? This is weird space opera at its finest!

And here’s the intriguing cover, illustrated by Galen Dara and designed by Scott Gable!

Buy it: Broken Eye Books

Bogi Takács is a Hungarian Jewish agender trans person (e/em/eir/emself or they pronouns) and an immigrant to the US. Bogi lives in Lawrence, Kansas, with eir family and a congregation of books. Bogi writes, edits, and reviews speculative fiction and poetry. E is a winner of the Lambda Literary award for editing Transcendent 2: The Year’s Best Transgender Speculative Fiction, the Hugo award for Best Fan Writer, and a finalist for the Ignyte award, the Locus award, and the Hexa award for advocates of Hungarian SFF. Bogi talks about books at www.bogireadstheworld.com, and you can also find em as @bogiperson on various social media websites.

Fave Five

Fave Five: Queer Literary Fiction about Grief and Mourning, Part II

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This post is sponsored by Lorenzo di Bernardo in honor of the publication of For All the Times I Tried to Say Goodbye, a slow-burn psychological drama.

Perfect for readers who crave slow-burning tension, lyrical prose, and emotional suspense, For All the Times I Tried to Say Goodbye is a meditation on grief, intimacy, and the aching need to be seen.

Buy it: Amazon

For Part I, click here.

We Do What We Do in the Dark by Michelle Hart

Model Home by Rivers Solomon

A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood

Ghost Fish by Stuart Pennebaker

And Then the Gray Heaven by RE Katz

Inside an Anthology

Inside an Anthology: Blood, Sweat & Queers ed. by Margaret Hall and Jamie Ryu

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Today on the site I’m delighted to crack open the lid on the coffin of Blood, Sweat, & Queers ed. by Margaret Hall and Jamie Ryu, a collection of LGBTQ+ vampiric love stories releasing October 7, 2025 from Contrarian Publishing with a portion of proceeds going to the Trevor Project! Here’s the gist:

CRACK OPEN THE COFFIN AND UNLEASH THE VAMPIRE.

An ancient beast stirs in the shale beneath an oil rig. A dancer languish in a lakeside cottage. A man swipes right, hunting flesh with a predator’s patience. A woman reels from government-sanctioned body horrors.

All queer. All ravenous. All vampires.

Vampires have always been vessels of longing, craving not only blood, but sex, power, and the sanctity of the taboo. And what hunger is more righteously denied, more persistently policed, than queer love? Like the vampire, the queer spirit endures, unkillable and unashamed.

With a foreword by vampire scholar Margaret Hall, Blood, Sweat & Queers presents decadent tales of queer love from eight LGBTQ+ authors, all intertwined with the eternal allure of the vampire— stories of desire unbound, of passion unending, and hunger that threatens to consume everything in its path. Crack open the coffin, if you dare.

And here’s some insight into the stories from its illustrious contributors!

Continue reading Inside an Anthology: Blood, Sweat & Queers ed. by Margaret Hall and Jamie Ryu →