Q: What’s the best way for publishers to reach out?
A: Please feel free to send book pitches, catalog info, cover reveal requests, advertising requests, and/or, the most helpful, rundowns of your upcoming queer books to me (Dahlia) at LGBTQReads@gmail.com. I do not respond to most emails, but please know I am doing my best to pull as many books from those emails as possible, and the more info and advance notice you give, the better.
Q: Can I send you an ARC/book for review?
A: Sorry, but no; this isn’t a review site. Plus, it’s run by a single person whose TBR and ARC shelves are already full at all times. I will ask for an ARC if I want one but please do not attempt to send me them unsolicited.
Q: So then how do I use you to promote my book?
A: You submit a pitch for the site. Then you can say whatever you like about your book! Alternatively, you can purchase ad space or sponsor a post on the site.
Q: My publisher closed and now I’m re-releasing with a new cover. Does that qualify for a cover reveal?
A: Yup! I know it’s a sad fact of small presses that this happens and authors have to go through great lengths to get their books back out there; it’s something I’m happy to actively help with, as long as the reveal remains exclusive.
Q: When you say exclusive, does that include my patrons/subscribers?
A: It does not; feel free to share your cover with them before the official reveal. That said, please do it within 24 hours of the reveal and make clear to them that the cover is not to be shared publicly.
Q: Do you have to be traditionally published to guest post or do a cover reveal on the site?
A: No.
Q: How do I submit a pitch for the site?
A: Check out the Blogging Policies for information on what you can submit and how.
Q: How do I tell you a book I think should be on one of your lists?
A: If I know you? However you’d normally rec a book to me. If I don’t? You don’t. This isn’t a masterlist site; it’s a site of curated recommendations. If I can’t speak to a book on this site, I want to easily be able to point to the trusted friend who can. There are a billion lists of LGBTQIAP+ books on the internet that aren’t curated; make sure it’s on those! And, of course, you can always leave comments on relevant posts, and follow on Tumblr where I invite others to leave recs all the time.
(Also, people have different standards for what constitutes a queer book; LGBTQReads does not list books where the queer characters do not have a POV.)
Q: Okay, but what about [insert book title here]?
A: If you love it, promote it! There are a number of reasons a title might not be listed here, and while much is subjective, please respect my choice not to cover something here.
Q: What does it mean if a book on one of the pages isn’t linked?
A: That my slow ass hasn’t gotten to it yet. This site is a perpetual work-in-progress; I promise, it isn’t a statement on the book’s rep or anything like that. I’m just busy a lot and I can only pay for an assistant when there’s money lining the site’s coffers. If you’d like to contribute to that, you can find links in the sidebar to donate a ko-fi or subscribe to the site’s Patreon, or buy via the affiliate links included all over.
Q: What do I do if I think you’re recommending a book with harmful representation?
A: Feel free to email me; I’d really prefer people not use social media for this. I don’t usually respond to these e-mails, but I do take action unless I’ve read the book and feel very differently from you, or your feelings are based on an advanced read and I know changes will be made before publication. (Obviously, if the book still has the same problems once it’s published, that’s a different story.)
Even if I ultimately don’t remove the book from the site, please know that it does help me modulate who I recommend it to. It’s an unfortunate situation in LGBTQIAP+ literature that with pickings as slim as they are, sometimes books that do largely unrepresented rep well and far more widely represented rep poorly have to stay on the table, but it is something I take into account when I make recommendations.
Of course, I encourage all readers with triggers or any other concerns to seek out reviews prior to reading, which is a large part of why I link every book to Goodreads. I am simply not equipped to list trigger or content warnings for every title.
Q: Why just LGBTQ? What about the other letters?
A: Books featuring characters anywhere on the queer and/or trans spectra (including but not limited to Queer, Questioning, Undefined, Lesbian, Transgender, Bisexual, Pansexual, Asexual, Demisexual, Aromantic, Intersex, Genderfluid, Genderqueer, Agender, Bigender, Demigender, Two-Spirit, and/or Non-Binary) are all welcome and will be represented here, but in an effort to make sure people actually remember the name of the site, I went with LGBTQ. (Also, “Reading Rainbow” was taken.) And yes, I could’ve used QUILTBAG, which is more inclusive and similarly memorable, but I got really tired of hearing how much people hate that term when I used it on my personal blog.
That said, you will see different acronyms/word choices used throughout the blog, and that is with intent, paying mind to the content of that post or list. (For example, if you see a post with “same-sex” in the title rather than some amalgamation of letters, it means there is no trans representation on that list, or LGBTQ and not LGBTQA, you can assume there is no ace rep.)
Didn’t see your question answered here? Email me at LGBTQReads@gmail.com.
