I've been writing for some time and I'm looking for publisher's who are interested in publishing LGBT content. I've had a career for the last 15 years but writing has always been my passion, but it wasn't until now that I've wanted to seek publishing. Vick
Although it's still a niche market, it's now big enough that major publishers have interest in it, so they're worth a try. Still, the best way to locate publishers is on-line, or by the traditional way to investigate any niche market: going to a LGBT bookstore, seeing what's there that your work might fit into, writing down the names of the publishers, and making direct contact with them.
Carina Press publishes LGBTQ content. "Carina Adore is home to highly romantic contemporary love stories featuring beloved romance tropes, where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters" In addition, in my own searches, i have come across agents that say in their bios "LGBTQ friendly" or in their list of things they are looking for, have put "LGBTQ stories" **Addition** Bold Strokes Books "Bold Strokes Books offers a diverse collection of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer general and genre fiction. Our fiction includes romance, mystery/intrigue, crime, erotica, speculative fic (sci-fi/fantasy/horror), general fiction, and young adult."
No, but I was previously traditionally published by an LGBTQ publishing house, which is why Homer likely threw up the bat signal. The only LGBTQ publishing houses I have intel on are all working in the Romance genre (like the example of Carina Press, which is owned by Harlequin). Would you book happen to fall into that category?
Thank you, that does really help. So this is the advice I have for you, based on my own experience and others I know writing LGBTQ Romance: I will be honest and tell you it will be tough to get a book of shorts accepted. Most publishers are looking for novels or novellas. If they do offer books of short stories, it's usually an anthology with multiple authors. I would love to refer you to my former publisher, Less Than Three Press, but they unfortunately closed their doors in 2019. They were simply spectacular to work with, a class act all the way and I miss them like crazy. Stay away from Dreamspinner. They owe back royalties up the ying-yang to many of their authors, going on more than a year at this point. I know Dreamspinner authors who are owed in the tens of thousands of dollars at this point. Stay away from Riptide. They are financially solvent, as far as I know, but they have been abusive and very unprofessional with several of their authors (one of whom is a good friend of mine). There was also a big catfishing/sexual harassment scandal they were embroiled with a couple of years ago that lead to a couple of high level folks resigning, which has left them with a less than stellar reputation. Carina Press is very reputable and backed by Harlequin but they are extremely competitive to get acceptances from and frankly looking for authors who can churn out 2-4 novels per year. Ninestar is a lovely little press, but my impression is that they acquire and release rather slowly/sporadically. Like in my case, it is not unusual for small, niche LGBTQ romance presses to close. Most are run by a small handful of staff and barely make a profit. In some of these cases they have left their authors with unpaid back royalties or they disappear into the night without giving rights back, which means you can't take those works to another publisher or even self-publish them. There are some other small houses that I'm not really familiar with, but if there's any you come across I'd be more than happy to reach out to my peers to see what they have to say about them. I'm really sorry if the above sounds kind of depressing - the market got kind of rocky around 2018 and IMO has never fully recovered.
LGBT has a huge market. Publishers i think would be looking for it in most things, going off TV? I got a LGBT mystical wrestler that is like made to be great. I think it's good to show LGBT people some love. Hope you luck. I know in some things, it's harder for LGBT artists to make money than straight ones.
