The Queer Writer: August 2025

No live classes for now!

Recorded classes currently (or soon) available:

**FREE!** Modern United States vs Nazi Germany: A Comparison Guide for Wellbeing

**FREE!** Why Bother?: Making Art During Troubled Times

**FREE!** Event Safety for Queer Authors

Paid, recorded classes related to creative writing, querying, marketing, and the publishing industry are coming soon. Stay tuned!

Disclosure: I'm an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Any purchase through my storefront supports local bookstores and earns me a commission. Win-win!

Both/And: Essays by Trans and Gender-Nonconforming Writers of Color by Denne Michele Norris (ed.)

Featuring seventeen essays by trans people of color—spanning writers, scientists, actors, activists, and drag queens—Both/And explores what it means to live as a trans or gender nonconforming person of color today. Acclaimed authors Akwaeke Emezi, Tanaïs, and Meredith Talusan share their stories alongside activist and organizer Raquel Willis and RuPaul’s Drag Race star Peppermint, as well as a host of rising literary talent. Each story is told with honesty, authenticity, and beauty. A nonbinary molecular biologist has nightmares about their estranged father transitioning. A writer revisits a casual hook-up when she discovered her womanhood. And a woman vacations with her wife in Hawaii, where she gets in touch with the fire goddess within. These stories depict real trans lives from trans points of view, at a time when these perspectives are most urgent and valuable.

The L.O.V.E. Club by Lio Min

Three years ago, Elle (the “E” in the self-proclaimed L.O.V.E. Club) disappeared from Calendula, an affluent Chinese American suburb in inland California. Soon afterward, Liberty and Vera (“L” and “V”) moved away, leaving O alone with her grief, abandonment, and confusion. . . until Liberty and Vera return for their senior year of high school. Though the L.O.V.E. Club’s three remaining members once bonded as outcasts and gamers, they can’t pick up the pieces of their friendship. But the girls are drawn back to their old clubhouse, where they discover, loaded for them to play, a new game created by none other than the missing Elle. One click, and Liberty, Vera, and O are ported into Morning Glory, an ever-evolving botanical fantasy coded with their lived experiences, complicated history, and repressed insecurities. Unbeknownst to the others, O can’t remember the events surrounding Elle’s disappearance—but within the game, Elle has sent O a cryptic hint about Morning Glory’s real nature. While Liberty and Vera defeat increasingly sinister bosses, O grapples with the secret knowledge that her deepest wish, to reunite with Elle, might just come true. But as the girls progress through Morning Glory, O begins to wonder how well she actually knew any of her former best friends and if she’s ready to confront the hard truths—and dangerous revelations—about Elle in her returning memories.

The Blade that Binds Us by Leah Thomas

Hrafn has seen too much. He welcomes death as the flames lick at the staves carved into his skin. Until a stranger pulls him out. Siggi has never left his village. He longs to go in search of his missing brother. Perhaps that's why he pulls the witch boy from the fire. Bound by a blade of bone and indebted to the village boy, Hrafn agrees to use his powerful magic to help the oaf who saved him from the pyre. Across (and sometimes under) a rugged and unforgiving landscape, the unlikely pair will travel in search of answers, crossing paths with druids, darkwolves, and the dreaded Huldu. But when the deceptions of the past are peeled away, Siggi and Hrafn will come face to face with their true natures. When the cost of magic is pain and family ties run bone deep, can an unlikely love blossom in a dark and dangerous world?

The Devil's in the Dancers by Catherine Yu

Earning a scholarship to the Allegra Academy summer intensive was supposed to fix everything for Mars Chang. The academy is owned and run by the Bechlers, a big pharma family. And if Mars befriends the right girls, she could unlock the doors to the Ivy League future of her dreams. When Mars is unexpectedly assigned to room with Alex Bechler, she knows impressing Alex will make or break all her plans. Alex is annoyingly attractive, the best dancer at the academy, and her great-aunt runs the program. So when the headmistress pulls Mars aside and asks her to swap Alex’s supplements with a new Bechler product, APL, in exchange for year-round admittance, Mars can’t say no. But as Mars gets to know Alex and how much she dislikes her family and ballet, swapping the pills proves harder than Mars bargained for. Knowing Alex better only makes it clearer how unfair the academy is. So Mars decides to help another scholarship student by letting her try the supplements. At first, the pills give the girl an instant edge in class. But when they also produce terrifying side effects, Mars suspects that APL might not be safe after all. But how can Mars, the new girl, convince the academy’s best that her life is in danger without jeopardizing her own dreams in the process?

This Is My Body by Lindsay King-Miller

Gay single mom Brigid always thought that cutting ties with her extremist Catholic family was the best thing she could have done for her daughter, Dylan—and for herself. But when Dylan starts having terrifying fits of unnatural violence, Brigid can’t shake her memories of a girl from her childhood who behaved the same way . . . until Brigid’s uncle, Father Angus, performed an exorcism. Convinced that her daughter is suffering from demonic possession, Brigid does the thing she told herself she’d never do: she goes home. Father Angus is the worst person she knows, but he’s also the only person who can help her daughter. But as Brigid starts to uncover secrets about Father Angus, that long-ago exorcism, and her family’s past, she realizes that she and Dylan have never been in more danger.

The Secret Crush Book Club by Karmen Lee

For Dani, life is a juggling act. As a single mom devoted to her son and family, she barely has a moment to herself. But when her sister announces she's moving out of the house, the ache of loneliness creeps in, and Dani can't help but wonder if there's something else she's been missing in her life... Zoey came to Peach Blossom eager to start her new job as the town's librarian and to do a little research for her next book. Yet she never expected to find inspiration in fellow book club member Dani, whose captivating brown eyes tell a story of their own. Before they know it, lingering glances over their favorite fiction turn into first dates and sizzling nights. As their connection deepens, the two women must decide if they should turn the page on what their lives used to look like, or if this thrilling plot twist is the happily-ever-after they've been chasing all along.

Ghost Fish by Stuart Pennebaker

Alison is mired in loneliness and grief. Freshly twenty-three and mourning the loss of her younger sister, who has drowned at sea, she's moved out of her hometown and into a cramped apartment on New York's Lower East Side. Now she's living the cliché, barely making rent as a restaurant hostess and avoiding her roommates, while watching the bright, busy passersby from her bubble of grief. She doesn't need originality; she just needs to be alive. Then, late one night, she rounds the corner and sees a shape in the air--a ghost. And how strange, it looks like a fish. What is it? Alison knows, without hesitation: it is her beloved sister, finally returned to her side. Safe in a pickle jar filled with water, the ghost fish goes wherever Alison does: in an alcove at the restaurant; in a tote bag on the subway; in her room at night as her roommates chatter outside. She knows she has to keep her safe from the world, the way she didn't before. She knows that, together, they will never be lonely again. But as Alison's new life in New York begins to grow, and as she navigates the murky waters of dating, friendship, and desire, she must ask: what if her sister is keeping her away from a life outwardly lived?

Extinction Capital of the World: Stories by Mariah Rigg

In ten vibrant, affecting stories, Mariah Rigg immerses readers in contemporary Hawai’i. By turns heartbreaking and hopeful, these stories of love, longing, and grief are fierce dispatches from a state haunted by the specter of colonization, a precious biome under constant threat. An older man grapples with the American-weapons research conducted on a neighboring island that reverberates through his entire life. A pregnant woman seeks belonging while poaching flowers in the rainforest with her partner’s mother. Two teenage girls find love during a summer spent on Midway Atoll. A young woman returns home to O’ahu following a breakup and reconnects with her estranged father and the island itself. Linked by both place and character, Rigg’s stories illuminate the exotification and commodification of Hawai’i in the American mythos. Extinction Capital of the World is an environmental love letter to the Hawaiian Islands and an indelible portrayal of the people who inhabit them—marking the arrival of an exciting new voice in contemporary fiction.

Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle

Four years ago, an unthinkable disaster occurred. In what was later known as the Low-Probability Event, eight million people were killed in a single day, each of them dying in improbable, bizarre ways: strangled by balloon ropes, torn apart by exploding manhole covers, attacked by a chimpanzee wielding a typewriter. A day of freak accidents that proved anything is possible, no matter the odds. Luck is real now, and it's not always good. Vera, a former statistics and probability professor, lost everything that day, and she still struggles to make sense of the unbelievable catastrophe. To her, the LPE proved that the God of Order is dead and nothing matters anymore. When Special Agent Layne shows up on Vera’s doorstep, she learns he's investigating a suspiciously—and statistically impossibly—lucky casino. He needs her help to prove the casino’s success is connected to the deaths of millions, and it's Vera's last chance to make sense of a world that doesn’t. Because what's happening in Vegas isn't staying there, and she's the only thing that stands between the world and another deadly improbability.

The Sunflower Boys by Sam Wachman

In many ways, twelve-year-old Artem’s life in Chernihiv, Ukraine, is normal. He spends his days helping on his grandfather’s sunflower farm, drawing in his sketchbook—a treasured gift from his father, who works in America—and swimming in the river with his little brother, Yuri. In secret, Artem has begun wrestling with romantic feelings for his best friend, Viktor. In a country where love between two boys is unthinkable, Artem has begun to worry that growing up, his life will never be normal. Then, on a February night, Artem and Yuri are woken by explosions—the beginning of a war that will tear their life in two. The invading Russians destroy their home, killing their mother and grandfather, and leaving young Artem and Yuri to fend for themselves. Fleeing in hopes of somehow reuniting with their father, the brothers traverse the country their ancestors once fought and died for, with nothing but their backpacks and each other. Surrounded by death and destruction, Artem is certain of one thing—that whatever may come, he must keep himself and his brother alive.

The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seon-Ran and Gene Png (trans.)

When four isolated elderly people die back-to-back at the same hospital by jumping out of the sixth-floor window, Su-Yeon doesn't understand why she's the only one at her precinct that seems to care. But her colleagues at the police force dismiss the case as a series of unfortunate suicides due to the patients' loneliness. But Su-Yeon doesn't have the privilege of looking away: her dearest friend, Grandma Eun-Shim, lives on the sixth floor, and Su-Yeon is terrified that something will happen to her next. As Su-Yeon begins her investigation alone, she runs into a mysterious woman named Violette at the crime scene. Violette claims to be a vampire hunter, searching for her ex-lover, Lily, and is insistent that a vampire is behind the mysterious deaths. Su-Yeon is skeptical at first, but when a fifth victim jumps from the window, her investigation reveals the body was completely drained of blood. Desperate to discover the cause of the deaths, Su-Yeon considers Violette's explanation-that something supernatural is involved.

Sweetener by Marissa Higgins

In Sweetener, recently separated wives, both named Rebecca, can’t seem to disentangle their lives. Lonely and depressed, Rebecca is scraping by as a part-time cashier at an organic grocery store. Despite having less than ten dollars in her bank account, she lists herself as a sugar mama on a lesbian hookup app. Enter Charlotte, a charismatic artist who, unbeknownst to Rebecca, is also dating her wife. Meanwhile, the other Rebecca, a newly sober doctoral student, has renewed her efforts to foster a child. The catch? Because the Rebeccas are still legally married, she needs her wife to attend parenting classes with her as part of the approval process. Neither of them asks whether this means they’re getting back together, but the idea alone sends Charlotte into a tailspin. As Charlotte navigates her desire for each Rebecca—or her desire for attention—her world becomes more and more Gumby-like and surreal. It doesn’t help that she’s been wearing a fake pregnancy belly to all of her dates, and only one of the Rebeccas knows it isn’t real.

Three Parties by Ziyad Saadi

Firas Dareer wakes up on his twenty-third birthday with a sense of purpose: today he’ll jump from a Stage 3 to a Stage 6 in his self-determined Coming Out Scale, professing his sexuality to a captive audience of immediate and extended family, friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and neighbours. But despite the meticulously designed invitations, carefully chosen place settings and floral centerpieces, painstakingly curated playlist, and agonizingly fretted-over menu, factors begin to spin out of his control. Threatening to thwart his big moment are his younger brother, whose mental fragility requires him to be monitored at all times; his cantankerous grandfather, who’s just completed his third escape from the retirement home; the Dareers’ embittered housekeeper (and Firas’s arch nemesis), who could scoop the story before he gets the chance; his harried boss, who on this of all days calls him into work at the architecture firm, where his colleagues share a talent for butchering his name; and his mother, whose accidental text message may have blown the cover of an illicit extra-marital affair. There’s also the fact that Firas too has found himself in a love triangle of sorts, choosing between soft and steady Tyrese and fiery Kashif, who makes a sport out of demonstrating how Palestinian he is. As the future Firas has precisely architected for himself slips further out of his grasp, the past comes crashing in like a wrecking ball. 

Toni and Addie Go Viral by Melissa Marr

Hot new author and her lead actress stun fans in a secret wedding—is it all a publicity stunt? Or something more… On a whim—and hoping to pay off the hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt her grifter father left behind—Victorian history professor Toni Darbyshire sells her lesbian detective novel in a massive deal. Suddenly thrust into the overwhelming new world of publishing, plus a television adaptation, Toni’s life gets even more complicated when her one-night stand turned pen pal (and the namesake for her main character) shows up in person for casting of the show. Aspiring actress Addie’s had a crush on the professor ever since she watched her lectures on the Victorian era to prep for a stage role. Now, getting cast in Toni’s TV series could be her big break. But Addie’s in over her head when promo pictures of their fake Victorian wedding go viral. She could lose more than just her heart … and her historically accurate underthings.

Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders

Jamie is basically your average New England academic in-training--she has a strong queer relationship, an esoteric dissertation proposal, and inherited generational trauma. But she has one extraordinary secret: she's also a powerful witch. Serena, Jamie's mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. All she has left are memories. Jamie’s busy digging into a three-hundred-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn't know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago, and those secrets are leading Serena down a destructive path. Now it's up to this grad student and literature nerd to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic, before her mother ruins both of their lives.

Goat Magic by Kate Wheeler

Trill, a spirited goat herder with a unique ability to communicate with her flock, yearns for a life beyond mountain pastures. Her “goat magic” feels common compared to the sorcery taught in the city’s prestigious magic schools, which are off-limits to her. Meanwhile, Princess Alya, known as the “Ordinary Princess” and heir to the kingdom of Capeya, doubts her own royal potential. Their worlds collide when an assassination attempt on the queen leaves Alya cursed to transform into a black goat each sunrise. Seeking refuge in Trill's goat herd, Alya discovers her new friend's hidden talent is her only hope to break the spell. Together, they embark on a perilous journey back to the castle, facing treacherous foes and uncovering a web of betrayal and rebellion. As Alya battles to reclaim her throne and restore order to Capeya, the girls discover a deep connection, their shared experiences forging an unbreakable bond. When Alya comes face to face with the ones who betrayed her, will she have what it takes to take back the crown and rule an unstable kingdom? Will Trill find confidence in her magic and the growing affection she has for her friend?

Marisol Acts the Part by Elle Gonzalez Rose

Actress Marisol Polly-Rodriguez might be entering her flop era. After wrapping up a hit show, she’s neither booked nor busy. Not to mention, her former costar turned boyfriend, Miles, recently dumped her for being an “unserious” performer. Can you imagine? To prove to Miles—and online trolls—that she takes her craft very seriously, Marisol lands a role on the same upcoming drama series he does. But with the eccentric director constantly rewriting her lines and a snobby castmate trying to upstage her, Marisol quickly realizes that her hope of nabbing an award nomination might be a pipe dream. The only person she doesn’t have to put on a performance for is the show’s leading lady, Jamila. Marisol hasn’t been able to look away from her since their first audition. Falling for Jamila wasn’t part of Marisol’s plan, but even the most dedicated actors go off script sometimes, right?

Leaving the Station by Jake Maia Arlow

Zoe’s life has gone off the rails. When she left Seattle to go to college in New York, she was determined to start fresh, to figure out what being a lesbian meant to her, to experiment with clothes and presentation away from home for the first time. Instead, she lost touch with her freshman orientation friend group, skipped classes, and failed completely at being the studious premed student her parents wanted her to be. But the biggest derailment of all? Her newly minted ex-boyfriend—and the fact that she had a boyfriend to begin with. When she met Alden, he made her feel wanted, he made her feel free. He made her feel . . . like she could be like him, which was exciting and confusing all at once. So, Zoe decides a second fresh start is in order: She’s going to take a cross-country train from New York to Seattle for fall break. There, no one will know who she is, and she can outrun her mistakes. Or so she thinks until she meets Oakley, who’s the opposite of Zoe in so many ways: effortlessly cool and hot, smart, self-assured. But as Zoe and Oakley make their way across the country, Zoe realizes that Oakley’s life has also gone off the rails—and that they might just be able to help each other along before that train finally leaves the station.

Want a previously published book showcased? Let me know! The given work must: 1) be written by a self-identified member of the LGBTQ+ community, 2) be published within the last five years, 3) has not yet appeared on the ICYMI list, and 4) wasn't included in the Anticipated Books section within the last three months. All genres and independently-published works welcome.

Disclosure: I'm an affiliate of Bookshop.org. Any purchase through my storefront supports local bookstores and earns me a commission. Win-win!

So What If I'm a Puta: Diaries of Transness, Sex Work, Desire by Amara Moira, Amanda De Lisio (trans.), Bruna Dantas Lobato (trans.), and Charlotte Shane (trans.)

So What If I'm a Puta, originally published on author Amara Moira's popular blog of the same name, consists of 44 crônicas that wryly portray her experiences as a trans sex worker in Brazil. In a brazen, funny, and at times heartbreaking voice, Moira explores the political and personal textures of her encounters with the men who buy sex from her, and the complex reality of her labor of a sort of love. Woven through Moira's essays are reflections on transition, safe sex, desire, whorephobia, consent--in the grim context of Brazil's record rates of violence against trans women. Ultimately, Moira writes to center trans sex workers in Brazil's putafeminist movement, modeling a feminism that envisions inclusivity, safety, self-determination, and joy for us all.

Bi Women Quarterly: Allies & Accomplices

• What: "What does it mean to you to be an ally or an accomplice? What are meaningful ways that people have shown allyship and accompliceship to you or to the bi+ community on a large scale or individual level? How do you wish people could show up? How have you practiced allyship and accompliceship for others, and does your experience as a bi+ person impact the way you do so? In a time where solidarity feels more essential than ever, we’re looking to hear about ways to show up in support for others, whether they be loved ones, strangers, organizations, or in any other form."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: August 1st, 2025

Wayfarer Books Radical Authenticity Prize for Trans & Non-binary Writers

• What: "This prize is open to those who identify within the Transgender, Non-binary, and Gender non-conforming spectrum. This prize is open to works of poetry, creative nonfiction, memoirs, and essay collections. (No fiction, please.) While we welcome all themes—especially those that highlight the experiences of marginalized communities—the material/themes of your entry do not need to be about the transgender/non-binary experience to be eligible."
• Fee: $20
• Pay: "We pay authors anywhere from 8-12% of the list price on print; 25% on eBook; 25% on Audiobook."
• Deadline: October 1st, 2025

Print Production Manager for Foglifter Journal

• What: "The Print Production Manager collaborates with the production assistant and the web team to design print publications. They liaise with print/digital contributors, managing publication content; procuring bios, contracts, final agreements from contributors; and confirming final versions of pieces with contributors. They manage the copy-editing of print publications and work with our copy-editor. A portion of this role also requires working with the managing editor and current Start A Riot! winner by producing the annual print chapbook."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $5,000/year
• Deadline: October 2nd, 2025

Snowflake Magazine: The Disability Issue

• What: "Snowflake Magazine is a LGBTQIA+ collaboration and networking initiative spearheaded by a quarterly arts and literature magazine. Our goal is to showcase the incredible talent of the LGBTQIA+ community, provide a platform to boost the often overlooked work of smaller queer creators, and help connect artists and writers in the community we cultivate."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: £15
• Deadline: Unknown

The Linden Review: Special LGBTQIA & BIPOC Issue

• What: "Send us your very best creative nonfiction on ANY topic and with a maximum word count of 2500. We are interested in hearing from LGBTQIA and BIPOC writers. "
• Fee: $0
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: Unknown

Sinister Wisdom: Barbie: the Movie

• What: "In this special issue, Sinister Wisdom will explore lesbians' reactions to Barbie: The Movie. How do we voice the joy and gratitude of this cultural moment where lesbian lives and lesbian culture is expressed in the movie with a major musical plotline from the Indigo Girls and two out dykes with major roles in this movie, now the highest grossing movie in Warner Brothers' history? What else do we think and feel about this cultural moment? Were you expecting to feel deeply personally touched by Barbie? What was a special scene that reflects your dyke life? Were you surprised or shocked by your reaction to the film? How do we understand Barbie's continuing life and its relationship to lesbians and lesbian culture?"
• Fee: $0
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: TBD

Bookish Brews

• What: "Bookish Brews accepts multiple types of submissions including essays, themed reading lists, and book reviews. I’m not limited. Below you can find a description of what I’m looking for. Bookish Brews’ mission is to highlight the voices of the global majority in literature and therefore I am specifically looking for submissions from diverse voices. I want to do what I can to help get your words published in the online space and help you gain a published piece under your belt."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: rolling

CVNT Magazine

• What: "Here at CVNT, as in life, we resist easy answers. We resist simple definitions. We reject false divisions of sex & gender deemed 'immutable biological reality' by servants of patriarchy, wealth, & white supremacy. We invite the multitudinous: the girls not picked, the razor-burned adventurers, the panicked first-time doubter, the well-tucked veteran, the post-op princess. In short, CVNT exists for the solicitation, exhibition, advancement, & support of transfeminine writers. With so many voices, laws, & weapons raised in ignorance, hatred, or mistruth against transfeminine people, binary trans women, & genderqueer folks, it’s time we had our own 'protected space.'"
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $0
• Deadline: rolling

Afternoon Visitor

• What: "Afternoon Visitor was founded in the spring of 2020 in Iowa City. We are an online biannual publication of poetry, hybrid text, visual poetry, and visual art. We’re looking for accidental visitors, harbingers, and spectres. We’re particularly interested in giving space to trans + queer writers in every issue and presenting work from established and emerging writers. We welcome experimental work, long form poetry, and sequences."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $0
• Deadline: rolling

Rough Cut Press

• What: "We seek work of all genres by writers from the LGBTQIA community. We do not define or gatekeep what it means to be a queer writer: if you think your work belongs here, then it belongs here. To get a sense of what we publish please read some of our former issues. We don’t know what we like until we see it. Each month we announce a different theme, but don’t worry if the work you submit doesn’t quite fit: we often build issues and themes around work that takes us by surprise."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $25
• Deadline: rolling

Screen Door Review

• What: "Screen Door Review is a triannual literary magazine that publishes poetry and flash fiction authored by individuals belonging to the southern queer (lgbtq) community of the United States. The purpose of the magazine is to provide a platform of expression to those whose identities—at least in part—derive from the complicated relationship between queer person and place. Specifically, queer person and the South. Through publication, we aim to not only express, but also validate and give value to these voices, which are oftentimes overlooked, undermined, condemned, or silenced."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: rolling

AC|DC: A Journal for the Bent

• What: "AC|DC currently publishes new short fiction or creative nonfiction by LGBTQIA+ authors on Tuesdays. AC|DC is always open for submissions. Take a look at what’s on the site to decide if your work might be a good fit. We have a preference for the dark and raw but are open to all."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $0
• Deadline: rolling

The Bitchin' Kitsch

• What: "The B’K is a quarterly art and lit, online and printed magazine prioritizing traditionally marginalized creators, but open to all."
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $10
• Deadline: rolling

Bella Books Call for Submissions

• What: "At Bella Books, we believe stories about women-loving-women are essential to our lives—and so do our readers. We are interested in acquiring manuscripts that tell captivating and unique stories across all genres—including romance, mystery, thriller, paranormal, etc. We want our books to reflect and celebrate the diversity of our lesbian, sapphic, queer, bisexual, and gender non-conforming community—in all our glorious shapes, sizes and colors. Our desire to publish diverse voices is perennial. We don’t want to tell your stories for you—we want to amplify your voices....We publish romance, mystery, action/thriller, science-fiction, fantasy, erotica and general fiction. At this time, we are particularly interested in acquiring romance manuscripts."
• Fee: N/A
• Pay: N/A
• Deadline: rolling

Baest Journal

• What: Baest Journal, "a journal of queer forms and affects," seeks to publish work by queer writers and artists.
• Fee: $0
• Pay: $0
• Deadline: rolling

This Queer Online Zine Can Only Be Read Via an Ancient Internet Protocol

by Janus Rose

Like any other zine, New Session features user-submitted poems, essays, and other text-based art. But the philosophy behind each of its digital pages is anything but orthodox.

“In the face of right-wing politics, climate change, a forever pandemic, and the ever-present hunger of imperialist capitalism, we have all been forced to adapt,” reads the intro to New Session’s third issue, titled Adaptations, which was released earlier this month. “Both you and this issue will change with each viewing. Select a story by pressing the key associated with it in the index. Read it again. Come back to it tomorrow. Is it the same? Are you?”

The digital zine is accessible on the web via a browser-based Telnet client, or if you’re a purist like me, via the command line. As the intro promises, each text piece changes—adapts—depending on various conditions, like what time of day you access it or how many times you’ve viewed it. Some pieces change every few minutes, while others update every time a user looks at it, like gazing at fish inside a digital aquarium.

To Combat Summer Reading Slumps, This Timeless Children’s Television Show Tried to Bridge the Literacy Gap With the Magic of Stories

by Kayla Randall

[Ryan] Lintelman says plenty of research confirms that, when students come back to school in the fall, teachers need to take some time to bring them back up to speed to the levels of literacy and reading comprehension that they were at when they ended the previous school year. “Reading Rainbow” was made to bridge this reading gap for children and improve their reading skills—and to be a show that kids wanted to watch.

It was known that kids were watching TV all summer, Lintelman says, “So why not do something with it?”

On each half-hour episode of “Reading Rainbow,” [LeVar] Burton introduced the real-world subject matter of a children’s book through field trips, from going to the barbershop to visiting an orchestra in a concert hall, and then the book itself was read by a performer. Ruby Dee, Helen Mirren, Keith David, Ed Harris, Gregory Hines, Jeff Bridges and Pete Seeger are just a few of the actors and musicians who graced the show with their voices. The chosen books are childhood staples, such as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff, Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman and Stellaluna by Janell Cannon. The program mixes the calm, steady presence of Burton with the warmth and coziness of getting wrapped up in a book. And at the end of the show, kids review books they’ve read.

For over two decades, the show achieved its goal of not only reading to kids, but also making kids want to read. In 1997, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting released a study about the use of television and video in classroom instruction. Current, a news outlet covering public media, reported that “teachers responding to the survey rated public TV programs as the best they’d used for educational purposes in 1996-97. ‘Reading Rainbow’ was named by a higher percentage of teachers than any other program.”