Homofactus Press

Over the past several weeks large, chunks of my life have revolved around contract re-negotiations, contract termination, and legal advice. These are the parts of being an author that I’m not particularly fond of; writing for a living isn’t all pink glitter and cupcake breaks (although some days I wish it were). In the past several weeks I’ve learned about some of the complexity of the publishing world that I had previously not been exposed to and come out the other side resolute in the fact that queer publishing houses are incredible and that the world needs more of them. Those of you already familiar with Homofactus Press may recognize me as the editor of the Kicked Out anthology. However I’m now also thrilled to announce that my other book GSA to Marriage: Stories of a Life Lived Queerly a collection of stories about my life is going to be published by HfP as well!

Originally, this book was going to be published by a different publisher (who shall remain nameless). We amicably parted ways, however, over some differences in opinion a few weeks ago. In some ways heartbroken I left the situation more committed than I ever had been to fully support queer publishers, not only with my money as a consumer but also as an author. As I’m writing this, part of me does worry that I will come across sounding a bit like a queer separatist. This is not my intention at all and I’d like to dispel those myths before they even begin. I fully believe that there are great publishing houses, which produce queer books although they would not conceptualize of themselves as actually being queer. That said, as a queer person, who writes queer books I believe that there is something fundamentally powerful about having those books published by a publisher who is part of the community.

One of the key reasons that I believe in supporting queer publishers is their over-all willingness to produce books that challenge societal norms regarding gender and sexuality in ways which more mainstream publishers would choose to shy away from. Being willing to take those risks truly allows for the diversity of our community to be represented in bookstores and libraries across the world. In this way the stories of trans folks, genderqueer folks, and any number of other members of the queer community whose lives are considered “deviant” or “extreme” by much of society have an outlet for their stories to be told.

A big comfort for me with professionally supporting a queer publisher comes down to something as basic as language. In the past with publishers outside of the community I honestly feared what was going to happen to my manuscript when it was in their hands. I worried that the words I very intentionally chose were going to be censored or misunderstood. This was especially true because as a genderqueer person I use the pronouns ze/hir in reference to myself, as does my partner and many other people in my life. Despite the request to place “unusual” words at the top of the manuscript with an explanation as to their meaning, I would routinely awake in the middle of the night fearing fundamental words being altered in my own book for the sake of a straight version of clarity.

For me having a queer publisher is not only a political choice in terms of wanting to support my community, and further the incredible wealth of queer books that I cut my teeth on when I was just coming out, it’s also about comfort. With a queer publisher I know that I will never be asked to defend my gender or sexuality or explain the community that I call home. Having a queer publisher brings a piece of mind that I am seen and understood and that my book will not be treated as some sort of risky oddity.