December Publishing Notes

The buzz: In January 2011, Square One Press will release Palm Trees on the Hudson: A True Story of the Mob, Judy Garland & Interior Decorating by Elliot Tiber, a prequel to the author’s Taking Woodstock.

In the Summer of 2011, Penguin will publish Sapphire's second novel, The Kid, the story of Abdul Jones, the son of Precious, the heroine of the author’s first novel, Push, as Abdul approaches manhood, alone, brutalized and with the soul of an artist.

Skyhorse Press will publish James Hormel’s Another American Dream, a memoir of the United States' first gay Ambassador, civil rights activist, and philanthropist.

Norton will publish Alysia Abbott's Fairyland, a memoir of being brought up motherless by her father, the poet Steve Abbott, in the gay, male world of 1970s San Francisco and in turn taking care of him as he dies from AIDS in the 90s.

This month Bear Bones Books will release Binding the Gods: Ursine Essays from the Mountain South by Jeff Mann.

Paul J. Bens’ debut novel Kelland is now available in multiple e-book formats through Smashwords.

Author Robert Dunbar has started Uninvited Press, which has just released Shadows: Supernatural Tales by Masters of Modern Literature.

Don Weise has announced that he is launching a new press dedicated to LGBT literature called Magnus Books. Weise was formerly of Alyson Books, Carroll & Graf, and Cleis Press. His new press plans to release 15 to 20 titles a year, fiction and nonfication.

Lambda-winning author Rakesh Satyal has been promoted to senior editor at Harper.

Philip Clark, Charles Jensen, Kim Roberts, and Dan Vera will read from the anthology Persistent Voices: Poetry by Writers Lost to AIDS on December 5 at 2 pm The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

The Publishing Triangle’s Holiday Party is Thursday, December 9 at 6:30 pm at the offices of In the Life Media in Manhattan.

Jay Blotcher and Nathan Manske will read essays from the new anthology I’m from Driftwood, December 10 at 7:30 pm at the Lesbian and Gay Center in Manhattan.

The American Library Association has added the Stonewall Children and Young Adult Literature Awards, a prize for gay and lesbian literature, to its prestigious annual awards for children’s literature, which include the renowned Caldecott and Newbery medals.

James Duggins Mid-Career Novelist Award will now be presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation.

The Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Literary Arts Festival will be April 9-11, 2011.

Issues 1 through 8 of Diseased Pariah News, the humorous magazine about HIV/AIDS published in San Francisco from 1990-1999, have been digitized and are available at the New York Public Library.

Hot Note Books, owned by Bob Cassidy and Lloyd Meeker of Miami Beach, will be taking over ASP Wholesale, a distributor of many gay and lesbian presses, when owner Bert Hermann retires at year end.

Harvey Fierstein returns to Broadway to star as Albin in the revival of La Cage aux Folles, for which he also wrote the libretto, for twelve weeks beginning Feb. 15, 2011.

A stage production based on the short stories of John Rowell, Music of Your Life, recently premiered at the Jermyn Street Theater in London.

In a recent online roundtable discussion on queer horror literature at Dark Scribe Magazine, several writers revealed their new projects. Chad Helder recently completed a book of queer horror poetry The Vampire Bridgegroom, which will be published by Dark Scribe. Vince Liaguno is finishing up edits on a non-fiction collection of essays on the slasher film genre called Butcher Knives & Body Counts and assembling, with co-editor Chad Helder, a follow up anthology to Unspeakable Horror, and completing his second novel, Final Girl, in which a criminal psychologist, a gay film historian, and a cub reporter try to stop a serial killer who’s murdering former scream queens in grisly recreations of murder set-pieces from 80’s slasher films. Robert Dunbar is putting the finishing touches on two projects. Wood, a novella, about an HIV-positive hero who helps a runaway teen battle monsters (metaphorical and otherwise) in the slums, and Willy, a novel that takes place in a boarding school for boys with emotional problems. Lee Thomas’s novella, The Black Sun Set, was just published by Burning Effigy Press out of Canada, and a small press will be releasing a second novella, Focus (co-written with Nate Southard) in time for World Horror 2011. Lethe Press will also release his next queer-themed horror novel called The German, in March of 2011. Michael Rowe will have a vampire novel coming out next fall from ChiZine Publications called Enter, Night, and is continuing to write pieces for the Huffington Post, some of which will end up in his third essay collection, forthcoming from Cormorant Books next spring.

Stephen Bottum’s Band of Thebes blog has posted its annual survey of the year’s favorite LGBT books.

Open calls: Chelsea Station Editions is seeking short stories for an upcoming anthology of gay male fiction. Stories should be about the transition from boyhood to becoming a young adult gay man, with special emphasis on the friends and events that help guide that process. Do not send erotica, personal anecdotes, or character sketches. Stories should have fully realized plots with realistic characters. Sex scenes, if included, should be integral to the story. Original and reprints will be considered. Maximum length: 8,000. Deadline is January 15, 2011. Stories can be sent as Word documents to chelseastation@yahoo.com.