Yes to Gay YA

Rachel Manija Brown (rachelmanija) and Sherwood Smith (sartorias) have an important essay up at Publishers Weekly, Say Yes to Gay YA, where they recount how an agent offered them representation for a YA novel on the condition that they either straighten a gay point-of-view character, or remove him from the book entirely.

You can read the details there, as well as suggestions for how to put an end to this kind of thing. You can do the same on Rachel's journal, if you prefer LJ, but the PW post includes a mechanism for posting anonymously, if you'd prefer that. They're particularly interested in hearing from any authors who have experienced similar pushback from agents or editors, so as to explore just how widespread the problem is. The reader-side viewpoint is also valuable, to help prove there is an audience for these books.

If you're on Twitter, the hashtag is #YesGayYA.

Strange Horizons fund drive

Strange Horizons is conducting its annual fund drive (which is a major component of how they can afford to pay their authors pro rates). If you donate, you'll be eligible to win one of a number of nifty prizes; that list there is only the tip of the iceberg, with more being added throughout the month. (Including, yes, a few of my own books. :-) But they're the least of what's on offer.)

SH publishes a lot of high-quality short fiction, so go forth and donate!