It occurred to me that it’s been forever since I updated y’all on the writerly goings-on in my world. Not because there’s nothing happening. Quite the contrary, actually. My world is abuzz with activity.
First, I left Bold Strokes Books. Now, before anyone gets all excited about what that might mean, let me reassure you that everything is fine. Bold Strokes is still a great publisher, and I’m still thankful to them for the fabulous foundation they helped me lay for my career in publishing.
I’d thought I would try my hand at self-publishing. Lots of authors are taking that route, and the higher royalty rate certainly sounds appealing. In fact, self-publishing was the reason I left Bold Strokes initially. But then this other thing happened…
Astrid Ohletz, all-round fabulous person and owner of Ylva Publishing, offered me a job. Want to see how cool I am? Click on this magic link! Look, that’s me listed as Operations Director US. Sounds super fancy, doesn’t it? And I know it’s real because I have business cards to prove it.
An Operations Director does a lot of cool stuff. One of my favorites is planning and organizing events. Ylva has a pretty full calendar for 2016. Here’s a brief overview:
Rainbow Book Fair – in April, several Ylva authors will be on hand at the Rainbow Book Fair in New York City for author readings and signings, and we’ll even have an Ylva vendor table where folks can come by and say hi, pick up a book or two, get their swag on, and just hang out and be cool with all things Ylva.
Golden Grown Literary Conference – How many of y’all are planning to attend GCLS in DC this year? I’ll be there, along with a full company of my Ylva colleagues, including Jae, Andi Marquette, RG Emanuelle, JD Glass, Cheri Crystal, Cindy Rizzo, and Michelle Teichman. We’ll take part in the panels (schedule forthcoming) and we’ll have a vendor table where you can come by and say hi!
As a bonus, we’ll be holding a raffle. Two people will be selected to join us for the Ylva author and associate dinner. We’ll let you know the details as we get closer to July.
Gay Romance Northwest Meet-Up – In September, we’ll be in Seattle, WA for GRNW. If you live in the Northwest (or you just really like to visit), come out and see us. This is a great event that is held at the downtown branch of the Seattle Library. It’s worth it just to get to see the building. Overall, this is a nice event that features a mix of intimate-sized chats, up to auditorium-style panel discussions. There’s also an author meet and greet.
Women’s Week – October. Provincetown. Lesbians. Need I say more?
GaymerX (GX) – In December, we’ll be in San Jose, CA for GaymerX. In fact, I’ll be there in about a month-along with author Blythe Rippon-to scout the event. If you’re in the bay area and want to say hi, send me an email. We’ll grab a bite.
And, of course, we’ll be hitting up several pride events all over the country. Look for us, along with the folks from Curve magazine, in NYC, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, plus a handful more that are still being decided upon. If you have a request, let me know!
Wow. It looks like I’m really busy. I’ll be back another day to tell y’all about what I’ve got going on in terms of writing and publishing. Until then, I leave you with a link to the fabulous Ylva releases for the month of November. Included among them are books from my good friends Andi Marquette and Gill McKnight. Go get you some!
