About this project

As evidenced by contributors to the YouTube campaign, life in the gay world does get better.  But, wouldn't it be nice if gay-positive literature could help change minds before circumstances ever got bad in the first place?  

Our mission

With your support, The Gay Publishing Company—and, by the way, when we say gay, we are using the word's older generic form of inclusion, to mean all levels and variations of queerness: gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT / LGBT) persons, as well as intersex and transitional and questioning individuals—will be an English-language publishing company (at least, for now) whose goal will be to get positive, reinforcing, gay-supportive literature into the hands of readers who want and need it, as well as a mainstream audience of readers who might just become potential allies. 

We will solicit gay-themed  leisure-intended  literary  writings, couple those writings with appropriate illustrations, and then promote those works to readers and other supporters all around the globe. Our efforts will feature the use of

• our magazine,
• our online Raw Collection and the social community surrounding it, and
• our other print and digital publications.

We are also planning a variety of additional activities (for example, puzzles and teasers based on our own collections, notes on gay literary and publishing history, and a "Wacky Wiki Story"—or two), as well as a couple of nonprofit outreach programs: an author scholarship fund and a "Teaching Acceptance" program—both are key components in our total mission.

Why does the world need a gay publisher?

Over the years, as theGayEditor, I noticed that many of the gay-themed pieces I edited with clients simply disappeared, without ever being published—and, these vanishing acts did not always happen by the author's choice. Sure, some of the authors were solely writing for fun, others only for family and friends, and a few just to get something off their chests. But many tried submitting to traditional publishing houses, only to be rejected for having written "inappropriate content!"

A few years ago, I met a woman who had crafted a wonderfully written full-length relationship novel—about a lesbian couple. After shopping the manuscript around for a couple of years to traditional publishing houses and considering self-publishing the book (an option, yes, but one with expensive upfront costs), she seemed stuck. After more research and more queries and more submissions, she did finally stumble across a cautious and reserved but willing publisher of books for "alternative" markets. The book is now selling well, and the publisher is somewhat eagerly, but only a little less warily, awaiting the author's next project. Sadly, her story is not the exception, but more the norm.

The bottom line is, we, at The Gay Publishing Company, don't think anyone should need to worry about the gay or lesbian themes of thoughts, feelings, and dreams in a story they've written—especially not on top of all the everyday obstacles to getting published.  Our aim, then, once we get started, will be to provide a place where gay-oriented literary expressions can be collected, published, enjoyed, and promoted.

Sure, some day we may no longer serve a purpose; some day, a utopia will surround us that is not biased, not prejudiced, and not judgmental, a world in which we all treat each other equally and respectfully . . . But, until that day comes, instead of holding your breath, you go ahead and write and we'll be here to serve you—to help get your thoughts and dreams and words to a special category of audience.

A short history of The Gay Publishing Company

Believe it or not, we've already accomplished a lot!  While theGayEditor has been practicing his craft under the guise of the-freelance-editor for several years, The Gay Publishing Company only came into existence in the fall of 2007, shortly after meeting the woman I mentioned earlier. At that time, I gathered a few friends to bounce initial ideas off of, formed an advisory group made up of novice and experienced authors and a variety of readers, and posted a Web site and a blog. To our pleasant surprise, we were discovered almost immediately and within a matter of weeks had gathered our first submissions and several queries. We felt confident that we'd found a niche that needed us and sought out some investors to back up our dreams.

Then, the economy sank.

In spite of cutbacks and eliminations, we've struggled to pay the bills and keep the dream of a gay publishing company alive.  And, in the meantime, we've also met some additional milestones:

• We continued to build up an initial and slowly but steadily growing
  subscriber base—even without a publicity budget.
• We received submissions from hundreds of writers, in a multitude of
  countries and—believe it or not—on every continent!  (yes, even that cold one)
• We created profiles and pages on most of the major social networking sites.
• We built our own online social community and initiated our Raw Collection of unedited excerpts.
• We refined our business plan, incorporated, and laid the groundwork for
  our nonprofit endeavors, our author scholarship fund and our "Teaching
  Acceptance" program.

But, most of all, because our writers, readers, and other followers have been so patient, we've been able to postpone our re-birth until we could plant our roots in a much more stable environment. With luck, this crowdfunding campaign will be the tap root that allows us to begin anew.

So, what's next?

Publication of our initial magazines is the next major step in our growth. But, we can't do that without a successful completion to this campaign.  Our magazines will not only provide the primary income we need for future phases of growth but they will also be the backbone of what makes us different from other publishers—well, except for the subject matter, that is.  You see, our magazines will feature regular, serialized installments of edited, professional quality, gay-themed writing—and we will deliver that content electronically and in physical form. 

(Publishing in serialized form was common in the 1800s as a way of delivering stories to readers. For instance, nearly all of the major works from Charles Dickens were written and published in serialized pieces before being collected later and sold as books. The Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first appeared in issues of The Strand Magazine. In addition, Jack London’s White Fang first appeared in several months of The Outing Magazine. We plan to revive this once-popular form of literary entertainment.)

However, before our first magazine comes out, we'll be busy with behind-the-scenes chores and details that are relevant to the process of publishing, in digital form, then in print. Fortunately, we'll have some help: we'll be working with those of you who can support us at the Honorary Editor levels (pledges between $249 and $999), for example, to determine the name of our magazine, to determine the best format for our publications, and to determine which submissions will make up our first rounds of content.  We'll also be utilizing some of you (at the $4,999 level) as "marketing reps" to help promote our efforts at Pride events around the country. 

But, now, it's your turn, so . . .

stop reading and start pledging!  If you have questions (or want more detail on some of our perks and rewards), head to the crowdfunding page of our main Web site, www.TheGayPublishingCompany.com.  There, we've done our best to detail how  you  can help kick-start The Gay Publishing Company and its efforts.  If you still have concerns, do not hesitate to contact us. 

Really—no, really, we  will  all win in the end.

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