From today's PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY

[desayunoencama]

Running Press is getting into the fiction market with what it sees as a unique twist in historical romance--gay fiction written by and for straight women. The idea for the line came from Running president Jon Anderson and is based on what he sees as the growing interest in M/M stories reflected in the success of such projects as Brokeback Mountain and the television series Brothers and Sisters. Anderson has acquired the first titles in the line, which will be edited by Lisa Clancy, associate editorial director. The series will launch in April with Transgressions and False Colors. Two more titles are set for fall 2009.

Running v-p and associate publisher Craig Herman said the series will be positioned as a subgenre within romance and while the books will be “erotic, they will not be hardcover explicit,” Herman explained. Running will promote the line through traditional romance outlets including advertising in Romantic Times and outreach through regional RWA chapters. Noting that the books will be shelved in the romance section rather than the erotica section, Running said the book will be “created to mirror romance novels, not gay erotica.”

####

Given how many queer presses have collapsed or been shut down lately for various reasons and how few mainstream opportunities there are for books with gay male characters and content, does this mean gay male writers are going to need to start using female pseudonyms in order to get published?

Comments

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I hope not. But there's more than a name. Of course you know that. Slash doesn't map over gay literature, but you knew that.

[mroctober.livejournal.com]

Agreed. However, there is a growing number of gay male authors who are publishing through these m/m small presses. I have not read the books but I am curious if they are adapting that slash style of romance.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Yes--would be interesting to find out.