Payment processors are turning out to be one of the largest and most powerful enforcers of queer censorship, especially the censorship of artistic endeavors by trans creators. Platform after platform is being coerced into removing “adult content” or risk losing access to the means of taking payments.
Adult content has always been and always will be the euphemistic term used to go after queer art, especially art by trans creatives. It doesn't matter if the art or book or movie is about two ace women in a queer-platonic relationship going to adopt a cat or if it's seven men having a twenty-four hour orgy doing some of the most taboo acts known to humanity. It's the same thing to these Christofascists. And they want it gone. Any expression of queer people being unapologetically ourselves outside of the allo-cis-het-patriarchy is verboten and must be squashed.
In 2024, trans women were leading the way in finding ways to get their art and stories into the world by putting their works on Itchio while other retailers were cracking down on queer content at the behest of investors and politicians. Following them, many other queer authors began using Itchio, finding great success in being able to authentically advertise their works and provide content notes and trigger warnings–something which often got people in trouble on Amazon and other retailers.
But in the last twenty four hours, the beautiful queer refuge that had been built fell apart. Collective Shout, an Australian “feminist” (TERF) organization, lobbied Mastercard to crack down on Itch and Steam over games it considered questionable. Beth at the Transfeminine Review has more details on how this all came to be and how it's shaking out, and I highly suggest you read everything else Beth has put together about preserving trans and queer literature in the face of mass censorship.
Now, our works are shadow-banned, de-indexed, and even suspended and removed. We had built a wonderful haven and many of us were thriving in it, especially with themed bundles and generous tippers.
The digital landscape is ever-shifting. When giants like Twitter can fall in the span of months after standing tall for over a decade as a mainstay of the internet, you can be certain that the only thing that is certain on the internet is change.
And this means changing all of your links. You’ve deleted your Twitter and Instragram, now happily ensconced on BlueSky and Mastodon, you’ve left Goodreads behind and can now be found on StoryGraph, you’ve deleted your Substack and now set up shop on Ghost.io! Your newsletter is now hosted on Buttondown after some steep price hikes at Mailchimp. Amazing! But…
You released that book in 2019 and it’s been sitting on someone’s shelf since then, waiting for that reader to make their way through the other 600 books ahead of yours on their to-be-read list. And finally, in March of The Year of Our Luigi 2025, they pick it up. With a fervency yet unseen in any reader, they devour it completely. They are obsessed. You are their new favorite author. They get to the last page, where you lovingly laid out all of your links complete with little social media icons. They type in your Twitter address, knowing that it’s now ‘X’ and making the URL substitution for you. But the account is gone. They try your instagram address. Vanished. Substack? Gone as if it never existed. Ok! But your newsletter MUST still be there! But the mailchimp address they type in brings up a 404. Your page is still there on Goodreads, at least. But it hasn’t had any updates since 2021…
Where, oh new favorite author, are you? They wonder. How will they get all the bonus content you promised them would be on you Substack? And you mentioned exclusive cover reveals on your insta but it’s gone! And how can they join your ARC team if they can’t even find your newsletter? All of those links you provided so you could stay connected and they are all dead, shiveled on the dying vine of tech companies abandoning their core users in favor of ads!
I’ve done some digging into the numbers, and the latest I can find for the breakdown of authors that have their ebooks exclusive to Amazon vs authors who are widely available on multiple platforms is hard to pin down. But the most recent numbers I have been able to find point to it being roughly equal. Written Word Media places it around 37% of indie authors have their ebooks exclusively in Amazon and 34% make their ebooks widely available. The secret third thing being authors who have some books exclusive and some widely available. These numbers are for 2023. I do remember being part of the survey for 2024 but I cannot find the results of that yet.
But you, dear reader, have decided you do not want to purchase from Amazon. This is entirely your choice to make. You, as a consumer, buyer, and reader, have the right to choose where your money goes. You are not a bad person for refusing to buy any products on Amazon. You aren’t stealing food from someone’s table, you aren’t forcing someone into homelessness because you have decided your hard-earned money is better spent elsewhere. Only a third of indie authors have all of their eggs in the Amazon basket. The majority of independent authors have chosen to make some or all of their ebooks available elsewhere. And the authors who have chosen to divest themselves of Amazon are just as deserving of your support as those who have chosen to be Amazon-exclusive. Those authors also have tables that need food and physical bodies that require protection from the elements.
There’s an amazing sale going on today! Over 150 books of the sapphic / lesbian variety for free or $0.99! I’ve found some great fantasy and scifi reads among them! And of course, my book STARS AND SOIL, is one of them!
I can’t seem to sit still. Earlier this week, I launched the Queer Book Weekly newsletter/blog to promote queer books across the genre spectrum. But today, I’m getting back to my spec-fic roots. There are two reading challenges taking place this year that I am participating in: Jae’s Sapphic Book Bingo and IHeartSapphFic’s Sapphic Reading Challenge.
Every year, Wraithmarked Publishing hosts a “megasale” on the r/fantasy subreddit. All of the books are available either for free or $0.99. What makes it extra special is that all authors in the sale agree to make a donation to Mary Cariola Center, a base minimum of $10 plus a certain percentage of the royalties earned on the days of the sale. There are over 500 books in the sale this year, which can make it a little hard to find the ones that you would enjoy.
Here is my recommendation for the books you MUST check out! Most of them are fantasy books that include LGBTQIA characters, but I couldn't help but include a few standouts in other genres! In no particular order. I've also included links to purchase physical copies on Bookshop.org or the author's direct store; while I can't guarantee that the paperbacks of these books will be discounted, I know some of y'all want those paperbacks no matter what! By shopping at Bookshop.org, you are supporting independent bookshops everywhere.
2024 was an interesting year for me. I had a great start to the year, but chronic illness bit me in the butt for the last quarter of it. But no worries! It meant I had plenty of time to read!
I read a lot more this year than I did last year, where I had spent a lot of the year in a reading slump or unable to read due to migraines. Thank goodness my local library has Libby and carries both ebooks and audiobooks!
I re-read some old favorites like the Demons of the House of Hua (Amazon, Kobo, Itchio) and I always read Howl’s Moving Castle (Amazon, Kobo), The Ghost Bride (Amazon, Kobo), and Uprooted (Amazon, Kobo). It wouldn’t be a year ending in a number if I didn’t re-read at least a few of my favorites.
But I want to take a moment to shout out some of my favorite new-to-me reads!
As I was putting together this list, I realized it’s got a lot of darker fantasy books on it, as well as a lot of vampires (I actually read three other vampire books that didn’t make this list)! Maybe next year, I will try the cozy fantasy speed-run just because the year itself is looking pretty dark, and I might need something a little lighter. Who knows!
I don’t know if this post will go out before or after my post about my favorite reads of the year. I wrote that post and included The Hatchling also by Vyria Durav and I held myself to a promise that I would only include one book per author for the sake of my sanity and word count. But this book also deserves a huge shout out despite coming out after I had done my 2024 Favorite Books list.
The time has come! Voting is now open for a limited time for the Indie Ink Awards! This is your chance to choose your favorite indie books and have them recognized. There are over 400 books nominated. Two of my books, STARS AND SOIL and SMOKE AND STEEL received enough nominations to make it to phase two of the Indie Ink Awards.
Last year, A LAKE OF FEATHERS AND MOONBEAMS and SHADES AND SILVER both made it to the final round. A LAKE OF FEATHERS AND MOONBEAMS was a finalist for the “Writing the Future We Need: Trans and Non-binary Representation” category and SHADES AND SILVER was a finalist in the “Writing the Future We Need: Disability Representation by a Disabled Author” category.
Here are all the nominations with links to the categories so you can vote! You can only vote for one book in each category, and I've highlighted which book of mine I believe deserves the vote the most, but please use your own opinions when casting your vote.
