Queer Books and Authors are at a Breaking Point

I’ve noticed a trend in the news stories coming out about queer books and authors: it’s clear that five years of unrelenting and escalating censorship has brought us to a breaking point. It’s not sustainable for authors, librarians, and teachers to endure years of anti-LGBTQ abuse. It’s becoming harder to get queer books published, harder to sell queer books, and harder to make a living doing it—especially when it comes to queer kidlit and YA. For queer authors of color and other multiply marginalized people, the pressure is even more intense. There’s no sign of this slowing down, either: a national “Don’t Say Trans” bill just passed the House. The fight for queer books badly needs reinforcements.

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School Library Journal published an article called “Are LGBTQIA+ Voices Being Pushed Out of Kid Lit?” that includes interviews with authors and agents describing how publishers have stopped acquiring “diverse” books or dramatically reduced their numbers.

For queer books that have already been published, sales have cratered. Small publishers focusing on diverse books have seen their sales to libraries and schools drop by 50%. Jason Low, co-owner of the publisher Lee & Low Books, said, “Our salespeople have told us that books that feature a rainbow on the cover, even if the rainbow has nothing to do with a Pride flag, are being omitted from orders.”

Children’s book authors often depend on school visits for a good portion of their income, and writers of queer books have reported that those invites have dried up almost entirely. Adib Khorram, who writes award-winning queer YA novels, reported that his royalties dropped by 70% amidst increased censorship of queer books, and other queer authors have seen their titles go out of print after 10+ years of success.

Authors and editors also described self-censoring—some have stopped writing or editing queer books in anticipation of them being challenged.

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Authors, agents, publishers: every part of the industry is seeing the strain. Literary agent Rebecca Podos told The Hill, “This is the first year in like a decade that I’ve had [rejection] responses from editors specifically citing that it’s difficult to place queer books in stores, and they’re being selective about acquiring queer stories.”

Literary agent Jim McCarthy had a similar experience, saying,

“I did have an editor pass on a project and specifically say that in the face of so many book bans and so much concern about decreasing school library sales of queer content that they were passing on a because they didn’t believe there would be enough of a market for them to have access.

This really feels like it’s been the first backwards step in terms of publishing worrying that they can’t access enough readers because of sort of broad cultural concerns about queer content. I can’t imagine that five or ten years ago, I would have received a response like the one I received.”

Author and LGBTQ Reads creator Dahlia Adler notes that publishers are stepping back from queer books because of the risk of bans. She’s been tracking queer book deal announcements in Publishers Weekly for many years, and they’ve been declining. Even when queer books are acquired, the language used in the announcements is often coded, obscuring the queer representation. Adler sees this chilling effect of publishers hiding the queer content in books as a result of the Trump administration.

Publishers have also seen wholesalers—who acquire books from publishers and sell them to libraries and bookstores—shy away from books with LGBTQ content. This has hit publishers of diverse children’s literature, like Levine Querido, particularly hard, because their business model has previously relied heavily on these wholesalers.

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So many of the people fighting for queer representation in books, especially in YA and children’s books, are running on fumes. The librarians, teachers, authors, agents, and publishers who have been pushing back against anti-trans and anti-queer censorship for years on end are tired.

They’ve put their livelihoods at risk. Some have lost their jobs, and many others have had their income drop significantly. They’ve endured bigotry, doxxing, and death threats. And there’s no sign of this wave of book banning and bigotry abating any time soon.

I have no doubt that queer writers will continue to find a way to get their stories into the world. What’s needed, though, is reinforcements: new people to step up as queer lit advocates. There are so many ways you can join the fight, including attending school board and library board meetings, running for office, joining anticensorship groups, calling your state representatives, correcting misinformation, and so much more. Here are 60+ small tasks you can do to defend the freedom to read.

The fight continues, but so does the queer joy of our stories. I keep track of new releases to feature in Our Queerest Shelves, and every week, I’m blown away by how many incredible queer books are coming out. Meanwhile, queer bookstores continue to open across the U.S., offering queer community, mutual aid, political organizing, and a sober gathering space. (And you can help fund this Black trans-owned bookstore in the Hudson Valley now!)

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So, whether you’re just joining the fight now or have been here for years, in this weekend before Pride Month, take a moment to read a joyful queer book. Think about the queer books you wish you could give your younger self—the ones that would have saved you so much pain and confusion. Now, start planning: how can you make sure this generation of kids and teens has access to those life-saving books?

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Kelly Jensen is out this week, so I’m filling in for the Literary Activism newsletter. It will be back to its usual format, including the link roundup of censorship news, when she returns!