A list of queer romance publisher alternatives to Riptide
I have been feeling really bummed and saddened over the news about Riptide, which has been my go-to fave queer small press ever since it was founded. I have spent years talking it up all over the place, and part of my frustration now is that I haven’t done more to either give a push to other queer romance publishers or actively support and familiarize myself with other queer romance publishers.
So I wanted to make this list, partly as a resource for anyone, be they author or reader, who is wondering what alternatives there are — and partly to reassure myself that other places (besides just Dreamspinner and LT3) are out there.
Please note! You can also support Riptide authors directly through other forums. Here is a Google Doc that’s tracking the list of Riptide authors and their alternate websites and Patreon accounts.
I wish this list were longer, and especially more diverse (and not just a sea of white dudes in M/M fiction). These are listed here, basically in descending order of how closely I think they adhere to or represent a transformative-fandom fannish sensibility regarding queer fiction and queer representation. Obviously opinions are my own, no one else’s, etc.
LT3 - https://lessthanthreepress.com / @lessthanthreepress — fandom-friendly queer & genderqueer romance and cross-genre fiction. (Status: Open to submissions.)
Carnation Books (I meant to include this one earlier! Thanks for pointing out the omission.) - / @carnationbooks - this is a new boutique queer romance publisher with fandom roots.
Nine Star - https://ninestarpress.com/ / @ninestarpress - boutique press, diverse queer & genderqueer spectrum romance. (Status: Open to submissions.)
Interlude - http://interludepress.com/ / @interludepress - boutique press, diverse queer romance. (Status: Open to submissions.)
Dreamspinner - https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com / @dreamspinnerpress, wide range of exclusively M/M romance; its offshoot, DSP Publications, is a boutique focusing on multi-genre queer romance. (Status: Open for anthology submissions.)
Harmony Ink https://www.harmonyinkpress.com / @harmonyinkpress, imprint of Dreamspinner, specializes in both New Adult and Young Adult. (Status: Closed to general submissions.)
Supposed Crimes - https://supposedcrimes.com/ / @supposedcrimesbooks - Fandom-friendly queer publisher focusing on a wide range of queer genre fiction, mainly speculative, but including romance and erotica. Also they have a section for fanfiction of themselves. (Status: Open to submissions.)
Lovelight Press - this is a self-publishing collective for queer romance with a group pay-it-forward economy that I don’t quite understand, but it seems cool! Anyway, they’re mostly M/M with a side of F/F. (Closed.)
Manifold Press - queer romance small press focusing on plot instead of erotica, with a mix of modern romance (both F/F and M/M) as well as historicals. Yay Regency lesbians!! (Status: Closed to submissions.)
Ai Press (as in shounen ai a.k.a. yaoi) - https://ai-press.net/ - This is a mainly M/M-focused romance publisher with a section for yaoi-inspired M/M novels. (Status: Closed to submissions.)
Bella Books - https://www.bellabooks.com/ / @bellabooks - this is a small press for exclusively F/F romance, but they also partner with lots of other small-press F/F publishers, which is cool. (Status: Open to submissions.)
Wilde City - https://www.wildecity.com/ - this is an exclusively M/M publisher that divides itself between gay erotica, gay romance, and gay mainstream. (Status: Closed to submissions.)
Desert Palm Press - http://www.desertpalmpress.com/contact-us.html - tiny press for exclusively contemporary F/F romance. (Status: Open to submissions.)
Loose Id — this is a multi-genre romance publisher with an equal mix of het and M/M romance with a side of LGBTQ spectrum content. (Status: Closed to submissions.)
Sapphire Books - publishes a wide range of lesbian fiction including romance and erotica. (Status: Open to submissions.)
Blind Eye / @blindeyebooks is a small press specializing in queer genre (mainly speculative) fiction including romance. (Status: Open to submissions.)
Lethe - https://www.lethepressbooks.com / @lethepress, publishes selectively but has a wide range of queer fiction. (Status: Closed to submissions.)
Bywater Books - http://www.bywaterbooks.com/product-category/genre/romance/ / @bywaterbooks - this is a small press devoted to lesbian literature, including romance. (Status: Open to submissions.)
Triplicity Publishing. This is a queer small press mostly focusing on F/F romance but with a side of M/M. (These covers are absymal, sorry.) (Status: Open to submissions.)
Ylva - https://www.ylva-publishing.com/ / @ylvapublishing - this is an exclusively F/F romance press with a broad multi-genre selection. (Status: Open to submissions.)
Decadent Publishing is a romance publisher mainly focusing on paranormal / shapeshifter romance, but they do a lot of other romance subgenres as well, and offer MM and F/F alongside het. (Status: Open to submissions.)
Everything from here on down is pretty much mainly commercial erotica / erotic romance:
Rocky Ridge — this is a small queer romance publisher focusing apparently exclusively on M/M titles — also they have English-language yaoi (BL) manga. (Status: Closed to submissions.)
Cleis - http://cleispress.com/ @cleispress publishes queer non-fiction and fiction emphasizing gay and lesbian erotica
Thurston Howl - https://www.thurstonhowlpublications.com/ / @thurstonhowlpub - okay so it’s a furry press that is self-avowed progressive queer feminist. obviously YMMV but that’s pretty cool!
Red Ferret Press - This is the erotica offshoot of Weasel Press, which emphasizes queer genre fiction that’s diverse, literary, and transgressive
Changeling Press - this is a hodgepodge of geeky speculative erotica with a category for “slash fiction” i.e. M/M romance
Bold Strokes Books - https://www.boldstrokesbooks.com - this is a queer publisher with a wide range of commercial queer fiction and erotica including romance and YA
Love Lit Press which is maybe called Beau to Beau, or maybe the latter is an imprint of the former? IDK, anyway, it’s mostly a vanity press for two authors, one het and one queer, but on the side there’s lots of M/M erotica / erotic romance, ranging from historical to contemporary.
Affinity Rainbow - queer romance press focusing on F/F fiction
Cool Dudes Publishing - of course this is M/M romance
MLR Press. This stands for Man Love Romance and is M/M erotica.
Cobblestone Press - This is an erotic romance press with a side of almost exclusively M/M fiction.
Pride Publishing - queer romance mainly focused on M/M erotica with a side of F/F and spectrum content.
Extasy Books is a queer erotica press with a separate imprint, Devine Destinies, for non-erotic adult and YA fiction.
Riverdale Avenue - romance press with an even mix of het & queer erotic romance
Phaze and Mundania Press - two weird imprints of a mysterious LLC with no web presence that each seem to be your average commercial erotica press with a side of M/M and F/F categories
Sizzler Editions - erotica with categories for M/M, F/F, trans, etc. But in case “gay male” wasn’t enough, they also have an additional section for “MAN LOVE.”
Excessica mainly publishes het erotica with a side of gay and lesbian erotica.
Carina Press is an imprint of Harlequin; it’s your standard commercial erotica with categories for M/M and F/F. (Status: Open to submissions.)
Etopia - This is a romance publisher focusing on erotic romance with a range of genres — some het but mostly M/M. (Note: They have a legally inaccurate, somewhat misleading anti-fanfic clause in their submissions guidelines. Also, they are open to submissions.)
There’s also the Kraken Collective / @krakencollective which is a closed group of queer sci-fi and speculative fiction authors that works to promote the group’s work as a whole.
I’m pretty sure I’m probably missing out on even more, so if any of you know other active queer-inclusive small presses that I missed, let me know and I’ll update the list!
Also, I feel I should give a shout-out to the traditional publishing imprints that have been taking dives into publishing (mostly M/M) romance — in particular, Berkley and Avon. You can find writers like Cat Sebastian and K.J. Charles and C.S. Pacat among their ilk, and say what you will about the mainstreaming of the subculture, I think it’s mostly been a good thing.
