Due to my ongoing treatment for cancer since March 2021, I’ve had to relearn the new limits of my energy. I’ve suspended a number of side projects, and although I tried to restart the Queer Joy Giveaway back in the fall it became clear that I just didn’t have enough reliable energy to select titles, post weekly on Saturdays, and keep up with fufilling title requests. Therefore, I’m putting this giveaway on hiatus through 2022. I hope to pick it back up in some form in 2023. Thank you for understanding! ~Anna
Queer Joy Giveaway Explainer
On the first Saturday after Massachusetts declared a state of emergency due to COVID-19, in March 2020, I decided to give away twenty-five copies of R. Cooper’s A Little Familiar novella as a way to bring good cheer to people struggling with isolation admidst social distancing and stay-at-home directives.
The giveaway has since turned into a weekly event as weeks have turned into months and we’re probably looking at a year and more of some measure of social distancing, quarantine, stress, and exhaustion.
The giveaway guidelines are simple:
As long as our household finances can support this effort, I plan to continue this project. It’s a win-win-win as far as I’m concerned since I get to put books I love into the hands of readers, signal boosting talented creators and spreading rainbow sparkle happily ever after joy at a time when a lot of us need to be dreaming of queer futures filled with hope rather than despair.
I want to be clear, too, that this is a personal project. No publishers or authors are paying me or supplying these books in exchange for free advertising. These titles are all books I have personally read and loved, by authors whose entire body of work I encourage you to explore — most of them are wonderfully prolific and deserve all the sales! When I make my weekly selections I’m working to be mix it up in terms of relationship types and other kinds of marginalized identity rep — but I’m also sharing my faves so this list definitely skews historical, paranormal, and queer. Super not apologizing for that.
Co-sponsors: If you’re interested in sponsoring copies of upcoming titles, shoot me an email at feministlibrarian@gmail.com. I would be happy to be able to increase the number of copies of certain works, particularly since authors from under-represented communities often cannot afford to sell titles for really low cover prices — meaning I’m left to offer fewer of those works within my budget. Sponsors who donate $25 or more to the project get 1) a shout-out, 2) a copy of their choice of any title I have previously offered and 3) a copy of the title they sponsor.
March 14: A Little Familiar (Familiar Spirits #1)* by R. Cooper.
March 21: A Little Light Mischief (The Turner Series, #3.5) by Cat Sebastian.
March 28: Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin #1) by Jordan L. Hawk.
April 4: The Craft of Love by E. E. Ottoman.
April 11: Let Us Dream by Alyssa Cole.
April 18: A Lady’s Desire (The Townsends #2.5) by Lily Maxton.
April 25: Behind These Doors (Radical Proposals #1) by Jude Lucens.
May 2: Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure (The Worth Saga #2.75) by Courtney Milan.
May 9: Salt Magic, Skin Magic by Lee Welch.
May 16: Briarley Aster Glenn Gray.
May 23: Untamed by Anna Cowan.
May 30: Once Upon a Haunted Moor (Tyack & Frayne #1) by Harper Fox.
June 6 & 13: Hamilton’s Battalion: A Trio of Romances by Alyssa Cole, Rose Lerner, and Courtney Milan.
June 20: Once Ghosted, Twice Shy (Reluctant Royals #2.5) by Alyssa Cole.
June 27: Holly & Oak (Familiar Spirits #2) by R. Cooper.
July 4: Lord of the Last Heartbeat (The Sacred Dark #1) by May Peterson.
July 11: Spellbound (Magic in Manhattan #1) by Allie Therin.
July 18: Starcrossed (Magic in Manhattan #2) by Allie Therin.
July 25: Lord of the Last Heartbeat (The Sacred Dark #1) by May Peterson.
Co-sponsored by Stephanie Richmond
August 1: The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics (Feminine Pursuits #1) by Olivia Waite.
August 8: Waiting for the Flood (Spires #2) by Alexis Hall.
August 15: He’s Come Undone: A Romance Anthology by Emma Barry, Olivia Dade, Adriana Herrera, Ruby Lang, and Cat Sebastian.
Co-sponsored by hazmatilda
August 22: The Mage on the Hill (Web of Arcana #1) by Angel Martinez.
Co-sponsored by Stephanie Richmond
August 29: Hexbreaker (Hexworld #1) by Jordan L. Hawk.
Co-sponsored by Lauren Leslie
September 5: Edge of Nowhere (Nowhere #1) by Felicia Davin.
Co-sponsored by Anoymous donor
September 12: Proper English (England #2) by K.J. Charles.
Co-sponsored by Anoymous donor
September 19 & 26: Small Change (Small Change #1) by Roan Parrish.
October 3rd: The Mysterious & Amazing Blue Billings (Black & Blue #1) by Lily Morton.
October 10th: Undertow (Widdershins #8.5) by Jordan L. Hawk.
Co-sponsored by Anonymous donor
October 17th: Nine Years of Silver (Love Has Claws #1) by Parker Foye.
~ gap week 10/24 ~
October 31st: Best Laid Plaids (Kilty Pleasures #1) by Ella Stainton &
Nothing More Certain (Familiar Spirits #3) by R. Cooper.
Co-sponsored by PSMH and Ella Stainton.
November 3: A Little Familiar (Familiar Spirits #1) by R. Cooper.
November 7: Reverb (Twisted Wishes #3) by Anna Zabo.
Co-sponsored by Kayci Wyatt
November 14: Hold Me (Cyclone #2) by Courtney Milan.
November 21: Immortal City (Sacred Dark #2) by May Peterson.
November 28: The Doctor’s Discretion by E.E. Ottoman.
December 5: Iron & Velvet (Kate Kane, Paranormal Investigator #1) by Alexis Hall.
December 12: Corruption (The Bureau #1) by Kim Fielding.
December 19: Caroled (The Bureau #7) by Kim Fielding.
December 26: The Remaking of Corbin Wale by Roan Parrish.
January 2: Tit for Tat by R. Cooper.
January 9: Eating Stars by Angel Martinez.
January 16: Frostbite by J. Emery.
January 23: The Engineer (Magic & Steam #1) by C.S. Poe.
Co-sponsored by Anonymous.
January 30: Unhallowed (Rath & Rune #1) by Jordan L. Hawk
Co-sponsored by Anonymous.
~ gap week 2/6 ~
February 13th: Magic in Manhatten #1-3 by Allie Therin.
February 20th: Shortbread and Shadows (Hedge Witches Lonely Hearts Club #1) by Amy Lane.
~ medical leave hiatus ~
June 12th: Blind Tiger (The Pride #1) by Jordan L. Hawk.
June 19th: Hither, Page (Page & Sommers #1) by Cat Sebastian.
June 26th: Foxen Bloom by Parker Foye.
July 3rd: The Faerie Hounds of New York by Arden Powell.
July 10th: A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate (Beings in Love #3) by R. Cooper.
July 17th & 24th: His Secret Illuminations (The Warrior’s Guild #1) by Scarlett Gale.
July 31st: In the Middle of Somewhere (Middle of Somewhere #1) by Roan Parrish.
August 7th: Unhallowed(Rath & Rune #1) by Jordan L. Hawk.
August 14th, 21st, 28th & September 4th: Warehouse Sale! Choose from backlist titles here.
*A number of these are part of a series, but if they aren’t the first books in the series I’ve been careful to select titles that may be read as standalones.
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