119. Turning the Page on Queer Book Bans (with Alexander Rigby)

Snarky Opener (0:00)

Alexander Rigby

My parents actually would sometimes take away my books from me if I misbehaved as my punishment.

And I would always yell at them and say, most people would force their kids to read as a punishment. You guys are doing the opposite.

Episode Introduction (0:32)

Rob Loveless

Hello, my LGBTQuties, and welcome back to another episode of A Jaded Gay. I'm Rob Loveless and, today, I am a non-jaded gay because I was nominated for a People's Choice podcast award.

I was so excited when I found out. This is part of the 19th annual Podcast Awards, and specifically A Jaded Gay was nominated for The Feast of Fools/Fun LGBTQ category.

So just thank you everyone out there who voted, who nominated all the things, because this is really exciting for me.

As an indie podcaster, I do everything by myself. I do the research, the recording, the editing, the website, blog posts, transcription, social, guest coordination, all that stuff.

And it's a lot of work, which I love, but it's especially nice to be recognized by this. So again, everyone, thank you so much for nominating the podcast.

And the Podcast Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, September 30, at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time, and streamed live on podcastawards.com.

So, tune in then to see if yours truly wins. Fingers crossed.

Queer Books (1:33)

Rob Loveless

Anyway, moving into today's topic, I am super excited to have another very special guest on today.

In the past, we've had guests come on to talk about their books, the importance of LGBTQ+ fiction, participating in gay bookstagram, all that fun stuff.

But today, I am excited to bring a guest on who is working with a Big Five publisher in actually promoting LGBTQ+ creators. So, we will be getting into that today.

But before we do you know the drill. Let's pull our tarot card.

Tarot (2:05)

Rob Loveless

Ooh, we got a jumper today, which, if you don't know what that means, basically, when you're shuffling the deck, if a tarot card jumps out at you, that's called a jumper, and that means that you're not meant to pull a card that day.

You're taking the card that jumps out at you. And so, the card we got for this is the Page of Cups. Cups, as you remember, is tied to the element of water. It's tied to our emotions.

So, you can think of our emotions flowing freely. It's feminine energy, so it's meditative in nature. And the page is one of the court cards in the suit of Cups. So, we have the pages, knights, queens, and kings.

So, pages, being the first court card in that suit, they typically have a kind of juvenile energy to them.

We've progressed through the suit of Cups, and we've gone through the majority of that journey, but we're still relatively young and maybe even naive about what lies ahead for us.

It's the 11th card in the suit, so when we add double digits together, we get two. And two is representative of duality, partnership, and making choice.

And the Page of Cups is really somebody who's tied to their identity and feels free to express themselves.

So, pulling this card indicates that either ourself or somebody in our life, they're very emotionally intelligent, and they actively express their feelings and communicate their emotions without letting it bottle up.

This card is also inviting us to be open and curious. Instead of necessarily going with the status quo, we should feel empowered to explore new ideas and new ways of thinking.

Maybe that will unlock something new within us, and we'll discover something new about ourselves, or maybe something we've dreamed about, we'll find a way to bring it to fruition.

Either way, we want to reflect inward and see what feels right to us, and remind ourselves that we know who we are.

Guest Introduction (3:40)

Rob Loveless

And with that in mind, let's bring on our next guest. He is a New York Times Best Selling editor at Penguin Random House and curator of the publisher's LGBTQ+ network.

Please welcome Alexander Rigby. Hi, Alexander. How are you?

Alexander Rigby

Hey there, Rob. I'm doing well. Thanks for having me.

Rob Loveless

Of course. Thanks for coming on today to kick the episode off. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, how you identify, your career, pronouns, all that fun stuff?

Alexander Rigby

Yeah, of course. So, my name is Alexander Rigby, and I'm an executive editor at DK, which is an imprint of Penguin Random House.

I've been acquiring books here at DK for almost three years now, and specifically work in the non-fiction space.

I've been lucky enough to acquire a couple of titles by authors who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, and that's something that's really important to me, and going to continue to focus on making sure we're representing diverse voices here at DK and all of Penguin Random House.

I identify as a gay man, getting married to my fiancé actually in about two months, which is exciting. And I use he/him/his pronouns.

Rob Loveless

Congratulations. That's so exciting.

Alexander Rigby

Thank you. Yeah, it's actually going to be I've been to a few lesbian weddings, but I've actually never been to any gay male weddings. The first one will be my own, which is kind of funny.

Rob Loveless

That's awesome. You get to, like, set the precedent then.

Alexander Rigby

Yeah, exactly.

Rob Loveless

Awesome. Awesome. Well, I like to ask all my guests this too. Today, are you a jaded or non-jaded gay and why?

Alexander Rigby

You know, I do feel maybe a little bit jaded this week, but it's mostly just because I feel so busy with work and all things book-related and wedding planning, but generally, I'm a pretty optimistic, hopeful person.

So of course, being part of that LGBTQ+ community, we're always sort of battling against something or other, I think. But I do try to approach everything with a smile and positivity as much as possible.

But there are definitely those moments where I do feel a little bit jaded.

Rob Loveless

I totally relate. It's a day-by-day situation, I think.

Alexander Rigby

Yeah, I agree.

Rob Loveless

Well, to get into all things books and queer books, I'd like to start off by asking, do you have a favorite book genre?

Alexander Rigby

Yeah, you know, I do jump around a good bit, but I definitely read novels, probably literary fiction, more than anything else, in terms of reading for pleasure.

Over the past few years, I definitely have tried to focus on reading queer stories, especially by queer authors or people who identify as part of the community that they're writing about.

I think that's really important, as we call it, in publishing Own Voices is something that I think is so critical, so that, you know, people can tell their own stories and their own voices through lived experience.

So, I try to read those kinds of books a lot. Coming of age, anything that has to deal with nostalgia, especially during like the '90s or 2000s, have been things I've been reading a lot recently, but since I work in non-fiction, I do read a good bit of non-fiction as well too.

I'm a pretty avid lover of the outdoors and art, so those are some other topics that I like to read about as well.

Rob Loveless

And what sparked your interest in books and literature in general?

Alexander Rigby

Yeah, I mean, as far as I can, kind of remember, I've always been a lover of books. I'm sure that's probably an answer that you get a lot.

But, you know, when I was young, I grew up in a very small town in Northwest Pennsylvania where it was either we were playing outside or I was inside reading a book.

So, like a lot of people, I definitely used reading and, you know, falling into stories as an escape. So, growing up in a smaller area, that's something I kind of always enjoyed doing.

My parents actually would sometimes take away my books from me if I misbehaved as my punishment.

And I would always yell at them and say, most people would force their kids to read as a punishment, and you guys are doing the opposite.

So, we always, we still kind of laugh about that now, especially that I work in publishing, but yeah, I've just always loved reading, and I've always been a writer, too, as far as I can remember.

So just the act of storytelling, I think, is such a important art form that that I have always loved, and I'm sure will continue to love forever.

Rob Loveless

Do you tend to write non-fiction?

Alexander Rigby

Yeah, that's a great question. So, I have an MFA. I have an MFA from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine, which I graduated a little over a year ago now.

And primarily, I've written mostly fiction. So, the most recent novel that I finished that is currently out on submission now with with editor, so hoping for some good news soon.

It is a gay coming of age that's loosely based on my own upbringing in Northwest Pennsylvania. It's called Keystone Creek.

So that's the most recent thing that I've written, but I have written a number of non-fiction essays, especially about my time exploring the US National Parks and some other things.

So, I do kind of straddle the line, but I enjoy writing fiction the most, and I think since I work as an editor in non-fiction, it's kind of nice to have that divide between fiction and non-fiction.

Otherwise, I think it would maybe blend together a bit too much.

Rob Loveless

Definitely, and good luck with the submission process, because I know that could be very time-consuming and at times grueling. So, fingers crossed there.

Alexander Rigby

Thank you so much. I appreciate that.

Rob Loveless

So, can you tell us about your journey from being a reader to becoming executive editor at DK, which, again, is an imprint of Penguin Random House?

Alexander Rigby

Yeah, so, I mean, I've been in publishing now for a little over 12 years. I kind of just fell into publishing.

I live in Pittsburgh, so I'm back in Pittsburgh now, and I'm lucky enough to work for Penguin Random House remotely, which I think is kind of a benefit of one, you know, silver lining of COVID is that publishing is opening up to more people in different cities across the United States.

Traditionally, a lot of the big five publishers, you've had to live and work in New York City, which is great, but I also think it's important to again, have diverse perspectives.

So, the fact that people like me can work for a big publisher and be in a different city, I think helps, um, bring some variety to the kinds of perspectives that are shaping book publishing.

But, yeah, my first job out of college was a smaller publisher in Pittsburgh that I worked at for a few years, and then I really just loved it.

I mean, I've always loved books and writing, so I kind of just decided, since I was enjoying that, I was going to make it my career, and pursued it.

After three years of working in that publisher, I attended the New York University Summer Publishing Institute in 2015 and that's a really great program.

I always recommend it to other people if they're interested in trying to break into the publishing industry because it can be a kind of daunting thing to find your footing and to find an entry-level position.

So yeah, I learned a lot at that program. Made a lot of great connections. I'm still friends with people who attended the program with me, who also work at other Big Five publishers.

But after being in New York for the summer, I didn't really want to stay so I actually moved out to Seattle and lived there for seven years, and I worked at a couple smaller publishers out there as well.

So, it kind of just continuously kept working in publishing as an editor, kind of climbing the ladder from smaller publishers to mid-sized publishers. And then in 2021, I moved back East.

I lived in Maine for a year and was still working remotely with one of my Seattle publishing jobs. And then this opportunity with DK came up, where I saw a listing on the Penguin Random House website for this senior editor role at DK.

And I've always been a big fan of DK's books, so I kind of jumped at the chance and was lucky enough to get hired, and I started in January '22 and have been here ever since, and it's been really fun.

This is the first job, role I've been in where I acquire all of the books that I work on. So that's really great. Sometimes when you start out in publishing, you get assigned the titles that you work on.

So, before DK, I was working on titles that were assigned to me, but now I actually get to pick and review submissions from agents for the books that I work on.

I also sometimes reach out directly to authors to see if they're interested in writing a book. So, it's really nice to have to, have that creative control.

Rob Loveless

And what does a day in the life look like?

Alexander Rigby

To be honest, it kind of is a lot of multitasking. I think when people you know hear that you're an editor, they kind of imagine that you're just editing the words that will be in the finished form of the book.

But especially when you work in illustrated or books with a lot of photography, like majority of the titles I work on, it's it's very much a lot about the design too, and actually bringing the project together.

So, each team is different. Even within Penguin Random House, the imprints are set up differently, but my role, I kind of explain, as I take the book from initial pitch all the way to publication.

So, I'm the main editor working on the book. A lot of the times I am basically the Creative Director for the book, too, where I'm working with the author to decide about, like, the look and feel of the book.

We always have a designer assigned to each title, so I collaborate closely with them too, working on everything from the cover to the interior design, thinking about colors, fonts, lighting, and I also work as the main representative, chatting with the author.

So that author/editor relationship is really important. I meet with my authors regularly, so a lot of meetings with authors, meetings with my team, other editors, designers.

So, it's a little bit of everything, editing, looking at visuals, helping lay out the book. And then I also actually get to go to a lot of the photo shoots for my books, which is really fun.

So, I've been lucky enough to travel a bunch of different fun spots in the US. I even actually got to travel to Australia in 2023 for one of my books, which was really exciting.

So yeah, it's definitely very multi-faceted, very busy. There's kind of always something to be working on. And I, as an executive editor, I acquire eight books a year now.

So definitely, since there's so much to do for each title, there's there's always something to be working on.

Penguin Random House's LGBTQ+ Network (14:35)

Rob Loveless

I'm sure. And as if that wasn't enough, you also recently became the curator for Penguin Random House's LGBTQ+ Network, which is amplifying queer stories, writers, and readers.

So, can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Alexander Rigby

Yeah, the Instagram account, which is @PRHLGBTQ, I have been curating and managing for a little over a year now, and it's been really fun.

It's actually a project that was initially started by the Penguin Random House LGBTQ+ Network, of which I am now a member of the board. So, it's the group is actually all employees at Penguin Random House.

So, we come from all different imprints across the publisher, which is really nice, and we all identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. So, there's a lot of great, diverse voices there.

And we all kind of work on different things, but my main task is managing and running the Instagram account, which is our most like public-facing part of the network. I took it over about a year ago.

It had had laid dormant for a couple of years after COVID. And actually, when I first started at DK, I think I just kind of happened to stumble across the account, and had about 5,000 or so followers at the time.

And I was, like, really excited to find that that account existed, but then also simultaneously bummed to see that it had gone dormant.

So, I kind of just started doing a little bit of digging and eventually connected with the two co-chairs of the Penguin Random House LGBTQ+ board. And then, yeah, I came on to take over managing it.

And since then, we've been highlighting queer books published by all the different Penguin Random House imprints, running giveaways, posting about upcoming titles, and just basically all all book-related queer things is the kind of stuff that we post about.

And it's been really fun to see the page grow. I think we have a little over 11,000 followers now.

So, it's been, it's been really fun to help foster that community online and kind of have a dedicated space for queer Penguin Random House books.

Rob Loveless

It's great that Penguin Random House is taking this initiative to really amplify queer voices, especially at a time when we're seeing, you know, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and book bans.

So, it's always refreshing to look on my feed and see those posts coming up, the Instagram Stories, with all the books being featured.

In talking about Penguin Random House's LGBTQ+ Network, what specific initiatives or programs do they support or promote?

Alexander Rigby

So, one of the things that the network does is we manage the Pride in Your Words website, which is an online resource for readers to find queer books.

So that's constantly updated and linked to on our Instagram account. We also, Penguin Random House is fighting back against book bans, and along with some other publishers, have actually been fighting at the legal level to try to prevent these book bans from happening across the country.

So that's another major initiative that we've we've been a part of too. And then internally the the group does a lot more where we foster different queer book-related events, so that people, queer or not, can come to as part of Penguin Random House.

They have different mixers and events. And then, of course, every Pride, every Pride Month, we do a lot.

There's different events. Each year we also create a zine, which is kind of like a little mini magazine that focuses on all of the different queer Penguin Random House books.

There's excerpts from books, interviews with queer-identifying authors.

So, I mean, the main goal of the Instagram in particular, is to really just showcase all of the different queer titles that we're publishing, as well as highlighting those authors who, most of the times are, you know, identify as part of the community themselves.

We've talked about expanding the goals of the network a little bit too.

One of the things that we might try to do soon is feature recommendations from members of the board so queer peer-aged books that we've read and loved, and also just sharing a little bit about like, who we are, each of the different members of the board, what part of Penguin Random House we work in, because we come from all different departments and different imprints across the company.

But yeah, the main goal really is just to advocate for queer voices in literature across the board, to fight back against any kind of book bans or any kind of stigma which would prevent people from being able to read these kinds of titles.

Fighting Back Against Book Bans (19:37)

Rob Loveless

That's amazing work that they're doing, especially in these times when things have become so contentious around what literature is allowed in libraries and public schools now these days.

You know, and you touched upon this too. In recent years, we've seen an increase in censorship and book bans related to LGBTQ+ literature.

You've talked about Penguin Random House working at the legal level to prevent some of these book bans. Can you tell us a little bit more about that work?

Alexander Rigby

We actually have a banned books site, which people can can check out to see what we're doing at the legal level, that Penguin Random House has posted about, as well as the PRHLGBTQ+ network.

So that banned books website gives information to people about how to email your representatives to talk to them about book bans and how to fight back against them.

It gives information about writing letters to schools and local press, directions on how to report censorship and to fight back against it, as well as figuring out what else is going on in your community.

There are resources to learn about how to support your child if they identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

So that banned book site is something that Penguin Random House has put together as sort of a resource to explain all the different things we're doing as a publisher to fight back against book bans, as well as giving readers some resources and recommendations for what they can do, you know, at the more local level and just as individuals to fight back against book bans.

So, I think that that website is is a nice source of information.

LGBTQ+ Diversity & Representation in Literature (21:11)

Rob Loveless

How does Penguin Random House handle issues related to LGBTQ+ diversity and representation in its publishing and editorial decisions, especially as it relates to supporting LGBTQ+ authors?

Alexander Rigby

I think, you know, publishing has, unfortunately, notoriously, not been super diverse in the past.

I think I kind of mentioned this in terms of, like, just location-wise, with, like, in the past, New York City being kind of the epicenter for publishing in the US.

I think that really made some people not able to work in publishing just because the cost of living in New York City is so high.

So not only in terms of being able to have more remote workers now in different parts of the country, I think that really opens up people of all different backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures, sexual orientations, to be able to work in publishing.

But PRH is a super queer-friendly workplace. In all of our guidelines, there's like no tolerance for any kinds of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, any of those kinds of things.

So, it's a very queer-friendly publisher, which is, which is great, and then it's also just been great to see, even in the few years that I've worked here, queer and LGBTQ+ publishing is actually one of the portions of publishing that is on the rise.

And we're actually publishing more and more queer books, which is so exciting to see because there has been more, you know, over the past few years, and they've been doing well, kind of across the board.

So, I think it goes to show there's really a desire for more queer titles, and not only for other queer people to read, but all different kinds of people enjoy reading queer stories.

So, I think there's been an investment for editors to acquire more titles by writers who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, which I think is really important.

As I mentioned, I really try to seek out and encourage writers who identify as part of the community to submit to me. I have a couple queer authors that I've published books by.

One was Gay Science by Rob Anderson, which was a New York Times bestseller, which was a lot of fun to work on, and I have a couple other ones coming up soon.

So, I think really just prioritizing it and making sure that our lists of titles are as diverse as possible in kind of all of the different categories and making sure those those stories are heard.

Rob Loveless

That's awesome and Gay Science, if I'm not mistaken, that started out as an Instagram series, right?

Alexander Rigby

Yeah. So, my team at DK, for the most part, we work with content creators and influencers.

So yeah, Rob had a Gay Science video series on his social media channels that I had kind of stumbled upon and thought was really funny, and I reached out to him, and we were able to work on the Gay Science book together, which is basically like a fake science textbook that's super humorous and kind of talks about different queer stereotypes and LGBTQ+ culture in a very tongue in cheek satirical kind of way.

Rob Loveless

I remember one of his videos where he was talking about why gay men liked iced coffee, and he was saying something like, their bodies run hotter, so they need the cooler coffee to cool them down, or something like that. So...

Alexander Rigby

Yeah.

Rob Loveless

I think that's a really great book idea to kind of take those the Instagram series, and leverage it to be kind of a satirical, like you said, science handbook.

Alexander Rigby

Yeah, exactly, yeah. It was a lot of fun to work on.

It's definitely a very complex book, so I think both Rob and I were just really happy to see it turn out so well and to be received well too because it is kind of having the queer community be able to laugh at themselves too and take some things that you know maybe were hurtful in the past and kind of reclaim that in a very positive, very fun way to spark joy, which, which I think is really important in in today's society.

Penguin Random House's LGBTQ+ Network’s Outreach (25:13)

Rob Loveless

In addition to Gay Science, do you have a favorite success story that has resulted from the initiatives supported by Penguin Random House's LGBTQ+ network?

Alexander Rigby

You know, what's really been so great is just the fact that we've been supported to do tons of giveaways on the Instagram channel, especially during Pride month.

I think we gave away, like, probably, like, 40 to 50 books and all different kinds of titles. So just actually getting queer books into people's hands for free is something that I've been really happy about.

And the fact that I have all different kinds of editors across Penguin Random House sending me books, sending me ARCs and galleys so that I can check them out and take pictures of them and post and share has been, has been really rewarding.

Just, you know, trying to bring attention to these books, because some of them, you know, are by lesser-known writers or their debut book.

So just really highlighting those new queer titles and being a part of actually getting the books into people's hands. The giveaways has been really exciting, as well as just posting about them.

And you know, maybe some of these posts have led to people adding the books to their TBR lists has been really great.

And then this year, actually, for Pride, the network did something really fun where we had a tattoo like flash party in New York City.

I wasn't able to it, because I'm in Pittsburgh, but the team actually designed the zine sort of around this tattoo theme.

And there's stickers in the zine that were actually some of the tattoo designs, and they were all sort of queer. They're queer tattoo artists who created the designs and we're tattooing people for free.

Actually, it was like free to get these tattoos at the event. So, it was just a very like, fun, creative, positive way to celebrate queer storytelling, queer art, in a really safe space in New York.

So that was a really cool in-person event that the team put together. So, it was really exciting to see that happen.

Rob Loveless

How would you measure the effectiveness of LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts through these events and these giveaways that you talked about?

Alexander Rigby

You know, I think any time that someone reads one of our books and it speaks to them, I think especially on a deeper and more profound level, and the story stays with them, I think that, to me, is a success.

That might sound a little, you know, off the wall or a little loose in the framing, but I do think, you know, at the end of the day, we're working in a publishing company where our main goal is to share stories.

So, as an editor, my goal is always to create like, the best book possible that really resonates with the reader, whether that's through the words or the images. So, I think we measure success by that.

I think also just the continued growth of LGBTQ+ titles as part of the larger pie of Penguin Random House, in terms of the number of queer titles that we're publishing, and the fact that that's been increasing, and hopefully will continue to increase, is something really exciting to see, too.

So, I'm hoping, you know, for continued growth across the board in all of those categories. I'd love to continue working to grow the Instagram channel as well and reaching more people.

I often one of the comments I see a lot come through on the channel is that, like, people didn't even realize that there was a dedicated Penguin Random House, queer space for books.

And usually, people are really excited to find that, and that a publisher, you know, has actually put the effort into having its employees run it.

And the fact that, you know, I identify as queer and gay, and the person behind the account, I think is important too.

Sometimes, you know, you might have just, like, a marketing person running it who isn't part of the board or isn't identifying as queer.

I think it's really important, again, that that Own Voices, idea where, like, the kinds of people who these stories are for, who these stories about, are the ones shepherding the framework and sharing those things, I think is important too.

So, I don't know how long I'll manage the account for, probably just like, another year or two, because the board is kind of always constantly changing. So, we can keep bringing new people in.

So, you know, eventually, I'd love to hand it over to someone else, so that, you know, it's not just, it's not just my Instagram account, you know, it's the network's.

I just happen to be the person curating it right now, but I do take a lot of pride in it, and it's, it's been such a rewarding experience to connect with all different kinds of readers to discuss and share queer titles.

Rob Loveless

What would you love to see for the future of the LGBTQ+ Network?

Alexander Rigby

One thing I would like to do that we haven't really yet is like, I'd love to share more insights with readers' book recommendations, you know, from readers who aren't part of Penguin Random House.

I think being able to highlight readers and like the bookstagram community, as much as possible is something I'd like to do more of.

We have done a number of collaboration posts with other bookstagrammars, so I'd like to get back into doing that. We were doing an author interview series for a while as well.

So, like, if time allows, you know, I would love to be able to do more of those.

We're also talking about, like, I think I mentioned before, featuring some interviews and recommendations from different board members, because we have about 15 to 20 folks on the board now too, who are all really great and have really different, unique perspectives.

So, I think just being able to showcase the breadth of the community through book recommendations and storytelling would be something that I'd like to see happen.

Because I think my goal with the, with the channel, is, you know, I want it to be kind of community-based, and people feel like they can go to it to find recommendations, find out about books that they haven't heard about, and use it as a resource too.

Support Queer Authors and Writers (31:19)

Rob Loveless

What are some of your favorite books featured by the network?

Alexander Rigby

I think, as I mentioned, I am lucky enough to receive ARCs and galleys a lot of the time. So, before the books come out, I'm able to read them.

Some books that I've read recently that I really loved were the coming-of-age novel Blessings, which I really enjoyed.

The book Housemates, by Emma Copley Eisenberg, is another title that came out this year that I enjoyed a great deal. Anyone's Ghost by August Thompson.

Those are just a few that come to mind that came out in the past year, that that we posted about, that I really enjoyed.

Rob Loveless

And are there any specific queer stories you're craving to be told?

Alexander Rigby

There are, there are so many different ones that I kind of always come back to the same thing, I think. You know, queer joy is something that's that's so important.

And luckily, I do feel like we are seeing more of that, like, like with Heartstopper. I think, you know, it's such a, such a joyous coming of age, young people experiencing queer relationships.

So, I think just more everyday queer stories and more current stories. I think a lot of queer literature, especially about gay men.

There's a lot of stories about, you know, the AIDS epidemic, and rightfully so. But I would love to see more nuanced, more present, present tense queer stories, and more like long-term loving queer relationship stories.

Of course, like there needs to be some plot, and so there needs to be, I'm sure, some kind of tension to keep the story interesting.

But like, I would love to see more long-term queer relationships that stand the test of time and are falling across the decades. I think so often queer stories just hold so much trauma and angst and intention.

And of course, you know, just like any group of people, we go through those kinds of things, and it's important to tell those stories too.

But I do think finding the right balance of of joy and happiness to show that, you know, queer lives can be joyous and and full full of happiness is something I'd like to see more of.

Rob Loveless

You were saying that you want the LGBTQ+ Network in the future to feel more like a community on Instagram where people can go to to find book recommendations, to feel connected with one another.

So how can we, collectively, as an LGBTQ+ community, support queer authors and push back against book bans?

Alexander Rigby

Yeah, I think, um, you know, the bookstagram community is such an awesome space, and there's so many different people who are involved in it.

So, I think just continuing to do what we're already doing, and speaking out against book bans and sharing information about how to fight back against those is so important and then to really work together as a team, because the more of us who raise our voices and speak out against book bans, I think that the better.

And I think, you know, sharing content and tagging one another and using hashtags and just kind of connecting as much as we can in the online space is really important.

You know, I love it when people tag us at the network and our Instagram account on posts so we can see what they're sharing.

Sometimes people send us, you know, collaboration requests which we respond to and accept when we can.

So, yeah, I'd love to see, you know, more people reaching out about potentially doing collaboration posts together, sending book recommendations our way even.

The thing is, it's like I'm just one person, so I often am asking editors to send me books or let me know about books because a lot of times I don't know about them unless they tell me about them.

So, it's just constantly shifting and changing, but we're lucky enough to, you know, have been able to feature a lot of different images other bookstagram readers initially took for their own accounts, and then they allowed us to re-, to re-share them.

So that's really nice, too, and that's part of the way that it's community-driven.

Rob Loveless

And as we're moving towards the end of the episode, what advice do you have for aspiring LGBTQ+ writers?

Alexander Rigby

I mean, I think with writing, it's, it's something that is, is definitely kind of a creative pursuit that you have to continuously work at.

So, I think if you're interested in writing, I always say the hardest part is like actually making yourself sit down and start writing, but if you're able to do that, you know, just allow yourself to write whatever comes out.

I always call it throwing up on the page, like, don't really worry about what it is you're writing, especially on a first draft, it's just getting words down on paper, whether that be actually writing with pen and paper or typing on your computer.

I think just following that inner voice and your gut with the story that you want to tell, and don't worry about, you know, how raw or gritty it is when you first write it. Just kind of lean into it and let go.

I think that's really important. And try to, I think, pull from your own experience as much as possible, too. I found that when you write from a place of knowledge and lived experience, it can it can read a lot more true.

And presently, I think especially even in fiction, people are leaning more on their own personal experiences, and kind of leaning into a space of what we have sometimes referred to as auto fiction, where you're pulling from your own lived experiences, but then you're changing elements to make it fiction, to crank certain levels of tension or angst or even happiness up, to make it more of an interesting story for the reader.

So, I think really leaning on your own personal experience and your own voice to to imbue your characters with is really important.

Or if you're writing non-fiction, then yeah, actually, just fully lean into your own story and and what makes it special and try to try to write the kinds of things that you as a reader want to read.

And, I mean, that's a piece of advice that people say all the time, but I do think it's really true when I write that's, that's what I try to do. I try to think about the kinds of queer novels I haven't read and try to come up with them myself.

So, it's, you know, a bit of a lofty goal, but I think it's good to push yourself and just, you know, working a little bit day by day on a project, especially if you're trying to write something like a full book or a novel, is another piece of advice that that I've heard before, and I know myself, that really helps me.

You can't, can't usually sit down and write a novel all at once. So, allow yourself the the time needed to continue building on that project.

Episode Closing (38:18)

Rob Loveless

And connecting it back to the tarot, the Page of Cups. Remember this card is telling us that we are grounded in our identity. We know who we are, and we're not afraid to express our feelings.

We don't want to let anything bottle up and repress that, because that's going to block our energy from achieving our full potential. So instead, look inward and channel upon your identity.

Don't be afraid to dream about new ideas and new ways of being.

And putting it in relation to today's episode, like Alexander said, traditionally, there had not been much diversity in publishing, but we've come to a place where we're really trying to amplify diverse voices, and in this case, we're talking about queer voices as they intersect other identities.

So, while there was always a status quo with publishing, we've had individuals come forward to challenge that narrative and really put out authentic representation.

And for any queer creators out there, don't be afraid to let your authenticity breakthrough. Don't hold back or water down your identity. Put your truth and communicate your feelings in your work.

And even if we're not an LGBTQ+ creator, there are always opportunities in our day-to-day lives to really allow our identities to shine through and be who we are.

Connect with Alexander (39:23)

Rob Loveless

Well, Alexander, thank you so much for coming on today to talk to us about this. It was a great episode, really insightful. I'm so excited to always see those posts with the books being featured.

I think everybody out there, as soon as they're done listening should go follow immediately, buy these books, support the queer authors.

As we're wrapping up here, can you tell the listeners where they can learn more about you and Penguin Random House's LGBTQ+ network?

Alexander Rigby

Yeah, thanks so much Rob for for having me on the podcast.

I really enjoyed speaking with you and talking about all of these, these different successes around queer books, and hopefully, we'll continue to have more in the future.

But yeah, if you're interested, uh, you can follow the Penguin Random House LGBTQ+ network on Instagram. Our handle is @PRHLGBTQ.

And if you're interested in finding out more about me or the books that I've worked on as an editor, or my own writing, you can find me on Instagram @alexandermrigby, which is also linked to on the PRHLGBTQ+ Network Instagram page as well.

Rob Loveless

Definitely check out the resources Alexander talked about today. Be sure to connect with him.

Follow Penguin Random House's LGBTQ+ Network, and maybe add those books we talked about to your reading list, because it's very important that we're supporting queer creators.

Connect with A Jaded Gay (40:40)

Rob Loveless

And as always, thank you for listening. If you have any questions for myself or Alexander, feel free to reach out to rob@ajadedgay.com. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe.

For more information on today's episode, additional resources, links to socials, merchandise, our blog posts, check out the website at ajadedgay.com.

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And remember: every day is all we have, so you got to make your own happiness.

Mmm-bye.