This month we’ve been thinking about community and the ways it uplifts us, creates resilience, and how many of us have found this community—our community—through sapphic books.

What does your sapphic community look like? Please share with us on our Facebook group, Bluesky, or Instagram.

Please check the Facebook Group periodically for writing sessions and coffee hours!

News Roundup

Since we’re all awash in bad or at the very least concerning news, I unfortunately have to add one item that just came over to my inbox (plus a related story) and then devote the rest of this piece to good news. So in the spirit of “I have good news and bad news,” here’s the bad first.

The New York Times is reporting that the Trump administration will be speeding up the development of AI by removing any regulatory safeguards or government oversight–with one exception. Any government agency funding or overseeing AI needs to make sure the technology is devoid of “mentions of diversity, equity and inclusion, climate change and misinformation.” What this may ultimately mean for writers and other creatives, while not yet clear, can only be assumed as not good.

And from our good friend, Jae: A short update on the AI scammer: He's still active. We're currently at 372 published books under 38 different pen names. 

Okay, now on to the good news.

U.S. states supporting the Freedom to Read

• Rhode Island officially has a freedom to read/anti-book ban law.

• New Hampshire Governor Ayotte vetoed HB324, a bill that would criminalize librarians and educators over curriculum, protecting local control.

• Oregon’s governor signed their anti-book ban bill.

• In North Carolina, the governor has vetoed a number of anti-DEI bills put forth by legislators. This would have impacted school curriculum and, of course, helped aid book banning.

Two Great Resources

The Freedom to Read Teen Advocacy Toolkit, from the Brooklyn (NY) Public Library, is a robust program and toolkit built for library workers, educators, and community organizations working with today’s young people to support and bolster teen advocacy and activism. 

Annie’s Foundation, is an Iowa-based nonprofit that protects the right to read and supports library workers and educators facing political targeting.

We’ll share more info on book banning and related issues in next month’s issue.

—by Cindy Rizzo

Golden Crown Literary Society Annual Conference Recap

 —Kris Bryant

On my Patreon, I gave the conference 8 out of 10. It was spacious, so I’m sure germs weren’t spread like last year. My goal was to get in and out of there without catching COVID or one of the flus. People had a good time. Drama was limited. The panels were great. The attendees were diverse (still a work in progress but I loved seeing new faces) and it went smoothly. Here are a few takeaways:

1. At one point in our lives, we all wanted to be rock stars. I have never seen so many people sign up and participate in karaoke night. Having it on-site was the best decision the board could’ve made. It was spacious and we all had room to dance if we wanted. The conga line was probably a mistake at the end of the night because we jumped off the end of the stage like lemmings. Some people tucked and rolled as they fell, but some people just…fell. Next time, we’ll find stairs or turn around and go back down the ramp. We are not David Lee Roth (back in the early Van Halen days). My knees are constantly “F*** you” when I think I can do things like run, exercise, and jump off stages. I was one of the lucky ones who remained upright. Phew!

2. The panels were exceptional, but they needed to be staggered better. Too many top writers were competing at the same time and that breaks up attendance. The board needs to lean into their big name attendees and put them on more panels because they are the ones bringing in a lot of readers. Big names draw crowds. That’s the case with any and every con I’ve ever been to. I understand GCLS wants to give everybody a chance to shine and speak their minds, but big names draw crowds. This is a fact and let’s face it, a lot of the big names in attendance are the reason we started reading, writing, and coming out of our shells.

3. If a panel has been suggested by, let’s say Angelina Jolie, then they should reach out to Angelina and say – hey, we’d like more diversity on your panel and work with them - instead of dropping people without notification and throwing a random writer/reader just to put them on a panel. A lot of people started the panel with – “I don’t know why I’m on this panel but…” Every person on a panel should want to be there because they are passionate about that topic. I know it’s hard to make everyone happy, but that’s a big one for me.

4. Can we talk about the lack of air conditioning? That was the hotel’s fault. I don’t think Albany, NY is ready for 300 queer people in the same space. Shout out to those who helped fan the perimenopause hot flashes with paper conference schedules and a fan that K. Aten threw in the attendance giveaway bags. You’re the best, Kelly!

5. The awards show just needs a little tweaking. I think it should start with the GCLS Writing Academy graduates and end with the Ann Bannon awards. Like – “you win! Here’s your award, here’s your check – now let’s party and dance until tomorrow.”

6. The In Memoriam hit me really hard this year. I knew two writers who passed away and it’s a constant reminder that people in our community – my friends, writers I respect, trailblazers – will pass away. We’re all going to be up there one day. It took a solid ½ hour for me to stop crying. I missed about four awards that were handed out because I was a sobbing mess. So, next year, somebody please escort me out during that emotional time.

7. I loved that GCLS gave SASS space. The overall meeting on Thursday was a success. People asked a lot of good questions. Hopefully, we answered them well enough. Writing Session #4 on Friday over lunch was a hit! I was so worried that people wouldn’t want to sit for an hour and write, but a dozen people showed up needing quiet and needing a group to write with. I want to do this every time!

8. Hats off to the GCLS board. It’s a volunteer organization. Running a con is a very stressful job. I honestly don’t know of any issues they had. See? They did it so well.

9. One of the things I mentioned in my Patreon post was the mad dash to get a table at the awards show. GLCS could rent certain tables and make money in the process. We’re always looking for ways to raise money – why not rent seats? My anxiety is OFF THE CHARTS when it’s time to stand in line to push through the doors and race to a table big enough for you and your friends. I’m not saying all tables but like an early bird special and have like six tables available for rent.

10. Has anybody reached out to local colleges and or queer bookstores to generate interest before we arrive on site? Maybe a discounted amount for college kids. Almost every college has an LGBTQ club/organization. Let’s get the young ones in.

I had the best time. It was short, but seeing my friends and meeting new ones is always good for my heart and soul. It’s also inspiring. If you haven’t been to one, please consider it. Nobody is ever left alone. Nobody sits in a corner. There is so much love at these conferences that I’m sure you will walk away with at least a handful of new friends and dozens of fantastic books to read.

—by Kris Bryant

Take Action!

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Follow-Up Q&A with Anat Deracine About AI 

Clearly there are some strong and concerned feelings about AI in general and its use in sapphic literature specifically. As both an author and a person working in tech with AI, your piece in our June newsletter pointed out some of the problems of AI in using copyrighted work to train models and the difficulties in fighting back against that. But you also talked about how AI can be used by an author to do things like find repeated uses of a word or phrase (which some existing writing software does). Do you consider your piece to be "pro-AI?"

I don’t consider my piece to be pro-AI. I know that to many people, though, suggesting that AI has any benefits would be considered a pro-AI stance. AI is part of the fabric of our world already – it’s in our spell-checkers, our stock market predictions, in Face ID and in self-driving cars. AI is being used to identify trash in oceans, predict earthquakes and accelerate scientific research. 

But AI eats up enormous amounts of energy to tell you crummy jokes, and is replacing jobs faster than society can upskill people. It is making our brains weaker and aggravating mental illness. And it is absolutely exploiting the creative work of artists and writers and creating surreal, sometimes laughably bad mutations of it. 

The current AI revolution is the equivalent of every person on the planet being given access to a nuclear reactor, with all the good and bad that comes with that. I only hoped to give people a broader lens with which to understand what’s happening.  

Can you clarify whether you were saying that AI should replace human editors or human cover designers?

Absolutely not. I’ve worked for decades with editors and artists, both on my Webtoon and my novels, and can’t imagine replacing them with AI. 

Someone recently told me, “We won’t lose our jobs to AI, but we will lose them to people who know how to use AI.” A few editors and illustrators I know are using AI, but as an explorative, assistive or collaborative tool, not to replace their own work. For instance, AI can catch all instances of a particular problem in a given text, but it takes unique creative expertise to know what the problem is in the first place. I pay the editor for that high-value expertise, not for the busy work of finding every missing comma or every instance of tense-shifting in a 100,000-word novel. 

You stated that we could give AI our data, but on our terms.  What would that look like?

The EU AI act prevents particular high-risk AI systems from being built, and requires Gen AI models like ChatGPT to disclose AI-generated content, copyrighted data used for training, and that models are prevented from using illegal data. Moreover, GDPR protects your data, requiring organizations to ask for your consent before using your data, and to delete it as soon as you ask them to. Most global corporations, even if they aren’t European, must abide by this if they operate in European markets. These laws don’t protect you from AI companies that don’t actually want to operate in Europe at all. So, one part of what I meant by choosing our terms was that by choosing which data you share, and which AI companies you trust, you could let them fight the battles on your behalf with the other AI companies that are behaving badly.

In my original post I’d mentioned the case of a voice actor who licensed the use of her voice to ElevenLabs for audiobooks. Globescribe.ai is a newly formed AI fiction translation company that can help writers tap into a broader market. A lot of what AI facilitates is similar to what self-publishing facilitated once before – granting broader, cheaper access to something that used to only be available to a few. The thing to make sure is that you’re actually the one getting the direct benefit, not just consenting to let the company use your data to vaguely “improve your experience.”  

Can you talk a little about how you are addressing the dangers of AI in your fiction?

I wrote Algorithms of Betrayal to walk us through the things about AI we worry about now, and the things we’re not yet worried enough about but really should be. 

Several of the characters in the story have had their livelihoods threatened by AI. Some were laid off, others were creatives who had their work stolen. They band together to destroy the AI that ruined their lives, and end up reckoning not just with their lost jobs but with the subtle existential dread that comes with loss of meaning. We used to pride ourselves on doing a thing, and here’s this technology that’s doing something very similar, but badly, allowing people to make money easily off a skill we spent our lives learning. I wonder if this is how bookmakers felt when the printing press was invented, or craftspeople after the Industrial Revolution.

The book also touches on things we should be more worried about – AI-generated software being used in life-critical things like airplanes and hospitals, that nobody can fix when it goes down because they don’t know how it works. Countries using AI to hack into global corporations to influence elections, spy on civilians, and topple economies (not as if they haven’t tried it before). And of course, the climate impact of AI could herald our extinction. 

My hope is that the novel gives people the vocabulary and tools to understand the systemic impacts beyond what’s happening to them personally. As one reviewer put it, “If, like me, you’ve only ever used ChatGPT to write a cover letter, this book will also help to illuminate the power and pitfalls of AI in a world that’s moving faster than most of us can keep up with.”

Cross-Promotional Opportunities

Marketing your book can be hard, but there are many cross-promotional opportunities available to help sapphic fiction authors reach readers. Here are some ongoing opportunities, as well as some specifically for new authors and new releases. Don’t forget to help promote any cross-promotional events your work is included in.

1.        Ongoing Promotional Opportunities:

• Jae has several opportunities available on the Cross-Promotions page of her Sapphic Quill website. Opportunities include the hugely successful Sapphic Book Bingo, Sapphic Book Advent Calendar (December), and Giveaway of the Week. She also maintains several lists to feature authors, such as those who sell their books directly to readers or who have holiday romances.

• I Heart SapphFic (IHS) features several ongoing opportunities, including giveaways, sale and free book promotions, and the annual reading challenge. By adding your book to the IHS BookFinder database, your book may be included in the reading challenge.

• BookFunnel promotions: Jae maintains a list of BookFunnel promotions for sapphic fiction authors to promote sales and build their newsletter.

• Check Facebook groups for authors and readers of sapphic fiction. Many have specific posts or days to market your book, such as Marketing Monday.

 2.       New Authors: Jae has two opportunities specifically for new authors (those with no more than two books published): New Author of the Month and the new author post in the Sapphic Book Bingo.

3.        Upcoming Releases:

• IHS has a new release newsletter that authors can submit their book to, as well as for inclusion in their BookFinder database.

• Jae’s FB group (Jae’s Group for Readers of Sapphic Fiction, which has over 6900 members) has a post at the beginning of each month for recent and upcoming releases where authors can mention their books.

4.      Create Your Own: We’re fortunate to have so many sapphic lit authors in our community. In addition to utilizing the opportunities above, you can organize your own cross-promotion with authors in your genre or across the sapphic lit community. For example, Alaina Erdell organized a fun scavenger hunt during the GCLS con that featured many sapphic fiction authors. By organizing a cross-promotion, you can help fellow authors and build relationships within our community.

—by Avery Brooks

Quick Marketing Tip from Alicia Gael

Alicia Gael shares how she uses social media to lift up fellow sapphic authors.

You can learn more about Alicia Gael and her books at https://aliciagael.com.

Interested in learning more about marketing? Check out GCLS’s Writing Academy 3 course.

Marketing with Becks Quirk

Becks Quirk shares some helpful marketing tips and her top three marketing update recommendations for authors.

Reader’s Nook

Undeniable.

I reach behind myself, my fingers graze

sharp blades where my wings used to be.

I haven’t flown in so long, my body scared

to take flight and so I stay. I cave and cower,

I take cover and that’s okay, I tell myself.

It’s understandable, it’s forgivable to stay still.

The truth of my paralysis is a fearful voice

keeping me down. The hum of a thousand

airborne warnings on repeat that cycle

from screens to screams inside my head.

My form folds in on itself as the system pushes

me further down, my aches deepen this loss

immense and yet I have hope inside my wounds.

My shoulders may fall, and my heart may ache

but I can still stand almost upright on that hill

where others like me proudly congregate.

An epic power, out in force, a steel backbone of

who has come before, we can fight as one.

I offer my hope to the person on my right and

those to my left lend their feathers to replenish

my own. Hearts and minds refilled with the

sunshine of shared passion. Bodies and souls

nourished after famished times lost and alone.

But together we stand. A single nervous system,

a body stronger than flesh and bone. A unity in

loss and a cadre of belief, in a future more immense

than our ourselves. A vastness of what’s overcome

as we are immovable in the face of darkness. Together

we witness a new sunrise of colours saturated and

undeniable. Together we stand in solidity even

as the skies darken, we will shine through it all.

—by Lauren Eve

Why I Love to Read Sapphic Books

I'm a late bloomer! I knew when I was 17 I was a lesbian, but didn't have any experience until my 30s. I worked in a male-dominated industry, though I did work for two women (who I had major crushes on!). I retired at 55 and eventually moved to SC. 

Then I got on Twitter/X and found something interesting, sapphic books. Once I started reading them, I couldn't get enough. No matter what the genre, as long as it has two female MCs. Though, I'm not into horror. But, age gap, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, fantasy, etc., I'll read it. 

Reading gives me immense pleasure! Plus, I've met a community, both authors and readers that have become family. 

I love vicariously through my books. And I have four 5-shelf cases chock-full, plus five smaller cases also full, and I keep buying more! 

Please keep writing, as we, the readers, are out there. 

—by Vita Licari

The SASS newsletter provides our community with information, analysis, resources, and even short sapphic fiction to keep us informed, mobilized, and connected. By working together to defend our community, our literature and our livelihoods, we can surmount the obstacles placed in our path and thrive!