Carol Seajay, the publisher of Feminist Bookstore News from 1976 until its closing in 2000, introduced two e-mail book review newsletters at BEA, and plans to launch a third in the fall.
The first two versions of Books to Watch Out For (BTWOF) will be BTWOF: The Lesbian Edition and BTWOF: The Gay Men's Edition. BTWOF: More Books for Women to Watch Out For is the third.
Sent once or twice a month, the newsletters will feature short reviews and announcements about the best new lesbian and gay books, as well as news and what Seajay calls "good gossip" from the book world. Subscriptions are $2.50 a month per newsletter or $4 a month for both newsletters and will be billed annually. (The pricing is "less than the cost of a bag of movie popcorn," she noted, and 15% of subscription income will go to supporting gay and lesbian communities.)
The idea for BTWOF came because, as Seajay explained, even she had a "hard time finding the books I wanted to read." The newsletters are geared to people who "don't have a feminist or gay bookstore in their town and are too busy to wade through superstores or search through a zillion Web pages to find their leisure reading."
Seajay, who also co-founded Old Wives Tales Bookstore in San Francisco, will edit BTWOF: The Lesbian Edition, which will feature both "lesbian-oriented work and the whole range of books that independent women read." Richard Labonte, who managed A Different Light bookstores and was the "Gay Men's Lit" columnist for Feminist Bookstore News, will edit BTWOF: The Gay Men's Edition.
Review copies, catalogues and other news and information for the lesbian and women's editions may be sent to P.O. Box 882554, San Francisco, Calif. 94188 (UPS and courier should go to BTWOF, 80 Chenery St., San Francisco, Calif. 94131); send material for the gay men's edition to Richard Labonte, 7-A Drummond St. W., Perth, Ontario K7H 2J3 Canada. (Books sent to Canada must be marked "commercial samples/no commercial value" or they will be returned to the sender.)
Subscription forms and other information is available at www.btwof.com. For a sample copy and even more information, contact Seajay at BTWOF@pacbell.net or (415) 642-9993.BTWOF will not accept advertising during its first year, but issue sponsorship is available.
