An Anniversary Guest Posting Event - Calling All Lesbian Book Readers

Literary Muse by GoodLesbianBooks
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Which Lesbian Book Should You Read First? 

An anniversary event celebrating one year of Good Lesbian Books.

March the 5th is the first birthday of this site, so we're planning to celebrate with a guest posting party starting on that date.. 

That's right, this is an open invitation to all readers of lesbian fiction to write something to answer this question. Which lesbian book should you read first?

Check out the background and guidelines below, and send us your contribution at GoodLesbianBook [at] Gmail.com

There are dozens of great lesbian books out there now, probably more, and I'm sure any reader of lesbian fiction can spout of half a dozen classics, famous names, and all around favourites that they would joyfully recommend. But what would you recommend to a 'new' reader? Someone who's just discovering lesbian fiction for the first time, or whose horizons you are casually trying to expand?

Whether it's your best friend, a fifteen year old niece, a parent, or a completely random person who walks up to you while you're in the library and asks where to start, what book would you pick? Does it depend on what their reading tastes are like, or do some books speak to everyone? Would you jump straight for the romance, or start with a coming out story? A landmark classic, or something modern? Something that's fun to read, or something that explains all the issues? Something 'in your face lesbian', or something matter of fact that won't scare them off? Something rife with nostalgia, or a newly discovered favourite?

A fantastic 'introductory' book is not always worth the time of someone who is over the fact that there are Stories About Lesbians. So think back to your first discoveries of lesbian literature. What book did you wish you'd started with?

We've been struggling to put together our own list here at Good Lesbian Books, but we're hampered by both the amount of choice, and the fact that we haven't read nearly enough of the books that we might like to recommend, and so can't compare. And of course, what we like may not be what other people like. There's also the fact that, the more lesbian fiction one reads, the more our expectations change.  So we figured, why not ask everyone else what they thought?

This is (should we get enough in the way of contributions) a one year birthday event that will start on March the 5th, the day this site began. Whether you're a reviewer, an author, or 'just' a reader of lesbian fiction, we'd love to hear from you. So write us half a page, an imaginary interview, a speech, or an essay, tell us what book you'd choose and why (or why you couldn't choose), and get it to us by March the 5th. We'll just keep posting til we run out, so late submissions are definitely accepted - but we'll need enough to get started with, or it won't be much of an event! And if you really can't pick one book, yes, you can talk about more. Keep it reasonable, though! (Remember, you'll need to write a really convincing explanation for why each book is a top pick).

It doesn't have to be an actual review of the book. That isn't what this is about. There are reviews out there. What we want to know is why. Why are you recommending this book? Who would you give it to? How the heck did you manage to choose? (or was it easy?) Is the book important, or just an easy introduction? Are you basing this on emotional connections, or rational analysis? Will there be kissing involved?

It would be awesome to get as many people contributing as possible - if you know someone that you think could write a great review, and probably knows what they're talking about, please ask them to send us something! We'd like to make this a fun and useful event, ending up with a collection of authentic, real, recommendations for people trying to figure out where to start, and if particular lesbian books are too scarily lesbian for them - or are lesbian enough to be worth their time!

Include any links and images and quick intros about yourself that you want included (we'll do it for you if you can't think of anything to include, or can't be bothered - but of course, then you have to hope we write nice things ... muahahaha). You are welcome to include your own affiliate links to books, as long as you don't go overboard (we won't take them out, and we won't consider it bad manners - consider it part of your reward for writing us nice things).

I think that covers everything! Check with us if you have any other questions, either here or via  GoodLesbianBook [at] Gmail.com

Cheers,

Cat & Cress

You may also be interested in:

• The Guest Posting Event Page
• See all posts in the Introducing Lesbian Fiction Event