Emery 🏳️‍⚧️

Meanwhile, even if 50 trans SFFH books are released in 1 year, that's still a microscopic portion compared to ALL SFFH books released yearly.

So it's kind of hard to compare tbh, but it's pretty safe to say trans books are still not getting full space in the market haha

This is hard to explain in short form, but there are waaaay more books published each year in SFFH than in YA, so when certain demographics "contract", it's less visible.

YA is shrinking overall, which is why this is happening, but trans books are such a small part of the market that it's OBVIOUS.

Anyway, some recommended authors who are still doing the thing in trans YA:

- Aiden Thomas
- Andrew Joseph White
- Page Powars
- Elle Grenier
- Jasper Sanchez

Like everyone else I can think of at the moment has moved to adult or nonfiction or stopped publishing altogether

Someone always inevitably tries to tell me about a specific book that hit the List this year to negate my point, but that is *exactly* my point.

In 2021, there were tons of trans debuts who didn't need to be exceptional to get a second book deal. Most of them are gone & they aren't being replaced.

This is mostly about tradpub YA but it is specifically not lost on me how there is a single birth year of young adults for whom their high school years were the peak of trans books, only to graduate high school to a world where trans books are largely unavailable.

Like, to watch in real time as we went from "wow, there are trans books actually getting published!" In 2020 to "wow, it's the trans golden age" in 2021-2023 to "trans books are not on bookstore shelves anymore" in 2025 is a ridiculous whiplash.

It's hard to prove in a concrete way because we barely ever reached an era where trans books were widely accepted, but the door allowing trans books into the market seems to have slammed shut.

Cheers to the door openers.

You can be singular at what you do, but if no one knows it, you could dwindle and toil in obscurity.

If you've ever uplifted me, opened a door, or took a chance on me, I remember.

May 2026 be the year that doors open for you. Just remember you have to do it next.

I've said this before, but there are two kinds of people in the world.

- People who have suffered or been traumatized by something, and think it's unfair unless everyone else also suffers
- People who have suffered or been traumatized by something and don't want anyone else to experience that.

I am personally a huge hater of the Netflix-style "say everything as clear and on the nose as possible so nobody misses a thing while washing the dishes" storytelling, but while that's mainstream, it's not *everything*. This is why I like mostly indie/translated stuff though.

It's also why fandom is mostly discourse and less fun now. Instead of overthinking if that side glance was actually true love, people are overthinking if it's actually a problematic age gap to call your partner "baby".

Same energy, nowhere to put it in a world where everything is explicit.

Thought of the Day: millenials grew up during the height of queer-coded media, which is why nothing hits like it used to.

Everything is either painfully heteronormative or canonically queer in a way that, instead of giving you a little gift for overthinking it, hits you with "it's not that deep"

A red background with a pink envelope and a cream note sticking out. Gold glitter stars surround the note. The note says: Reminder: 2026 Lammy Awards Submissions Close Dec 7

🎀FINAL CALL: You have until 11:59pm ET this Sunday, December 7, to nominate queer work for a 2026 Lambda Literary Award! Submit here: lambdaliterary.org/awards/lammy...
#LammyAwards #Lammys2026

Also, imagine replying to my post asking "are you a new writer?" when the first line in my bio is "award-winning author"

Like, at least skim my bio before you try to solicit something from me

What in the spam is going on here?? I mentioned being an ind1e author yesterday and wake up to just... spam all up in my notifications. What happened to this place while I was away??

Forget Me Knot (Paperback) - Emery Lee's Ko-fi Shop To make amends for his soulmate’s downfall, Toa is cursed to an immortal life spent unknotting strangers’ Red String of Fate, helping them connect wit...

A lot of indie authors are (justifiably) raising their prices due to increased fees, but I actually just DROPPED the price of Forget Me Knot for (*mumble mumble reasons*)

The paperback is just $11.99 now! If you like mythology-inspired queer fantasy romance rife with pining, humor, & healing👇🏽🌈📚

Looking forward to seeing y’all tomorrow and Sunday!

Don’t forget to RSVP for the Always Here event (I believe it’s being streamed on Instagram so you can participate virtually too!) - withfriends.co/event/270589...

We're getting pretty close to our last call for these!

😂😂😂

That makes sense! Thank you!!

The mistake I made was thinking "I mean, wouldn't this be better if all the side characters had complex personalities and intrigue rather than just being plot points?" And like, yeah, obviously it's better, but it's also like 120k words too long!!!

This is so much worse when you consider that I'm a chronic underwriter and I can already see places where I could flesh things out more. RIP.

(I already know I'm gonna have to break it up. I just don't WANT to 😭)

Every book really is an entirely different monster. The first draft of Forget Me Knot was like 50k words and the first draft of the book I'm writing now is 80k and I haven't even reached the midpoint 💀

Ooh that's a very interesting perspective that I had not heard before, so very helpful! Thank you!

I took a vacation just to read and I think I only read 3 and one was a graphic novel 💀

😱 1. I'm glad you liked them!! 2. I'm impressed by your reading speed 😭

Awww thank you!! 💙

This was really delightful!

Like, obviously "what is it about?" is a good start and I know some people really like to know tropes, but that's kinda mid for me.

But what else? Do you like to know about the characters? The themes? Do you like quotes? Art? Weird bits of lore? Talk to me, friends!!!

It's really hard for me to talk about my books in any meaningful way online because I'm the type of person who doesn't even want to remember what's in the back copy by the time I read a book.

Like... what do y'all like to KNOW about books by cool people on your skyline before you pick them up?