Customer Reviews

The Queer Press Guide

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

AS A PERSON INVOLVED IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY, I AM CALLED UPON TO SEND OUT PRESS MATERIALS AND OTHER CORRESPONDENCE. THIS BOOK IS EXACTLY WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR! VERY CONCISE AND ACCURATE! THANK YOU, MR. HARRIS! I HOPE THE BOOK BECOMES AN ANNUAL TRADITION.

I write a column on gay and lesbian issues that appears in many GLBT newspapers across the country. It appears in quite a few more thanks to this book.In the past, I have had to rely on word of mouth, friends, and personal visits to different cities to find gay and lesbian papers around the country. There have been previous attempts at publishing lists of gay and lesbian papers, but until now, none of them have offered e-mail addresses.This book is a great aid in locating potential markets for my column precisely because it gives quick and easy e-mail addresses and editors names. With the help of this book, I increased the number of newspapers that pay me for my column by about one-third. I would say this book is an essential tool for any writer who wants to place his or her work in local gay and lesbian publications.One problem that may well be beyond the control of the author of this book is that editors at gay and lesbian publications change frequently, so the listing is sometimes out of date already. But as a general rule, it was incredibly helpful in helping me (eventually) get to the right person at a publication to pitch my work.A few suggestions for improvement: Under each publication heading, a little spacing and formatting would have made it much easier to quickly pick out a contact person's name and e-mail address. I suspect most of us using this book these days will go for the e-mail addresses rather than the mailing addresses, and sometimes those felt "buried."Some editors did an excellent job of telling you what kind of publication they put out; however, comments from other editors were so vague I felt I was sending a blind pitch. It would help if Paul could somehow arm twist the rest of the editors to do a better job at telling us more about their publication needs.Finally, I would encourage Paul to include major gay and lesbian web sites, such as PlanetOut or Gay.com, in upcoming editions.In balance, however, let me re-iterate that this book gave me a nice boost in my customer base (which is local gay and lesbian newspapers.) I would gladly purchase a follow-up edition on an annual basis.

This book is primarily organized to help writers find appropriate outlets in the queer press. In that sense, the book can be described as a kind-of "Queer Writers Market." No doubt, writers will gain the most from its format.

As an activist, my needs are different than those strictly akin to the writing craft. But this book is still a unique and valuable resource for activists like me. Finally, I can to go to one source in order to distribute a national press release, thus solving a problem that has confounded activists for years! Without a doubt, this book saved me countless hours of research drudgery, and probably with much better results than I could have achieved on my own.

As noted in the introduction, however, queer publications rise and fall continuously. Thus, even though I used the guide only four months after publication, a number of media contacts are already out of date. Of course, this is not a problem with the author, but it demonstrates the difficulty of tracking a quickly moving target.

I would rate this book with five stars except for three reasons: 1) The format for each listing could be more consistent. 2) Because accuracy is critical to any guidebook, a better proofreading effort could eliminate the few typographical errors I found. 3) The index only lists the publications in alphabetical order. It would also be helpful to index the publications according to their focus, such as: national news, erotica, niche market, entertainment, local news, commentary, etc.

Of course, these criticisms do not detract from the essential worth of The Queer Press Guide. I am sure it will be on my "must buy" list every time it is updated.

Paul Harris has performed a huge and impressive labor of love in gathering these crucial resources into The Queer Press Guide. This book will be INVALUABLE to writers, arts organizations and community activists all over the country! A must have on EVERYONE'S desk!

As the publisher of a regional, gay-interest magazine, being listed in the Queer Press Guide has proven to be invaluable. Freelancer journalists, writers, and marketing companies have seen our listing and submitted material for publication. The Guide offers information on the guidelines and practices of each publication which is extremely accurate and timely--I know because Mr. Harris corresponded directly with me shortly prior to going to press to ensure that the Guide contained the most up-to-date information possible. If you are involved in any aspect of the gay press, you need to have this book!

Don't waste your money unless this publication is finally updated. You can get all the info free on-line anyway. It was great though when it was current for about 5 minutes.

I have found this book invaluable in two ways. First, I run a non-profit theatre company that occasionally does gay works. Second, I'm a freelance writer myself and am always looking for places to have my writing published. This book gives me all the info I could possibly need both for sending out my theatre press releases and for approaching publications as a writer. Not just complete info on guidelines, addresses, etc., but also -- and this is important for me -- e-mail addresses for almost every listing. That allows me to do bulk e-mails and save TONS of money...

If you are involved in any form of activism within the gay movement this book will be very helpful to you. The layout is simple and straight forward. All the information you could need about each publication is included. I imagine this book will also be of great use to any business seeking to advertize their product or service to the gay world. Talking of the world I was delighted to see that so many countries now have gay publications. I was also amazed at the diversity of publications within the US. When I got to read the Introduction I saw that a new publication is started every week aimed at the GLBT population so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised.

There was also a very informative interview with Shelly Roberts (funny lady) about how to self-syndicate your writings which I found simple, and well explained. I imagine any writer will find it useful. This book is long overdue. It is pretty obviously the result of a labor of love. At last the gay movement has a directory of our media! Well done, Paul Harris.