Press Releases

San Francisco, March 8, 2006 – Books To Watch Out For (BTWOF) has teamed up with Women & Children First, Chicago’s world-class feminist bookstore, to launch its third specialty subscription-based book review newsletter, More Books for Women.

More Books for Women, for “the inner feminist in us all,” focuses on books with “a bent toward strong women characters, full gender and racial equality, and progressive politics and social change that smash sex-role stereotypes (for both children and adults),” states publisher Carol Seajay.

The Lesbian Edition, compiled by former Feminist Bookstore News publisher Carol Seajay, and The Gay Men’s Edition, compiled by Richard Labonte, former manager of A Different Light bookstores, focus on books of interest to lesbian and gay readers.

Each issue of the three reviews features short reviews of 25-30 books, including fiction that ranges from the literary to sheer escapism, as well as non-fiction that covers a range of issues, from social justice, biography, art, history, and more.

Reviews are short enough to scan on a lunch break, but detailed enough to decide if a book fits the reader’s interests. Copies can be delivered via email or in print.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Women & Children First to publish More Books for Women,” affirms Seajay, former publisher of Feminist Bookstore News. “These women spend all day, every day, finding the best books for women and making them easy to get. Their reading interests cover the waterfront – from edgy punk fiction to literary fiction, from politics and biography to world-changing books for kids and teens.” Mystery fans will revel in the recommendations of long-time connoisseur Nan Cinnater. Each issue features gems from both independent and corporate presses.

“Our goal with these publications,” Seajay elaborates, “is make it easy for readers with special interests to find the books they want to read. In this era of mass-marketing, when readers have to travel farther and farther to find feminist, gay, and other independent bookstores, More Books for Women, The Lesbian Edition, and The Gay Men’s Edition offer a simple way to learn about and enjoy the most interesting new titles. Full human rights include unrestricted access to excellent reading.”

Readers can subscribe to the print and email versions of the three editions of Books To Watch Out For online at
www.BooksToWatchOutFor.com/subscribe,
or by post to BTWOF, PO Box 882554, San Francisco CA 94188-2554. Subscriptions delivered via email are $30/10 issues; print versions are $42/10 issues, with additional discounts for combination packs.

Readers can check out recent issues online at www.BooksToWatchOutFor.com/samples.php.

Journalists may contact Leigh to view additional issues.

BTWOF also supports its communities by serving as a fund-raising tool. Fifteen percent of BTWOF’s gross subscription income goes directly to community organizations (including our media). Please contact Maddy if your organization is interested in participating in this program.

If your publication is interested in reprinting excerpts from BTWOF reviews, please contact Maddy.

Read Michelle Tea's San Francisco Bay Guardian article about Books To Watch Out For at:
www.sfbg.com/40/21/lit_househunter.html

Books To Watch Out For
PO Box 882554, San Francisco CA 94188-2554

San Francisco, December 5, 2005 — How do you find the books of interest and value to you out of the nearly 200,000 books published annually just in the U.S.? The books that are worthy of your scarce reading time? What if you're too busy to browse the bookshelves of your nearby bookstore - or you don't have a good local store?

Just launched, More Books for Women newsletter highlights 25-30 titles each month for you, selected and succinctly reviewed by the owners and staff of Women & Children First, Chicago's world-class independent women's bookstore. These women who love to read make it their business to search out the best in women's books for their reading public.

"We're thrilled to be partnering with Women & Children First to publish More Books for Women," declares former Feminist Bookstore News publisher Carol Seajay, who compiles news and interviews for the monthly publication. "These women spend all day, every day finding the best books for women and making them easy to get. Their reading interests cover the waterfront - from edgy punk fiction to literary fiction, from politics and biography to world-changing books for kids and teens." Mystery fans will revel in the recommendations of long-time connoisseur Nan Cinnater. Each issue features gems from both independent and corporate presses.

Use More Books for Women to make a list for next trip to your favorite independent bookstore or the library. If you prefer to order books online, links to Women & Children First's secure web-based store offer a seamless approach to ordering your selections, which normally ship within two days.

Books To Watch Out For also publishes two additional book reviews: The Lesbian Edition, compiled by Carol Seajay, and The Gay Men's Edition, compiled by Richard Labonte, formerly manager of A Different Light bookstores. Both editor/reviewers are known and well-respected in the lesbian and gay book communities. Details and more information are available at www.BooksToWatchOutFor.com.

Email subscriptions to each newsletter cost $30 per year for 10 issues ($42 by post), and make wonderful gifts for birthdays, holidays, graduations, retirement - or just quick thank-you gift to the readers in your life.

During our More Books for Women launch celebration, we'll offer fifteen months for the price of twelve for the Lesbian and Gay editions, as well as combination packs, at www.BTWOF.com/PR. Trial subscriptions, delivered by email, are also available at www.BooksToWatchOutFor.com/PR.

About Books To Watch Out For

Launched in 2003, Books To Watch Out For™ publishes subscription-based book review newsletters designed to help readers find books in their interest areas quickly and easily. Issues are published ten times a year and delivered by email; print copies are also available. Books To Watch Out For publisher Carol Seajay, who previously published the respected Feminist Bookstore News, compiles The Lesbian Edition. Richard Labonte, formerly manager of A Different Light bookstores, compiles The Gay Men's Edition. The staff of Chicago's renowned Women & Children First bookstore compiles More Books for Women. Seajay, Feminist Bookstore News, and Books To Watch Out For have received numerous awards from the book and GLBTQ communities, including the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association and the New Orleans Saints & Sinners LGBT Literary Festival.

Books To Watch Out For
PO Box 882554, San Francisco CA 94188-2554

San Francisco, CA – June 1, 2003 — Books To Watch Out For (BTWOF), the mother company for cutting-edge online book review newsletters, will launch of its first two publications, BTWOF: The Lesbian Edition and BTWOF: The Gay Men’s Edition, at Book Expo America in Los Angeles, at the National Women’s Music Festival (June 7), and at the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (June 26). The third edition, MORE Books for Women To Watch Out For, will launch in six to twelve months.

BTWOF’s e-newsletters feature short reviews and announcements of the best new lesbian and gay books as well as relevant news and "good gossip" from the bookselling, publishing, and writing communities. Subscriptions are $2.50 a month (billed annually) or $4 a month for both.

The e-letters drop into subscribers’ inboxes each month. Subscribers can print them out, mark the books that interest them, then take it to their local bookstore or they can read their newsletter onscreen, select a few titles, and order online, all without taking a break from their workday.

The e-letters are the brainchild of Carol Seajay, the publisher of Feminist Bookstore News from 1976 to 2000. "I worked in the tech industry for three years after closing FBN," Seajay explained. "And I had a hard time finding the books I wanted to read. Everyone I talked to seemed to have the same problem. So I decided to apply my tech skills to the problem and invented Books To Watch Out For – an e-newsletter for 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."

The format was a bit more difficult to develop: "After doing the market research I concluded that the e-letters need to be short and focused, so I created different editions for different audiences – then priced them at less than the cost of a bag of movie popcorn," she continued. "It’s as easy to subscribe from Japan as it is from NYC."

Seajay believes that it takes a community – a critical mass of readers, writers, publishers, and booksellers as well as a good communications network – to keep a literature viable. "Our mission is to put the ‘buzz’ back in lesbian and gay publishing by making it easy for readers – even those without a good bookstore – to find the books they want to read," Seajay elaborated. "BTWOF supports existing gay and lesbian book communities by publicizing the books, by driving sales to community stores, and also by offering BTWOF as a fundraising vehicle for community organizations. Fifteen percent of BTWOF’s subscription income is slated to return to supporting our communities."

Each newsletter will cover a wide range of books of interest to its reading community, and some books will appear in both editions. Seajay will compile The Lesbian Edition and will include both lesbian-oriented work and "the whole range of books that independent women read." Richard Labonte, who managed A Different Light bookstores in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York and wrote the Gay Men’s Lit column for Feminist Bookstore News, will edit The Gay Men’s Edition.

Send review copies, forthcoming book information, catalogs, and news for The Lesbian Edition and for MORE BTWOF to BTWOF, PO Box 882554, San Francisco CA 94188). Send books and information 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 sender.

Books appropriate for both editions should be sent to both editors.

BTWOF will not accept advertising for the first year, but issue sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact Mozelle Mathews at 415-642-9993 or email BTWOF@pacbell.net for more information.

Subscription forms and other information are available at www.BooksToWatchOutFor.com. (Note: The site launches May 25.)

Feminist Bookstore News was a trade magazine for the lesbian, feminist, and gay book trade serving booksellers, publishers, libraries, and review publications. It was founded by Carol Seajay who published and edited the magazine from its inception in 1976 until 2000. Seajay also cofounded Old Wives Tales Bookstore in San Francisco in 1976 and worked at ICI-A Woman’s Place Bookstore, one of the first feminist bookstores in the U.S., during its early years.

For additional information, contact Leigh or call 415-642-9993.