Alyson Books, formerly known as Alyson Publications, was a book

publishing house Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

which specialized in

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

fiction and non-fiction. Former publisher Don Weise described it as "the world's oldest and largest publisher of

LGBT literature LGBT literature may refer to: * Lesbian literature * Gay literature * Bisexual literature * Transgender literature Transgender literature is a collective term used to designate the literary production that addresses, has been written by or portra ...

" and "the home of award-winning books in the areas of

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

, history, humor, commercial fiction,

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

, and

erotica Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use ...

, among many others".Weise 2009.

History

Founded in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1980 by

Sasha Alyson Sasha Alyson (born May 22, 1952) is an American writer and businessman who started Alyson Publications in 1979. He later founded the Boston gay and lesbian newspaper ''Bay Windows'' (1983), the travel company Alyson Adventures (1995) and Big Brot ...

, Alyson Publications began in 1990 to sell LGBT-themed children's books, entitled ''Alyson Wonderland''. It was acquired by

Liberation Publications LPI Media (formerly Liberation Publications Inc.)

in 1995 and sold to Regent Entertainment Media, Inc. in 2008, and in November, as Alyson Books, named Don Weise its publisher. He has written of his commitment to Alyson's traditional areas of specialisation, but has stated that he is keen also to embrace "more serious nonfiction—particularly in the areas of current affairs, politics,

self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...

, and autobiography—as well as

literary fiction Literary fiction, mainstream fiction, non-genre fiction or serious fiction is a label that, in the book trade, refers to market novels that do not fit neatly into an established genre (see genre fiction); or, otherwise, refers to novels that are ch ...

and works by today's most respected LGBT authors." In 2010, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' announced that Alyson Books would switch to digital (e-book) publishing only, with plans to convert backlist titles in this fashion.Anon.
"Alyson Books Will Restructure as E-book Only House; Weise Leaves"
''Publishers Weekly'', October 1, 2010. Don Weise left Alyson at that time. As of 2019, the URL for the Alyson Books website produces a "DNS resolution error" message.

Some books published by Alyson

* "Gay Old Girls" (ISBN ‎ 1555834760) by Zsa Zsa Gershick (Joshua Irving Gershick) * "Secret Service: Untold Stories of Lesbians in the Military" (ISBN 0739454234) by Zsa Zsa Gershick (Joshua Irving Gershick) *''Death Trick'' (), by Richard Stevenson *''101 Gay Sex Secrets Revealed'' (), by Jonathan Bass *''How to Get Laid: The Gay Man's Essential Guide to Hot Sex'' (), by Jonathan Bass *''

Finding H.F. ''Finding H.F.'' is a 2001 young adult novel by Julia Watts, published by Alyson Books. It won the Lambda Literary Award for Children's/Young Adult fiction that same year. Set in the Deep South, it describes the experience of being a lesbian teen ...

'' (), a young adult novel by

Julia Watts Julia Watts is an American fiction writer. Career Julia Watts is the author of novels, short stories, etc., especially in the genres of young adult fiction and lesbian fiction/erotica. Her novels include '' Finding H.F.'' for which she won the 2 ...

*''

Young, Gay and Proud ''Young, Gay and Proud'' is a book written for adolescents who are exploring a gay identity, published by an autonomous collective of the Melbourne Gay Teachers and Students Group. A new USA-edition was released in 1980, edited by Sasha Alyson an ...

'' (), edited by Sasha Alyson and Lynne Yamaguchi Fletcher *The ''

Dykes to Watch Out For ''Dykes to Watch Out For'' (sometimes ''DTWOF'') was a weekly comic strip by Alison Bechdel. The strip, which ran from 1983 to 2008, was one of the earliest ongoing representations of lesbians in popular culture and has been called "as import ...

'' comic strip by

Alison Bechdel Alison Bechdel ( ; born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip ''Dykes to Watch Out For'', she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her graphic memoir ''Fun Home'', whi ...

* ''Lesbian Lists: A Look at Lesbian Culture, History, and Personalities'' () by Dell Richards (1990) *''The Second Coming: A Leatherdyke Reader'' (), edited by Pat Califia and Robin Sweeney *''Melting Point'' (), short stories by Pat Califia *''Doing it for Daddy'' (), short stories by Pat Califia *''

Macho Sluts ''Macho Sluts'' () is a 1988 book of erotic short stories by Pat Califia, published by Alyson Publications. Then lesbian identified, Califia had written the stories between 1977 and 1988 during a period of fierce struggle between lesbian feminist ...

'' (), erotic fiction by Pat Califia *''Doc and Fluff'' (), a novel by Pat Califia *''

Latter Days ''Latter Days'' is a 2003 American romantic comedy-drama film about a gay relationship between a closeted Mormon missionary and his openly gay neighbor. The film was written and directed by C. Jay Cox and stars Steve Sandvoss as the missionary ...

'' (), novelization by T. Fabris for the 2003 major motion picture of the same name *''The First Gay Pope and Other Records'', by Lynne Yamaguchi Fletcher *''The Femme Mystique'' (), short stories edited by

Lesléa Newman Lesléa Newman (born November 5, 1955 in Brooklyn, New York City) is an American author, editor, and feminist. Four of her young adult novels have been finalists for the Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, making her ...

*''Pillow Talk'' (), short stories edited by Lesléa Newman *''Pills, Thrills, Chills and Heartache'' (),

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

bestseller and 2004

Lambda Literary Awards Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

finalist, edited by

Clint Catalyst Clint Catalyst (born April 8, 1971) is the nom de plume Michelle Tea Michelle Tea (born Michelle Tomasik, 1971) is an American author, poet, and literary arts organizer whose autobiographical works explore queer culture, feminism, race, class, sex work, and other topics. She is originally from Chelsea, Massachuse ...

*The ''Lillian Byrd'' crime fiction series, by

Elizabeth Sims Elizabeth Sims (born September 30, 1957) is an American writer, journalist, and contributing editor at ''Writer's Digest'' magazine. She is a former correspondent for the '' Sarasota Herald-Tribune'' and author of two series of crime novels, inc ...

*'' Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology'' (), edited by Amy Sonnie *''The Trouble with Harry Hay: Founder of the Modern Gay Movement'', by

Stuart Timmons Stuart Timmons (January 14, 1957 – January 28, 2017) was an American journalist, activist, historian, and award-winning author specializing in LGBT history based in Los Angeles, California. He was the author of ''The Trouble With Harry Hay: F ...

*''

Half-Life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable ato ...

'', a novel by

Aaron Krach Aaron Krach (born February 15, 1972) is an American artist, writer, and journalist currently living in New York City. Background Aaron Krach was born in Ionia, Michigan on February 15, 1972. He grew up in Alhambra, California, and graduated ...

*''Out on Fraternity Row: Personal Accounts of Being Gay in a College Fraternity'', by Shane Windmeyer *''Secret Sisters: Stories of Being Lesbian & Bisexual in a College Sorority'' *''Best Lesbian Love Stories, 2003–2005'', edited by Angela Brown *''Mentsh: On Being Jewish and Queer'', edited by Angela Brown *''Love, Bourbon Street: Reflections of New Orleans'', edited by Greg Herren and Paul J. Willis—winner 2006 Lambda Literary Award for Anthologyhttp://www.lambdaliterary.org/ Lambda Literary Foundation *'' Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out'' (), edited by

Loraine Hutchins Loraine Hutchins is an American bisexual and feminist author, activist, and sex educator. Hutchins rose to prominence as co-editor (with Lani Kaʻahumanu) of ''Bi Any Other Name'', an anthology that is one of the seminal books in the bisexual righ ...

and

Lani Kaʻahumanu Lani Kaahumanu (born October 5, 1943) is a Canadian bisexual and feminist writer and activist. She is openly bisexual and writes and speaks on sexuality issues frequently. She serves on the editorial board of the '' Journal of Bisexuality''. Sh ...

*''The Bisexual's Guide to the Universe'', by Michael Szymanski and Nicole Kristal—winner 2006 Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual *''Entangled Lives: Memoirs of 7 Top Erotica Writers'' (), edited by

Marilyn Jaye Lewis Marilyn Jaye Lewis (born July 22, 1960 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American writer and editor of novels, short stories, memoirs, screenplays and teleplays. Lewis grew up in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1960s. Lewis began writing during her preteen yea ...

*
First You Fall
' a novel by Scott Sherman, winner of the Lambda Literary Foundation Award, 2009, Best Gay Mystery *''Girl Meets Girl: A Dating Survival Guide'' 2007 () by Diana Cage *''One Teenager in 10'' (), edited by Ann Heron

References

* Weise, Don.
Welcome to Alyson Books
" ''Alyson Books''. (accessed May 13, 2009).

External links

* {{Here Media Inc. 1980 establishments in Massachusetts Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Defunct book publishing companies of the United States Feminist book publishing companies LGBT book publishing companies LGBT-related mass media in the United States Publishing companies established in 1980