Trans Rights Readathon is 24/7/365: Small Press Edition

SPD fucked us but we fuck harder

March 30, 2024

I’ve been thinking of writing a list of recommendations in honor of Trans Rights Readathon (March 22-29) for a couple weeks now, focused, of course, on small press books. I wanted to offer my recommendations after the “end” of TRR, because we need to be reading the margins all the time. We need to be putting in the effort to find works that aren’t spoon-fed to us by the big 4, or tiktok, or amazon. We need this if we want radical books to keep getting made.

This need became exponentially more urgent yesterday, though: Small Press Distribution, the already-fallen, very shady distributor of many (shoutout to Jen Benka for compiling this list!) small press books, abruptly shuttered, citing financial issues. This decision, to put it lightly, royally fucked over dozens, even hundreds of presses, whose stock is now effectively trapped in SPD’s mysterious warehouses. The abruptness of their closure means that there was no prior communication, no time to plan or move stock or find new methods of distribution.

You reposted Cavar (they/them) 🇵🇸 ✡️ @CavarSarah with all the elegies to SPD, i was surprised not to see a peep about the labor+financial abuse there. like, respectfully, i thought we had started boycotting them years ago? Quote Chris L Butler ✍🏽 💎🍉 @CLBpoetry · Mar 28 SPD has failed the community for a few years now. What they did to their partner presses and authors is unconscionable. But I am in no way surprised. I remember Damaged Book Worker. Solidarity to all the authors and presses. You deserved better. 11:54 AM · Mar 28, 2024 · 5,717 Views

It is difficult to overstate the magnitude of harm SPD has caused the affected small presses. Its full implications remain to be seen, as does any response or explanation by grifters –– and I feel fairly confident using that term –– at the now-former distributor. But I don’t want to linger too long on this before I get to the actual reason we’re here: to celebrate trans writers. And, in light of yesterday’s events, to celebrate trans writers whose books have been affected by SPD’s failures of management, communication, and propriety.

So, without further ado, here are some recommendations to consider if you’re interested in reading TGNC work year-round. This is absolutely not a comprehensive list –– just some stuff I adore!

  1. Donuts in Space by Jerica Taylor (GASHER Press)

  2. Tori Amos Bootleg Webring by Megan Milks (Instar Books)

  3. Reverse Cowgirl by McKenzie Wark (Semiotext(e))

  4. REVENGE BODY by Caleb Luna (Black Lawrence Press, first Nomadic Press)

  5. Switch Wish by Willa Smart (Meekling Press)

  6. sad boy/detective by sam sax (Black Lawrence Press)

  7. Wild Peach by S*an D. Henry-Smith (Futurepoem)

  8. Girlfriends by Emily Zhou (LittlePuss Press)

  9. Butch Geography by Stacey Waite (Tupelo Press)

  10. succubus in my pocket by kari edwards (EAOGH)

  11. Trans/Feminisms, an issue of Sinister Wisdom

  12. Sympathetic Little Monster by Cameron Awkward-Rich (Gold Line Press)

  13. Extratransmission by Andrea Abi-Karam (Kelsey Street Press)

  14. Mixtapes by tommy blake (ELJ Editions)

  15. Dyke (Geology) by Sabrina Imbler (Black Lawrence Press)

  16. […] by Ava Hoffman (Astrophil Press)

And, to fill out the remaining 14 days, some (not an exhaustive list) yet-unmentioned presses that I love!

TL;DR: Buy books. Always, but especially now. Buy them directly from presses; read and prioritize small press books. My novel would not exist without the daring work of a small press, and while I am not personally affected by the collapse of SPD, this is an issue that impacts all of us who care about words.

Love and support small presses and their authors now so that we can keep trans(-)forming the “literary world.” Now, I’m off to make more unadvisable financial decisions on some small press storefronts.

Comments are open to everyone this time, drop your recommendations below!