About
RedBone Press publishes work celebrating the cultures of black lesbians and gay men, and work that further promotes understanding between black gays and lesbians and the black mainstream. RedBone’s first book, does your mama know? An Anthology of Black Lesbian Coming Out Stories, won two 1997 Lambda Literary Awards, for Small Press and Lesbian Studies. The second title, the bull-jean stories by Sharon Bridgforth, won the 1998 Lambda Literary Award for Small Press. Three more books were released September 2004: love conjure/blues, a novel by Sharon Bridgforth; last rights and nothin’ ugly fly, both books of poetry by Marvin K. White. In the summer of 2005, RedBone published Where the Apple Falls, poetry by Samiya Bashir. Published in 2006 are Spirited: Affirming the Soul and Black Gay/Lesbian Identity, Blood Beats: Vol. 1, and Erzulie's Skirt.
Published in 2007 are Voices Rising: Celebrating 20 Years of Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Writing; Carry the Word: A Bibliography of Black LGBTQ Books; and Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men. Published in 2008 are Blood Beats: Vol. 2 and In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology. Most titles since 2004 have been Lambda Literary Award finalists; additionally, Blood Beats: Vol. 1 won a 2007 PEN/Beyond Margins Award.
"RedBone ambitiously fulfills a two-fold black feminist mission of both creating space for new critical voices to emerge and insisting on the relevance of earlier work by thinkers committed to the wholeness and freedom of black communities."
— Alexis Pauline Gumbs, American Book Review, May-June 2008
Press about RedBone Press
“It’s easy to be depressed about the publishing options for queer writers of color. Both Sister Vision and Kitchen Table, the two big-mama queer-of-color presses, died in the ’90s. But it’s also important to look at what’s working. Aunt Lute Books is still alive, though its output is slow. RedBone Press just celebrated its eleventh year publishing award-winning Black lesbian and gay literature—including poetry. Lisa C. Moore founded RedBone after white feminist publishers told her that there was ‘no market’ for her anthology of Black lesbian coming-out stories, does your mama know?—which is now in its fourth printing. In the face of white feminist presses who say they don’t know how to sell work by women of color, Moore goes to where Black queers are, selling books at Black lesbian conferences and Black queer prides across the country.” — from “To Hell with ‘There’s No Market for You’: Queer Writers of Color and Independent Publishing,” by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarashinha, make/shift, Fall/Winter 2008/2009
Interview with Lisa C. Moore on SistersTalk blogtalkradio, February 15, 2009
Interview with Lisa C. Moore on Sippin on Ink blogtalkradio, January 7, 2009
"Some of Us Are Brave”: Profiles of Black Lesbians in Publishing," by Alexis Pauline Gumbs, TreasureMagazine.com, March 3, 2008
"Voice for the Voiceless," (.pdf ) by Reginald Harris, The Black Issues Book Review, Sept/Oct 2005
"Why Do You Publish?", an interview by Steve G. Fullwood, Sept 22, 2003
"Other Voices, Other Rooms," The Austin Chronicle, July 28, 2000
"The Little Press That Could," The Austin Chronicle, July 28, 2000
Writers guidelines
Writers wishing to submit work for consideration to RedBone Press should send a book proposal. Please consult How to Write a Book Proposal by Michael Larsen for guidance. Submissions should be printed on 8 1/2” x 11” paper and mailed to:
RedBone Press
P.O. Box 15571
Washington, DC 20003
Also, please retain an electronic copy of your work in the event the proposal is accepted.
Call for submissions
RedBone Press seeks well-written personal stories by black lesbians on the subject of coming out while married to a man. Looking for journal entries, personal essays, creative autobiographical fiction, poetry or whatever way the words come together to describe your coming out. This book is intended to be a resource for black women coming out of marriage, and for the women who love them.
Deadline for submission has been extended until December 31, 2009. For more information, read this post.
