Alyson Books

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Alyson Books
Alyson Books logo.jpg
Parent company Regent Media
Founded1980
Founder Sasha Alyson
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationNew York City
Publication typesBooks
Official website www.alyson.com

Alyson Books, formerly known as Alyson Publications, was a book publishing house which specialized in LGBT fiction and non-fiction. Former publisher Don Weise described it as "the world's oldest and largest publisher of LGBT literature" and "the home of award-winning books in the areas of memoir, history, humor, commercial fiction, mystery, and erotica, among many others". [1]

Contents

History

Founded in Boston in 1980 by Sasha Alyson, [2] Alyson Publications began in 1990 to sell LGBT-themed children's books, entitled Alyson Wonderland. [3] It was acquired by Liberation Publications in 1995 [4] and sold to Regent Entertainment Media, Inc. in 2008, [5] [6] and in November, as Alyson Books, named Don Weise its publisher. [7] 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, and autobiography—as well as literary fiction and works by today's most respected LGBT authors." [1]

In 2010, Publishers Weekly announced that Alyson Books would switch to digital (e-book) publishing only, with plans to convert backlist titles in this fashion. [8] 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

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References

  1. 1 2 Weise 2009.
  2. Fein, Esther B. (May 13, 1992). "Book Notes". The New York Times . Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  3. "Owen Keenhen, 'Moving On: Talking with Publisher Sasha Alyson', 1992". Archived from the original on November 3, 2013.
  4. "The Advocate acquires book publisher. (Liberation Publications Inc. buys Alyson Publications)". Folio. June 1, 1995. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  5. Bajko, Matthew (April 10, 2008). "Breaking news: PlanetOut to sell off magazines". Bay Area Reporter. Archived from the original on June 9, 2009.
  6. "Planetout Inc · 8-K · For 8/13/08". Fran Finnegan & Company. August 13, 2008. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
  7. "Alyson Books Gets New Publisher". Gay News Bits. November 27, 2008. Archived from the original on January 6, 2009. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
  8. Anon., "Alyson Books Will Restructure as E-book Only House; Weise Leaves", Publishers Weekly, October 1, 2010.
  9. "Paperbacks; BESTSELLERS; LOS ANGELES TIMES LIST FOR March 14, 2004". Los Angeles Times. March 14, 2004. p. 11. Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  10. "Lambda Literary Foundation 2004 winners". Archived from the original on December 18, 2007.
  11. 1 2 http://www.lambdaliterary.org/ Lambda Literary Foundation