A Newsletter to Watch Out For

Carol Seajay, former bookseller and publisher of the now defunct Feminist Bookstore News, launched a newsletter in September titled Books to Watch Out For. Available in two editions -- The Lesbian Edition and The Gay Men's Edition -- the e-newsletter, also available in print, features book reviews, industry happenings, and other book news for readers interested in gay, lesbian, and feminist literature. The Gay Men's edition is edited by Richard Labonte, who has managed A Different Light bookstores in San Francisco and New York and wrote the Gay Men's Lit column for Feminist Bookstore News.

Seajay told BTW that Books to Watch Out For grew from her own need for information. She had made a career shift from publishing and bookselling to the technology industry, which left her somewhat out of the book loop. "I wasn't finding the books I wanted to read," she said. "After doing Feminist Bookstore News, I knew they were out there. I was bemoaning my fate when one friend said 'Why don't you do something about it?'" Another friend mentioned that people were now willing to pay for online content. She took her friends' comments under advisement and came up with Books to Watch Out For.

It took a couple of months for Seajay to put together a business plan. "I was glad I spent three years turning into an HTML monkey," said Seajay of her stint in the IT world. "It was a useful thing to learn all that technology if only so I could talk to someone and explain that the idea could work." She said she's on target with her projections for readership and expects to have a circulation of 10,000 in two years.

To select the recommended books, Seajay relies on nearly 30 years of bookselling and publishing experience. "It's a big detective job" to choose titles, said Seajay. "It's a matter of going out and finding them through word of mouth. People also call me or e-mail [suggestions]. And I read a lot of review media."

With the selections, Seajay looks to strike a range of different genres. "I want a good balance of everything from escape, murder mysteries, to some deep political issues, and good literary fiction," she said. "Books to Watch Out For is for a diverse community. My approach as a reviewer is similar to my stance as a bookseller -- it's a matter of matching the book and the customer." Some recent choices were Cheryl Peck's Fat Girls and Lawn Chairs (Warner), also a January/February 2004 Book Sense 76 pick, and This Wild Silence by Lucy Jane Bledsoe (Alyson Publications).

"One thing I'm very committed to is offering a win/win situation for all parts of the book industry, but I'm specifically not selling books," Seajay explained. "My goal is to find the books and make them easy for other people to find. Once they know what they are, they can call their local bookseller."

The monthly newsletters are $2.50/month, or $30 annually. To subscribe to both the lesbian and gay men's editions is $4 monthly or $48 for the year. Print editions cost an additional $10/year for postage, printing, and handling. For more information visit www.BooksToWatchOutFor.com. --Karen Schechner