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Selling Books with GLBTQ Characters

Why can't you sell your "gay" book into the mainstream? Here are some thoughts on it.

Comments

Re: Shounen Ai

[(Anonymous)]

I used Amazon because I don't get to bookstores that often, and usually when I'm there, I'm there for something specific. When I browse, it's on Amazon or other online bookstores. Also, it's not clear when browsing in a bookstore what's shounen ai/yaoi and what isn't. At least not just by looking at spines. In the Amazon recommendations, it's often pretty clear.. they put (yaoi) after a lot of them and I'm shown covers, not spines.

It's the sheer quantity of different yaoi manga Amazon recommends that surprises me. A couple of years ago, you wouldn't have seen that. Manga translation has exploded and I'm glad to see a variety. It used to be all you'd get was shounen/boy's manga like Dragonball.

And to respond to the most recent post, I don't read manga because I like manga and graphic novels. I read them because I'm interested in the stories that are being told there. Stories I can't get anywhere else (except anime and some Japanese live action shows). I've also read a few modern Japanese novels in translation. They're a different animal from American/British/Canadian/Australian/other English novels, granted, but they're.. perhaps a step from manga towards English novels. I would absolutely love to see more Japanese novels translated, particularly any shounen ai/yaoi ones!

The Japanese language and culture interests me, but it's also just how many stories have GLBTQ characters. Some good, some bad, some main characters, some side, some comedic, and some tragic. They're relatively easy to find in manga and anime. They're a lot more difficult to find in English fiction.

-Jellyn Andrews