Getting into "Best of" lists

It's complicated

Neil S. Plakcy

Jun 09, 2025

It’s Pride Month, and many publications and influencers are recommending LGBTQ+ books. But (boo-hoo) my books never seem to make those lists.

I don’t think it’s anything to do with their quality—at least my readers are still giving me four and five-star reviews. And the books address issues important to queer readers, liking parenting, visibility, and anti-gay violence.

Instead, it’s about how the publishing machinery works. Back in the days when I was traditionally published, I’d hand in a manuscript and then be assigned a publication date, usually months away. That would give the publisher time to get the book edited and the cover designed, and an entry created for their seasonal catalog. Those catalogs allowed publications and bookstores to prepare well in advance of publication, assigning reviews and ordering copies.

Then they’d often print what are called Advance Review Copies, or ARCs. Those were sent to newspapers, magazines and the people responsible for ordering at chain and independent bookstores. Since traditional publishing depends on initial sales of a book, they want the reviews to come out on publication day or within that week. And reviewers are accustomed to working in that timetable.

A book like Blood Code would be scheduled for publication during Pride Month, to make it available for those recommendation lists.

How things have changed! My last traditionally published book was the second of the Angus Green FBI series, and the publicist at Diversion Books never had ARCs printed or sent out. I got no pre-publication publicity, and no reviews from any publications. It’s no surprise the book tanked. Soon after publication, Diversion notified me that they were cancelling my three-book contract and returning all the rights to me.

These days, I work on a much shorter timetable. Right now I’m pushing to release the next golden retriever mystery, Dog of Deliverance, on June 30. Even if a publication is willing to review a self-published novel, they’re still working on a calendar a few months ahead. A few online publications I work with are willing to accept my books and assign them to a freelance reviewer, and they don’t care (nor do I) if the review comes out just at publication.

Giovanni’s Room bookstore in Philadelphia, where I did a reading years ago.
Now an AIDS thrift store.

In the 1980s, there were roughly 200 LGBTQ‑focused bookstores across the U.S. When I was published by Alyson Books, who were at the time the largest LGBT publisher in the country, it was almost guaranteed that my gay books would make it to those stores, and that gay readers would find them. Today, that number has shrunk to about roughly 50 stores remaining. Since they’re working on limited budgets, they require the terms a traditional publisher will offer—a 55% discount on the cover price, and the ability to return the book forever for a full refund.

I’d have to contact each of those stores and convince them to order my books, and be willing to pay the price for returns. If there was a good LGBT bookstore in my area, I’d be happy to work with them, hand-delivering and picking up books, but there isn’t.

All this narrows my reach—to you, dear readers, and those who support me but might not receive this newsletter.

Today, influencers often hold the key to a book’s success. You may have heard the term Bookstagram, or BookTok. Those are people, often young, who create videos about their favorite books and spread them to their followers. I’ve tried reaching out to many of the ones I follow without success.

But maybe they’d listen to a reader or a fan. Do you follow any book influencers, on any platform? If you do, and you’ve enjoyed one of my books, I’d love it if you’d drop a DM (direct message) to them telling them about a book you liked.