Howdy, good people!
A few weeks ago, Good Queer News passed its TWO YEAR anniversary!! This is so bonkers to me and as I’ve written about before, this publication has really changed my life. I’ve written about that a lot already, but I digress. This article isn’t about me, it’s about US!
Good Queer News is a project that I love really deeply, and one that I know can become something more than what I have the capacity to build it into as just one person. SO I am putting out a call for collaboration in a few different ways:
Want to write a one-off cool piece for GQN? Tell me about the win you fought for in your small town! Give me an interview with a local candidate you believe in! Uplift a cool coalition or a figure from queer history who gives you strength! The sky’s the limit here.
Want to step up your involvement? I’m also looking for longer-term collaborators who are interested in writing a monthly, bi-monthly (ha, gay), or quarterly column for the publication. It can be anything from a “rural roundup” to queer history features to an advice column, as long as you can make a good case for how it’s connected to the theme of GQN.
I am also, gently and with great terror, beginning to wonder what it might look like to have a true partner in this project to help with the overall management and growth of GQN as a publication. This door isn’t open quite yet, but I’m planting the seed for interested parties. Think about it!!
All three of these opportunities will be paid to varying degrees. I’ve never run a media company before, so I’m still figuring out the best and most equitable way to handle this. I’m eager to hear any and all thoughts folks might have, and in the spirit of transparency I’ll also share some of my initial ideas to get reactions/feedback.
My initial thought is that one-off pieces would be paid $30 for each accepted piece, as many times as you get accepted. If anyone becomes a paid subscriber specifically on your piece, you’ll also get a solid portion of that money.
For level-two involvement, I’m imagining a trial period of 3-5 posts at a paid-per-post level, followed by the opportunity to be entitled to a portion of the overall GQN revenue per month if they continue writing after the trial in a way that is meaningfully contributing to GQN as a whole.
For level-three, this would likely be negotiated privately based on how much we’d be splitting the work of managing GQN, but I imagine a partner seeing a substantial portion of GQN’s monthly revenue.
GQN isn’t a cash cow or anything, but I’m fortunate that there are over 200 people who view this work as worth paying for, and I want to pour that love back into GQN to provide reliable and consistent high-quality hope year round in a way that is sustainable for me and valuable for you!
Since the partner role will likely be responsible for writing as well, for now I’m going to set up a form for one off pieces and potential “columns” that folks are welcome to pitch. The form has all the details about requirements for length (750 words) AI use (no) and style (have fun!).
Also, if you are someone who has some experience or knowledge about scaling something like this, I would absolutely love to hear from you about what that was like and what you learned from the process. I’m also perpetually in search of book recs relevant to where I am in my life!
I’m so excited to see where Good Queer News goes from here, and please share this around with any and all talented writers who have something joyful to say!
That’s all for now! I love you all tremendously, and can’t wait to see where we go from here.
Ready to submit your piece already? Hell yeah! Do it here:
I have tons of good queer news including past present and future(sci fi without dystopia!). I’m a gay, intersex man who writes, sings, educates and does a little life coaching too. I’m interested in contributing to your project! A great idea.
I'm so in. Ben, I've often called you my spirit animal. I want to write regularly for and with you.