OFM Lit: Q Publishing House x Suspect Press Updates

Q Publishing House: Who We Are and What We Do

In 1976, when OFM was first established in Boulder, Colorado by our founder, Phil Price, he chose a very ahead-of-its time name for our parent company LLC: Q Publishing. I’ve marveled and mused on the name many times myself. Did he somehow know that “queer” was the word of the future, or was it a defient act, done when the word was still taboo? Does it stand for “queen” instead, or something else entirely?

Whatever the backstory, we were in love with the name, so naturally, we decided to use it for our book publishing arm, Q Publishing House. Already this year, we’ve brought you two amazing queer titles, and we plan to drop two more before the year is through. 

Amanda E.K.’s The Risk it Takes to Bloom was our debut book, and thanks to the sexy, steamy cover done by Lonnie M.F. Allen and E.K.’s gorgeous, sensual prose, we came onto the scene hot and heavy. Her book goes beyond the traditional erotica tropes and introduces queerness, intersectionality, and stories of embracing a hard-won and important sexual freedom. 

In June, we joyfully unleashed one of our proudest works, a collection of Brian A.S. Byrdsong’s fantastical short stories. The Queerest Touch, features a show-stopping cover from Whitney Dorman and a queer Twilight Zone vibe that shines during Pride and is appropriate for any season. Let the dark magic of these stories take you over as you dive into Byrdsong’s psyche with this collection. 

Next, coming this fall, my young adult book, @SweetScarlett, will drop. The book focuses on a murder mystery investigated by a group of teens who are also navigating their own sexuality and what coming out—and standing together—looks like. In this day and age, where our rights and LGBTQ youth are constantly under threat, books geared toward teens are even more important. Our very own creative mastermind Rachel Galstad will be design this one. 

Last but certainly not least, we will wrap up the year with Living Starship, a sci-fi collection that dives into different species and ranks aboard a starship—all while staying free from the gender binary. Local drag king Layman Kingsford daylights as a sci-fi author, and we think you’ll love the universe he has dreamed up for us all. The book will feature cover art from Eric Pung. 

Our plan is to keep publishing beyond 2022 and share even more queer titles with the world. Stay tuned for everything we have in store!

Suspect Press: Queer Literature for All

Founded in 2013 and acquired by Q Publishing in 2022, Suspect Press has long been known as a queer beacon for literature, even before it became a part of the OFM family. During their tenure as editors, Amanda E.K. and Josiah Hesse infused the publication with their wisdom as ex-vangelicals who left the church in pursuit of navigating queer idenity and life in Denver.

That same spirit carries on now that we are running the mag, but there have been some changes. First off, the magazine is now officially Colorado’s LGBTQ literary outlet. Every month, we publish stories, poems, and essays inspired by that month’s OFM issue themes, and we encourage queer folks of all kinds, no matter how well published or known they are in the literary scene, to reach out.

As we navigate the late stages of the pandemic and what the world will look like going forward, we are still debating what print will look like for Suspect Press. Once we have collected enough to publish, the plan is to put out a Suspect Press book anthology.

Even sooner, we plan to bring back one of the titles that Suspect Press published under previous ownership: Eliza Beth Whittington’s Treat Me Like You Treat The Earth will see its re-release this year. The book is a queer, poetic ode to self-identity and the healing the planet so desperately needs, and we’re honored to make it available once more.

If you’re interested in being published by Suspect Press, don’t hesitate to get in touch: editor@outfrontmagazine.com.