Introducing “Interview with a Queer Reader” and A Recap of My First Month on Patreon

It’s the first of February, which means it’s been a whole month since I first launched a Patreon account for Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian! It’s been, in my opinion, really successful so far, most of all because the many, many kind messages of appreciation and thanks that I’ve gotten from readers and authors. It made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside! So thanks to not only the lovely people who’ve signed up to be patrons, but also to everyone who wrote thoughtful, generous things about my work on the blog and who shared the various social media posts I made with the announcement of the Patreon. So far I’ve got 17 patrons and am at $45 a month!! My goal to make doing the extra posts and the work of sending out rewards sustainable is $50 a month, so I am really close already after only a month!

In case this is the first you’re hearing about this whole Patreon thing, it’s an online platform where online creators can provide rewards for their readers/etc. and those readers can support the creator by giving monthly contributions. Many people are giving just a dollar a month, and that is totally great! You can check out my Patreon page for more details on specific rewards for people contributing at different levels (and a video I made talking about the Patreon launch, which should be encouraging to anyone else who thinks they suck at making videos!).

This is kind of an irrelevant photo, but I thought you all would appreciate this picture of all the books I own by Arsenal Pulp Press–a great queer publisher based in Vancouver.

I’ll give you a quick rundown here of rewards too. The three big rewards are entries in a monthly draw to win a free queer book and have it mailed to you (Canada and the US only, sorry other folks!), entries in a monthly draw to have me pick a book recommendation just for you and send it to you on a postcard, and a guaranteed spot in my upcoming “Interview with a Queer Reader” series. If you’re interested in the book recommendations, it’s an especially good deal right now since there is only one person currently signed up at that level! Your odds are very good.

I’ve been preparing the “Interview with a Queer Reader” series questions, and thought I’d give you all a scoop of the kinds of things I’m going to be talking to people about:

• What was the first LGBTQ2IA+ book(s) you remember reading? How did you end up reading it (i.e., were you searching for queer books or did you just happen across it?)

• What is/are your favourite LGBTQ2IA+ books, and why?

• Which LGBTQ2IA+ book have you read that best reflects your experiences as an LGBTQ2IA+ person?

• Which LGBTQ2IA+ book do you wish you could read but can’t because it doesn’t exist yet?

• How do you find LGBTQ2IA+ books? How easy or hard is it in your experience finding the ones that you want to read?

• Do you know other LGBTQ2IA+ readers or participate in any LGBTQ2IA+ reading communities (in person or on the Internet)? Why or why not?

Let me know if there are other things you’d like to know about your fellow queer readers! And if you’re not a patron but are also interested in participating, send me an email at stepaniukcasey [at] gmail.com. I’d love to talk queer reading with you!

I just sent did the draw for the first winner of a free queer book and sent them a photo of the options. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the books that are available. Which one would you pick?

Finally, I want to thank each and every patron who’s signed up so far to support Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian. You wonderful folks are: Danika, Leigh, Anna Marie, Kim, Jane, Jakelene, Emmet, Madeline, Heather, Rhiannon, Carla, Naz, Laurita, Kirsten, Ashleah, Jason, and Jillian!

Thanks to everyone for your support and I hope you’ve been enjoying the extra posts this month, especially this really popular post on Six Canadian Trans Women Writers You Should Know, a review of Suzette Mayr’s book Venous Hum (a satire of race, sexual identity, and high school reunions), and a list of Nine Muslim Canadian Authors You Should Read (many are also LGBTQ+) in response to the Islamophobic shooting in Quebec City.