A+ Platinum Has a New Lineup of Queer Books

We surveyed and asked, planned and discussed — and we came up with a new A+ level! When we introduced Cobalt ($4 a month) in 2015, it was to make A+ accessible to a larger group of people.

Platinum is kind of the opposite of that — an option for those of you who want to give more than our current levels allow and really level up the number of times in any 24 hour period you’re reminded that they’re an A+ member! You’ll have a mug, a keychain, a hand-sewn bag, a bookmark, and your choice of book! You can feel absolutely A+ about keeping queer media alive throughout all your daily activities.

Every member level — from our $30/year Cobalt members to our $500/year Platinums — gets access to the same A+ content and community (like A+ Pop-Up Discord Servers), but it’s a choose-you-own-gay-adventure in terms of the amount you contribute!

And there are perks!

A photo of the A+ platinum box full of goodies.

So, in addition to every perk that comes with the Gold level, Platinum members get:

The Bag

A small game playing item plus note book plus pencil plus necklace and small piece of gum all find their way into the roomy A+ platinum bag in this gif. The bag has the same hand pattern by Ren Strapp as the mask in our store, with various gestures, but in the A+ lavender color scheme with pinks, purples and black

This bag is lovingly hand-sewn by Jess Sheeran with a design by Ren Strapp. Lined with lavender satin and roomy enough to fit all your stuff: make up, Tarot cards, notebooks, sex toys, cell phones; it is a star piece of 100% gay engineering.

The Mug

the a+ mug on a lilac background.

Indoors, outdoors, this lightweight and durable mug says “I support queer media” and maybe also “I am over-caffeinated.” The metal mug is generously sized at 15oz and is black, speckled with white, with a white A+ logo and the message, “Support Queer Independent Media” on the back. It’s great way to signal your support of queer media to a cutie across a campfire or in your next tea + a good book selfie.

The Keychain

a black motel style keychain with silver imprint that says Autostraddle Plus Official Member, with the A+ logo surrounded by a halo of lines

We all have keys (likely) and this motel-style keychain reads “Autostraddle Plus Official Member” with a radiant plus sign. Attach it to your keyring, use it as your keyring, put it on your carabiner. The A+ community may be a digital space, but this very tangible plastic keychain will be a reminder that you’re always welcome.

The Bookmark

stop motion animation of our bookmark jumping into a copy of "zigzags" by kamala puligandla

The beloved “Read a Fucking Book” design has re-emerged on sturdy cardstock with a holographic design on matte black, always there to remind you that you’re reading a fucking book. Which brings us to the most exciting element of the Platinum Box…

The Choice of Gay Book

You can choose from one of these recently published LGBTQ books! Right now, you can choose from:

the cover of Gods of Want by K-Ming Chang features a vibrant painting of a colorful, 9-headed bird

Gods of Want by K-Ming Chang

“I’m really interested in thinking about a queer matriarchy within these families and what it means to recover these matrilineal stories that have been warped or destroyed or told that they were unimportant. Every time I write, it sort of feels like an excavation. I always hope that readers can have their own excavations as they’re reading.”

K-Ming CHANG in conversation with RUTH MINAH BUCHWALD

the cover of sex and the single woman edited by eliza smith and haley swanson. it has the title in pink and yellow text on blac

Sex and The Single Woman: 24 Writers Reimagine Helen Gurley Brown’s Cult Classic edited by Eliza Smith and Haley Swanson

“So much of what people see about single womanhood is based on white, wealthy narratives. The whimsical girl who, with a sudden breeze, gets blown into the arms of a man who is dashing and has the shiniest smile. I wish that was me! But the girls I know, the dolls, have very different stories. And they’re just as important and, most of the time, they’re a lot more juicy. I wanted to focus on the aspects of singlehood that force us to grow.”

Xoai Pham in conversation with 6 Other Queer Writers

We Do What We Do In The Dark by Michelle Hart

“When we’re young, we relate to older people who are themselves young. We read maturity where it is not deserved. We think if someone is older and we’re similar to them then we must seem older too. We rarely consider that they’re meeting us more than we’re meeting them.”

Drew Gregory

Dream of a Woman by Casey Plett

“Casey Plett’s short fiction collectionA Dream of a Womanis a love story. It’s not girl-meets-boy-meets-happy-ending. It’s not even girl-meets-girl-meets-happy-ending. Instead, it’s a trans love story in the most literal sense — it’s about how we love and how we attempt to love.”

Drew Gregory

We Are Watching Eliza Bright by A.E. Osworth

“I have never read anything quite likeEliza Bright, and there’s a good chance you haven’t, either. Right away, it’s clear there’s something interesting going on. The novel is narrated in first-person plural: “we.” They are a 21st-century Greek chorus, telling the story but also passing judgment and taking pleasure in our protagonist’s suffering. Why? Because the narrative “we” is the collective voice of a subreddit (online forum) of gamers, who watch Eliza’s every move after she has the audacity to speak up.”

Kate Gordon

Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson

“The follow up toCrownisn’t a direct sequel, though both books take place within the same broader universe. In it, two Black teens, Olivia (“a messy, chaotic, bisexual disaster. She’s all over the place, but I love her. She’s one of my favorite characters I’ve ever had the opportunity to write because it’s in that complexity that we finally dig deeper into these ideas about what it means to be a young, queer Black girl”) and Toni, a handsome, stoic musician reeling the loss of her father and at the crossroads of her future, fall into a weekend of romance, vulnerability, and adventure while at a music festival during the waning days of summer.”

Carmen Phillips

Dreaming of You by Melissa Lozada-Oliva

“Themes of celebrity, fandom, grief, queer identity, and loneliness feature in this novel in verse about a poet who resurrects Tejano pop star Selena. This story is as absurd and magical as it sounds. Melissa is the young Latinx poet who performs the resurrection, which leads her on a journey through a spirit world populated by her own shadow self, karaoke, and a dead celebrity prom.”

Casey

Stone Fruit by Lee Lai

“I wanted some levity, so I started writing these little scenes, play dates between two queer aunties and this screaming and excitable 6-year-old. The first thing I wrote with them turning into monsters was a scene where Auntie Ray is showing Nessie how to eat a roast chicken. You know that they’re humans, but by the end of it they’ve become these feral monsters, tearing away at a carcass. That didn’t end up in the book. It was just one of the warm-up exercises I did to figure out if it was something that would work outside of my head.”

Lee Lai in an interview for Bitch

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

“The other thing about this emotionally devastating, culturally specific, endlessly intelligent novel is that it’s really,reallyfunny. It’s not just funny — it’s funny about transness. Reading the book is like hanging out with your most wonderfully sardonic trans friend.”

Drew Gregory

All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

Review by Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya forthcoming!


Books From the Last Round That Are Available Until Out of Stock!

Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth

“Plain Bad Heroines is a book that will raise the hairs on the back of your neck, even as it surprises you with the occasional sweetness, and renews your appreciation for masterful story-telling.”

Lindsay Lee Wallace

The Ship We Built by Lexie Bean

Read the author’s essay about how writing this novel helped them come out here.

You Exist Too Much by Zaina Arafat

“the story of a bisexual, love-addicted, Palestinian American woman, toggling present life in New York City and flashbacks from childhood trips overseas.”

Sarah Yanni

A Quick & Easy Guide To Sex & Disability by A. Andrews

“Some able-bodied readers may be tempted to think this book is just for disabled people and their sexual partners; I urge you to reconsider. For me, this book is an opportunity to learn, grow, and make my work as a sex educator more intersectional. It has tips for communication and getting to know your body that are helpful to everyone.”

isabella rotman

A World Between: A Novel by Emily Hashimoto

“A World Between delivers a contemporary feminist love story that’s as sexy as it is smart and as fun as it is joyful.”

Julie R Enszer

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen

Read an essay adapted from Chen’s book here.

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Read Leah Johnson’s essay about how queer YA novels taught her to write her own happy ending.

Zigzags by Kamala Puligandla

“Ultimately, Zigzags was fueled by the nostalgia for all the places I’ve loved and left and missed. There’s a lot of flirting and parties and witty banter, but it’s very much about the necessary and heartbreaking recognition of when it’s time to move on.”

kamala puligandla

Small Surprises

We’ll be sure to drop in small surprises to our boxes like an extra coupon to our store, just to add a little more love.

Yearly Bonus Gift!

Every year, toward the end of the year, Platinum members will get another, smaller package of A+ exclusive perks sent to them as thanks for their continued support!

Interested?

Join A+ Platinum

Already a member? (First, THANK YOU. You’re amazing and your hair looks excellent today.)

Upgrade to Platinum

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!

Nico Hall

Nico Hall is Autostraddle's A+ and Fundraising Director, and has been fundraising and working in the arts and nonprofit sector for over a decade. They write nonfiction and personal essays and are currently at work on a queer fiction novel and podcasts. They live in Pittsburgh. Nico is also haunted. You can find them on Twitter and Instagram as @nknhall.

Nico has written 217 articles for us.

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