Sapphic Book News, A.L. Brooks, 11 Books on Sale, Caturday, and More!

May 13, 2023 | SapphFic Mischief Roundup

SapphFic Mischief Saturday Morning Graphic

It’s finally a sunny weekend at IHS Headquarters!

Saturdays are when we round up all the sapphic book news from the previous week into one convenient location. Think of it as your personal queer reading directory! After all, we know the weekend is when so many of us are able to unwind for a minute and want to get lost in a good wlw book. What could be better?

We Did It!

On Tuesday we passed 500,000 site views. We’re more than halfway to our goal of one million views by the end of the year.

TB can’t believe it. When she started IHS way back in 2017, she had no idea what it would turn into. She just knew she wanted to help fellow sapphic authors get the word out about their books. She’d had the door slammed in her face by many websites, author organizations, bloggers, and reviewers. The ones that hurt the most were the ones who were part of the LGBTQ world.

TB will be the first to tell you, she’s never been the coolest kid on the block. Same in adulthood. She’s also stubborn and passionately believes in fairness despite the world constantly trying to stamp out this belief.

But hope powers TB, who is a self-proclaimed pessimistic / optimist. Meaning she expects the worse, but secretly (not-so-secretly these days) hopes good things will happen if you never give up.

Fed up with the gatekeepers, bullies, and haters, TB launched IHS with one mission: to be inclusive for everyone because it sucks to be left out in the cold.

We can’t thank all of you enough for supporting this website.

Here’s to the next half million views and thanks so much for supporting us in our goal of broadening sapphic fiction and making it easier for readers to find fantastic lesbian and queer stories. Representation and visibility matter.

Calling all sapphic authors!

We’re organizing the next big sale on I Heart SapphFic.

Here are the important details:

The sale dates are May 25-29.
Authors can include up to 3 books per pen name.
The sale price points are: $0.99, $1.99, $2.99, $3.99 and $4.99
If you’re listing your book at $2.99 or higher, the book must be at least a 50% discount off the regular price. That means perma 99c and $1.99 books are allowed, but if you want to list for $2.99, the book must have a regular price of $5.99 or higher.
Books MUST be at their sale price in ALL marketplaces no later than noon EST on May 24.
The deadline to join is May 18th.
NEW POLICY: If you get involved in this or any IHS sale going forward and then fail to discount your book by the deadline (which is always noon the day before the sale starts), you will not be allowed to participate in any other sales or special events for 90 days. Click here for more about this policy change.

Here’s the link to join the sale.

Speaking of sales…

If you’re looking for something to read this weekend, below you’ll find 11 books on sale. Need more choices? Check out the BookFinder, which has more than 3,600 books for you to choose from, ranging from steamy sapphic romance books, ice queen wlw romances, lesfic audiobooks, queer superheroes, best friends to lovers lesbian romances and so much more!

Don’t see your favorite women-loving-women book in the I Heart SapphFic database? Let us know by filling out this form. We’ll take it from there!

Without further ado, let’s get to all the sapphic book news from this past week!

Here are the links for this week’s posts:

All About the Books

Join authors as they showcase their new release in a fun and engaging way. Click on each image for a behind the scenes peek!

Meet Smudge! Smudge loves her mom and isn’t afraid to show it with her beautiful smile. Submitted by author S.Y. Thompson.

Please click on the images for the details for each announcement.

Have community news you want included in a future edition of this section? Click here for submission details.

Please note, sale prices may change without notice, so please check the price before clicking a buy button. International prices may vary.

Have you read Chasing Dreams yet? Get it here!

Where the heck was TB?

TB loves exploring places near and far, so we’ve created a weekly game where TB goes on an adventure, snaps some photos, and then lets you guess her location.

To answer last week’s mystery, 50% of you were right. Miranda & I visited The Elms in Newport, Rhode Island. Also, 25% of you noticed that one of the statues was grabbing her own breasts. When I first spied it, I couldn’t form a question, so I simply pointed and Miranda said, “Yes, she’s got a thing for tits like you.” Or it’s possible she said, “Oh my God, you have the maturity level of a 12-year-old.” My memory is a little fuzzy.

For the record, I don’t grab my own like this. Tits should be treated with respect. Don’t forget to do your monthly breast self examination. Early cancer detection can save your life.

Finally, 6% of you think the owner of The Elms had a small penis and it’s hard not to agree. It makes me wonder if building big mansions back then was like a middle-aged guy buying an expensive sports car now. If so, it’s safe to say a lot of men in Newport society in the 1890s had some…shortcomings.

On our second stop in Newport, Rhode Island we visited another Gilded Age mansion for a ghost tour. We brought along Mary, Everything by Cassandra Yorke. The book is a Magical Realism & Midwestern Gothic in the 1920s.

Here are some facts about the mansion.

1. It was Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont’s summer cottage located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island.

2. Construction was completed in 1894 and the first floor consisted of carriage spaces and stables for Belmont’s prized horses.

3. In 1896, he married Alva Vanderbilt, who was the ex-wife of Belmont’s best friend and neighbor. Alva redid the first floor, getting rid of the carriage spaces, putting in a banquet hall.

4. After Alva died in 1933, the mansion was sold a handful of times, including to the Tinneys in 1956. They made changes to the house yet again and filled it their own collection of reproductions and antiques.

5. The Tinneys lived there for many years. After the husband died in 2006, the home was put on the market, but didn’t sell because the home needed a lot of work. It was open to the public while Mrs. Tinney still lived there, who sometimes lead tours.

6. Carolyn Rafaelian, an American-Armenian entrepreneur and businesswoman, purchased the home in 2012 for $3.6 million. She’s already spent another 5 million renovating the home.

Below are some photos of the mansion and Mary, Everything.