Let’s be real for a second: self-publishing a gay romance novel is a bit like dating in your thirties. It’s exciting, terrifying, expensive, and sometimes you end up crying over a spreadsheet at 2 AM wondering why nobody is swiping right on your masterpiece. You’ve spent months (maybe years) pouring your heart, soul, and a …

7 Mistakes You’re Making When Self-Publishing Spicy MM Romance (and How Our Portal Fixes Them for Free)Read More

Let’s be real for a second: the world can be a lot. Between navigating the daily grind and the heavier moments of grief, loss, and the “what now?” of life, it’s easy to feel a bit drained. But if there’s one thing our community knows how to do, it’s how to bounce back with style, …

Top 5 Books for LGBTQ+ Resilience and Hopeful Future VisionsRead More

Let’s be real: sometimes “grabbing a drink” for the fifth time this week just doesn’t hit the spot. While bars and clubs have been our sanctuaries for decades, the modern queer community is hungry for more than just a gin and tonic and a loud bassline. We’re looking for connection. We’re looking for skills. We’re …

Archery, Lockpicking, and Roleplaying: 15 Queer Hobbies for Your Next Social AdventureRead More

There is a specific quality to the light at dusk: the blue hour, as the poets call it: that demands a certain kind of honesty. It is a liminal space, a bridge between the frantic, sun-bleached demands of the day and the velvet silence of the night. For the emotionally invested reader, this transition is …

The Emotionally Invested Reader’s Guide to Finding Sanctuary at TwilightRead More

Let’s be real: most of the “relationship advice” out there was written for people whose biggest life hurdles involve choosing a china pattern or deciding which suburban school district has the best soccer team. But for those of us in the LGBTQ+ community, the “traditional” roadmap can feel a little… well, narrow. Whether you’re deep …

The Ultimate Guide to Queer Relationships: Navigating Milestones Beyond the TraditionalRead More

Let’s be real: we’ve all spent a late night (or three) scrolling through MM romance books, desperately wishing our own lives had a bit more “slow burn” and a lot less “sitting on the couch with a bag of chips.” We crave that delicious tension where a lingering look over a shared hobby turns into …

The Ultimate Guide to Queer Hobbies: Everything You Need to Succeed at Finding Your Real-Life Friends to Lovers MM Romance StoriesRead More

So, you’ve got a story burning a hole in your heart? Maybe it’s a steamy MM romance that’s been living in your notes app for months, or perhaps it’s a heart-wrenching lesbian contemporary tale that you just can’t stop thinking about. Whatever it is, the world needs more queer voices. We’re done with the days …

The LGBTQIA+ Author’s Guide to Publishing at Read with PrideRead More

Let’s be real for a second: the morning school run isn’t just a logistical challenge; it’s an Olympic-level endurance sport. For those of us in the queer parenting community, it often feels like we’re trying to stage a Broadway musical while the lead actors are refusing to wear pants and the stage manager (that’s you) …

Queer Parenting 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Mastering the Morning School Run (Without Spilling Your Coffee)Read More

There is a specific kind of silence that exists only in the spaces between heartbeats, in those fleeting seconds when the world falls away and all that remains is the gravity of another person’s presence. For the emotionally invested reader, this silence is not empty. It is a canvas. It is a place where the …

The Emotionally Invested Reader’s Guide to Finding Home at Dick Ferguson WriterRead More

Let’s be real for a second: 2026 has been a bit of a rollercoaster for the rainbow community. While our stories are more popular than ever, the hurdles to actually getting them into readers’ hands feel like they’re getting taller, and greyer. Between “soft” censorship on major platforms and those pesky algorithms that seem to …

The Queer Author’s Guide to Global Publishing at Readwithpride.comRead More

Let’s be real for a second: the “swipe-swipe-ugh” cycle is exhausting. We’ve all been there, staring at another profile that’s just a torso, a grainy gym selfie, or a list of “no’s” longer than a CVS receipt. If you’re feeling the dating app burnout, you’re not alone. The digital landscape can feel like a desert, …

Top 10 Queer Hobbies to Try If You’re Tired of the Same Old Dating AppsRead More

Resilience. It’s a word we hear a lot in our community, isn’t it? It’s often used to describe how we’ve survived, how we’ve fought back, and how we’ve managed to keep our heads high despite the weight of the world. But here at Read with pride, we believe resilience is about more than just “getting …

LGBTQ+ Resilience Matters: Why Our Future Visions Are Brighter Than EverRead More

There is a specific kind of silence that only exists when the world falls away: when the neon hum of the city is replaced by the rhythmic creak of a porch swing and the distant, lonely call of a night bird. In this stillness, the internal noise becomes deafening. For the protagonists of a deeply …

Why an Emotional Journey in MM Romance Will Change the Way You View Character GrowthRead More

Let’s be real for a second: for a long time, queer stories in mainstream media were stuck in a loop. We had the “tragic ending,” the “pining from afar,” or the “coming out and then the credits roll” trope. While those stories have their place, they often skipped over the good stuff: the actual living …

Queer Relationships Matter: Why Celebrating Life Milestones in MM Romance is VitalRead More

For many of us in the LGBTQ+ community, the world often feels like a series of checkboxes. Are you this or that? Masculine or feminine? Gay or straight? This constant pressure to fit into one of two predefined categories is what we call the “binary gaze.” It’s an external lens that tries to simplify the …

How to Navigate Queer Identity Beyond the Binary GazeRead More

Let’s be real for a second: if I have to swipe left on one more profile that just says “I like adventures,” I might actually hurl my phone into the nearest body of water. We’ve all been there. The digital fatigue is heavy, the blue light is aging us, and the “community” we were promised …

Are Queer Hobbies Dead? Do People Still Find Community Outside of Dating Apps?Read More

So, you’ve got a story burning a hole in your heart? Maybe it’s a slow-burn MM romance that makes your toes curl, or a high-stakes lesbian spy thriller where the tension is as thick as a London fog. Whatever it is, being a queer author in 2026 is a wild, beautiful ride. But let’s be …

The LGBTQ+ Author’s Guide to Mastering Your Journey at Read with PrideRead More