Call for Selection Team Members

Are you an avid reader of LGBTQIA+ YA? Do you have ThoughtsTM about the representation of LGBTQIA+ youth? Are you interested in helping GayYA.Org decide which LGBTQIA+ YA books to recommend, review, and promote?

We are thrilled to announce that we are seeking 5 new members for our Selection Team. GayYA’s Selection Team is a group of people who help GayYA decide which books to recommend, review, and help promote. GayYA gets dozens of review requests a month. We are unable to keep up with reading all the books! That’s where you come in.

We’re looking for people who:

-Have read a wide selection of LGBTQIA+ YA books, and can assess what is unique about an LGBTQIA+ YA book in context of other LGBTQIA+ YA. (Does it flip a trope on its head? Represent an underrepresented identity? Introduce an entirely new narrative?)

-Are able to commit to reading 1-2 LGBTQIA+ YA books a month. (We’re pretty flexible about which books these are. We have ARCs, finished final copies, and ebooks that we can send you/mail, as well as an extensive backlist of titles that you may have already read or can most likely get from a library.)

-Have a wide range of identities. GayYA believes that beyond needing diverse books, we need diverse reviewers & critics. As often as we can we want to match books with reviewers who share the same identity as the main character. In particular we are looking for people who identify as trans, intersex, asexual, aromantic, nuerodiverse, and disabled. We’re also seeking people of color, Jewish & Muslim people, and people from countries besides the US. (This said, everyone is welcome to apply!)

What will Selection Team members be asked to do?

-Read 1-2 books a month.

-Write an internal report (NOT a review) on whether or not they believe the book should qualify for a GayYA recommendation.

-Interact/collaborate with other Selection Team members.

-Provide feedback on our book selection process.

Interested in being a part of this team? Email vee@gayya.org with:

-A little bit about yourself (name, how you identify, and anything else you’d like to share!)

-2 reviews of LGBTQIA+ YA books that you’ve written (if you haven’t posted/published any reviews, it’s perfectly fine to simply send us your thoughts on two LGBTQIA+ YA books)