During the Asexuality in YA series we want to use our space on GayYA to support ace spectrum voices. Last year, we decided to host Awareness Week Series over the various LGBTQIA+ Awareness Weeks throughout the year. Though we hope to include everyone on the site at all times, we wanted to dedicate a concentrated space to people from a specific community to talk about how they’re represented in YA. The response from the community was phenomenal– we got to feature many fantastic and thought-provoking posts, and watched as the community fostered some nuanced discussions via our identity-centric Twit Chats. I personally remember feeling amazed as I read the posts that were sent in and scrolled through the Twit Chat hashtag. I realized I wasn’t alone in my feelings of discontent regarding the representation of my identities, or my hopes for what that representation could look like in the future. I got to meet and connect with so many smart and passionate people.

So of course, we had to do the Awareness Week Series again this year.

Unfortunately, the dates for this year’s Asexual Awareness Week (Oct 23rd-29th) ended up never getting on our calendar. We’re so SO sorry for this mishap! We ran across this year’s dates two days ago. We debated trying to pull something together last minute, but since these weeks are driven by guest posts, we didn’t want to ask people to rush their work. We also have a number of resources we’re developing for libraries & bookstores, and want to take the time to get them done right! So we decided instead to reschedule and take the time to truly make a dedicated and purposeful space for an Asexuality in YA Series. So! Our Asexuality in YA series will be held December 5th-10th.

During the 2016 Asexuality in YA series, we’ll feature 5-7 posts from various ace-spec contributors over the course of the week, and dedicate a space to talk about ace representation in YA.

Interested in contributing? Here are the details:

  • Posts should be between 800-2500 words, and somehow tie into ace representation in YA. Your posts may go through light edits or a collaborative workshopping process.
  • Send your post as a Word or Google doc to vee@gayya.org. Please include a 2-5 sentence bio about yourself including links to your blog, Twitter, website, or tumblr. Any links you’d like to use should be included as hyperlinks in the post. If you’d like to include a headshot or other images please attach them to the email– do not embed images in the document!
  • We do not offer monetary compensation of any sort, but are usually happy to help you out in other ways if we can. Just ask!
  • The deadline for submitting a post is November 28th.

A Few Words of Advice:

We will consider any topic that is related to LGBTQIA+ YA, however please be aware that we try to avoid repeating similar takes on identical topics. The more specific you can be, the more likely we are to accept your submission. If you have a few topic ideas and want feedback on which would work best, email us you ideas and we’ll work together to find the best fit!

Lastly… we are EXTREMELY interested in post submissions from teens & young adults. Your voice is the most important in discussions about representation in YA, and we want to hear from you. With that said, all are encouraged to send pieces in! 🙂

Email vee@gayya.org with any questions. We look forward to reading your submissions!