Today we’d like to introduce you to Lee Wind.
Hi Lee, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Thanks for the opportunity!
It’s very exciting to have my first traditionally published young adult novel finally out in the world—A Different Kind of Brave is the kind of story that would have completely changed my life had I read it when I was a teen and still very much in the closet. An action adventure starring two gay teens who fall in love and have to save the world (or at least part of it) would have rocked my world—and maybe helped me feel a little braver about being my authentic self earlier. But getting the book published was quite the journey, with some important lessons. I don’t have a time machine to go back and share the book or these lessons with my younger self, so I’ll pay it forward and share them here:
First, I had to get authentic.
I moved to Los Angeles in 1991, just a few years out of grad school, with an eye on storytelling in film/TV, focused on directing and screenwriting. I spent years working industry day jobs (as everything from production secretary to clearance coordinator to personal assistant and finally as an editor), all while writing screenplays that didn’t get optioned, let along produced. I felt like an architect who kept drawing blueprints for houses that never got built, but when I look back, a lot of that lack of traction was because I wasn’t writing stories for me. I was writing things that I thought could get produced. (Just one example: when I wrote a romantic comedy, it was a straight romantic comedy. It was serviceable, but it wasn’t authentic. I wasn’t bringing my whole self to the page, and that lack of passion showed.)
Fast forward to 2004, I was married to a wonderful man, and as a stay-at-home dad with a new baby, I decided to shift gears and focus my writing on books for kids and teens. Something that I could actually complete and someone else could enjoy in pretty close to the form I created it. And I quickly realized I wasn’t going to make any progress if I didn’t start writing more for me. I had to get authentic on the page. And once I did, that’s when I started to get some traction.
Second, getting traditionally published was going to take a LOT longer than I thought.
It felt like I was endlessly waiting for someone to come along and tap me on the shoulder and say, “Okay, Lee, we’re ready for what you have to offer.” So, I decided that while I was working to improve my craft, I could also take some initiative beyond just offering my manuscripts to agents and editors for their consideration.
I did quite a few things. I started blogging in 2007 about LGBTQ+ characters and themes in children’s literature to empower Queer young people and their allies. It’s been more than 16 years, and I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read has had more than 4.3 million visits – which is really gratifying. The success of that blog led the opportunity to blog for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), which I still do, helping curate a diverse cast of guest bloggers for the organization which has more than 20,000 members worldwide.
At one point on my blog (in 2015), I did a series of in-depth interviews with literary agents about diversity. One of the first agents to reach out to me to participate was Marietta Zacker. In our interview, Marietta said, “If you have a story to tell, and you do so from the heart, you will find your champions.” I responded that those words were so inspiring I wanted them on a t-shirt. About a week later, I got a package in the mail, and it was a T-shirt Marietta had made for me, with that quote on the front! I’m proud to say all these years later that she is my agent, and so far, together we’ve sold seven books to publishers.
In 2018 I crowdfunded my first young adult novel, Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill, raising enough money on Kickstarter to both professionally publish the book and donate more than 900 copies to empower LGBTQ+ youth with the help of the nonprofit Brave Trails. It won some awards, and that first book out in the world helped move my author career forward.
Third, “keep your day job” (or better yet, get one you love) as you continue to create your art.
Because getting a book published is a bit like getting a lottery ticket. We hear a lot about the people who win the lottery (the New York Times bestsellers, the winners of the big awards, the ones with multiple movie/TV deals, the books with ridiculously huge advances) but there’s no guarantee of financial success when you get a book published. Elizabeth Gilbert talks in Big Magic about how demanding your creativity pay the bills is not a very kind thing to do to your creativity, and I think there’s a lot of wisdom in that. And there’s this sort of unspoken truth in the children’s book industry that most authors have another source of income besides book advances and sales — often from teaching, or speaking at schools, or a day job, or just having a supportive spouse or sufficient financial resources to not rely on the money from publishing.
I’m super delighted that my ‘day job’ is for the nonprofit Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), where I work as Chief Content Officer with a great team of people and get to help independent publishers with education and cooperative marketing programs. There’s a lot of synergy between that and my author career, which is lovely.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There’s a saying that it’s not how many times you get knocked down; it’s only important that you get up one more time…
The hardest moment in this author’s career was when my first traditional book deal (for the nonfiction No Way, They Were Gay?) was canceled by its corporate publisher after the election of our former president. They went from enthusiastic to overcome with fear about putting out this book for readers aged 11 and up about how there have been men who loved men, women who loved women, and people who lived outside the gender binary throughout time and around our world. And that includes some of the world’s most famous people, like Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, and Eleanor Roosevelt!
It took years, but eventually, Marietta and I found a braver publisher (the awesome folks at Lerner), and No Way, They Were Gay? has been out since 2021.
Even though the book has earned a bunch of awards and accolades, it’s been challenged and banned a number of times, to the extent that it is included in the anti-book banning resources offered by Unite Against Book Bans, an initiative of the American Library Association. To go around the banners and reach readers directly, I took the audiobook to my first novel (the one I published and have the rights to) and made it a podcast, free for anyone to listen to at any time. (You can check out Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill: The Podcast everywhere you listen to podcasts.)
With each new challenge, I’m determined to get back up because I know how much my books would have meant to me as a kid and teen.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
You can learn more about Lee and his books at leewind.org
A DIFFERENT KIND OF BRAVE (Interlude/Duet Books/Chicago Review Press, March 2024)
“A Different Kind of Brave is a gem for young adults: not just a high-octane thriller but also a queer romance full of heart and sensuality.” —Foreword Reviews, Starred Review
“Thrilling. Positively thrilling.” —Kirkus Reviews
NO WAY, THEY WERE GAY? Hidden Lives and Secret Loves (Zest/Lerner)
• Winner, YA Nonfiction, International Literacy Association Book Awards; Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
• “Transmits rare facts and firsthand accounts with a sense of joyous wonder…” —Foreword Reviews
RED AND GREEN AND BLUE AND WHITE (Levine Querido, Illustrated by Caldecott medalist Paul O. Zelinsky)
• “Beautiful… It’s a message the world can use throughout the year.” —The New York Times
• Five Starred Trade Reviews (SLJ, Booklist, Shelf Awareness, School Library Connection, PW); Sydney Taylor Picture Book Award – Notable
QUEER AS A FIVE-DOLLAR BILL (Crowdfunded)
• Publishers Weekly Indie Success Story; Winner, National Indie Excellence Award for Best Book, LGBTQ For Children & Young Adults
• “The premise is a real hook… with real potential to influence and educate, on top of entertaining.” —Kirkus Reviews
Blogger and Founder of the award-winning I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? at https://www.leewind.org
• More than 4.3-million-page loads from 100+ countries… and counting!
Official Blogger for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, SCBWI: The Blog at https://scbwi.blogspot.com
Founder of the Queer KidLit Creators community
Host of Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill: The Podcast
How do you think about luck?
I’ve been incredibly fortunate in so many ways, especially in my personal life with my husband and daughter.
In terms of my dual career journey, I’ve discovered that sometimes, not getting what I wanted actually set me up to get something better. Full disclosure: that hasn’t made me stop wanting things!
The thing that feels most lucky, though, is knowing readers are starting to experience A Different Kind of Brave – my very authentic and personal gay teen love letter to James Bond movies that mixes in the romance and Queer group of friends of Heartstopper. And they’ll get a chance to fall in love with the two main characters, too: Nico (a gay teen living a life of adventure that’s pretty terrible) and Sam (a privileged gay teen who idolizes 007). And that’s what feels most lucky and most important – that my book can be part of how we make our world better: one book and one heart at a time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.leewind.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamleewind/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leewind
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leewind/
Image Credits
Lee Wind
Joanna DeGeneres
