Bold Strokes Books brings together a multi-talented team with decades of experience in the world of independent publishing. We not only have first-hand knowledge of the product and the market, we have the expertise to make your publishing experience the rewarding process it should be. This is our primary goal.

Len Barot, President

Len Barot has had a lifelong passion for the importance of affirming, validating literature to the LGBTQ community and brings more than twenty years experience in both writing and publishing to Bold Strokes Books. As an author writing under the noms de plume Radclyffe and L.L. Raand, she has published over 40 novels and anthologies. With her unique perspective as both author and publisher, she provides a forum to support the growth of each author's career while producing quality works to enrich the body of LGBTQ literature. She states: "I believe that publishing is about building long-term relationships and establishing careers through a combination of attention to craft, quality production, aggressive marketing, and wide-scale distribution. I also believe my charge as a publisher is to aid excellent authors in honing their skills in an environment of mutual respect, intellectual vitality, and rapport. I am an author, and I know how much more it takes to 'make a book' than just placing a cover on a manuscript. Done with love for the craft and respect for creativity, producing a book is a never-ending joy. My mission is to provide that experience to every author at Bold Strokes Books."

She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Saints and Sinners Literary Hall of Fame, and the Independent Book Publishers Association. As an author, she has received the Alice B. Readers Award twice, once for lifetime achievement, the Lambda Literary Award in both romance and erotica, and a 2010 RWA/FF&P Prism award. She has contributed as a workshop instructor, moderator, and presenter at the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans, the York Lesbian Arts Festival in the UK , and the Publishing Triangle. She also organizes annual bi-coastal book events in Palm Springs and Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Lee Ligon, Operations Manager

Lee Ligon has extensive experience in systems management and technical support and coordinates the production process with our printer, McNaughton & Gunn.

 Editorial Consultants

Cindy Cresap, Senior Consulting Editor and Production Manager

Cindy has over ten years’ experience in substantive and copy editing. For over four years, she was the managing editor for a small lesbian press, where she was also responsible for manuscript reviews and acquisitions. She has been the substantive editor for over one hundred GBLT novels, more than half of them for Bold Strokes Books.    October 2007 BSB Interview

Steve Berman

Steve Berman regularly speaks on queer themes in young adult fiction at conferences around the United States. He published his first children's story at the age of seventeen. Since then he has sold young adult short stories to such anthologies as The Beastly Bride (Viking Children's) and Teeth: Vampire Tales (HarperCollins). His novel, Vintage: A Ghost Story was a finalist for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy and listed as part of the GLBT Roundtable of the American Library Association's Rainbow Project Book List of recommended titles for teens. His helpful advice and manuscript critiquing has been acknowledged in the works of such best-selling authors as Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. He currently resides in southern New Jersey.

Greg Herren

Greg Herren is an award-winning author and anthologist who lives in New Orleans with his partner. Former editor of Lambda Book Report, he worked as an editor for Bella Books and Harrington Park Press before joining Bold Strokes Books. He has published twelve novels, over fifty short stories and essays, and ten anthologies.

Victoria Oldham

Victoria Oldham grew up in Southern California and now lives with her partner in England. She has a Masters in English Composition and Literature, with specialties in the Classics and Women’s Studies. She has presented papers at universities in Hawaii, New York, California and Iowa on the uses of mythology in contemporary literature and is pursuing her PhD in feminine mythological figures in current literature. She has published several short stories as well as more than fifty articles.

Lynda Sandoval

Lynda Sandoval is a Denver-based author of over thirty award-winning novels and hundreds of short stories and nonfiction articles. A regular faculty member with the Big Sur Writers' Workshops, Lynda has taught various aspects of the writing process as a staff member with Long Ridge Writers' Group and at conferences all over the country. She is a former novel mentor with the Nevada chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and an editor and novel mentor with "A Good Eye" Editing (www.A-Good-Eye-Editing.com). Lynda specializes in detailed line editing for voice and structure, and big picture story doctoring, with an emphasis on writer voice and literary texture.

Stacia Seaman

Stacia Seaman has more than fifteen years' experience in substantive editing, copy editing, and proofreading. Her background is in Slavic Languages and Literatures (M.A. University of Texas). After spending several years with a scholarly press, she has moved into fiction editing, specializing in crime and romance as well as lesbian and gay fiction. She has published several essays and short stories.  January  2008 BSB Interview

Ruth Sternglantz

Ruth Sternglantz has over twenty years of editorial experience, having spent her entire adult life working with words and making books of one sort or another. As an English professor for fifteen years (PhD NYU), she taught writing, literature, and gender studies. Outside of the classroom, she has worked in acquisitions and has edited works of fiction and non-fiction for trade and academic presses, and has trained and supervised editorial teams on a major academic journal.

Shelley Thrasher

Shelley Thrasher, Professor Emeritus of English, M.A. and PhD (University of Houston), has taught creative writing, women’s studies, fine arts, and English at the college level for more than 30 years.  She became one of the first consulting editors at Bold Strokes Books in 2004 and has attended and continues to attend conferences in New Orleans, Provincetown, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Palm Springs, at which she has often been a presenter.  She specializes in style editing, although she also does story and copy editing.  To date, she has edited over fifty novels for BSB. 

 Production Consultants

Sheri - Graphic Arts

A picture is truly worth a thousand words. See Sheri's covers at the BSB Bookshop pages.

Contact her at: graphicartist2020@hotmail.com    November 2007 BSB Interview

Barb Kiwak - Graphic Illustrator

Illustrating for various publishing houses and design firms for over twenty years, some of Barb's other clients include American Greetings, Random House Publishing, and Reader's Digest.  To view a complete selection of her work, visit www.kiwak.com.  The Berkley Gallery in Virginia represents her fine art at berkleygallery.com.

 Marketing Consultants

Connie Ward, Publicist

Connie Ward assists in the setup of author events with booksellers and reading groups, arranges print and online interviews, and serves as assistant coordinator for BSB book events.  Connie has over thirty years of experience in administration and business.

LD Anderson

LD Anderson (Andy) has more than twenty years experience in the corporate and small-business worlds.  Her varied background allows her to perform general marketing functions for Bold Strokes, including managing the Web site, designing and publishing a monthly online BSB newsletter, and developing promotional material.

 Legal Consultants

Paula Tighe

Paula Tighe is a partner in the law firm of Earnest/Tighe, P.A., a certified women-owned and certified LGBT-owned law firm. She has over 22 years of legal experience concentrating in the areas of corporate, business, contract, commercial litigation, publishing, and real estate law. Her clients include large national corporations, governmental agencies, small businesses and individuals. She is a certified Florida Supreme Court Circuit Civil Mediator, a past board member of GLAAD and past member of the South Florida HRC Steering Committee. She graduated with Honors from Southern Methodist University in 1986 with a B.B.A. in Business/Marketing and in 1989 from the University of Florida College of Law.