Welcome to Rainbow Crate – Custom Queer book goodies delivered every month!
STATUS 6/1/2021:May boxes have all shipped! June boxes are scheduled to ship on time (the week of June 20-26th).
Supscription spots are full, so We are CURRENTLY ON A WAITLIST SYSTEM. PLEASE EMAIL WAITLIST@RAINBOWCRATEBOOKBOX.COM AND YOU WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY ADDED to the waitlist and contacted when a spot becomes available. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT! WE COULDN’T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU! (Note: if you signed up once, you do not need to sign up again. The waitlist continues until everyone has a spot.)
A brand-new lgbt+ book box
Hi! We are Jamie and Danielle – an artist and a librarian by trade!
We, like a lot of you, love love love book boxes. But we had come to notice that it seemed like queer fictional couples (even main couples) were being overlooked in favor of straight ones in. We looked and looked for a queer subscription box, but while there are a lot of great boxes, there just wasn’t one focused on lgbt+ lit.
So, we started to toss around the idea of creating our own box. A book box seemed kind of daunting. It would be a LOT of work (we had no idea how much, but we do now). What if we did all this and nobody cared?
But the thing is…. we just love love love queer books. We want to read them. We want to see merchandise featuring queer pairs (of all sorts!!). We want to make people excited to open a box and (hopefully) love all of the things that we lovingly curated inside. And so, we talked about it. We asked around in book communities. We got a mentor . And ultimately, we decided that we had to give it a shot. Nobody else was going to! And so… here we are!
This is THAT queer book box that we wanted!
Photo of our June 2020 Crate courtesy of seahorsestories.
Photo of our July 2020 Crate courtesy of rainbowbooksandbeyond.
Photo of our June 2020 tumbler and chopstick set courtesy of awildbooknerdappeared.
Photo courtesy of anxious.librarian.
what is a book box?
A book box is a subscription service where subscribers receive a box, usually monthly, containing a new-release book and book-related goodies! Most boxes are limited in quantity, and once that box is gone, it’s gone. Genres and age ranges of the book vary depending on the box (in case you haven’t guessed, we are only doing books with major queer characters in them! More about that later this week!). The goodies made for that month’s box are curated by the box, and not available for sale any other way. Most boxes have between 3-5 goodies in addition to the featured book of the month, and all of them relate to a theme.
Photo of our August crate courtesy of obscure.pages.
Photo of our Timekeeper pin from the September Crate courtesy of Manicfemme.
Photo of our September book and metalmark courtesy of Merrowchild.
Photo of our OCTOBER 2020 DARIUS THE GREAT IS NOT OKAY GLASS MUG courtesy of awildbooknerdappeared.
the JuLY 2021 theme (WAITLIST OPEN now!):
“FOUND FAMILY”
It’s time for the July theme reveal! Both the book we chose and all of our items encompass our absolute favorite literary trope ever… For a lot of people, especially many people in the LGBT+ spectrum, it’s the family we choose that is most precious to us. That is our FOUND FAMILY.
Our book of the month has so much found family, you’re going to love it. It’s already been optioned for a movie and it’s not even out yet! It is Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta! In Gearbreakers, the world is ruled by the tyrannical Godolia and their giant robot weapons known as Windups. Eris is a Gearbreaker, a brash young rebel who specializes in taking down Windups from the inside. When one of her missions goes awry and she finds herself in a Godolia prison, Eris meets Sona, a cybernetically-enhanced Windup pilot. At first Eris sees Sona as her mortal enemy, but Sona has a secret: she has intentionally infiltrated the Windup program to destroy Godolia from within. When Sona helps Eris escape captivity, she returns with her to the Gearbreakers home base, and there she discovers an entirely new family… and perhaps something more.
Our copies are gorgeous new hardcovers and come with a signed bookplate and an author letter from Zoe to our rainbow readers.
LGBT+ REP: wlw (bi/pan x lesbian), multiple lgbt+ side characters
OTHER REP: Asian, bipoc, genius girls
CW: mild blood/gore, torture, gun violence, immolation (not descriptive)
Our ebook for July is Once Stolen by D.N. Bryn! Once Stolen is set in the same world as Our Bloody Pearl, but is a standalone and is a fun, fast-paced adventure with a hate-to-love romance, a boat-load of sass, and even more found family heart.
LGBT+ REP: pan, non-binary she/her, gay, nb, bi
OTHER REP: autism, sensory disorder, deaf, social anxiety
CW: ableism, adolescent abandonment, animal injury/death, house fire, kidnapping, intoxication
FANDOMS:
– A DARK AND HOLLOW STAR by Ashley Shuttleworth (monthly magnet) (lesbian, pan f, gay, bi m, genderfluid)
– THE TAROT SEQUENCE BY KD Edwards (gay, demisexual m, pan m, ace m)
– ON A SUNBEAM by Tillie Walden (lesbian, bi f, pan f, nb, bipoc)
– FRAGILE REMEDY by Maria Ingrande Mora (gay, trans, bipoc)
You can expect something related to each of these books as well as our main book, AND another great rainbow present! This one helps you when you’re feeling fidgety! All our fandom items now are approved by the publishers and/or authors and are completely exclusive to our box! You can expect hypo-allergenic jewelry this time, a FRAGILE item to keep your flowers fresh, and others!
Our subscription spots are still full. To join the waitlist, send an email to waitlist@rainbowcratebookbox.com and you will be contacted when a spot becomes available. If you have previously signed up, you do not need to sign up again – you still have your place in line!
All of our monthly boxes ship during the third full week of each month. For July, that would be between July 18-24th!
how does it work?
curate
We start by requesting upcoming lgbt-related manuscripts from publishers. And then, we hunker down and start reading. A lot. We create lists of our favorites, and then discuss what book we want to feature that month. From there, we start talking to our contact at the publishing house and secure an OK that we will be able to feature that book.
After the book is set, together we choose a theme that fits the book, and fandoms that would fit within that. We chose very popular fandoms for our first box, but from here on out, we plan a range of popular and more obscure fandoms. There are a lot of great stories out there that just aren’t being discovered! Then, we discuss items, and after a loooooooot of work, voila!
subscribe
Choose your plan! We offer 1, 3, and 6 month subscriptions. You don’t have to worry — your box will come until you cancel! We also have limited one-time boxes while supplies are available.
Plans start at $39.99 monthly,
plus shipping. We are a new company, so we have a little higher shipping than some, but we are working to get you the best! If and when we get better discounts, we will pass the savings on to you!
arrive
Your Rainbow Crate is delivered to your address by a charming postal worker.
We ship each monthly crate during the third full week of the month! If you’re unsure of when that is, please don’t hesitate send us an email!
enjoy!
Read your book and enjoy discovering your items! Please let us know what you think! We love to get comments and photos on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and in our email!