Queer Soup Night is making a cookbook?! Tell me more! Why now?

First and foremost, this book is a celebration of the 10th anniversary of Queer Soup Night (founded January 2017). It will serve as an archival record of the first decade of this grassroots, volunteer-led project as well as a how-to manual on creating local queer community, mutual aid, and outrageous culinary talent. It’s our hope that the book can serve as a tool to inspire people to gather, cook, and raise funds for social justice orgs while strengthening ties across local queer communities. 

Who is publishing this book? When will it be released?

Our publisher is Combos Press, a queer independent press located in the Hudson Valley. The target release date is January 2027, the exact month of the 10 year anniversary of the first Queer Soup Night. You can pre-order starting in June 2026!

Who is making this book? 

Many people! Queer Soup Night founder and cookbook author Liz Alpern is leading the charge, supported by a team of (mostly) volunteers who are helping out with everything from gathering and testing recipes to editing, design and marketing. Recipes and essays will be graciously provided by 50+ queer chefs representing our 25+ chapters across the country. 

Some key members of our core cookbook team are:

  • Margo Sivin

  • Sam Gregory

  • Amy Jin

  • Marion Brewer

  • Zoe Black

  • Julia Keister

  • David Amar

  • Isabel Barbosa

  • Clare Lagomarsino

  • Jessie YuChen

  • Liz Alpern

  • With many, many more onboarding!

What will happen with proceeds from the book? 

Great question! First off, no single person will benefit from the sales proceeds of this book and no literary agent will be compensated for involvement in this book. We will pay a small handful of professionals for their work to acknowledge that their participation in this project will mean that they cannot take other work. 

Once we cover the costs associated with making the book and printing our first run of (2,700) books, any proceeds will immediately be put toward funding a second print run. Following that printing expense, here’s the exact breakdown of where / how proceeds will be distributed:

  • 15% will go to our indy publisher, Combos Press (read more below), to support their work publishing queer, independent creatives! 

  • 20% of proceeds will be kept in reserves by Combos Press for any future printing needs

  • 65% of proceeds will be distributed to a community organization. Because QSN's commitment has always been to support hyper local initiatives, we are currently seeking a national organization with local chapters (much like QSN) so that donations can be made through a central point and distributed locally. We welcome community input now on this choice! Please email HQ@queersoupnight.com with your ideas for national orgs with local branches.

For complete transparency, we are making the book budget accessible:  Please click here to review the budget (Note that it is a live Google doc, so some items may change a bit over time as we finalize exact expenses.)

How many copies will be printed, and where will they be sold?

The exact size of the print run will depend on the number of presales. We are aiming for 2,700 copies in our first run, which means we  will need to sell approximately 1,800 books at full price to cover the costs. (Curious to dig in?  Please check out our budget.)

We hope bookstores will purchase the book (get in touch to get on the wholesale list!), but the majority of sales will go through the Combos Press website. We will also be selling books at our book tour events (AKA local chapter QSN events), which we plan to hold from January to May 2027 (and beyond). 

How much will books cost? 

Full retail price is $35/book and we are developing a sliding scale model now.

How will the book be promoted? How will contributors and chapters be involved?

The book will be promoted on the QSN site, through social media, via the chefs’/contributors’ networks, through word of mouth, and, hopefully, in the press. This is a book that will be coming directly from the community, and we hope that many folks far and wide will be happy to join us in promoting it. 

How will recipes appear in the book?

Recipes will be shared with a headnote acknowledging the meaning of the recipe to the QSN chef behind it. Some soups will be photographed. All recipes will be tested and will be aimed at the home cook. 

What other content will be included in the book?

In addition to the 50 soup recipes, the book will include inspiring and practical content for activists and gatherers of all kinds, including guidance on scaling recipes for community events.

How were recipe contributors selected?

We reached out to chefs and culinary experts who were instrumental in the founding of Queer Soup Night and who cooked at least once (usually more than once) for a QSN event in their local city. We wanted to represent as many of the regional chapters as possible and showcase a mix of queer identities and heritages.