Laura Qa says it was never her intention to start a publishing company. But in 1992, in an effort to legitimize one of her own book projects, she undertook to license the Red Dragon Press. And now that she’s an official publisher, she’s trolling for manuscripts. Recently, Qa solicited more than 30 poetry and prose submissions by posting fliers in D.C. clubs, chose pieces by Elizabeth Croydon and Dee Snyder, and combined these writers’ work with her own in Personal Values: Writings by Uncommon Women (56 pp., $11.95 paper). Qa explains that she, Croydon, and Snyder are “uncommon” because they are “all strong, feminist women,” then anxiously qualifies this definition for fear of implying “something hateful about men.” Personal Values‘ main issue is sexism, though, especially gender discrimination and harassment in the local club scene. Qa feels that female artists can’t break into the music biz or poetry slams as easily as men, and that it’s hard for women—performers or audience members—to relax in a nightclub environment; to wit, the angsty odes “Asylum in Exile” and “A Fish at the 9:30” elaborate on her debatable point of view. Likewise, Croydon’s “Ms. Spelled” comments on D.C. nightlife (“I crowd myself in coffee shops”), while Snyder’s “Insect Sex” concerns a “gothic punk rock guy” and equivalent “chick.” For those who just don’t get it, Qa wants to solicit a “boys’ book” in response to Personal Values—perhaps illumination will come with contrast. The uncommon women read on Monday, Dec. 5, at 15 Minutes.