Rob Costello

@cloudbusterrob.bsky.social

1856 Followers 4624 Following

(He/him) Stoker, Lambda, & Locus Award nominated author, anthologist, and teacher. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 https://linktr.ee/cloudbusterpress AN UGLY WORLD FOR BEAUTIFUL BOYS (Lethe Press) WE MOSTLY COME OUT AT NIGHT (Running Press Teens) THE DANCING BEARS (Lethe Press)

Film still from the movie Moonlight
An image of the cover of the forthcoming YA novel by Rob Costello, which features the title - An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys - in black text against a red background surrounding an image of a Polaroid photograph featuring the silhouette of a young man gazing out a bedroom window. Beside this image, text against a white background that reads: What People Are Saying About: An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys “An astonishing novel of discovery, heartache, and redemption. Costello writes unapologetically about surviving in a broken world against all odds. Truly unforgettable.” -Erin Entrada Kelly, two-time Newbery Medalist and National Book Award Finalist At the bottom are two logos, one for Lethe Press and one for Tantor Audio
Screenshot of website that reads: Cosby, S.A. “24 Points,” Beyond the Bounds of Infinity. Costello, Rob “Jill,” The Dancing Bears. Coxon, Dan “A Broken Vessel,” Come Sing For the Harrowing.
Picture of a smiling woman wearing a hat next to white text against a brown background that reads: R(ev)vise and Shine Presents: Life’s a Pitch . . . and Then You Thrive! with special guest Sarah Aronson www.saraharonson.com Wednesday, June 25, 2025 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm ET Cost: $30* *A recording of each session will be available for 30 days after the event
The cover of The Folk Keeper, by Franny Billingsley featuring the illustration of a young girl holding a candle and peering into a basement tunnel
White Text against a blue background (featuring the silhouette of a mirror ball) that says: Card Carrying Books and Gifts Presents: An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys Reading and Q&A with Author Rob Costello Saturday, June 21, 2025 @ 5:00 pm ET Card Carrying Books and Gifts 15 E. Market St. Corning, NY 14830 Below, a head shot of Rob Costello, a bearded white man, beside an image of the cover of the YA novel by Rob Costello, which features the title - An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys - in black text against a red background surrounding an image of a Polaroid photograph featuring the silhouette of a young man gazing out a bedroom window. At the bottom in white lettering is the logo for the publisher, Lethe Press
Five star Goodreads review dated May 25, 2025 that says: Beautiful book, gorgeous writing This author should teach a masterclass in describing setting - every place felt beautiful, gritty, ugly, real. This is likely one of the most envelope-pushing YA books on the market. It’s also incredibly necessary. This book is real, raw, gritty, ugly… yet somehow beautiful, hopeful, and bursting with love. The characters are complicated, difficult, and real. This book made me feel things. Highly recommended.
An image of the cover of the forthcoming YA novel by Rob Costello, which features the title - An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys - in black text against a red background surrounding an image of a Polaroid photograph featuring the silhouette of a young man gazing out a bedroom window. Above this image, text against a white background that reads: Kirkus Reviews “An engrossing tale full of spiky attitude that masks roiling emotions.” —Kirkus Reviews
 Buy now wherever books or audiobooks are sold
An image of the cover of the forthcoming YA novel by Rob Costello, which features the title - An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys - in black text against a red background surrounding an image of a Polaroid photograph featuring the silhouette of a young man gazing out a bedroom window. Besides this image, gray and red text against a white background that reads: What People Are Saying About AN UGLY WORLD FOR BEAUTIFUL BOYS "With its powerful exploration of toxic masculinity, generational trauma, and the struggle to find joy in a harsh world, this novel challenges readers to reflect on how society shapes young men and the struggles they face in embracing their true selves.” -Samantha Hui, Independent Book Review Lethe Press, Audiobook coming soon from Tantor Audio
An image of the cover of the forthcoming YA novel by Rob Costello, which features the title - An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys - in black text against a red background surrounding an image of a Polaroid photograph featuring the silhouette of a young man gazing out a bedroom window. Besides this image, white and yellow text against a beige background that reads: R(ev)ise and Shine! Presents: In Conversation: An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys with Jennifer Richard Jacobson & Rob Costello Wed. April 30, 2025 @ 7:00 pm ET FREE There are also head shots of a bearded white male (Rob Costello) and a white female with salt and pepper hair (Jennifer Richard Jacobson) above the R(ev)ise and Shine! logo, which features a graphic of a sunrise over an open book. Below that is a link to www.revise-and-shine.com
An image of the cover of the forthcoming YA novel by Rob Costello, which features the title - An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys - in black text against a red background surrounding an image of a Polaroid photograph featuring the silhouette of a young man gazing out a bedroom window. Above this is a banner advertising Independent Bookstore Day, April 26, 2025 Beside this, text reads: An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys Available (in stock or to order) at these fine Independent Bookstores: Buffalo Street Books Ithaca, NY Protagonist Books & Coffee Dryden, NY Odyssey Bookstore Ithaca, NY Black Walnut Books Glens Falls, NY Author’s Note Medina, NY Sulfur Books Clifton Springs, NY Children’s Book World Haverford, PA Underdog Bookstore Moravia, CA Bear Pond Books Montpelier and Stowe, VT
Video features a series of enthusiastic blurbs for the new novel, AN UGLY WORLD FOR BEAUTIFUL BOYS by Rob Costello, inter-cut with stock footage of mirror balls, the Empire State Building lit up at night, and scenes of people dancing and walking in a nightclub.
An image of a hand holding a copy of a YA novel by Rob Costello, the cover of which features the title - An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys - in black text against a red background surrounding an image of a sepia-toned Polaroid photograph featuring the silhouette of a young man gazing out a bedroom window. Below the Polaroid a blurb reads "An astonishing novel of discovery, heartache and redemption" -- Erin Entrada Kelly.
An image of the cover of the forthcoming YA novel by Rob Costello, which features the title - An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys - in black text against a red background surrounding an image of a Polaroid photograph featuring the silhouette of a young man gazing out a bedroom window. Besides this image, gray and red text against a white background that reads: What People Are Saying About AN UGLY WORLD FOR BEAUTIFUL BOYS “An astonishing novel of discovery, heartache, and redemption. Costello writes unapologetically about surviving in a broken world against all odds. Truly unforgettable.” -Erin Entrada Kelly, two-time Newbery Medalist and National Book Award Finalist Lethe Press, Release Date: April 22, 2025
A head shot of white, non-binary author S Maxfield against a pink and black background with the Ace of Swords Tarot Card in the lower left hand corner. Text reads: Revise and Shine Presents: Tarot for Writers with Special Guest S Maxfield. Wednesday, April 16, 2025 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm ET Cost: $30* *A recording of each session will be made available for 30 days after the event for all ticket holders. Revise and Shine logo of a sun rise over and open book. Link in bio and at linktr.ee/essmaxfield
Headshot of a young woman in black, the author Erin Entrada Kelly, besides an orange background with white text that says: SCENE STUDIES with Erin Entrada Kelly In this two-day intensive, students will analyze scenes from a wide range of novels to discuss character, pacing, dialogue, subtext, and other elements of craft. Students will learn the characteristics of effective scenes and revision strategies to apply what they learn. Open to writers of all levels and genres. When: Saturday, March 22 & Sunday, March 23, 2025 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm ET both days Where: Online Cost: $195* *For those who can’t attend live, a recording of each session will be made available for 30 days after the event for all ticket holders.
An image of the cover of the forthcoming YA novel by Rob Costello, which features the title - An Ugly World for Beautiful Boys - in black text against a red background surrounding an image of a Polaroid photograph featuring the silhouette of a young man gazing out a bedroom window. Besides this, gray and red text against a white background that reads: What People Are Saying About AN UGLY WORLD FOR BEAUTIFUL BOYS “Toby's coming-of-age trainwreck reads like the tensest of thrillers and hurts like your worst teenage memory. It's gorgeously written, ultimately healing, and absolutely unforgettable.” -Nancy Werlin, National Book Award Finalist for The Rules of Survival Lethe Press, Release Date: April 22, 2025
Purple background featuring three heads for the writers and panelists Nora Shalaway Carpenter, Erin Entrada Kelly and Rob Costello. Below that the lext reads: How to Get Noticed by Anthologists and What to Expect When You Do Date & Time: March 20, 2025 05:00 PM ET on Zoom Hosted by the MFA for Writing for Children and Young Adults Program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts
Image of the red and black book cover for AN UGLY WORLD BEAUTIFUL BOYS against a white background announcing a Goodreads Giveaway of 10 signed ARCs of the book, which is the debut novel by Rob Costello, published by Lethe Press, and release on April 22, 2025. The giveaway runs through March 31, 2025.
Image headlined BRAM STOKER AWARD NOMINEE announcing that the anthology WE MOSTLY COME OUT AT NIGHT, edited by Rob Costello, has been officially nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. A picture of the book cover as well as the official red and gold seal of the Bram Stoker Award are featured against a blue, star dappled background.
Cover illustration of a skeleton among a field of swords disintegrating in a burst of magical energy. From The Dark Magazine, issue 117, February 2025, featuring stories by Nelson Stanley, Rob Costello, Steve Rasnic Tem, and E.M. Linden.
Photo of a hand holding a hard cover copy of WE MOSTLY COME OUT AT NIGHT against a moonlit sky.
Headline against a black background reads Ginger Nuts of Horror: The Best of 2024 Young Adult Horror and Dark Fiction. Below that are the illustrated covers of three books: The Ones Who Come Back; We Mostly Come Out at Night; and Overemotional.
Rainbow Retreat: An in-community experience for queer creatives at the Highlights Foundation, November 2-5, 2023. Hosted by Jas Hammonds and Rob Costello. Special guest: Antonio Gonzalez Cerna.