May has been quite the interesting month in publishing, has it not?
First, Conduit Books, a new imprint focused solely on Men's Tales! was announced. Because there is a lack of representation in publishing and this is it, clearly.
Then, a young Australian Rugby player (think Steve Irwin meets Benson Boone), who was a former Australian Bachelor reality star debuted on Booktok to talk about fantasy books. Something unique happens on Booktok whenever a man that doesn't look like a shoe joins. A certain demographic of lonely housewife goes feral. You would think these women had never seen a man in their lives. The comments that they leave demonstrate a complete lack of respect, for anyone, but they show up and they show out IN DROVES. He amassed 100,000 followers in under three days.
(I have been on booktok for a couple of years. Fighting the algorithm on a daily basis).
Thunder Down Under partnered with Fable to run a book club and just yesterday that he signed a 2 book deal with Atria. That's right. He signed a 2 book deal. A fantasy series. He hasn't started writing it.
It is hard not to lose all motivation when BIPOC authors and BIPOC creators do not get a fraction of this kind of attention.
Many of us here at Bindery are working because we genuinely believe that we can change publishing and make an impact. (We are not aiming to change the Big 5. We are aiming to challenge them).
I want to reconfirm my dedication and let you know the goals of this imprint and things that you can do today that can make a difference.
Boozhoo Books is currently open to submissions from women writing horror and Indigenous authors writing YA and Adult fiction.
The current Bindery model supports imprints publishing 1-2 books per year. Because I have a lot of passion and I believe in going big or going home, I'm aiming to publish 4 books per year (Ideally, a 2/2 split) How do we get there? The easy answer is paid subscribers. Paid subscriptions help fund the books. If you can afford an upgrade to any level, please help if you can. If you cannot afford to upgrade, please continue to share on social media.
My goal for the year is to reach 5,000 free Bindery subscribers, with an addition 10% paid (500) (Total, 5500 subscribers).
That is a big goal, but I am passionate about what Bindery is doing and I think if you're following me here that you are, too!
Are you a creator or author with a newsletter or Substack? Consider asking your subscribers to join our community for free!
Our community reads books by diverse authors all year long. It's not enough to read the books. We should be reviewing them (on Goodreads or Storygraph) and sharing them on social media. Look how quickly the white ladies mobilized and were able to get a non-writer a book deal? If we work together, we can help author's with talent reach more readers.
I talked about this last week but I want to emphasize it again: Marginalized authors depend on pre-sales! Pre-sales send a message to publishers that readers want more of these stories. If you haven't pre-ordered the books I've added to this post, please consider pre-ordering today!
Cry, Voidbringer by Elaine Ho, the first book published under Michael Laborn's Bindery Imprint
Love is a War Song by Danica Nava, Indigenous cowboy romance
August Lane by Regina Black, Black small town romance about the visibility of Black women's voices in Country music
Legendary Frybread Drive-in: Intertribal Stories: Indigenous YA anthology with interconnected stories of Native pride
Beyond the Glittering World: An Anthology of Indigenous Feminisms and Futurisms , celebrating a rising generation of Native American storytellers
Want to feel more connected to the community? Join the community Discord, participate in Book Clubs and Buddy Reads.
Weekly Event: Tomorrow, Tuesday 5PM PST/8PM EST. Join us on Zoom for Monthly Wrap Up Yap where we all recommend books we've read this month! Hope to see you there.
