The State of Publishing is Dire
The presidential election was on Tuesday. I'd like to start off by saying this is not a welcome space for anyone who voted for Donald Trump, though I feel that should have already been abundantly clear.
Yesterday we learned that a Senior Vice President of marketing at Macmillan was promoting Trump on their personal social media and Macmillan, parent company of St. Martin's Press, who apparently didnt learn anything from the marketing boycott, provided this lackluster response:
Today, publishing company Hachette announced their brand new conservatives-in-mansions book imprint called Basic Liberty.
I don't mean to sound alarmist, but I am scared. We all should be. We already know that traditional publishing does so little for marginalized authors. It is only going to get worse.
I know the last few days have been filled with grief and rage. As someone who grew up with a lot of trauma, I have always found the best way to handle rage is to use it as fuel to make change. And I am asking you to help me do that today.
Many of you have supported this little Bindery community from the beginning. You saw the vision of turning our community into a publishing imprint to publish Native books, to uplift and promote Native authors. By coming together as a community and working with that goal in mind, we succeeded. The work is not over. It has only just begun.
The future is uncertain. The traditional publishing outlook for marginalized voices, already lacking, is looking even more bleak. If you can afford to upgrade your account, now is a good time to do it. A portion of your monthly subscription fee goes into the production of the book. While the typical Bindery model has been 1 book per season, I would love to have the chance to give more Native writers the opportunity to have their stories heard. The opportunities in trad pub are barely there and it is only getting worse from here.
I will be joining some fellow Bindery creators tonight on TikTok Live at 5pm PST/ 7 pm CST. We will be discussing making space for marginalized voices in publishing, the current state of publishing, how to grow community and what our goals are in partnering with Bindery. Come with questions! We are looking forward to the opportunity to chat with you and strengthen our existing communities.
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