Inclusion Takes Center Stage at Literary Publishing Panel
BY STAFF WRITER BEN GUZOVSKY ‘23
On May 18th, the second day of the Nassau Literary Review’s annual literary festival, editors representing independent publishers and literary magazines came together to discuss changes in the industry—keeping with the festival’s “Metamorphoses” theme.
Panelists first weighed in on the pandemic’s ripples through the industry. Chantz Erolin, an editor at Graywolf Press, spoke to the growth of online opportunities—suddenly Zoom poetry readings had 150-200 viewers when only around twenty people might’ve come in person.
The discussion then shifted to equality and inclusion. Moderator Julia Walton presented a staggering statistic: the publishing industry is over 75% white. She asked the panel to weigh in on how their companies were changing in the context of the past year’s racial reckoning. Bailey Hutchinson, an editor and bookseller at Milkweed Editions, weighed in first. Even with a recent expansion in opportunities for people of color, she emphasized “it’s never enough.”
Each panelist described the various ways in which they were creating opportunities for underrepresented groups, including new BIPOC fellowships and active efforts to publish diverse voices.
Piggybacking off of recent news that Penguin Random House, the world’s biggest publisher, will be acquiring Simon & Schuster, the second biggest, Walton raised the issue of corporate consolidation. Each panelist weighed in on their concerns, but there was a lot of optimism. Lena Valencia is the managing editor and director of educational programming at literary magazine One Story.
“At One Story, people are subscribing to us because they know they’ll get an emerging writer they’ve never read before,” she stated. Her indie publisher peers concurred.
“In non-profit indie publishing — we don’t have to focus on making a profit… you prioritize the work and the authors,” Hutchinson said. Overall, the panel truly got to the heart of what makes indie publishing special: independence.
Audience members chimed in to ask a variety of questions, but many came back to one theme: advice for aspiring writers. Hutchinson answered frankly: “Send it out!”
Aaron Robertson, in addition to being an editor at Spiegel & Grau, is a writer himself. He recommended cold emailing, which has gotten easier and more effective as work culture has become quick-Zoom-call-friendly. Every panelist preached the importance of taking rejection in stride. Erolin said that “a rejection says so little about your work” and “nine times out of ten, it’s not you, it’s the publisher.”
The panel was hosted by our very own Nassau Literary Review and had 25 attendees. It occurred via Zoom at 9 p.m. EDT.