FAQs
Who is Dear Publishers?
Dear Publishers is a community of bookstagrammers, readers, authors, influencers, and educators that demands publishers to address their racist policies and practices. The publishing industry holds power and sway over the moral compass of our country. The industry’s decisions influence zeitgeist and cultural phenomena. Therefore, Dear Publishers formed to demand change to their racist and other oppressive policies and practices. We cannot afford to stay silent. It costs lives.
Visit our About page to read our full mission and vision.
Why does Dear Publishers focus on racism and not the other issues in publishing?
Dear Publishers works to hold the publishing industry accountable for racist and other oppressive policies and practices in order to help create an equitable publishing industry for all.
While Dear Publishers formed in response to racism within the publishing industry, we acknowledge that racism is one of many harmful (and often detrimental) consequences of white supremacy. You can read more about our mission and vision on our About page.
How does Dear Publishers address “cancel culture”?
While we believe in listening to a diversity of perspectives and engaging with those who have good intentions and are still in the learning process of radical justice, Dear Publishers does not condone racist actions, harmful behaviors, or malintent. We do not have a blanket “cancel” policy nor do we have a blanket acceptance of harmful ideas for the interest of “free speech,” “devil’s advocacy,” or “multiple perspectives.” Too often, these phrases are mere euphemisms that grant acceptance of racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, ableism, classism, and other harmful practices.
I would like to provide feedback or constructive criticism to the group - how do I do that?
Reflection is a critical part of any social justice movement to ensure responsiveness to community needs. We are always interested in the opportunity to learn and improve our practices, especially if that means becoming more accessible to all audiences and reaching our goal of equity. Please submit feedback here.
How does Dear Publishers guarantee accuracy in their messaging and information?
To ensure accuracy to the best of our abilities, our research team fact-checks all information before we share publicly. For anonymous tips or stories, our researchers follow up with the individual as needed, and we do not publish anything if we cannot verify its accuracy.
Why did Dear Publishers begin?
Dear Publishers was established the day after Post Hill Press, a Simon & Schuster distribution client, announced a book deal with one of Breonna Taylor’s murderers. In May 2020, Simon & Schuster pledged to “stand against racism.” It is clear now that these words were merely performative. Enough is enough, and we demand accountability.
The book community is large and there is power in numbers. Dear Publishers aims to bring solidarity against racism as a community of bookstagrammers, readers, authors, influencers, and educators. Together, we can demand publishers to address their racist and oppressive policies and practices. For more information about the events leading up to our formation, visit our About page.
Whom does Dear Publishers aim to hold accountable?
Dear Publishers aims to hold the publishing industry accountable, particularly publishing houses, literary agencies, and third-party marketers (such as book subscription services) for racist and other oppressive policies and practices. While these three groups are our core focus, we hope that by holding these parties accountable, bookstores, bookstagrammers, and more will all subsequently begin to create equitable spaces as well.
Does Dear Publishers support boycotting the Big Five?
Dear Publishers currently does not engage in a boycott of the Big Five publishers due to the inadvertent harm to authors of color, LGBTQIA+, neurodivergent, Indigenous, and marginalized authors that may be published through them. Instead, we encourage you to purchase and support titles by BIPOC and other marginalized authors, and we have specific actions that we encourage our audience to take to demand accountability from not only the Big Five, but the publishing industry as a whole.
I have a publishing story to share with you - how do I do that?
If you have a story that illustrates harmful practices within the publishing industry, we encourage you to share it with us using this form. We promise to review each story for accuracy to the best of our ability. For those who'd like to remain anonymous, we encourage you to still submit. In the "Name" section, please write "Anonymous." We may reach out to you to confirm details. We take these issues very seriously - our goal is to foster equity within the publishing industry and we need your stories in order to continue holding publishers accountable.
I work in media - how can I get in touch with Dear Publishers for an interview or collaboration?
Please email dearpublishers@gmail.com and address the note to Olivia and Swati, Co-Leads of Communications and PR. In the email, please clearly state your name, outlet, story’s pitch and angle, the desired length of time for the interview, and any other relevant information. Unless otherwise requested, all interviews will be conducted with Jess and Mel, the two founders of Dear Publishers.
How does Dear Publishers address the inclusion of bookstagrammers, authors, influencers, and readers from around the globe?
Dear Publishers believes global perspectives are critical to holding the publishing industry accountable and creating change. While our own core team is not all from or currently located in the USA, Dear Publishers acknowledges that our core leadership team is based in the global West. As our team grows, we hope to gain new members that can provide further perspectives from around the world.
We actively prioritize and strive to provide resources and information that include our global community. One of our founders is a leader of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Racial Equity, and is committed to the inclusion of perspectives from around the globe. Dear Publishers actively engages with our audience to collect feedback and implement change to better address our goals. Additionally, our volunteer program is global and we look to these voices to best identify and address issues from across the publishing industry.
Finally, we always seek feedback and encourage you to share your thoughts with us.
Who exactly is the “we” in Dear Publishers?
You can visit our About page to meet our core team. We also engage with a network of volunteers who are readers, bookstagrammers, authors, and other lovers of literature.
I would like to get involved/volunteer time - how do I do that?
We are excited to hear that! Please submit your information in this form, and you will hear from us if we need your help based on your skillset and availability.
If I choose to submit a publishing story to Dear Publishers, how will it be used?
Dear Publishers aims to collect stories from within the publishing industry to help reach our goals of equity, as data regarding diversity in hiring and publishing are often kept private (if recorded in the first place). We hope to collect these stories to inform and advise our work, to gain a varied perspective on practices within the industry, and to help our community at large gain a better understanding.
We promise to do our utmost diligence in ensuring the stories we collect are accurate, and to keep stories anonymous when we are asked to. The names of people who submit will be kept within the core leadership team— volunteers will not have access to this information.
I’d like to share your graphics/stories on my social media feed - is this okay?
Yes, please do! If you choose to share, please tag us @DearPublishers and #DearPublishers, give our handle credit for the graphics, and keep in mind accessibility for your audience by using image ID in the captions.