bameinpublishing-blog

[bameinpublishing-blog]

A Change Is Gonna Come launch night photos

[Credit for photos to Beth Ferguson, Charlie Morris and Aimee Felone.]

Last night BAME In Publishing co-founder Sarah Shaffi chaired the Q & A with Tanya Byrne, Patrice Lawrence and Catherine Johnson at the launch of the wonderful BAME YA short story anthology A Change Is Gonna Come. 

It was a brilliant panel with a packed audience, and we hope to read more from the debut authors - congratulations to Mary Bello, Phoebe Roy, Aisha Bushby and Yasmin Rahman!

A Change Is Gonna Come is out now in all good bookshops.

[bameinpublishing-blog]

Profile - Emma Paterson

What’s your job title?

Literary Agent.

What does a typical work day involve?

Reading; editing; negotiating; contract drafting - and more reading.

How did you get your current role?

I spent 18 months working in academic publishing but I was desperate to make the transition to trade publishing. After job hunting for a while, I was lucky enough to be offered a job as an agent’s assistant at The Wylie Agency, where I worked for approximately three years. I moved to Rogers, Coleridge & White in 2013, and started building my own list of authors a couple of years later.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given?

To read as much as is humanly possible, and to be kind.

What’s the one achievement you’re the most proud of in your career so far?

It’s a little sentimental of me but I feel proud every time I hold a finished book by an author I represent in my hands. More specifically, I recently spent half my week at Waterstones Gower Street for sold-out events featuring four authors that I represent – that felt very rewarding.

What do you love most about your job?

I love the privilege of being there right at the beginning of a book, in that pure moment when the work only really exists for about two readers and anything is possible.

Recommend a book you think everyone should read.

Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race is a gamechanger.  

And because I can’t choose one, and I simply can’t stop talking about it: Susanna Moore’s In the Cut, which I hope will be reissued at some point and empower a new generation of novelists to write as ruthlessly and profoundly as she does.

[bameinpublishing-blog]

Profile - Candice Carty-Williams

What's your job title?

Senior Marketing Executive at Vintage Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House

What does a typical work day involve?

One of the best things about working in Marketing is that no day is the same. One day I could be working on tube advertising, the next I could be working with influencers or filming author interviews. On the day that I write this, I’m writing cover copy for proofs I’m putting together, checking videos I had created before I send them on to the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton for sharing, I’m organising a competition for a cookbook, and briefing a designer on some Instagram assets I need creating. This time last week, I was in a room filming ‘is this line Shakespeare or Beyonce?’ with Malorie Blackman and Tracy Chevalier.

How did you get your current role?

Three years ago at the age of 24, I decided to finally try to make it into publishing, having dreamt about it for years but being too intimidated by the industry and genuinely believing that there would be no place for me. I interned at Melville House, a small press, then following that did another internship at 4th Estate and William Collins, who offered me an interview for a Marketing Assistant role when that came to an end. At the same time, I was in the middle of the interview process for a temporary Editorial Assistant job at Vintage. I got both jobs, completed the six week editorial assistant role and went straight to 4th Estate and William Collins. I was there for two and a half years, and then came to Vintage! *breathes out*

What's the best piece of career advice you've been given?

The old classic ‘work twice as hard to get half as much’ which is exhausting, and it’s sad that it’s true, but it’s gratifying when you get to where you want to be. If I could give a piece of advice, it would be to make meaningful connections when you intern, when you network, and at events, and to keep in touch with these people you meet along the way.

What's the one achievement you're the most proud of in your career so far?

It’s got to be the 4th Estate and Guardian BAME Short Story Prize. I came up with it when I took a week off and pitched it to my team, to the MD of 4th Estate and, most scarily (I was 25 at the time and still absolutely loathe public speaking) had to pitch it to the whole team at 4th Estate. Luckily, my hard work and my insistence paid off, and even though it was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done, it was worth it. That prize was the very first of its kind and showed other publishing houses that diversity is important. It’s now in its second year, and even though I’m not there to watch it grow, I’m still hugely proud of it.

What do you love most about your job?

Obvious answer, but the books! Especially as I’m getting involved with the acquisitions of books written by authors of colour now. I’m beginning to see the impact my knowledge and expertise has both on books written by white and now non-white authors.

Recommend a book you think everyone should read.

Citizen by Claudia Rankine. I tell everyone I meet to read it. Before I even introduce myself.

[bameinpublishing-blog]

BAME in Publishing birthday party.

[bameinpublishing-blog]

Hi all, Scholastic UK are looking for an Editorial Assistant. The role is based in London and the deadline is Friday 10th March. Please send in CVs and cover letters before then, more details in the link provided.

[bameinpublishing-blog]

In August 2017, Stripes Publishing will publish A Change Is Gonna Come, an anthology of short stories and poetry for young adults written by authors from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. A range of established writers are contributing a short story on the theme of change: Tanya Byrne, Inua Ellams, Catherine Johnson, Patrice Lawrence, Ayisha Malik, Irfan Master, Nikesh Shukla and Lemn Sissay. The cover will be illustrated by Lucy Banaji.

In addition, they are launching an open call for submissions from unpublished and unagented writers, with room for a number of new authors to be added to the line-up. 

The deadline is February 28th, with full information here.

In the video above, Ayisha Malik, Nikesh Shukla and Irfan Master talk about why they’re excited to be contributing to the anthology, and why now is such a good time to be publishing this project.

Good luck everyone!

[bameinpublishing-blog]

February 2017 BAME In Publishing meet up

All photos © Dan Vo

Last Thursday we were generously hosted by HarperCollins UK at the News Building for BAME In Publishing’s February 2017 meet up - as you can see we had fantastic views and swankier equipment than we often do! It was a brilliant night, and we’d like to thank to Lisa Milton, Assallah Tahir and Sarah McPhee for helping us organise it. We’d also like to thank Charlie Redmayne and other HarperCollins staff for dropping by to chat, it was lovely having you there!

Final thanks go to Dan Vo for being photographer as usual, brilliant pictures as always! Due to book fairs in March, our next meet up will be in April. Until then, everyone!

[bameinpublishing-blog]

January 2017′s BAME In Publishing meet up

All photos © Dan Vo

We started off 2017 with a bang at the V & A - this January’s BAME In Publishing meet up was generously accommodated by the museum, and Sarah and I would like to thank Dan Vo, Janet Browne, Kim Sheldon and Tania Rodrigues for making it such an amazing evening.

We started with an African Heritage Tour of Europe from 1600 - 1815, then watched Tania Rodrigues perform a section of Invisible, her in-progress play about Princess Sophia Duleep Singh. We finished off with over an hour of socialising in a seminar space, which was great fun as always! Thanks everyone for coming along, see you next time!

[bameinpublishing-blog]

November 2016 BAME In Publishing meet up

All photos © Dan Vo

A very overdue collection of photos from November 2016′s BAME In Publishing meet up, which was held in the Penguin Random House Vauxhall offices. Thanks to Yasmin Mahmoudi and Siena Parker for their help with organisation and contribution to the event, and thanks once again to Dan Vo for his photos!

[bameinpublishing-blog]

A great review for a brilliant and incredibly necessary book. Very glad it’s resonating with so many people!

Karyn: “I’ve never come across a collection of essays on race, immigration and the narratives around them before. They’re written by fifteen emerging British black, Asian and minority ethnic writers, poets, journalists and artists. Especially in today’s political climate it’s important that these voices are being published and heard. I’m half Malaysian-Chinese and half British. I was born in Malaysia and raised in the UK. I like hearing the points of view of people from multiracial backgrounds. I especially liked an essay titled ‘Beyond Good Immigrants’ by Wei Ming Kam. She’s British Chinese and writes about the expectations some have of Asian people - stereotypes of being passive and quiet. She wants to challenge these ideas.” @karynbly reading The Good Immigrant, edited by Nikesh Shukla. #essays #immigration #race #stereotypes #globalcitizen #howwelive #newyork #london #tube #amreading #onthestreet @marta_bh for #subwaybookreview 🇬🇧 (at Finsbury Park, London)

[bameinpublishing-blog]

'The publishing industry needs to improve the diversity of its staff and open itself up to writers of all backgrounds if it is to increase the range of its output, publishers have told The Bookseller.

Statistics, partly compiled by The Bookseller, show that of the thousands of titles published in 2016 in the UK, only a small minority—fewer than 100—were by British authors of a non-white background. But publishers have argued there is now a serious commitment to widening that representation, with one suggesting the industry was in “the process of a very dramatic transition”.’

[bameinpublishing-blog]

All photos © Dan Vo

As November’s BAME In Publishing meet up draws closer, a photographic look back at the September meet up, held at the Free Word Centre and featuring readings from The Good Immigrant by Darren Chetty, Vera Chok and Wei Ming Kam (yes, it me). Thanks to the Free Word Centre for all their help, to Sarah Shaffi my brilliant co-founder for organising, to Dan Vo for taking these brilliant photos, and to everyone who came along!

[bameinpublishing-blog]

Calling all of you aspiring to get into publishing!

HarperCollins UK is opening applications for 12-month training contracts targeted at BAME graduates from 23rd June.

Here’s where you can find more information about HarperCollins UK and diversity.

[bameinpublishing-blog]

Job opportunity: Pan Mac creative producer

Pan Macmillan is recruiting for a new creative producer. You can watch the job advert below and apply online here. 

Good luck!

[bameinpublishing-blog]

Check out the Guardian and 4th Estate B4ME Short Story Prize shortlist!

[bameinpublishing-blog]

The Authenticity Paradox

Here’s an event some of you may be interested in attending:

Authenticity in storytelling is highly prized: as readers we like to feel we’re being given special access to the truth. But does this place an unfair burden on those writers who are also expected to speak on behalf of the cultural groups they’re seen to represent? Is there an implicit pressure for them to write in particular voices, on particular subjects and in particular genres? Examining the paradox of authenticity, our panel includes: author Catherine O’Flynn - whose What Was Lost won the Costa First Novel Prize - journalist, memoirist, and Times columnist Sathnam Sanghera, Trinidadian writer and performer Roger Robinson, and journalist and human rights development worker Afua Hirsch. 

In association with Spread the Word and Flight 1000 

More here.

[bameinpublishing-blog]

On Thursday May 26th we held the first BAME in Publishing event on the 5th floor of Waterstones Piccadilly - thanks everyone who came for making it such a great success, and thank you to the Publishing Training Centre for sponsoring the first meeting! 

A lot of networking was done, people made good connections (or chatted about Beyonce/Hamilton - good life choices everyone, well done), business cards were exchanged. If you want to volunteer to be a mentor or be mentored, or have ideas for panels, please drop us an email at the BAME in Publishing gmail. 

It was a fantastic evening, we hope to see more of you at the next event!