It is no secret that I have tried to build my platform with Black and brown indie authors in mind. When I engage in bookish conversations, I do so with the intention of creating space for indies. And a lot of my content is about the need to prioritize the authors at the bottom. If you are in community with me, none of this is news to you.

But as I intensify my efforts in the publishing world, I want you to have a very clear picture of what I am doing to fight for you directly. Because I have not, and will not, forget my focus. The only way to get to progress is by keeping Black and brown indies at the center.

• **PUBLISHING **

First and foremost, my publishing efforts will always prioritize the least represented. With the racial barriers in this industry, I will only be committing my time and resources toward publishing Black and brown authors. Furthermore, I am working to create even more access for unagented authors. The goal is for Left Unread to be able to accept manuscripts all year round, regardless of whether a Black or brown author has an agent or not. I don't intend to turn away agented authors, as I am of the opinion that all Black and brown authors are being failed by this industry, but I want all Black and brown authors to have equal access. (More to come. This change will take time.)

Additionally, I am committed to looking at manuscripts off of their potential, and not just how polished they are. I am fully aware that an agented manuscript is typically going to have already been looked at by more eyes than an unagented manuscript. And as someone who spends a lot of time looking at raw manuscripts (not just as a publisher, but as someone in community with A LOT of authors), I am very capable of recognizing quality writing regardless of how polished it is. So I want you to rest assured that authors who have agents looking at their manuscripts are not getting the leg up over you when it comes to Left Unread. I see your value and I am LOOKING HARD at the potential of your writing and your stories.

• RESOURCES

In addition to publishing books, I also want to create resources that help newer authors navigate this industry more successfully. There is SO MUCH that goes into successfully launching a book, and it is a very hard learning curve, so I want to create resources that make that process more understandable. But also, I want to create resources that help you to connect with the publishing professionals who are out there fighting to make things more accessible for you. The editors, graphic designers, influencers, bookstores, etc that are creating space for you! I want to put their names in front of you and help you to find the right team to give your book the love it needs!

As you have probably noticed, I am putting out a ton of essays on various bookish topics. That is only going to get more frequent as we go. Not only essays on how to more responsibly write, but essays breaking down publishing tips and tricks, listing essential tools, etc. I can only directly publish a few people a year. But I can create resources to make the industry less of a mystery for everyone.

• FUNDRAISING

One of the primary things holding a lot of indie authors back is money. Publishing is expensive and inaccessible. So I want to help mitigate that by helping indies to raise the money they need to produce their books well. Which means, once or twice a year, I want to meet with an indie author, come up with a firm plan for their project, and then throw the entire weight of this community behind helping them to make their project happen. Which will look like investing any spare resources I have once our community grows larger, as well as taking to social media to fundraise on their behalf. There are many authors and influencers in this community. Together, we can make an indie's dream come true rather easily. And I want to make sure that happens as often as we can manage!

• COMMUNITY

Starting later this month, I want to start hosting a monthly workshop where authors can get together to talk through their projects together. Meaning, if you have a story you need help fleshing, if you have a plot hole you're trying to plug, if you just want feedback on your ideas or the direction of your story, you will be able to come to this monthly workshop to hear what other authors think. You can ask questions and everyone will be able to help one another figure out how to make their stories the absolute best they can be.

This type of community is INVALUABLE. But I am finding out that a lot of authors just don't have that. So we are going to create it right here. More on that to come!

• COMMUNITY SHOUT OUTS

I am going to be doing a weekly highlight post where I promote one of the authors in our community. There are so many of you here, supporting our efforts, and I want to make sure I am supporting you just as much. So if you are an author, please let me know in the comments so that I know who all is here! I will be picking one author a week to create a post about, where I share all of their work and give people ideas on how to directly support them: such as where to follow them on social media, where to buy their books, any kickstarters or programs they need help with, etc.

CONCLUSION

Like I said, my goal is to center Black and brown indie authors in all of my advocacy. Which means that you can count on this being a space where you can build community, utilize resources, and find help when you need it. I am only one person, but as a collective, we have a lot of experience and resources at our disposal. And my hope is that we can find better and better ways to use them to create real and lasting change.

So if you are an indie author, I want you here.

And if you love indie authors, I want you here.

I know that you have been told that it is important to maintain boundaries between those two communities. But our goal HERE at Left Unread is to fight for the indie author. This is not a reviewer space. And it is not a writing space. It is an advocacy space. And we are going to have to fight TOGETHER to create change.

• As always, if you are not already subscribed to this community, please subscribe right now. You can do so for FREE and it will only take you a few seconds. Growing our community is an important part of empowering us to accomplish more.
• Secondly, please consider subscribing at the $5 tier if you find this content personally enriching. Whether you are an author or a reader, you can help us to bring real change by committing resources to the work. Your $5 a month doesn't just help me to do the work I'm promising to do, it also helps to directly fund our publishing projects. So please consider upgrading if you are not already subscribed to at least the $5 tier.

Also, make sure you are in our discord. We have chat rooms set up for authors, including critique rooms, author lounges, etc. Come build community with us!

https://discord.gg/ATGQBgnxU2