Good morning, everyone!

We are revealing the cover for our next book, From our Blood by Shardai Smith, in just four days--on Monday the 19th. And we could use as much help as possible making a splash on cover reveal day! So please read the rest of this blog and let me know if you want to be a part!

Easton is an elite institution known for its famously white, rich student body. Which completely disqualifies Ari. She is poor. She is isolated. And well...she is Black. But when she is accepted anyway, she sees it as an opportunity to rub shoulders with the next generation of movers and shakers. Which could make a huge difference for her as an aspiring artist without the resources and connections to get her future off the ground. Instead, she finds a campus filled with secrets. After the body of a Black man turns up unexpectedly, Ari discovers a long history of Black students making their way onto Easton's grounds only to never make it back home. She could run, but that would mean forfeiting the future she has finally begun to believe is possible. So her only real option is to survive. And to do so, she is going to have to figure out who, or what, is hunting her people and what it will take to make sure she isn't next.

I know, right?!

I have talked about this with past books, but I wanted From Our Blood to be a Left Unread book very early on. In fact, after reading the first page, I texted a friend and said these exact words:

I found the book.

I knew. With less than a page. Less than a paragraph, I knew this book was special and that I wanted to be a part of bringing it into the world. And obviously, I read the entire book and spent time thinking about whether it delivers all of the things that make a Left Unread book work, and it absolutely does. But I KNEW from the very start.

I am telling you that because, like all of our books, From our Blood is having a conversation that I think is very important.

Through Ari's story, Shardai is entering a genre that is often very white and centered around romanticizing higher education and an aesthetic of "better", and daring to say two things:

1. Black people belong here

&

2. All of this was built on our labor, our blood, and our suffering

I believe this book matters. Which shouldn't come as a surprise to you, because I do not take books that I do not think are having a necessary and disruptive conversation. That is the center of what we are doing here at Left Unread. Disrupting. And From our Blood absolutely takes the work we have been doing and contributes something new and necessary.

I think this book is going to do similar things for Dark Academia readers that Babel did, while also touching some of the work that was done by Immortal Dark. I think it will defy what you have come to expect of the genre, while also diving into a lot of what you have come to expect from Black horror. It is intense, dark and sometimes downright painful. While also managing to inspire and create hope for a future that looks different.

I cannot wait to help Shardai Smith bring this important work into the world. And as you know, what we do in the next ten months before launch will help decide how big of an impact this book has. Which is why I want this cover reveal to create a splash.

HERE IS WHAT WE NEED

On Monday, the 19th, we are going to be posting the cover on our social media for everyone to see. We will also be posting pre-order links and TBR links (such as Goodreads and Storygraph, etc).

I NEED YOU TO POST THEM TOO

There are about four thousand people in this community, plus however many thousands of people will see this blog posted on my socials. I would love if as many of you as possible would join us in posting the cover and the pre-order link on the same day. That way, we can ensure it gets a huge amount of exposure right on day one. I want this disruptive book to disrupt bookish spaces on the 19th, so that we can start a wave of conversation that we can ride all the way to launch!

And please don't think this ask is only for huge content creators. The goal here is QUANTITY. I want to see this book everywhere, and I will spend the day boosting everything I see!

So if you want to join our cover reveal team and post the cover and pre-order links on your socials on the 19th, please let me know! I will be sending out an email the day before with the cover, as well as some graphics, links and post ideas.

If you are a paid subscriber, you will get some of that info in a post in a couple of days here, but please also make sure you are in our email chain, because I will be sending resources directly to all of you to make this as easy as possible!

If you want to join, just drop a comment letting me know! I can pull your email from there. I'd love if we had at least 100 people posting on Monday!

Love y'all! And I am so excited to get this book into all of your hands!