Blogs

We've come a long way with LBGTQ+ literature

By Paul Burston

Founder at The Polari Prize

In 2012, the literary critic Suzi Feay lamented the lack of new lesbian voices in UK publishing. Describing what she saw as “a shortage of... Read more

"Let’s clarify what free speech is and is not": An open letter to the industry from Pride in Publishing

By Pride in Publishing

Being a book publisher comes with a set of tough moral responsibilities. You provide livelihoods for authors and booksellers, your hiring decisions can greatly influence... Read more

Reopening your bookshop? You need OODA

By Mark Thornton

Bookshop mentor at Unwin Charitable Trust

Bookshops are currently overwhelmed with advice, support and well-meaning individuals offering ideas and 'tips' on what to do. A few months ago, booksellers might have... Read more

Publishing must decolonise

By Layla Mohamed

Editorial assistant at Cassava Republic Press

The movement of protests, riots and direct action that has sparked across the globe following the death of George Floyd has now entered the offices... Read more

The time for publishers to get serious about anti-racism was yesterday

By Paul Perry

Writer at Freelance

July 13, 2013 was a heavy day in New York City. The summer swelter hung in the air like steam rising from a hot, damp... Read more

Back of the Net

By Philip Jones

Editor at The Bookseller

In this country we live in a time of unprecedented freedoms around our rights to publish, with social media, in particular, giving everyone a platform... Read more

The funding question

Jane Harley Chair of the Publishers Association’s Educational Publishers Council

Educational publishers have excelled during the pandemic, ensuring teachers are supported—and it must be allowed to continue. Read more

Speculative fiction is recognising the power of disability

By Brianna Albers

Founder at Monstering

In 2016, the internet was rife with divisive opinions over Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You. The novel, published in 2012, chronicled the relationship between a... Read more

Lockdown diaries: the office assistant

By Angelize Williams

Office assistant at Springer Nature

It may come as a surprise, but when I heard about the lockdown, the anxiety that the world seemed to be feeling did not grip... Read more

Bookshops need to be representative too

By Jessica Taylor

Co-owner at Max Minerva's Books

I want to acknowledge that my experience as a South Asian is not the same as those of Black people in this country. Although it’s... Read more

An open letter to UK publishing from the Black Writers' Guild

The Black Writers' Guild UK

The protest movement sweeping the world since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis has forced an international soul searching to understand the pervasive racial... Read more

Lockdown diaries: the ghostwriter

By Gillian Stern

Writer and editor at Freelance

Invisibility is part and parcel of being a ghostwriter. But somehow I’ve felt it more acutely during lockdown. In normal times, on publication of a... Read more

How low pay and low pay transparency undermine the publishing business

By Niamh Mulvey

at Quercus

it is impossible for publishing to fulfil its own diversity agenda while continuing to pay low wages to most workers and to maintain its decades-long... Read more