British publishers are raising awareness of racial inequality without addressing their own

Please send your letters to letters@independent.co.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 inequalities that haunt most sectors of our society – including our own major institutions and industries.

Publishers have taken advantage of this moment to amplify the marketing of titles by their black authors and release statements of support for the black communities who have been campaigning for equality for decades.

Although we welcome your support at this time, we are deeply concerned that British publishers are raising awareness of racial inequality without significantly addressing their own.

We are calling on you to help us tackle the deep-rooted racial inequalities in the major corporate publishing companies and support grassroots black literary communities such as booksellers, book clubs and the Black Writers’ Guild.

We request the following:

1. We would like there to be an audit of the books published by black authors. This should include genres, the submission-to-acquisition ratio of black authors in the past five years and the median and mode of the advances of black authors.

We’d also like data on the roles of black staff across the business. Rather than relying on anecdotal information, the data is crucial for us to better understand the current situation and how each area can be resolved for equality.

2. We are concerned that an absence of black commissioners who understand our communities and nuanced life experiences is limiting the ability to find the stories that best capture and reflect the sensibilities within them, to market them and also identify new talent across a broad range of areas. We are calling on publishers to hire black commissioners at every level of their companies.

3. We are aware that there is a worrying absence of black publishing staff in key positions in sales, marketing and publicity departments. These roles are vital in the acquisitions process and, in addition, these specific roles are focused on books reaching readers from a range of backgrounds, so diversity is essential. This also extends to designers and illustrators who are an important part of the messaging and engagement of a book – there is a woeful lack of black talent in this area.

4. One of the biggest complaints about publishers amongst black writers who do not start out with a notable profile is that our books are misunderstood by both editors and the marketing departments. Our books can often require additional support to reach the audiences who should be sought beyond the usual retailer pathways. We would like publishers to create a ring-fenced fund for marketing and specialist publicity focus to support the books of new and emerging black talent.

5. We are deeply concerned by the absence of any black members on core leadership boards. In 2020 this is unacceptable as well as unsustainable in the modern world. We are asking publishers to address and rectify this immediately.

6. We would like publishers to help us lobby to expand the pool of literary agents and build a network of black literary agents and talent scouts for emerging black talent that reaches beyond London into black communities in the nations and regions. This should also extend to buyers and booksellers to ensure the whole supply chain is knowledgeable and committed to working with our narratives.

7. We ask that publishers make an additional financial commitment to new awards recognising and amplifying black talent as well as other initiatives such as a festival, and a literary magazine that can help build and foster readers from the black community.

8. We believe there is a disconnect between black stakeholders in publishing and senior decision-makers in the industry. We believe each company should have a mechanism for stakeholders and senior executives to have a direct relationship to discuss concerns and trends in the output of publishers. We would like to work with publishers to create this.

We maintain that all of these requests will not only help to guard against pervasive racial inequality but will unearth more talent and help nurture a thriving literary culture in this country. We ask for your partnership in achieving this and look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,

The Black Writers’ Guild – representing the black publishing community in the UK. Our membership group includes over 200 published black writers, including some of Britain’s best-selling authors and leading literary figures.

Abidemi Sanusi; Adeola Solanke; Adjoa Wiredu; Afua Hirsch; Ale McKenzie; Alexandra Sheppard; Aniefiok ‘Neef’ Ekpoudom; Anni Domingo; Avril E. Russell; Azariah France-Williams; Benjamin Zephaniah; Bernardine Evaristo; Bryan Judith; Candice Carty-Williams; Carol Russell; Catherine Johnson; Charlene Allcott; Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff; Cherish Shirley; Cheryl Ndione; Chine McDonald; Clementine Burnley; Cleo Lake; Courttia Newland; Daniel Taylor; Daniella Dash; David Olusoga; Degna Stone; Denise Saul; Derek Bardowell; Derek Owusu; Desiree Reynolds; Desree; Diana Evans; Dianna Hunt; Dipo Baruwa-Etti; Dorothy Koomsom; Dr Althea-Maria Rivas; Elijah Lawal; Elontra Hall; Emma Dabiri; Esua Jane Goldsmith; Evan Larbi; Frances Williams; Gabriella Beckles-Raymond; Georgina Lawton; Inua Ellams; Irenosen Okojie; Jade Benn; Jasmine Richards; Jeffrey Boakye; Jemilea Wisdom-Baako; Jendella Benson; Jennifer Nansubuga; Jessica Lauren Elizabeth; Jessica Morgan; Johny Pitts; Kayo Chingonyi; Kehinde Andrews; Keith Jarrett; Kit de Waal; Kuba Shand-Baptiste; Kuchenga; Kwadjo Dajan; Kwame Kwei-Armah; Lisa Bent; Liv Little; Lola Okolosie; Louise Hare; Louise Ogunnaike; Luan Goldie; Lynda Rosenior-Patt; Lynsey Martenstyn; Maame Blue; Magdalene Abraha; Malika Booker; Malorie Blackman; Marcus Ryder; Marviene Cole; Melissa Cummings-Quary; Munroe Bergdorf; Musa Okwonga; Nadifa Mohamed; Nadine Matheson; Natalie Carter; Natasha Bowen; Nels Abbey; Nesrine Malik; Nick Makoha; Nicola Rollock; Nicolas Tyrell Scott; Njambi McGrath; Okechukwu Nzelu; Oladipo Agboluaje; Olumide Popoola; Oluwaseun Matiluko; Omega Douglas; Patrice Lawrence; Paul Gilroy; Paul Mendez; Rachael Corson; Raymond Antrobus; Sara Collins; Sareeta Domingo; Selina Nwulu; Sharmaine Lovegrove; Sharna Jackson; Shaun Clarke; Simon Osunsade; Sir Lenny Henry; Sofia Akel; Stella Akinade-Ahmadou; Stephen Thompson; Symeon Brown; Tolu Agbelusi; Uju Asika; Valerie Brandes; Yomi Sode; Yvonne Battle-Felton; Yvvette Edwards

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Flexible working

I am writing this as a frustrated job seeker. I currently run a fledgeling business and I'm a carer for a disabled adult, and am searching for work to top up my income to be independent of universal credit.

I recently interviewed for a major supermarket who advertised a job on their own website for 11 hours a week; specific shifts on specific days. Despite this fitting perfectly into my life, and being a previous employee with a glowing record, I was unsuccessful. When I asked for feedback, I was informed that it was because I was not flexible enough, and that they needed 100 per cent flexibility across all business hours, seven days a week. This was a 24-hour superstore.

I had an interview last week for another major retailer for a weekend job advertised at four hours a week. I was told that I needed to be available from 6am to 12am seven days a week on a four-hour contract, and if I couldn’t commit to that then I wouldn’t get a job. On the other hand, the Jobcentre expects claimants to find and secure additional work to fit in around existing work commitments or they issue sanctions. I’ve juggled multiple jobs around my life in the past easily, and never needed to claim government support until 2019.

By demanding 24/7 flexibility, employers are inadvertently using universal credit as a government-sponsored bank scheme. With the benefits of having people perpetually available and ready for work at any time at short notice, without the commitment of paying a retainer or higher wages. From my own experience, my previous job gave me six to 12 hours a week splattered over six days a week, where shifts changed without notice. People can’t pay bills on unpredictable wages, so they, like me, claim universal credit to help make ends meet.

The world of work has changed. It is an employer’s market, indicating high unemployment and high competition for jobs, not the high employment record we’ve been fed over the last few years. Either the government needs to act to change this, or perhaps this under-employment is the future, where universal basic income is inevitable.

Saranne Bensusan
Crawley

School confusion

With regards to the government’s plans for the reopening of schools as we exit lockdown, there’s no other word to describe them other than “late”!

The impression given by the government is that they’re just going to wait until September, simply because it coincides with the start of the new academic year, and by which time they hope the threat posed by Covid-19 will have magically disappeared. Meanwhile, the majority of children miss out on classroom-based teaching from their usual teachers and everything else that the school environment has to offer, especially the interactions with other children. The start of September is only 11 weeks away! To borrow a much-used phrase, the clock is ticking. Is it ticking loudly enough though?

Mark Pinchbeck
Sheffield

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Thanks to the Damien Hirst download, I have a beautiful rainbow displayed in support of key workers. Today, as the morning sunshine flooded through the kitchen window, I saw the shadow of a very confused bee trying to land on the bright colours, only flying away after a couple of frustrating minutes of repeated failure.

Please could someone come up with a way of attaching pollen to the external glass surfaces of our numerous rainbow window designs, so the key workers of the insect world could continue their essential contributions to plant life in general and our food chain in particular?

Shane Malhotra
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The strategy regarding care homes is just one reason I do not trust Boris Johnson or his miserable government of yes men and women to look after the best interests of the people of this country.

There are many other schemes that started stopped and restarted at all the wrong times. Test, track and treat is another example. It has still not been sorted out although we have had many promises that it is a world-beater. It is a world-beater alright; as another example of what not to do to remedy a bad situation.

Johnson now says that vulnerable people can come out of isolation – just when there are more people on the streets. This cannot be a good idea no matter how you look at it.

It is not by accident that we now have the worst death rate in Europe. I say, replace Johnson before he tries to replace us all.

Sandra Bloch
Southport