#tracy sherrod

[profkew]

Black Publishing in High Cotton

Tracy Sherrod, the former v-p and editorial director of Amistad, on Black books, discourse, commerce, and the American racial reckoning.

"In the early days of the racial reckoning, I started #BlackOutBestsellerList to show the book purchasing power of Black people, as well as our enthusiasm for reading. My intention was to remind the industry that it was good business to publish Black voices, not because you’re feeling some guilt today. There’s a large audience of Black book purchasers, and that will continue to grow as we provide content that reflects their sensibilities. Black publishing has a rich story. We have made invaluable contributions to the industry—monetary, discourse, and otherwise."

[minoritiesinpublishing]

Black Publishing in High Cotton

Tracy Sherrod, the former v-p and editorial director of Amistad, on Black books, discourse, commerce, and the American racial reckoning.

“In the early days of the racial reckoning, I started #BlackOutBestsellerList to show the book purchasing power of Black people, as well as our enthusiasm for reading. My intention was to remind the industry that it was good business to publish Black voices, not because you’re feeling some guilt today. There’s a large audience of Black book purchasers, and that will continue to grow as we provide content that reflects their sensibilities. Black publishing has a rich story. We have made invaluable contributions to the industry—monetary, discourse, and otherwise.“

[minoritiesinpublishing]

“If All Black Books Were About Racism, Where Would We Go to Escape It?”

How Tracy Sherrod came to lead Amistad.

“The sad part about all that are the books that never got through. We don’t even know what we’re missing. I know a few very important books that were missing that would contribute to the dialogue, but those are books that no one wanted to buy at the time. And that’s the real loss to publishing.“

[minoritiesinpublishing]

‘A Conflicted Cultural Force’: What It’s Like to Be Black in Publishing

An author, literary agent, marketer, publicist, editors and booksellers talk about how race affects their careers — and the books you read.

"I think people have this false impression that this industry is great, it’s books, and people love to read and write. But you bring all the baggage of the systemic racism right through the door with you, whether you know it or not." Linda Duggins, Hachette Books

[minoritiesinpublishing]

Amistad Launches #BlackoutBestsellerList on Social Media

Looking to showcase the popularity of Black literature, Amistad Press has launched the hashtag campaign #BlackoutBestsellerList and #BlackPublishingPower in an effort to support the work of Black authors and Black book professionals.

The hashtag campaign is the idea of Tracy Sherrod, editorial director of Amistad, HarperCollins’ Black and multicultural imprint. The goal of the campaign, she said, is to “turn the bestseller lists Black, to take the list over with books by Black writers or by other people of color.”

Sherrod told PW that the larger goal of the campaign is to highlight the buying power of African American book consumers as well as the behind-the-scenes efforts of Black publishing professionals working to deliver these books to the public. In the email appeal, Sherrod wrote: “Please join me in what I hope will be a powerful and proud moment in publishing for all of us.”

[minoritiesinpublishing]

Previous MiP guest Tracy Sherrod is the editorial director of Amistad. She was interviewed by @poetsandwriters for their new Ampersand podcast to discuss the 30th anniversary of the imprint.

[minoritiesinpublishing]

“It took me 7 years before I got my first editorial position with Henry Holt. It took so long because back then people thought ‘Black people don’t read.’ But then Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Terry McMillan hit the bestseller list at the same time. And when that happened it was like ‘What in the world???’ because there wasn’t that many books being published by people of color. So there were even more books. And a variety of books.” 

Tracy Sherrod mentions the start of publishing taking even more notice of Black voices in the literary landscape once they hit the bestseller list proving: There is a market for these books.

[minoritiesinpublishing]

I wanna do books that change people’s lives. Love ourselves. Love each other. And recognize that we [people of color] are a part of a community and invest in that community.

Tracy Sherrod (Amistad Books) on what motivates her as an editorial director for one of the largest imprints celebrating Black voices on episode 17.