Rosarium Publishing, Mitlon Davis's MTL Media, and Olivia Raymond's AURELIA LEO press are publishing quality work. In the self-publishing and indie press space, there are many Black authors and publishers doing good work and producing quality titles.

I'm a tiny bit optimistic about long-term change, when I see some SF magazines and publishers adding BIPOC to their editorial staff and as gatekeepers, such as The Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy naming Sheree Renee Thomas as editor and Apex Magazine adding Maurice Broaddus. Will it continue and increase? There are publishers who are working toward sustainable change. We have seen this before with contemporary African American titles in the 90s, but now most of those authors are not on 'shelves' now.Ĭompared to when I started the press in 2010, there are more BIPOC titles in speculative fiction than there was then and significantly more than in 1998. The shift in publishing toward embracing more BIPOC is small. These are suggestions off the top of my head, after attending conventions since the early 2000s. Discounts on program ad placements, reaching out to diverse people/groups/organizations to attend the convention would help also with getting in consumers who are actively seeking what we sell. It would help to promote vendors, but particularly BIPOC who have for many decades remained marginalized in the genre and particularly in speculative conventions. When I'm vending in dealer's rooms, I often find that many of the attendants don't know who we are-so they avoid the booth/table. It sounds simple, but even larger conventions struggle, but it is completely fixable. Slay: Stories of the Vampire Noire edited by Nicole Givens Kurtz (Mocha Memoirs Press) has twenty-eight new vampire stories in which Black protagonists take.

We're experts on more than being Black, female, gay, etc. We're geeks and we love many of the same fandoms. It is also integral to include BIPOC in more panels than simply those labeled 'diversity' panels. It's important for BIPOC to see themselves in the con committee, media images, and guests. Smaller genre conventions can seek to be more inclusive, not only in programming, but also in their boards/convention staff.

Slay by Nicole Givens Kurtz