Excited for the 20/20 Visibility in Publishing hosted by @SYPScotland starting now! With an amazing panel by @styx_hope @Young_E_H @nakutski @Sha_Nazir and @everdundas!
Boosting representation, diversity & inclusion in publishing is my goal, so this event is so important to me!

How are the panelists coping with the new normal of Covid19?
- Presses transitioning to a more digital approach
- The industry has a bad habit of not putting one's health before productivity @Young_E_H

- Disabled ppl were already in a sort of semi-lockdown; strange to see the rest of the world come into the disabled ppl's reality: staying home, suddenly loosing their job... Ppl are comparing lockdown to a dystopia, but we were already living in the dystopia. @everdundas

How can we be better moving forward?
- It was great that lockdown allowed disabled ppl to stop being locked out of the world, but we must ensure that this is upheld going forward.
- This is an opportunity to push for access; we need to support each other. @everdundas

What would you like to see changed/improved?
- Accessibility must be at the core of festivals and events.
- Events in London are not a regional thing; it's a London things and it risks locking people out @nakutski
- Improving digital events - they can be interesting too!

- If indies can do it on a limited budget, larger companies can do it too.
- Digital events not to be thought only as an international thing, but also as a way to access local homes @nakutski
- Moving towards a hybrid model: live events and a livestream feedback @Young_E_H

- Digital or hybrid events can also bring down price barriers for ppl on low incomes. Pay-what-you can tickets.

#PublishingPaidMe - thoughts?
- "Publishing Paid Me" and accessibility > Clearer information on how printing and publishing works. Murkiness and mystique works for no one. Marginalised ppl are forced to carve a space for themselves, which is frustrating.

- Stop being so shy about our income, where it comes from, our expenses and the hidden costs of participating. Being more open and transparent about publishers' processes @Young_E_H

- Disparity between what is happening at the top and at the bottom, big publishers v small publishers.
- As a publisher, I almost make no money. Most of what I get comes from being diverse & other things. @Sha_Nazir
- The system is unequal; booksellers take too large a share...

- ... 50-60% off books is unsustainable.
- Publishers has a sense of responsibility: you know you can't take that money because you know your writers/employees don't earn enough.

The anonymous spreadsheet on publishing salaries - thoughts?
- Start paying wages that reflect the living expenses of the area ppl live in. £18k is not enough for London.
- Money needs to be distributed more equally across job roles.

- Ppl with much money are out of touch with what it means to ration it to survive.

If there is so much profit in publishing, why isn't there more salary equality and authors are paid more? What can we do to ensure people can live off this trade?

- We are hindered by our internal mechanism that we want to make something.
- Should be paid the amount of value for the work one has done.
- Artistic & creative work is underpaid in comics due to economics being broken - recouping the creative cost nearly impossible. @Sha_Nazir

- Publishing needs to prioritise people who work for it over location. Diversify the ppl you hire @nakutski
- If you have people who are happy bc they don't have to struggle to live in London, the industry would be happier.

- Paradox of being able to afford the LBF but not pay its workers.
- It's impossible to improve diversity without improving wages.
- Big publishers make noise out of improving diversity but then don't take material steps to make the industry more accessible (through fair incomes)

- Publishers should stop protecting established money-making authors over marginalised authors and the staff. They should not subsume their morals to keep their jobs. Publishers must take a stand to protect marginalised communities and their staff. @Young_E_H

- Publishers should hold accountable established authors who publicly display racist, homophobic, transphobic behaviour.
- Put the money into the hands' of marginalised communities.

Final thoughts and action points for the future?
- Be mindful building panels: why invite all white males for a panel on diversity?
- Refusing to make events not accessible is no longer acceptable.

- If your bookshelf is really white, make a list of diverse authors and read them more frequently.
- If you consider yourself an ally, think hard of where you can put your money, resources and energies (and ability to go outside) to help minorities!

- Publishers/agents should find better ways to acquire titles - no more tokenistic querying.
- Publishers must be active in reaching out themselves to underrepresented categories instead of taking the passive approach of "we take what we are given". @nakutski

- There is excessive pressure on indie presses to be "the diverse ones" and chase after diverse writers/workforce, when they have low funds. As opposed to publishers who have massively larger resources. Indies have less funds and have to do all the legwork @Sha_Nazir

- Large publishers stop publication bc diverse books are not "commercially viable."
- Large booksellers are the next gatekeepers that keep diverse voices from being circulated. @Sha_Nazir
- Transparency in distribution based on a cooperative approach @nakutski

- Covid proved that economics are more important than people. The economic risk of spreading underrepresented voices is frustrating: you can't spread diversity if you don't spread it.
- @Sha_Nazir proposes establishing a sort of panel to tackle these hurdles and...

- ...identify gatekeepers to dismantle them.
- @nakutski is talking about the importance of giving applicants FEEDBACK ON THEIR APPLICATIONS. Publishers don't fully realise how hard the application process truly is (esp to newcomers...)

How can one ensure that they are being taken on for their talent/skills instead of just because they come from a minority?
- Market v genre dilemma in publishers: following a "checklist" of what sells (plus classic reprints) occupies the space new books and voices should have

- Reasons why new/underrepresented voices are rejected are often nebulous.
- It is NOT a matter of "filling quotas". Saying "we already have one Trans author in this anthology" is not a valid reason (and frankly it's rude and tokenistic, imo...)

And that's all for today's event! Make sure to follow the panelists @Young_E_H @everdundas @nakutski and @Sha_Nazir! Thank you @SYPScotland for hosting this brilliant event!

I will go ahead and plug @Young_E_H's book "They/Them/Their" (which is going straight to my summer TBR list) published by @JKPBooks!