LGBTQ+ book trade network launches

LGBTQ+ book trade network launches

Pride in Publishing (PiP), a brand-new networking group for LGBTQ+ people in the industry, has launched on Friday (24th August) to create a way for queer members of the publishing industry to meet up, connect with others and find peer support.


“It will be a members-led group, so various initiatives will be proposed and developed by members,” said Maisie Lawrence, one of the group's co-founders and editorial assistant at Simon & Schuster. “In this important year, 50 years since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality, we want to do everything we can to support and promote LGBTQ+ voices and books in the industry.”




The idea for the group sprung from a offhand conversation in which several of the group's co-founders were surprised that such an organisation wasn't already in operation.

Louie Stowell, senior editor for non-fiction at Usborne and co-founder of PiP, told The Bookseller: "We were just really surprised that a network didn't exist already. And lots of people had been having the conversation about why isn't there a network so we just decided to do it.



Stowell added: "In the past few years I've definitely noticed a difference in visibility and representation already and it would be really good if everyone had a place to talk about it in the same room; that's basically what we are after. Then, across publishers, we will have more impact."

PiP's seven co-founders - Maisie Lawrence, Wei Ming Kam, Eishar Brar, Louie Stowell, Kate Davies, Nicky Borasinski and Linas Alsenas - hail from publishers spanning Simon & Schuster, Oberon Books, Scholastic, Usborne Publishing, Thames & Hudson and Puffin & Ladybird.


To join PiP and RSVP to the event, those interested are invited to email with their name, company and job role.