Constructing a Group-Led Future for Publishing
Pan Macmillan and the Black British E book Competition (BBBF) are taking their partnership to the subsequent stage with the launch of a daring new community-led publishing collaboration.
Unveiled at this 12 months’s Competition on Sunday nineteenth October, the collaboration will faucet into the ability and perception of the BBBF’s 10,000-strong neighborhood of engaged readers. The purpose? To reshape how books are commissioned, curated, and championed — with the neighborhood on the coronary heart of each resolution.
As a substitute of making a standard imprint, this new mannequin will see titles printed throughout Pan Macmillan’s present imprints — guaranteeing every ebook finds its excellent dwelling. The primary titles from the collaboration are anticipated to hit cabinets in 2027.
Pan Macmillan has been the headline sponsor of the BBBF for the previous 4 years. Collectively, they’ve already made important strides — most notably by Writers on the Rise, a 2023 initiative designed to nurture rising Black British authors by mentorship, editorial assist, and direct entry to publishing professionals.
Talking on the partnership, Selina Brown, founding father of the BBBF, shared:
“After I began the Black British E book Competition in 2021, it was about making a platform the place Black British writers could possibly be seen, celebrated, and supported. 4 years on, to be collaborating with Pan Macmillan, one of many UK’s greatest publishers, on a brand new community-led publishing mannequin is a full-circle second and a strong step ahead. This collaboration is about reimagining how publishing can work: placing neighborhood, entry, and authenticity on the coronary heart of decision-making. Collectively, we’re constructing a mannequin that doesn’t simply publish books for the neighborhood however with the neighborhood.”
A steering committee made up of group members from each Pan Macmillan and the BBBF will information the collaboration, with a give attention to discovering and creating new voices — significantly author-entrepreneurs and self-published writers who’ve already cultivated sturdy audiences of their very own.
Joanna Prior, CEO of Pan Macmillan, added:
“Our partnership with the Black British E book Competition has already been so beneficial, and we’ve realized a fantastic deal from their group and their deep connection to the neighborhood. Now we’re constructing on that success — leveraging their attain and experience to discover a totally new and completely different strategy to publishing. We’ll present a dynamic dwelling for expertise from the neighborhood, chosen by the neighborhood.”
This 12 months’s Competition at London’s Barbican drew a record-breaking crowd of over 5,500 attendees. Headliners included Tabitha Brown, Sir Lenny Henry, Marcus Ryder, June Sarpong OBE, Dame Denise Lewis DBE, and Jordan Stephens — a becoming backdrop for an announcement set to redefine the way forward for Black British storytelling.