Marginal Changemakers - Our Inclusion Charter
Written by Fae Ellie Erin Fairbrass.
The experience I have had with Marginal Changemakers was one of great enjoyment, a cause that wants the best for its community while getting a creative and raw insight into the world of publishing with a kind group of people. I looked at the diversity statistics of people under the publishing industry umbrella and I was left quite surprised, the numbers were a low I would never have suspected initially! Finding out such was a phenomenon that made me truly think the publishing industry needed some help to head in the right direction. It was a big part of the reason I began this journey on Marginal Changemakers.
I helped partake in the making of the Inclusion Charter because like others I agreed it should be changed and we should do something about it! More people’s unique voices need to be heard, as without them so many people couldn’t have the simple pleasures of looking at a book character and relating them to their life. I wish everyone could have their own character they could relate to, just to feel heard by the world they’re living in, not skimming pages for it to only be a wild goose chase as fundamentally time and time again the same character is presented to them.
Personally, the reason I have taken part in creating Marginal Changemakers’ Inclusion Charter is due to feeling the injustice of publishers from ethnically diverse backgrounds being unable to create books based on their own, valuable experiences! I think that morally it is unfair to let such good ideas rot in the background when marginalised voices matter so much, and for these people to be disheartened by the continued oversaturation of the same stories we see in books today. The books those publishers could create have the potential to be someone’s favourite to ever be written in literary history, making audiences stumble in dumbfounded amazement as they marvel at all the beautiful details carefully slotted in!
This will also benefit publishing houses to have people from every background included and represented in the craftsmanship of the books they create. It would be idyllic for this to be the future of publishing, as it would really contain heart to it, a figurative beating heart of change, a heart that leave a positive impact on the book market itself. I think the Charter we have developed is outstanding as a much-needed call to action that needs to be heard. I am proud of everyone who has put their hard work and dedication into such a loving cause, I thank you.
To learn more about the Changemakers Inclusion Charter, or to sign up if you’re a publisher, click on the button below