CALLING ALL PUBLISHERS, LITERARY AGENTS, AND REVIEW JOURNALS: JOIN US FOR DIVERSITY BASELINE SURVEY 3.0

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Four years ago, Lee & Low Books released the second Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS 2.0) to measure inclusive hiring among the publishing industry’s workforce, looking specifically at race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability. 21,753 publishing employees took the survey in 2019 — that’s 2,609 review journal workers, 17,100 trade publishing staffers, 1,528 university press employees, and 516 literary agents. The results of the DBS 2.0 inspired many conversations and initiatives to help build a more inclusive book industry.

It is survey time once again. This is an OPEN CALL FOR PARTICIPATION to trade, educational, and university publishing houses, review journals, and literary agencies of all sizes. Will your company participate in 2023? Please send your confirmation to participate by Friday, May 19, 2023.

The Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS 2.0) was created by Lee & Low Books with co-authors Laura M. Jiménez, PhD, Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and Betsy Beckert, graduate student in the Language and Literacy Department of Wheelock College of Education & Human Development

Why is the Diversity Baseline Survey Important?

Without data, all our conversations about diversity in the publishing industry would be based on anecdotal evidence alone. The Diversity Baseline Survey allows us to discuss our industry’s lack of diversity in a concrete way, with a true understanding of the scope of the problem. The data also allows us to track progress as our industry grows and evolves over time. With the proliferation of book challenges and bans, the unifying message that our industry has a long-term commitment to becoming an inclusive industry is critical.

Why Should Our Company Participate?

High industry participation in the Diversity Baseline Survey sends the message that our industry takes inclusion seriously. In order for the Survey to be a success, we need the participation of as many publishing companies as possible. We also need companies that have participated in previous DBS surveys to participate again.

Participation is free and easy, and simply entails sharing secure survey links with all your employees. By committing to participate, you are demonstrating that your company cares about diversity and is invested in finding solutions. All participating companies will be acknowledged publicly, but rest assured survey data will only be released in aggregate form—never individually or by company. The survey will be managed by Toluna, a professional survey company and the data will be aggregated by two academics from Boston University. Individual answers to the survey will remain completely anonymous. Lee & Low will never have possession or have access to of any of the survey data.

Download the Diversity Baseline Survey Overview PDF to share with a decision-maker at your company and to advocate for your company’s participation.

OK, We’re In. What Happens Next?

  • Have your company representative or point person for the survey, email Jason Low, Publisher of Lee & Low Books, at dbs@leeandlow.com to confirm your company’s participation. Individuals need not reply, as we are surveying entire companies. Please send your confirmation to participate by Friday, May 19, 2023.
  • Toward the end of May 2023, your company’s designated contact person will receive survey links to distribute to your staff. Full instructions will be included. We will provide wordage you can include about why the survey matters, encouraging employees to participate and affirming that their answers will remain anonymous. The survey deployment date is June 1, 2023 and the survey will remain live for approximately one month.
  • The survey data will be aggregated in late 2023 by two academics at Boston University and the results will be publicly released in early 2024.

Who’s In:

Publishers (47 publishers participated in 2019)

  1. ABRAMS
  2. Annick Press
  3. Arte Publico Press
  4. Astra Publishing House
  5. Barefoot Books
  6. Beacon Press
  7. Berrett
  8. Between the Lines
  9. Bloomsbury US
  10. Blue Bike Books Ltd.
  11. Breakwater Books Limited
  12. Brush Education
  13. Candlewick
  14. Capstone
  15. Center for the Collaborative Classroom
  16. Charlesbridge Publishing
  17. Chronicle Books
  18. Coach House Books
  19. Coffee House Press
  20. Cormorant Books
  21. Creston Books
  22. Dundurn Press
  23. ECW Press
  24. Emerald Publishing
  25. Enchanted Lion Books
  26. Feeding Minds Press
  27. Folklore Publishing
  28. Formac Publishing
  29. Freehand Books
  30. Graywolf Press
  31. Greystone Books Ltd.
  32. Hachette Book Group
  33. HarperCollins Publishers
  34. Holiday House Publishing
  35. Hub City Press
  36. Inanna Publications
  37. Invisible Publishing
  38. Just Us Books
  39. Kane Miller Book Publishers
  40. Kids Can Press
  41. Lee & Low Books
  42. Lerner Publishing Group
  43. Levine Querido
  44. Linda Leith Publishing
  45. Little Bee Books
  46. Live Oak Media
  47. Locus Publications
  48. Macmillan Publishers
  49. Mango Publishing Group
  50. Microcosm Publishing
  51. New Press
  52. NeWest Press
  53. NorthSouth Books
  54. Nosy Crow
  55. Orca Book Publishers
  56. Owlkids Books
  57. Parallax Press
  58. Peachtree Publishing Company, Inc.
  59. Pearson Higher Education and Virtual Learning
  60. Penguin Random House/Bertelsmann
  61. Pioneer Valley Books
  62. Playwrights Canada Press
  63. Pomelo Books
  64. Portage & Main Press
  65. Quarto Publishing Group USA
  66. Readers to Eaters
  67. Red Comet Press
  68. Roadrunner Press
  69. Ronsdale Press
  70. Saffron Press
  71. SAGE
  72. Sambasivan & Parikh
  73. Scholastic, Inc.
  74. Simon & Schuster
  75. Starbright Books
  76. Steerforth Press
  77. Stonehouse Publishing
  78. Third State Books
  79. Tradewind Books
  80. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Review Journals (8 review journals participated in 2019)

  1. BayViews
  2. Booklist
  3. BookPage
  4. Chicago Review of Books
  5. Foreword Reviews
  6. The Horn Book
  7. Kirkus Reviews
  8. Library Journal
  9. Los Angeles Review of Books
  10. Montreal Review of Books
  11. Publishers Weekly

Literary Agencies: (63 literary agencies participated in 2019)

  1. Aevitas Creative Management
  2. Andrea Brown Literary Agency
  3. ArtHouse Literary Agency
  4. Ayesha Pande Literary
  5. Azantian Literary Agency
  6. Bent Agency
  7. Bookends Literary Agency
  8. Booker Albert Agency
  9. Bradford Literary Agency
  10. The Cat Agency
  11. Chase Literary Agency
  12. Cheney Agency
  13. CookeMcDermid
  14. Copps Literary Services
  15. Corvisiero Literary Agency
  16. Don Congdon Associates, Inc.
  17. Donaghy Literary Group
  18. Dunham Literary, Inc.
  19. Dystel, Goderich & Bourret LLC
  20. Erin Murphy Literary Agency
  21. The Ekus Group
  22. Folio Literary Management
  23. Frances Goldin Literary Agency, Inc.
  24. The Friedrich Agency
  25. Full Circle Literary
  26. Fuse Literary Agency
  27. Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency
  28. Great Dog Literary
  29. The Greenhouse Literary Agency
  30. Headwater Literary Management
  31. HG Literary
  32. JABberwocky Literary Agency
  33. Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency
  34. Jill Grinberg Literary Management, LLC
  35. KT Literary Agency, LLC
  36. Ladderbird Agency
  37. Laura Gross Literary Agency
  38. Mad Woman Literary Agency, LLC
  39. Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
  40. New Leaf Literary & Media, Inc.
  41. Nordlyset Literary Agency
  42. Odom Media Management
  43. Park & Fine Literary and Media
  44. Present Perfect Literary
  45. P.S. Literary Agency
  46. Red Fox Literary
  47. Rees Literary Agency
  48. Root Literary
  49. Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency
  50. Sanford J. Greenburger Associates
  51. Serendipity Literary Agency
  52. Spencerhill Associates
  53. Stonesong
  54. Storm Literary Agency
  55. Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, Inc.
  56. The Tobias Literary Agency
  57. Trellis Literary Management
  58. TriadaUS Literary Agency
  59. Weaver Literary Agency
  60. Westwood Creative Artists
  61. WM Clark Associates
  62. Writers House

University Presses (35 university presses participated in 2019)

  1. American Psychological Association (APA)
  2. Amherst College Press
  3. Columbia University Press
  4. Duke University Press
  5. Feminist Press at CUNY
  6. Gallaudet University Press
  7. Getty Publications
  8. Harvard University Press
  9. Johns Hopkins University Press 
  10. Louisiana State University
  11. Marine Corps University Press
  12. McGill
  13. MIT Press
  14. New York University Press
  15. The Ohio State University Press
  16. Oregon State University Press
  17. Princeton University Press
  18. Stanford University Press
  19. State University of New York Press
  20. Syracuse University Press
  21. University of British Columbia Press
  22. University of Chicago Press
  23. University Press of Colorado
  24. University Press of Florida
  25. The University of Georgia Press
  26. University of Illinois Press
  27. University of Michigan Press
  28. University of Minnesota Press
  29. University Press of Mississippi
  30. University of North Carolina Press
  31. University of Notre Dame Press
  32. University of Pittsburgh Press
  33. University of Toronto Press
  34. University of Washington Press
  35. University of Wisconsin Press
  36. Vanderbilt University Press
  37. Wayne State University Press

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