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

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.

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