Books
Her departure, alongside other prominent Black editors and executives, has led some to question publishers’ pledge to diversify
‘A Lot of Us Are Gone’: How the Push to Diversify Publishing Fell Short. Lisa Lucas was among the big hires meant to shake up the industry.
Updated 2024-Aug-22 06:34
A black and white photo showing Lisa Lucas in her garden at home in Brooklyn.
Lucas expressed uncertainty about her potential place in corporate publishing in the future. She maintains her belief that publishing will evolve mentioning Black executives like Dawn Davis who leads Simon Schuster’s 37 Ink Chris Jackson at Random House s One World and Erroll McDonald at Knopf.
Lucas highlighted the significant contributions of people of color in the industry. Individuals who consider the upcoming times are present and actively working towards it.
Roxane Gay writer and publisher stated that the publishing industry has made progress in promoting Black authors and editors but has not achieved the significant and lasting changes that many had anticipated despite her imprint at Grove Atlantic highlighting underrepresented voices.
The present environment is a sharp contrast from 2020 as demonstrations against racism erupted following George Floyd s killing and the publishing industry faced criticism for its past of marginalizing Black staff and authors.
In June over 1 000 publishing professionals joined a day of action to protest the industry s lack of hiring and retaining Black employees.
When Lisa Lucas was hired in the summer of 2020 to take a big job at the country’s largest book publisher there was a sense that things were finally starting to change in what has long been an overwhelmingly white industry.
Lucas who became the publisher of Pantheon and Schocken imprints within Penguin Random House was an unusual choice for the job.
Executives in the book business often spend decades working their way up the ranks. While Lucas was a well known figure in the literary world she had previously been the executive director of the National Book Foundation which administers the National Book Awards she had never worked in corporate publishing.
Lucas’s hiring was written up in major news outlets as evidence that publishers were committed to diversifying.
As the first Black person to run Pantheon in its 80 year history and one of the few Black women to head a major publishing division she faced enormous pressure.
Not only did she need to learn quickly on the job and succeed as a publisher she was also saddled with expectations that she would help drive change at a moment when publishers faced calls to diversify their catalogs and companies.
There’s pressure on you when you’re one of few Lucas said in an interview this summer. That was a lot to lay on me.
This May Lucas was abruptly let go informed of her firing just a few hours before it became public.
The news stunned some in the literary world who saw Lucas 44 as a tastemaker and rising talent and as someone who could help discover and champion writers of color.
Numerous Black writers and professionals highlighted racial inequalities in the book industry. As a reaction prominent publishers hired and supported Black editors and established new divisions focused on works by authors of color.
Publishing companies announced plans to increase diversity in their employees and in the books they release launching new initiatives focused on diversity equity and inclusion.
Editors purchased books on race and racism with many proving to be successful. Now after four years there is a feeling that progress has come to a halt.
Some agents and editors believe that publishers have a strong craving for.
