Though protests against the police have faded from America’s 24-hour news cycle, the struggles that sparked them are far from over. Breonna Taylor’s murderers are still free, and the system that killed her and countless others, and has continued to murder without remorse ever since, is still in place. For this reason, we at Trouble Department feel that statements like this are still very much necessary, if not more so than they were a few months ago.
Black lives matter, and our current system of policing, rooted in decades of militarism and white supremacy should be abolished. Not reformed, as many politicians are attempting to spin it, but completely dismantled, and replaced with new systems for ensuring safe communities, built from the ground up based on proven models. We stand in solidarity and support of the organizers and protesters driving this much needed change in American politics.
In light of recent events, and most notably the disservice done to Colorado’s robust literary scene by one of its biggest players, Trouble Department reaffirms our commitment to uplifting BIPOC and queer voices and spaces in all our business dealings. A for-profit business is not, and cannot be politically neutral. Books do not simply appear on the shelves of bookstores, they are purchased by buyers who make the decision to buy those books and not other books. A retail bookstore that knowingly sells books written by Nazis is a Nazi bookstore.
The same goes for publishers. We have acquisitions editors who choose to publish some titles and not others; we have sales and financial officers who decide the size of advances offered, and who choose how many resources are allocated to different projects in our catalogue. These decisions are made around profit and loss, not the “free exchange of ideas.” That is what public libraries are for.
For this reason, we have decided to begin the open reading period for our Spring 2021 list early for Black, Indigenous, and POC authors with a connection to occupied Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Pueblo, Shoshone, and Ute territories (including but not limited to Colorado) or the Rocky Mountains. Writers from these demographics may submit anytime through September 30th through our Submissions page. For writers from other demographics, the reading period will open on September 1st as originally scheduled.
Additionally, we commit to donating 10% of our profits from book sales to advocacy groups like Black Lives Matter 5280, or more immediately relevant charities (such as bail funds) depending on the climate of the week whenever we calculate our quarterly earnings.
To everyone reading this, we hope you are staying as safe as you need to in this ridiculous, batshit year of 2020. Thank you for giving li’l old us your time and attention, and please watch our site for further announcements.
