About The Good Journal
The Good Journal is a quarterly literary journal showcasing the very best work by writers and illustrators of colour.
It follows on from the success of the bestselling, award-winning
collection of essays, The Good Immigrant, presenting the most
exciting new writers alongside more established names.
collection of essays, The Good Immigrant, presenting the most
exciting new writers alongside more established names.
The journal will launch in Spring 2018 and feature essays,
short stories, poems, extracts of novels and illustrations.
short stories, poems, extracts of novels and illustrations.
We launched the journal on Kickstarter on 22 September 2017,
the first anniversary of the publication of The Good Immigrant,
with an ambitious target of raising £40,000. Forty days later at
the end of October we were successfully funded having raised
116% of our target with support from 1058 subscribers and
patrons.
the first anniversary of the publication of The Good Immigrant,
with an ambitious target of raising £40,000. Forty days later at
the end of October we were successfully funded having raised
116% of our target with support from 1058 subscribers and
patrons.
Subscription to the journal enable us to make it happen:
commissioning it, editing it, printing it, distributing it, paying
the writers, putting on events. But it’s more than that too.
commissioning it, editing it, printing it, distributing it, paying
the writers, putting on events. But it’s more than that too.
Any funds raised beyond our core costs will go towards The
Good Literary Agency, a social enterprise literary agency
focused exclusively on representing the under-represented
from all backgrounds: BAME, disabled, working-class and
LGBTQ+.
Good Literary Agency, a social enterprise literary agency
focused exclusively on representing the under-represented
from all backgrounds: BAME, disabled, working-class and
LGBTQ+.
A little more about the journal itself
Writers already signed up to showcase work across the
first four issues include Kamila Shamsie, Sanjeev Bhaskar
MBE, Emma-Lee Moss (Emmy The Great), Susan
Wokoma, Carl Anka, Daniellé Dash, Niven Govinden,
Sunny Singh, Bolu Babalola and Bridget Minamore, but
simply being another platform for writers you’ve heard
of is not what we’re all about. We’re completely committed
to finding, working with and introducing you to new
writers. And this won’t just be those considered ‘literary’
despite the fact we’re a literary journal.
first four issues include Kamila Shamsie, Sanjeev Bhaskar
MBE, Emma-Lee Moss (Emmy The Great), Susan
Wokoma, Carl Anka, Daniellé Dash, Niven Govinden,
Sunny Singh, Bolu Babalola and Bridget Minamore, but
simply being another platform for writers you’ve heard
of is not what we’re all about. We’re completely committed
to finding, working with and introducing you to new
writers. And this won’t just be those considered ‘literary’
despite the fact we’re a literary journal.
Our focus is on great writing, great storytelling and great
ideas, rather than ‘Literature’ or serious criticism, so we’ll
feature all sorts of writing, across genres. All we’re
guaranteeing is that what you read will be the best in its
area. And we’re also aiming to feature other creative work
including illustrations, graphic stories / comics and photo
series.
ideas, rather than ‘Literature’ or serious criticism, so we’ll
feature all sorts of writing, across genres. All we’re
guaranteeing is that what you read will be the best in its
area. And we’re also aiming to feature other creative work
including illustrations, graphic stories / comics and photo
series.
Unlike with The Good Immigrant the contributions won’t
be focused around race and immigration. The opening issue
will be a very open showcase of the best writers but then we
will theme issues around various subjects, and of course we’ll
welcome contributions that address race and immigration,
but this is very much about showcasing great writers of
colour across all genres and subjects.
be focused around race and immigration. The opening issue
will be a very open showcase of the best writers but then we
will theme issues around various subjects, and of course we’ll
welcome contributions that address race and immigration,
but this is very much about showcasing great writers of
colour across all genres and subjects.
We really want to do a fully visual issue at some point featuring
only graphic novelists, illustrators, photographers and visual
storytellers. This might not be able to happen but we really
want it to.
only graphic novelists, illustrators, photographers and visual
storytellers. This might not be able to happen but we really
want it to.
Finally we’ll be looking at how we put together a list of the
20 Best British Writers of Colour, hopefully as a supplement
to our fourth issue. They won’t be chosen by us, we’ll have a
panel to choose the final list but we want at the end of our
first year to really celebrate the best of the best. It might end
up being focused only on emerging writers or looking at
established ones as well, we’ll take a view once we’ve got to a
point where we’re looking seriously at writers and submissions.
20 Best British Writers of Colour, hopefully as a supplement
to our fourth issue. They won’t be chosen by us, we’ll have a
panel to choose the final list but we want at the end of our
first year to really celebrate the best of the best. It might end
up being focused only on emerging writers or looking at
established ones as well, we’ll take a view once we’ve got to a
point where we’re looking seriously at writers and submissions.
And of course we hope that you’ll keep subscribing beyond the
first year so we can keep doing this. But you don’t need to
worry about that for quite a while, we won’t ask till you’ve
read at least the first two issues!
first year so we can keep doing this. But you don’t need to
worry about that for quite a while, we won’t ask till you’ve
read at least the first two issues!
Background
In 2015 Nikesh had the idea for The Good Immigrant, a book
of essays by writers of colour about race and immigration in
the UK. It was successfully crowdfunded via Unbound, the
crowdfunding publishers, in three days and J. K. Rowling
contributed and became its patron. It was published in
September 2016, was Radio 4 Book of the Week and has
gone on to sell over 50,000 copies and win the Books are
My Bag Readers Choice Award. It sparked a conversation
in the UK publishing industry and across culture, the media
and the arts about representation.
of essays by writers of colour about race and immigration in
the UK. It was successfully crowdfunded via Unbound, the
crowdfunding publishers, in three days and J. K. Rowling
contributed and became its patron. It was published in
September 2016, was Radio 4 Book of the Week and has
gone on to sell over 50,000 copies and win the Books are
My Bag Readers Choice Award. It sparked a conversation
in the UK publishing industry and across culture, the media
and the arts about representation.
Not long after publication Nikesh was talking to Julia
(his agent) about what more we could do to increase
representation across publishing and we had two ideas:
a journal and a literary agency.
(his agent) about what more we could do to increase
representation across publishing and we had two ideas:
a journal and a literary agency.
The idea for The Good Journal came about because people
kept asking us when we were going to do another edition
of The Good Immigrant and could we cover this issue, that
issue? And we thought, why stick to one more volume and
why only use it to talk about race and immigration. And
why not do something with a quicker turnaround? So we
thought we’d launch it as a journal, with slots for established
writers, up-and-coming writers and open slots for
undiscovered talent, open up the remit to encompass
writing from all fields. And what we’ll have is something
that presents and showcases the British BAME talent we
know is out there, from established to new and to build on
the readership for The Good Immigrant and put out work
that resonates with so many different audiences, but
specifically young people of colour who felt represented by
The Good Immigrant.
kept asking us when we were going to do another edition
of The Good Immigrant and could we cover this issue, that
issue? And we thought, why stick to one more volume and
why only use it to talk about race and immigration. And
why not do something with a quicker turnaround? So we
thought we’d launch it as a journal, with slots for established
writers, up-and-coming writers and open slots for
undiscovered talent, open up the remit to encompass
writing from all fields. And what we’ll have is something
that presents and showcases the British BAME talent we
know is out there, from established to new and to build on
the readership for The Good Immigrant and put out work
that resonates with so many different audiences, but
specifically young people of colour who felt represented by
The Good Immigrant.
At the same time we had a lot of writers who were getting
in touch looking for representation and opportunities to
submit work and we started to look at the issues as we saw
them and try to think of viable solutions for increasing
representation in publishing. Publishers complain that
they aren’t sent enough under-represented writers by
agents and agents complain that when they do submit
them, publishers either didn’t buy them or pay very little
for their work. It was obvious to us that there was a
pipeline problem. And that’s when we struck on the idea
of a social enterprise literary agency, explicitly to
represent the under-represented and the idea for The
Good Literary Agency started to take shape.
in touch looking for representation and opportunities to
submit work and we started to look at the issues as we saw
them and try to think of viable solutions for increasing
representation in publishing. Publishers complain that
they aren’t sent enough under-represented writers by
agents and agents complain that when they do submit
them, publishers either didn’t buy them or pay very little
for their work. It was obvious to us that there was a
pipeline problem. And that’s when we struck on the idea
of a social enterprise literary agency, explicitly to
represent the under-represented and the idea for The
Good Literary Agency started to take shape.
This was all happening last November. Since then we’ve
been scoping out the idea, building a business plan,
talking to publishers, agents, authors, writer development
agencies and a whole host of prospective partners and
funders. The agency needs quite a lot of investment and
we’ve applied for large scale funding as well as getting
commitments of support from major publishers (and if
you want to talk about how you could support the agency
in a larger way please get in touch).
been scoping out the idea, building a business plan,
talking to publishers, agents, authors, writer development
agencies and a whole host of prospective partners and
funders. The agency needs quite a lot of investment and
we’ve applied for large scale funding as well as getting
commitments of support from major publishers (and if
you want to talk about how you could support the agency
in a larger way please get in touch).
One of the reasons for needing the funding is because
alongside increased opportunities for representation we
also want to offer as much development support as
possible because it’s incredibly important.
alongside increased opportunities for representation we
also want to offer as much development support as
possible because it’s incredibly important.
Why development is important
Once upon a time publishing invested much more
heavily in developing authors’ work, but changing
businesses models and new challenges and media
make it harder to spend as much time as they once
did. The impetus is now placed much more heavily
on writers to come with very polished manuscripts
and without the ability to invest in creative writing
courses it can be hard to achieve that for many
talented writers. Take Harper Lee as an example.
Ms Lee moved to New York because she wanted to
be a writer but she had to work hard to support
herself and was struggling to find the time. A friend
of the family gave her some money to enable her to
take some time off (no, we’re not offering that to
writers) and she was able to complete a book which
she sold to a publisher. It was called Go Set a
Watchman. Nearly three years later and with
considerable support from her editor she’d turned
it into To Kill a Mockingbird. Could she have done
it without them? Maybe. But it doesn’t seem very
likely. That’s the sort of impact we want to have on
the writers we work with!
heavily in developing authors’ work, but changing
businesses models and new challenges and media
make it harder to spend as much time as they once
did. The impetus is now placed much more heavily
on writers to come with very polished manuscripts
and without the ability to invest in creative writing
courses it can be hard to achieve that for many
talented writers. Take Harper Lee as an example.
Ms Lee moved to New York because she wanted to
be a writer but she had to work hard to support
herself and was struggling to find the time. A friend
of the family gave her some money to enable her to
take some time off (no, we’re not offering that to
writers) and she was able to complete a book which
she sold to a publisher. It was called Go Set a
Watchman. Nearly three years later and with
considerable support from her editor she’d turned
it into To Kill a Mockingbird. Could she have done
it without them? Maybe. But it doesn’t seem very
likely. That’s the sort of impact we want to have on
the writers we work with!
So, the journal, the one you’re funding, will be a
place to talent-spot the stars of tomorrow. The ones
who are going to write world-beating fiction and
non-fiction and short stories and poetry, whose
work will be showcased alongside the very best
established writers of colour. And the agency is
where we’ll develop them. These projects will work
hand in hand. But yes, the first part of making all
this happen is getting our journal off the ground.
place to talent-spot the stars of tomorrow. The ones
who are going to write world-beating fiction and
non-fiction and short stories and poetry, whose
work will be showcased alongside the very best
established writers of colour. And the agency is
where we’ll develop them. These projects will work
hand in hand. But yes, the first part of making all
this happen is getting our journal off the ground.
Mostly, because we know you’re hungry for more
writing from British writers of colour.
writing from British writers of colour.
>via: http://thegoodjournal.co.uk/about