Publishing’s Response to the Presidential Election
And what we can learn from their actions
Introduction
As we head into another four years of Trump’s presidency, many readers, authors, and educators are concerned about the likelihood of an increase in censorship, among other legislation reflecting transphobia, racism, and more. Are publishers showing this same concern?
Amidst the results of this year’s presidential election, individuals across publishing not only grappled with Trump’s win, but with subsequent headlines in the industry. And while we’re never quite surprised with publishers’ performativity or cowardice—even under the assumption “legal” censorship will increase in the coming years—we were caught off guard by the swift response.
Publishing’s capitalistic lens never shows more than when the majority white, cishet industry blatantly jumps onto what they consider “trends.” In 2020, amidst protests against police brutality and white supremacy, books by Black authors skyrocketed up various bestseller lists. Publishers promised to contract more Black authors and executives. But, largely, all of this was performative, a moment for them to profit. In meetings, white coworkers judged whether a cover looked “diverse” enough, simply because the author was a writer of color. Publishers pitched stories for the outpouring of “antiracist” reading lists that had nothing to do with antiracism. Despite contracting more stories by Black authors, the pay gap between white authors and authors of color still largely remains, impacting marketing budgets and future book deals. And those new hires were let go. (We can’t help question whether the release of (slightly) more stories by Palestinian authors will follow a similar pattern.)
In this newsletter, we’ll be taking a look at some publishers’ reactions to the election, what’s at risk, and, most importantly, the tangible actions we readers can take to advocate for systemic change within the industry and reading ecosystem beyond.
A Deeper Look
On Thursday, November 7th, just two days after the election and a day after Trump won the presidency, Hachette announced Basic Liberty, a new Basic Books imprint with Thomas Spence as executive editor. The imprint publishes “serious works of cultural, social, and political analysis by conservative writers of original thought.” While the announcement mentions Spence used to work for Regnery, a conservative publisher, it conveniently leaves out that he more recently worked for The Heritage Foundation as a senior advisor—the organization behind Project 2025. In their 922-page proposal, The Heritage Foundation outlines ways to ban anything they’ve defined as critical race theory or porn—which includes stories on diversity, history, racism, and by BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ authors. (Also under the Basic Books division? The imprint Seal Press, one of the “most enduring feminist publishing houses.” How can one division commit itself to publishing books like We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance and Transgender History alongside authors that disrespect the rights and existence of Black women and trans folks? Answer: capitalism and no sense of pride/morality.)
A day before Hachette’s announcement, Mariel Dawson, Macmillan’s VP of Marketing at the Children’s Publishing Group, posted on social media in support of Trump’s win. While the post was on her personal account, authors, employees, and more immediately called out that this individual is in charge of marketing decisions for books centering topics Trump disparages and threatens to ban. How could somebody who supports Trump not be biased when working on these books? And some authors even noted the weak marketing that their stories received. Macmillan’s only response was to distance themselves from the post.
Also on the day after the election, Zibby Owens, founder of Zibby Books and daughter of Stephen A. Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone Group and vocal Trump supporter, posted on social media. The post declared that no matter how readers feel about the election, books will unite us all. Commenters were quick to call out that:
Her father endorsed Trump
She has a tremendous amount of privilege
Book bans will only get worse—so no, not unifying
And that she did not say anything against Trump
(You might also recall when Zibby pulled their sponsorship of the National Book Awards in 2023.)
These publishers are acting as if this election and right wing ideology are just another “trend” for them to jump upon, aligning themselves with the incoming administration for both protection and capitalistic intention (not unlike Bezos preventing The Washington Post from endorsing Harris or white women voting for Trump).
But looking at publishers’ actions also shows us which ones are prepared to push back.
Haymarket Books, a small nonprofit publisher, made ten ebooks free, including How We Get Free, Let This Radicalize You, and Freedom Is a Constant Struggle. As they note in the announcement: “Wherever each of us live, work, and are in community: the time is now to build power and fight back, together.” Penguin Random House recently hired a Senior Public Policy Manager to specifically fight book bans and restrictive legislation, which overwhelmingly target books by and about BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ individuals. This is in addition to a number of lawsuits they announced against challenges and bans, and grant programs for educators facing bans. We can hope these financial investments mean the initiatives are here to stay. And Interlink Publishing continues to set standards around what it means to be a publisher for change.
Ways to Respond
If publishers don’t fight, instead molding themselves to Trump’s promises or capitalizing on right wing agendas, who knows what comes of the industry. Trump poses a direct threat to their autonomy, threatening to sue, silence the media, and even close the Department of Education. In fact, so much of the incoming administration’s goals revolve around cutting off access to educational materials, like books, libraries, and educated scholars. It’s a tactic that has been employed throughout history, and comes as no surprise.
But as readers, we know just how exactly powerful books and the knowledge they contain can be. When we take what we read and transform that into action, we push for a better world.
We recently rounded up books to read and organizations to get involved with—whether via volunteering or donating—the next four years and beyond. Especially as many of these organizations potentially face defunding, support is essential. And beyond this list, simply searching the web for “mutual aid + [your location]” will turn up results. Grounded in community care, mutual aid is more important than ever.
We also know that divesting our funds from companies that are benefiting from Trump or aligning themselves with his administration is essential. That means Amazon and Amazon-owned companies, who have a horrific impact on the environment and thrive on capitalistic practices. We recently rounded up bookish alternatives. We know this isn’t always possible due to accessibility, but many alternatives that aim to make divesting easier are available. For us who have the means, this also looks like taking stronger environmental actions into our hands, such as composting, electric vehicles, using public transportation, divesting from fast fashion, and spending less. It means leaving a big bank and using credit unions. It means spending money locally vs. with big chains. Investing in small, indie presses, and uplifting BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabled authors. Supporting publishing and bookseller unions and their organized boycotts/strikes.
Final Musings
“Changing everything might sound daunting, but it also means there are many places to start, infinite opportunities to collaborate, and endless imaginative interventions and experiments to create. Let's begin our abolitionist journey not with the question ‘What do we have now, and how can we make it better?’ Instead, let's ask, ‘What can we imagine for ourselves and the world?’ If we do that, then boundless possibilities of a more just world await us.” —Mariame Kaba, We Do This ‘Till We Free Us
Much of this newsletter and the news beyond might feel hopeless. But Kaba’s quote serves as an important reminder: that we have power, that we can create a better world when we actively organize together. We have the strength to determine what that world looks like and the role we want to play.
We can’t do it all, and that’s ok—in fact, if we tried to do it all, we would burn out and not be able to contribute in an effective way. But there are so many ways for us to get involved and take action.
As always, don’t stop demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon by contacting our reps and working toward Palestinian liberation.
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Xx,
ad astra