Latinx in Publishing: The Dismal Numbers

The traditional publishing industry has a serious problem: it lacks Latinx. According to a recent study*, Latinx account for approximately 6% of the overall publishing industry. The numbers of Latinx at decision making levels is even smaller: 2% of editorial and 3% at executive positions.

Last time we checked, the U.S. Latinx population was around 60 million. Anyone else see a problem here?

Is there a correlation between the lack of Latinx publishing professionals and the lack of Latinx books we see in the marketplace? What came first, the lack of industry representation or the lack of Latinx books? We have some ideas, but all we really want to focus on in this post is the dearth of Latinx in the publishing profession.

What we know for sure is that when a system isn’t built with Latinx in mind, it will never come close to capturing the complexities of our community.

Instead of blaming, we are building. Fabian Flores exists to reimagine the publishing industry. There is a freedom to being an outsider, it means we aren’t doing things because that’s the way it’s always been done. We are expanding the idea of who a publishing company can be and what it can accomplish.

For us, it’s easy to envision a publishing company that specializes in amplifying Latinx stories. For us, it’s imperative to do right by the community, because we are a part of the community. Part of doing right is increasing the number of Latinx publishing professionals by developing a pipeline of experienced individuals who know that they belong in the publishing world. This is one of the ways we seek to shift industry practices in order to create cultural equity in the publishing.

We might be small, but we have some big plans. We hope you will join us as we embark on changing the industry.

*The study cited in this post is the same study cited in our About page.

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Why Does FFP Use Latinx?

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About the Latina Wage Gap