Like all of you, we have been shocked and disgusted by the recent events in the USA, the latest in a long and shameful history of racist violence. There can be no tolerance for racism or discrimination wherever and whenever it appears, and we all have a responsibility to fight against it, and work tirelessly to create a world where it no longer exists.

As part of the publishing industry, we bear a special responsibility to help provide a platform for stories from underrepresented voices. Our industry has tremendous work to do to improve diversity, both in the authors and books we choose to publish, and in the workforce who make those choices.

At Angry Robot we have always strived to publish the very best in SFF from the very broadest range of voices, but we recognise that we can and must do better. To that end, Angry Robot will be creating a new open submissions inbox exclusively for SFF manuscripts from Black authors currently without agent representation. This inbox will be open for an initial period of three months, beginning from July 1st 2020. We will release more details about the format requirements for these submissions in the coming weeks, announced across our social media channels and on our website.

We have also made a donation in the company’s name to Black Lives Matter UK (@UKBLM), and would encourage anyone who is able to give their money or their time to choose appropriate charities and funds to support at this most crucial of moments.

We commit to continue listening to underrepresented voices, to learn from our inevitable mistakes, and take decisive action to improve. And we will always stand with anyone who fights against racism and discrimination, in any form.

Black Stories Matter. Black Voices Matter. Black Lives Matter.