CALLING ALL PUBLISHERS, LITERARY AGENTS, AND REVIEW JOURNALS: JOIN US FOR DIVERSITY BASELINE SURVEY 3.0

Four years ago, Lee & Low Books released the second Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS 2.0) to measure inclusive hiring among the publishing industry’s workforce, looking specifically at race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability. 21,753 publishing employees took the survey in 2019 — that’s 2,609 review journal workers, 17,100 trade publishing staffers, 1,528 university press employees, and 516 literary agents. The results of the DBS 2.0 inspired many conversations and initiatives to help build a more inclusive book industry.

It is survey time once again. This is an OPEN CALL FOR PARTICIPATION to trade, educational, and university publishing houses, review journals, and literary agencies of all sizes. Will your company participate in 2023? Please send your confirmation to participate by Friday, May 19, 2023.

Why is the Diversity Baseline Survey Important?

Without data, all our conversations about diversity in the publishing industry would be based on anecdotal evidence alone. The Diversity Baseline Survey allows us to discuss our industry’s lack of diversity in a concrete way, with a true understanding of the scope of the problem. The data also allows us to track progress as our industry grows and evolves over time. With the proliferation of book challenges and bans, the unifying message that our industry has a long-term commitment to becoming an inclusive industry is critical.

Why Should Our Company Participate?

High industry participation in the Diversity Baseline Survey sends the message that our industry takes inclusion seriously. In order for the Survey to be a success, we need the participation of as many publishing companies as possible. We also need companies that have participated in previous DBS surveys to participate again.

Participation is free and easy, and simply entails sharing secure survey links with all your employees. By committing to participate, you are demonstrating that your company cares about diversity and is invested in finding solutions. All participating companies will be acknowledged publicly, but rest assured survey data will only be released in aggregate form—never individually or by company. The survey will be managed by Toluna, a professional survey company and the data will be aggregated by two academics from Boston University. Individual answers to the survey will remain completely anonymous. Lee & Low will never have possession or have access to of any of the survey data.

Download the Diversity Baseline Survey Overview PDF to share with a decision-maker at your company and to advocate for your company’s participation.

OK, We’re In. What Happens Next?

• Have your company representative or point person for the survey, email Jason Low, Publisher of Lee & Low Books, at dbs@leeandlow.com to confirm your company’s participation. Individuals need not reply, as we are surveying entire companies. Please send your confirmation to participate by Friday, May 19, 2023.
• Toward the end of May 2023, your company’s designated contact person will receive survey links to distribute to your staff. Full instructions will be included. We will provide wordage you can include about why the survey matters, encouraging employees to participate and affirming that their answers will remain anonymous. The survey deployment date is June 1, 2023 and the survey will remain live for approximately one month.
• The survey data will be aggregated in late 2023 by two academics at Boston University and the results will be publicly released in at the end of January 2024.

Who’s Already In (as of 5/25/2023):

Trade Publishers (47 trade publishers participated in 2019)

1. ABRAMS
2. Annick Press
3. Astra Publishing House
4. Barefoot Books
5. Beacon Press
6. Berrett-Koehler Publishers
7. Between the Lines
8. Bloomsbury US
9. Blue Bike Books Ltd.
10. Breakwater Books Limited
11. Brush Education
12. Candlewick
13. Capstone
14. Center for the Collaborative Classroom
15. Charlesbridge
16. Coach House Books
17. Coffee House Press
18. Cormorant Books
19. Chronicle Books
20. Creston Books
21. Disney Publishing
22. Dundurn Press
23. Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
24. ECW Press
25. Emerald Publishing
26. Enchanted Lion Books
27. Feeding Minds Press
28. Folklore Publishing
29. Formac Publishing
30. Freehand Books
31. Graywolf Press
32. Greystone Books Ltd.
33. Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press Inc.
34. Hachette Book Group
35. HarperCollins Publishers
36. Holiday House
37. Hub City Press
38. Imbrifex Books
39. Inanna Publications and Education Inc.
40. Invisible Publishing
41. Just Us Books
42. Kane Miller, A Division of EDC Publishing
43. Kids Can Press
44. Lerner Publishing Group
45. Lee & Low Books
46. Linda Leith Publishing
47. Little Bee Books
48. Live Oak Media
49. Levine Querido
50. Macmillan
51. Mango Publishing Group
52. Microcosm Publishing
53. The New Press
54. NeWest Press
55. NorthSouth Books
56. Nosy Crow
57. Orca Book Publishers
58. Owlkids Books
59. Peachtree Publishing Company
60. Pearson Higher Education and Virtual Learning
61. Penguin Random House/Bertelsmann
62. Parallax Press
63. Pioneer Valley Books
64. Playwrights Canada Press
65. Pomelo Books
66. Portage & Main Press
67. Quarto
68. Readers to Eaters
69. Red Comet Press
70. The RoadRunner Press
71. Ronsdale Press
72. Sambasivan & Parikh
73. Saffron Press
74. Scholastic
75. Simon & Schuster
76. Steerforth Press
77. Stonehouse Publishing
78. Theytus Books, Ltd.
79. Tradewind Books

Book Reviewers (8 book reviewers participated in 2019)

1. Bayviews
2. Booklist
3. Bookpage
4. Chicago Review of Books
5. Foreword Reviews
6. The Horn Book
7. Kirkus Reviews
8. Library Journal
9. Locus Publications
10. Los Angeles Review of Books
11. Montreal Review of Books
12. Publishers Weekly
13. School Library Journal

Literary Agents: (63 literary agencies participated in 2019)

1. Aevitas Creative Management
2. Andrea Brown Literary Agency
3. ArtHouse Literary Agency
4. Ayesha Pande Literary
5. Azantian Literary Agency
6. The Bent Agency
7. Bradford Literary Agency
8. Bookends, A Literary Agency
9. Booker Albert Agency
10. The Cat Agency
11. Chase Literary Agency
12. Cheney Agency
13. CookeMcDermid Agency Inc.
14. Copps Literary Services
15. Corvisiero Literary Agency
16. Curtis Brown, Ltd.,
17. Donaghy Literary Group
18. Don Congdon Associates, Inc.
19. Dunham Literary, Inc.
20. Dystel, Goderich & Bourret LLC
21. Erin Murphy Literary Agency
22. The Ekus Group
23. Folio Literary Management
24. Frances Goldin Literary Agency, Inc.
25. The Friedrich Agency
26. Full Circle Literary
27. Fuse Literary
28. Gallt and Zacker Literary Agency
29. Great Dog Literary
30. The Greenhouse Literary Agency
31. Headwater Literary Management
32. HG Literary
33. JABberwocky Literary Agency
34. Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency
35. Jill Grinberg Literary Management, LLC
36. KT Literary Agency, LLC
37. Ladderbird Agency
38. Laura Gross Literary Agency
39. Mad Woman Literary Agency, LLC
40. Marsal Lyon Literary Agency
41. Mckinnon Literary
42. New Leaf Literary & Media
43. Nordlyset Literary Agency
44. Odom Media Management
45. Park & Fine Literary and Media
46. Present Perfect Literary
47. P.S. Literary Agency
48. Red Fox Literary, LLC
49. Rees Literary Agency
50. The Rights Factory
51. Root Literary
52. Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency
53. Sanford J. Greenburger Associates
54. Serendipity Literary
55. Spencerhill Associates
56. Stonesong
57. Storm Literary Agency
58. Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, Inc.,
59. The Tobias Literary Agency
60. Transatlantic Agency
61. Trellis Literary Management
62. TriadaUS Literary Agency
63. Weaver Literary Agency
64. Wernick & Pratt Agency, LLC
65. Westwood Creative Artists
66. WM Clark Associates
67. WordWise Media Services
68. Writers House

University Presses (35 university presses participated in 2019)

1. American Psychological Association (APA)
2. Amherst College Press
3. Arte Publico Press
4. Columbia University Press
5. Duke University Press
6. The Feminist Press at CUNY
7. Gallaudet University Press
8. Getty Publications
9. Harvard University Press
10. Louisiana State University
11. Johns Hopkins University Press 
12. Marine Corps University Press
13. McGill-Queen’s University Press
14. MIT Press
15. NYU Press
16. The Ohio State University Press
17. Oregon State University Press
18. Princeton University Press
19. Stanford University Press
20. SUNY Press
21. Syracuse University Press
22. Temple University Press
23. University of British Columbia Press
24. University of California Press
25. University of Chicago Press
26. University Press of Colorado
27. University Press of Florida
28. The University of Georgia Press
29. University of Illinois Press
30. University of Manitoba Press
31. University of Michigan Press
32. University of Minnesota Press
33. University Press of Mississippi
34. University of North Carolina Press
35. University of Notre Dame Press
36. University of Pittsburgh Press
37. University of Toronto Press
38. University of Washington Press
39. University of Wisconsin Press
40. Vanderbilt University Press
41. Wayne State University