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9th edition of the RMNewsletter - sign up for free Negro Spirituals Black Joy Off Time Jive from AZ Louise cover reveal from Thistle and verse https://rmnewsletter.over-blog.com/2023/02/02/26/2023-rmnewsletter.html #rmnewsletter

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I'm a black writer of sff and I'm feeling really discouraged because I can't find a community of other black folks writing similar stuff. Do you have any advice or recommendations on this topic? I'd really appreciate it!

Building a Community for Fellow Sci-Fi/Fantasy [Black] Writers of Color 

Build it and they will come. Sometimes when you can’t find the community you’re looking for, you have to create it.

The Small Details

If you’re going to do the preparations in starting a community, made sure you’ve got a place to meet, like an unoccupied classroom, a library room, coffee shop, a closed group page, etc.

It’s important to figure out what you want from this community. Is it for exchanging writing and providing constructive criticism? Sharing your woes? Helping each other with publishing resources? A little bit of it all? Again, gather ideas of what people want from the club and set your sights small then expand as you can handle.

Be prepared for the time and labor that comes with it. It may be a labor of love, certainly, and comes with many benefits, but if time is tight, do assure you can scoop up adequate time to dedicate to such a group before starting. Perhaps frequency of meeting will be monthly or bi-weekly vs. weekly. Also, get help if you need to, like a backup or co-chair. You don’t have to run the whole show.

Starting a writing community

Start an online, or local community for Black Science Fiction/Fantasy writers. It may be easier to start aiming at a specific community and gaining traction there, vs. say gathering folks in the whole state.

Places to start a community:

For an online community, there’s website such as Goodreads, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, other forum sites…

If you’re in school and it’s allowed, starting a group within the school is a start, or just advertising it as a separate from school deal while welcoming your community as fellow students as members.

There’s also your neighborhood and neighboring ones, and expanding with need or if you have the capacity.

Getting the word out:

Advertise your group in the right places, when appropriate/allowed. Such as Diverse SF/F forums on Goodreads, libraries, free bulletin boards, or buying a small classified space.

On that last point, if you’ve got a community newspaper that is “friendly” towards diversity, see if they would want to write a story about your group. You may have to have one established first, but an article would definitely help build traction.

Additionally, It might be useful to gather interest before making any big decisions. See if folks would want to join this community and give them a contact email to reach out and express their interest and what they’d want from the community if they’d join. 

If it’s an online community you’re building: you may have to be a bit of a spammer and namedrop your community website and details when appropriate and welcome. You could also do this on online pages for local places, but again when allowed and where it’ll be welcome and not annoying.

Social Media Recommendations: 

FiyahLitMag is speculative fiction for Black writers. If you use Twitter, perhaps you should start following Black writers you meet via these connections. -Jess 

There's also a Twitter account called Blerds (Black nerds) that might be a resource as well. -Shira

Search harder.

The group you’re looking for may already be out there and you just haven’t found it yet. It’ll be easier to join than start one. Get creative and persistent in your search terminology and flip through forums and websites with active communities.

Have you tried Meetups.com or similar meetup forums and sites? Are you looking at the community boards, local classes being offered? (Note: Meetup might also be a good place to post and organize your club)

If you’re not interested in starting your own thing, you may decide to be more open to SF/F communities that are for Writers of Color and add that into your search too. There’s likely to be Black authors within the group if you still wish to connection with mainly them, too.

I know there’s more helpful advice out there on starting a writing community than I can provide, so give some more searching a go. Good luck!

~Mod Colette

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