#st martin's press

[aroaessidhe]

An employee within the marketing department of Wednesday Books, an imprint of St Martins Press, which is an imprint of Macmillan, has made numerous posts with racist and Islamophobic rhetoric amid the genocide of Palestinians, and the publisher has been silent for months. This employee is also in charge of sending arcs to influencers, and a number of people have noticed a pattern of Arab and Muslim readers not receiving arcs, which is potentially related.

Readers are asking for the publisher to address and denounce the racist remarks from the employee and offer tangible steps for how they are going to mitigate the harm, and until they do so we are boycotting St Martins Press and its imprints: Wednesday Books, Griffin, Minotaur, Castle Point Books, Thomas Dunne Books, and SMP Swerve.

This means not posting about or reviewing these books, though you can still buy and read them.

And more recently, and the reason for my specific post today, sign the petition to make clear the number of community members who are demanding action!

If you want to use a US zip code, why not use 10271 - where the SMP Marketing Department is.

You can find more info/updates at readersforaccountability

[pipperoni32-blog]

The Slowest Burn

by Sarah Chamberlain / 3.5 stars

This book dove into grief and how it can change the dynamic in found families. I really appreciated that it didn't shy away from this, but gave the story more heart and a stronger backbone.

Ellie was swept up in a once in a lifetime romance. Max was everything, and he made it all so easy for her. Falling in love, taking care of her. Giving her wonderful parents, after hers let her down in every way. She had a plan for the future. All until a heart defect took Max from her. Now she and his parents have been grieving his loss, unable to move on.

When Ellie meets her latest celebrity cook, nicknamed the Happy Pirate Leprechaun, she has her work cut out for her. Not only does he not respond to any of her emails, he has no sense of direction and has never followed a recipe. How is she supposed to pin him down to help make a cookbook when he's never used one?

Their initial interactions don't go well, including a very public argument. Slowly, they start to see things from each other's point of view, and come to an understanding. When they both start having feelings, Ellie must face the prospect of moving on from Max, and what that will mean not only for her, but for her in-laws as well.

I really liked this one. While I wouldn't rate it high in the spice department, everything was done very tastefully, and this one had so much heart!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers at St. Martin's Press for the arc to this one! All opinions are my own.

[lilibetbombshell]

[that-butch-archivist]

"Sean"

source: Girls' Night Out, photographed by Chloe Atkins

[garadinervi]

Ntozake Shange, Hijo de las Americas, in A Daughter's Geography, Designed by Manuela Paul, St. Martin's Press, New York, NY, 1983, pp. 49-50

[averlym]

litany of the martyrs (click for better resolution!)

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Margaret Duncan - The Witch Stone - St. Martin Press - 1976

[eggcatsreads]

Reminder that the publisher that sent unsolicited and unconsented for sex toys to people is the SAME one still currently under boycott, and that this boycott is explicitly to not do promotion or reviews of their titles. This boycott has been going on since October of 2023, and since they have not responded it is still ongoing.

And yes, this includes any titles you may have on Netgalley (or other arc review sites).

"But wait, my feedback ratio!" I hear you cry.

There's a solution for that. When the boycott started I had about 2 SMP titles, and 1 I had just reviewed. And on NG using the "will not provide feedback" option negatively affects your feedback score, so no, I'm not suggesting that.

Here are the 3 "reviews" for the titles I had from the boycotted publisher.

And then I have not requested or taken any of their titles that they've placed on "Read Now" to try to force an end to the boycott.

Doing this has not affected my acceptance rate for titles I request, by the way. Publishers who rejected me beforehand still do, publishers who generally accepted me still do, and ones where it was a 50/50 are still about the same.

[brokehorrorfan]

James S. "Murr" Murray - best known as one of the Impractical Jokers - and frequent collaborator Darren Wearmouth will publish You Better Watch Out on October 15 via St. Martin's Press.

The 240-page Christmas-themed serial killer thriller will be available in hardcover, e-book, and audio book. Read on for the synopsis.

48 hours until Christmas, Jessica Kane wakes up with blurred vision, ears ringing, and in excruciating pain. A gash in her head and blood running down her face, the last thing she remembers is going for a run and something or someone hitting her in the head. It doesn’t take her long to realize she is trapped in an unknown, deserted town with five other strangers who share similar stories of being attacked and stranded there. Unsure why and how they got there, she knows one thing for certain, she has to find a way out. That becomes nearly impossible when someone is meticulously orchestrating their deaths, one by one, and the only thing Jessica can do is watch the life leave their eyes. The fenced-in town is the killer’s very own playground and there’s nowhere left to hide… she better watch out because she could be next.

Pre-order You Better Watch Out by James S. Murray and Darren Wearmouth.

[judgeitbyitscover]

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Cover art by Frank Morris

St. Martin's Press, 1988

FBI trainee Clarice Starling has an elusive serial killer to hunt.

Only one man can help.

Psychopathic cannibal Hannibal Lecter...

The serial killer nicknamed 'Buffalo Bill' has been capturing and starving women, then murdering and skinning them. FBI rookie Clarice Starling is assigned to solicit help from imprisoned psychopath Dr Hannibal 'the Cannibal' Lecter, whose insight into the depraved minds of serial killers is second to none.

But in exchange for inviting her into the darkest chambers of his mind, Hannibal begins to probe at hers, demanding knowledge of her childhood demons as the price of understanding Buffalo Bill's.

Clarice knows how dangerous this man is, and the terrible things he can do with this information. But women are still disappearing, and time is running out...

[aroaessidhe]

Readers For Accountability have made a new comprehensive website with details about the SMP boycott.

There is a day of action organised for March 11, where we are being encouraged to post about the boycott, email the publisher, and sign the petition if you haven't already.

I'm still seeing a lot of people on here reblogging stuff about books from wednesday books especially, and I know tumblr isn't the forefront of the book community, but it's not that hard to refrain from posting about a couple books! We all know reading is political. If you've ever talked about the importance of diverse books (and I know yall love to do that on here), you should understand that an imprint promoting itself as championing diversity that lets systemic racism run unchecked in their company is bad, actually, and we should be demanding better from them!

[pipperoni32-blog]

Mysterious Ways

by Wendy Wunder / 4 stars

This one was a bit of a surprise. There are so many directions one can go with a girl who just happens to read minds. Not only read minds, but grasp the connections around thoughts and feelings, leaving her to "just know" things and references.

One could get into so much mischief with this. For her part, Maya just wanted the voices and constant input to end. She craved silence, the not knowing, and so she tried to simply stay in her basement and hunker down. That plan didn't go well, when she found herself pushed into engaging more. At a school swim meet, when the thoughts became too much, Maya threw herself into the pool - during the race.

This stunt landed her in an institution, where she tries her best to use her powers for good. She attempts to "fix" one of her fellow inmates, nudging his thoughts in the right direction, collecting others and coloring them with nostalgia to help him move on.

Once Maya is out and among the public again, she finds friends for the first time. And possibly a romantic interest of her own? Maya sets out to save the Bobcats, as a hunting ordinance is trying to be passed that would allow an open season on the reclusive creatures. When schoolmates actually show up, Maya realizes that maybe this is only step one in her plan. With great power comes great responsibility, and maybe the bobcats she's trying to save aren't just literal bobcats. Maybe she's meant to save her fellow students!

With good intentions and mixed results, this was a new and interesting look at the lives of the latest generation of teens, and what previous generations have left for them. Parents, teachers, people we meet in the world, Maya was not only aware and trying to struggle with what was right for her and her own life, but had such an interesting perspective on everyone she came in contact with as well.

I wouldn't mind sticking around with Maya for a bit longer, though in the meantime I'll have to take a look at the other titles Wendy Wunder has to offer!

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press through NetGalley for the ARC for this one. I know I'm a little late getting to it, but it was so worth the read. And I'm excited for people to be able to pick it up now, and not have to wait!

[black-is-beautiful18]

“You didn’t even read it” We do not have to read a book to know that it is full of stupidity and racism. A book about a triple k member falling for the daughter of the leader of the Mexican cartel??? A book about a rich white girl obsessing over the Black nanny??? Be fr, get some sense, and shut up. You do not get to pick what is and isn’t racist. What is or isn’t a stereotype. These are the experiences of POC. Why would we not be experts in spotting things that are harmful towards up???

[that-butch-archivist]

"Marcia and Sarah"

source: Girls' Night Out, photographed by Chloe Atkins

[garadinervi]

From: Ntozake Shange, A Daughter's Geography, Designed by Manuela Paul, St. Martin's Press, New York, NY, 1983

[aaronstveit]

St. Martin's Press Boycott

From the Readers for Accountability Toolkit:

The boycott of St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and other related imprints is a direct response to the publisher’s lack of accountability regarding a) statements made by an employee in their marketing department and b) their failure to respond to concerns about possible systemic issues within the department.  

This employee, who we will not name, posted Islamophobic, queerphobic, and anti-Palestinian content on their personal (but public) social media. This included pinkwashing and use of the term “pallywood” which is used to imply that videos of Palestinians being murdered or brutalized by Israeli soldiers are fakes.  

This content was shared in Instagram stories and was brought to our attention by Palestinian activist and content creator @vivafalastinleen.  

Leen noted that while she is on the St. Martin's Press influencer list, she never seemed to receive any of the ARCs she requested. Other Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian creators had previously noted the same thing. 

Leen further noticed that her white counterparts, with a comparable or smaller following, would receive these ARCS regularly and without issue. She began to question if this was a symptom of the employee's bigotry or perhaps a systemic issue within the marketing department at this publisher when she was made aware of the posts shared by this employee.  

Leen attempted to reach out to St. Martin's Press when the employee's posts came to light, but struggled to receive a response and was largely ignored. Other influencers and content creators reached out as well with similar results. However, Leen did eventually receive an email from Brant Janeway. 

The response, however, was dismissive and defensive with no action being taken to investigate. 

The boycott was officially enacted after ten days of radio silence from St. Martin's Press and Wednesday books. During those ten days, content creators were emailing, DMing, commenting, and making videos to demand that St. Martin's Press make a statement to no avail. 

As such, Leen created a video that provided other creators with context for the boycott. This video also included a large number of screenshots and significant context explaining why those screenshots are so dangerous. Twitter likes were also included to provide evidence of how deep the employee's bigotry runs. 

R4A have since then assisted in bringing attention to this issue by providing education and resources for the boycott. This includes a petition outlining our demands and urging St. Martin’s Press to hold their staff accountable to the MacMillan Code of Conduct.

While St. Martin’s Press has largely remained silent despite resuming posting like normal on their socials, they did take the time to unfollow two prominent BIPOC creators within the community including @satrayreads and @vivafalastinleen.  

An email was sent from R4A to St. Martin’s Press on 12/14/23 outlining our concerns and issues with St. Martin’s Press and a response was received on 12/15/23. This response failed to meet the demands of the boycott and was heavily focused on equitable ARC distribution. As such, the boycott continues and further updates will be shared as the situation develops.

This boycott means that while you can buy and read books published by St. Martin's Press and its imprints, you should not platform this. This means not marking them as 'read' or 'reading' on Goodreads, not reviewing them, and not posting them on social media. Yes, even Tumblr. To learn more about this boycott, check out Readers for Accountability on Instagram, or this article by Prism Reports.

Participation:

Participating in the St. Martin's Press boycott can be as simple as no longer promoting books from St. Martin's Press or related imprints on your social media, websites, and review spaces. Participants are asked to withhold ALL reviews of these books until demands are met, including on Goodreads and NetGalley. Additionally, we are asking that participants avoid promoting these books in any way during this time. This includes master lists, reading recaps, and other similar posts. However, readers can still purchase and read these books in order to reduce harm done to the authors.

Additionally, participants are encouraged to share posts about the boycott, make their own posts, and utilize the templates and graphics we have provided you to keep the momentum going.

Research a book's publisher before you post about it, even here on Tumblr. If it is published by St. Martin's Press or one of its imprints (Wednesday Books, Castle Point Books, St. Martin's Essential, Minotaur Books, and St. Martin's Griffin), do not platform it.

Check out @/readersforaccountability on Instagram for more information. All text here aside from the final indented paragraph comes from their toolkit, which includes more information and more ways you can help the people of Palestine.