For two years now, you have been hearing about all of the ways that Bindery is going to disrupt the publishing industry. Well, I want to have a conversation about that, because the truth is, the thing that makes Bindery revolutionary... is you.

Our founders, Matt Kaye and Meghan Harvey, started this company with decades of combined experience in this industry. Matt has not only worked for major publishers in the past but also has experience as a part of Patreon's team. And Meghan brings just as much to the table, having previously worked at Girl Friday Productions, a publishing production company that has decades of experience working alongside major publishers and authors to produce market-ready books and successful sales strategies. Together, they are really the perfect team. They have the experience, the know-how and the established network to create the perfect environment for a thriving publishing company. And they have partnered with the right teams in order to produce at the same level as the publishers we are competing with.

The thing that makes Bindery disruptive, however, is the fact that they have partnered with people like you and I. For several years now, it has been apparent that major publishers are underestimating the impact of reader spaces like BookTok, Bookstagram and Booktube. Yes, they know that bookish influencers have the ability to sell books, which is why they work so hard to manipulate, flatter and buy their way onto our platforms. But what they have underestimated is this community's ability to not only sell books, but to predict, and even shift, the market. For those of us who spend our time in this community, we are used to seeing genre's rise and fall in popularity and even occasionally give birth to new sub-genres seemingly overnight. That is a regular part of our experience as readers who engage with one another online. And we take it for granted that publishing, as an industry, is shaping those conversations and those shifts. But in reality, they are not. They are struggling to keep up and to produce whatever it is that we--readers-are asking for. All while working to maintain systemic barriers that keep dissenting voices--marginalized authors--from winning too much access for themselves.

Matt and Meg saw that trend and realized that if the door is ever going to open for authors in the margins to truly gain access, it would be because we demanded it.

Which is where Bindery was born. They saw an opportunity to use all of their access as experienced publishing professionals to empower us--bookish creators--to rally this community behind the authors who are waiting on us to open the door for them. Bindery has always been, and will always be, about doing publishing differently.

Which is where we come in. Left Unread was created for one purpose and one purpose only. Because I saw the potential for Bindery to disrupt this industry and I wanted to ensure that that disruption looked like Black and brown people at the front of the charge. I partnered with Bindery because I truly believed--and still do--that this was an opportunity to make sure that the doors they would be kicking down would be open for us too. Because all too often, "change" just looks like taking control from one group of people and handing it to another. And that is not progress. Progress is dismantling the barriers.

I am sure you have seen me promoting this community a million times. This is why. Because, for me, this is not just an opportunity to publish books I like. It is literary advocacy. It is an opportunity to partner with people who have far more access than I do so that, together, we can show the world what happens when you empower Black and brown authors to say whatever they want to.

I have watched for years as Black and brown readers have stood up against the publishing industry and demanded access for the authors we love. We have put author after author on the map. We watch their publishers refuse to invest in them and then stand up and invest in them ourselves. It is Black and brown readers who ensure that the Tracy Deonns, RF Kuangs and S.A. Cosby's of the world get to shine in an industry that is not only hesitant, but resistant, to giving them a platform. It is READERS who built their platforms and forced the world to listen to them. Which is why our entire model is built around community. We are not just producing books we hope you will love. We are inviting you to come to the table with us and to build access for the authors who are telling your story.

Black and brown readers have consistently forced our way into rooms and demanded that our stories be told. And friends, I have good news. At Left Unread, you don't have to make demands. Because the table is yours. We are doing this together.

I share all of this because i want you to fully understand exactly what it is I am asking for your help to build. When I invite you to subscribe it is not just about meeting a metric or reaching a goal. It is about taking this model that Bindery introduced and crafting a community that is ready to break down every barrier that has historically kept us out. I want to build a community that is empowered to redefine what publishing looks like. That opens doors that never would have been opened otherwise and creates a standard that major publishers cannot ignore.

We have been very successful at forcing these companies to let Black and brown authors through the door. But it is clear that they intend for us to always HAVE to force them through. But what happens to the industry when the same readers who force them to do right find a table that was built with them in mind? What are we truly capable of if our demands are not being resisted? If instead of being asked to prove that the authors who write for you are worth investing in, those authors are the entire point?

That is what I am trying to build. And yeah, I know that the picture I am painting is not going to be easy. I know my dreams are delusional and outrageous. But you know what I also know?

Black and brown readers have always been capable of the impossible.

So what am I actually asking you to do?

I am asking you to believe in what we are fighting for. Left Unread is a publishing imprint that is being built with you in mind. I am not asking you to come support this community because I've always wanted to publish books. I am not asking for your help to build a business that is about my bottom line. I am asking you to join me in taking on systemic barriers that have kept the world from hearing our stories for way too freaking long. Our stories deserve to be told. Our voices deserve to be at the forefront. And our community deserves to be respected.

So I am asking you to throw your support behind this community in the same way we have collectively thrown our support behind the handful of Black and brown authors that major publishers allow through the door every year. Use your voice, your platform, your wallet to help me build a company that is focused on our stories and to turn it into a success story that cant be ignored. Help me fight for Black and brown authors. To churn out best-sellers. To jump start author's careers. To take their stories and to force the world to respect them.

That is what I am after.

Get involved. If you are not already subscribed, please do so right now. You can subscribe for free and stay connected as we share updates and rally the community on behalf of authors and their stories. And, if it is financially possible for you, please consider investing just a few dollars a month into funding those projects. You can subscribe for as little as $5 a month, and you will get access to our entire publishing process, and you will receive an early e-copy of every single book we publish. Or if you are in a position to, you can subscribe for $12 or $25 a month, and you will not only get a physical copy of every book we publish a full month before release, but your name will be listed in the back of every book on a dedicated collaborators page.

And if you are already subscribed, please feel free to share this article on your socials or with the readers in your life.

We are serious about doing this together. I know that community is not how we have been taught that publishing is done. But it has always been the way it's done for Black and brown authors. The goal here is to channel what we are already doing into achieving even more access than we've already won. Black and brown authors need us if there is ever going to be change. So that is the goal. To build a community of people who are ready to fight for just that.

And if you are a white reader, none of this means you aren't welcome in this community. But it does mean that the culture we are building is centered around Black and brown authors and the stories they are so ready to tell.

Bonus action items:

• Our debut book will be released October 28th of this year. It is an anarchist fantasy following a conscripted warrior who was taken from her home and forced to fight in a neighboring nation's war against a former colonial enemy. But when she is asked to help train a new victim to fight in that same war, she is unwilling to be complicit. Which means deciding between fleeing for her life, finding a way to reform a broken system, or burning it all to the ground and waiting to see what comes from the ashes. This book is having conversations about colonialism and its impact on our identity, what liberation actually looks like, and asking big questions about what it means to resist empire. I would love it if you would each consider pre-ordering a copy now, to help us hit our early goals for this book: https://bookshop.org/a/87137/9781964721521

• Our sophomore book will be coming out in Spring of 2026. It is a Haitian-inspired fantasy following a Black mermaid who must flee her home to escape an underwater cult who is determined to use an ancient artifact to raise an island in worship of their god, even if it means destroying everything around them. To survive, she ends up banding together with a notorious pirate and her long-lost lover, who now serves as a captain in the very navy chasing them. This book tackles big conversations like colonial religion and its impact on Black identity and spirituality. It is Black, it is Sapphic, it is trans and it is horrifyingly honest. If you would like to support this title, you can subscribe at the $12 tier or higher to ensure you are listed as a collaborator in the book. The deadline to have your name included is tomorrow. 6.26.25