Overcoming the Gatekeeper Effect: How Social Media and Small Presses Highlight Marginalized Voices in Publishing View Digital Media

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Marissa Lemar  

Small, independent presses that highlight underrepresented groups and social media networks that bring together such communities can work together to overcome the gatekeeper effect, improving diversity and representation in publishing. This paper describes how small press publishing ensures marginalized voices are heard and how communities of difference (e.g., BIPOC, LGBTQ) use social media to join the conversation and ultimately impact social knowledge production. This research is vital because publishing greatly impacts culture; publishers, as gatekeepers, determine which stories are amplified, and when certain communities are left out, publishing risks providing an incomplete, imbalanced picture. The findings contribute to the field of communication. The source material was collated through a literature review focused on studies as well as reports detailing small presses, diversity in publishing, and social media communication. The knowledge work involves close reading of studies on representation in publishing and the impact of small press publishing. There are dozens of small press publishers, and my findings will demonstrate that small presses represent a robust, powerful way to raise otherwise unheard communities into the knowledge production of publishing. Further, social media conversations and networking bring together the individuals (publishers, writers, and editors) who make this possible. Traditional publishing is still relevant as a means to reach a wide audience and create overall knowledge, and social media and small presses are a necessary step to bring in voices and communities that may otherwise be left out.