We partnered with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), signing up to support two of the charity’s programs, RNIB Bookshare, which provides free access to books for print-disabled learners, and Talking Books, which provides specially adapted audio versions of books. This partnership allows the RNIB free access to tens of thousands of Penguin Random House titles and all of its audiobooks, and is part of our efforts to make our books more inclusive and accessible. We have also given free access for all of our books to be reproduced by RNIB in large-print and braille formats, as well as ensured that all newly published eBooks meet high standards of accessibility. To learn more, click here.
Regions: U.K.
Sponsorship of the Spare Room Project
The Spare Room Project aims to address the lack of regional diversity in the industry by providing housing to interns and people working who come from outside London. In 2018 we started sponsoring the project, which matches interns with hosts working in publishing who can offer a spare room or a bed for free for one week. A practical way to help open doors to a more diverse range of people, the Spare Room Project looks for hosts from across the publishing industry, from those in Editorial and Sales to agents and authors. To learn more about the Spare Room Project, click here. To learn more our sponsorship, click here.
Pop-Up Bookshop to Celebrate Women
In 2018, we celebrated International Women’s Day and the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the U.K. with a pop-up bookshop, the Like a Woman Bookshop, that exclusively sold books written by women authors. We wanted to celebrate the persistence of women who have fought for change #LikeAWoman. The bookshop featured inspiring and iconic writers such as Margaret Atwood, Iris Murdoch, Zadie Smith, and Malala Yousafzai. Shoppers also had the chance to purchase books to be donated to Solace Women’s Aid, a charity that provides practical and emotional support to survivors of domestic violence. To learn more, click here and here.
Nurturing Writers From Underrepresented Backgrounds
We launched our WriteNow program in 2016, and we’re proud to say that, to date, 450 writers have attended 9 regional events, 33 writers have joined our yearlong mentorship program, and 12 books have, thus far, been acquired through the program. Through WriteNow, we host free workshops offering information about how to get published to unpublished writers based in the U.K. and Ireland who identify as coming from an underrepresented background or community. Participants are able to hear from published authors and literary agents and receive personalized feedback on their work from an editor. The most promising writers are accepted into our yearlong mentoring program, where they are paired with one of our editors to help develop their manuscript with the ultimate aim of publishing their work. To learn more, click here.