When we first started this project, we spent a lot of time on research, into books, best seller lists and looking in the literary press here in the UK. Shopping around in the main bookstores was challenging because it wasn't always easy to know where to find the black authors. We had it all wrong though.
There is no single genre associated with black authors, as of course everyone writes books about everything. So it was time to find black authors and delve into people who inspired them, their reading lists and their heroes. And that was the beauty of Instagram.
Following many different book reviewers from all over the world opened up a Pandora's box of passionate readers who happily introduced us to a wider list of African, Caribbean, African American writers than one could ever find in a library here in the UK. The Bookstagram family really home in what interests them, and by sharing their knowledge, it is easy to learn what is trending, what is being published but more importantly who is really writing interesting literature and what they are reading too.
But then, it was a matter of where can I get these books? In my local mainstream bookstore? No way.
Not unless it was a massive best seller.