www.sovereignnoir.com
Arlington, VA United States
Sovereign Noir
www.sovereignnoir.comAbout me
Sovereign Noir Publications is more than just a publishing company; we’re an advocate for Black women writers worldwide. - Kameisha Jerae Hodge, Owner
Our Mission
We are committed to Black excellence in the literary world, autonomy and entrepreneurship among Black writers, and sharing our industry knowledge. The way that we go about fulfilling our mission is simple—we align our actions with our core values:
- Focus on new and innovative manuscripts
- Practice high ethical standards
- Respect and protect our artists’ work
- Create a community, not just an audience
Our previous clients have gone to do amazing things such as win Grammy awards (Kayona Ebony Brown), get featured in AfroTech and Black Enterprise (Nakia A. Booker), partner with Baldwin & Co. (Myhesha Doneve), collaborate as a Facebook Creator (JadedIsland), and much, much more. Though we primarily publish Black women's work, we are open to working with all those of African descent.
My roles and specialties
Book & eBook Writer
Ghostwriting, Cowriting/Collaborative Writing, Book Doctoring
Publishing
Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry
What are some of your initiatives outside of publishing for profit?
We believe that it is important to be a successful publishing company, yes, but we also know that some opportunities are just less likely to be found in Black communities. In order to change that, we have created a few initiatives to counteract that socioeconomic fact:
- Monthly pitch sessions. From urban literature and realistic fiction to creative nonfiction and children’s books, we allow the general public to pitch their books to us in order to become published.
- The Yolonda D. Coleman Writing Award. Winners are offered traditional publishing contracts under our Sovereign Noir Publications imprint. Competition categories include children (6-14), youth (15-24), adults (25-64), and elders (65+).
- The Sovereign Noir Scholars Program. A 6-week summer program for high school students who want to explore various areas of the publishing industry.
We also provide signature programming to assist with the professional development of Black women and girl writers worldwide. They include:
- The Black Women Writers Virtual Summit (April)
- The Passport Poppin’ Writing Retreat (July)
- The Sovereign Noir Literary Awards (December)
What is the latest project you completed?
Our most recent project was with debut author Nakia A. Booker. We collaborated on her coffee table lookbook entitled MMXX: The Black Artivism Collection (released in November 2022).
This was a unique project in that Nakia allowed us to practice both traditional and unconventional methods to promote and market the book that we helped publish; we designed a digital art gallery, assembled a relevant Spotify playlist, created merchandise, and built an electronic media kit in tandem with the book's prelaunch. Feel free to learn more about the project itself at https:///www.blackartivism.co.