Marcus Harrison Green's Journey with Hinton Publishing and Shining a Light on Unheard Voices
Photos by Susan Fried
Marcus Harrison Green, the founder of the South Seattle Emerald, sat down on The Day With Trae with host Trae Holiday to discuss the mission of Hinton Publishing, a publishing house Green established in August of last year. Hinton Publishing aims to act as a beacon of inclusivity and equity in the literary landscape, focusing on elevating and recognizing works from authors from underrepresented communities. A personal odyssey for Green, Hinton is a tribute to his grandfather, after whom the company was named, who had his own written work stolen and was never recognized in his time.
"His name was Leonard 'Lenny' Hinton. He was a writer in 1950 Chicago, an astute, proud, innovative Black man who wrote this book about the Great Wall of China. He spent about ten years of his life doing so. He ends up sending it to a publisher, doesn't hear anything back for about two years, and then one day, he's walking through his favorite bookstore in Chicago," Green said. "He happens upon this display, there's this book, it has the exact title of his manuscript, except for it's a white author's photo on it, and so he's like, you know, what's going on. So he thumbs through the book. It's his words verbatim."
The situation emotionally broke Hinton and caused him never to attempt writing again.
"It was one of those things where I just kept looking at like, how can I bring his story to life, but also his story isn't unique in the sense that there are so many people even today who are undersung, under-appreciated, and they need that they need their work to be shown and they need their work to get out there," Green said. "That's what Hinton is all about. He didn't have the opportunity to have a book with his name on it in his lifetime. So I'm trying to put as many books with his name on it in our lifetime."
Green's campaign to spotlight often-overlooked voices in the literary world has not been without critics questioning his work in choosing authors he chooses to amplify.
"Just because you're trying to carve out something to platform and amplify voices that aren't amplified, certain people are always going to feel attacked," Green said. "At the end of the day, when you're doing something that's trying to be revolutionary, you're always going to have people who want to scratch and claw us back into a regressive style of society."
Green shared his process for reaching out to writers whose work is being published under Hinton, highlighting that they are easy to find but have just struggled to find a venue that will give them an opportunity.
Green shared his approach to engaging with writers whose work is being published under Hinton. He emphasizes that these talented individuals are not unknown but individuals who have encountered barriers in accessing platforms that are willing to offer them the opportunity to showcase their writing.
"These are people who have been around for quite some time, who have special, unique things to say, and for whatever reason, these other public book publishers have overlooked these people. And so we haven't," Green said. "I look at it like these are diamonds that are not even in the rough. They're just diamonds that nobody is picking up. And so we've tried to do that with Hinton."
Green also explained on the show what writers can expect from utilizing a professional publishing house like Henton versus self-publishing their work.
"The main difference between self-publishing is that we are out here making sure that the quality is top-notch, that the proofreading is top-notch, there are no mistakes, no typos, and nothing like that. But then, I think the number one thing is truly the marketing," Green said. "Book publishing is very much like that whole saying: if a tree falls in the forest, and nobody hears it, did it actually fall? There's so much content out here. There are so many books out here. And so you have to be able to stand out right. And we do that through marketing."
Green also emphasized Women's History Month and honored some of the significant women in his life, including women in his family and writers he works with.
"I think these are people who are just so fiercely independent, but also fiercely folks who aren't scared to be themselves. They bring their whole selves to life, are not scared when it comes time to face challenges, and so forth," Green said. They're always able to summon some level of inner strength. And I think that just inspires me to try to live my life as the best version of myself that I can possibly live.
Click here to learn more about Hinton Publishing and its work. Additionally, Hinton will publish and release Still True, The Evolution of an Unexpected Journalist by South Seattle author Reagan on March 26. Stay tuned for updates!
"My mother always says there's nothing that comes to a sleeper but a dream. She also says to dream, but don't sleep in the sense that you have to put in the work, Green said. "At the end of the day, they say women hold up half the sky; I say Black women hold up the entire thing. You all make it so that we can shine, and I want to say that you all are not praised enough, particularly in the city of Seattle. It seems like so many times we want to praise you for your labor but not praise you all in any type of consistent way. We need to love on women and give them their flowers every single day of the year, 365."
For more stories about art and culture in Seattle, tune into Trae every weekday at 11 am on all Converge Media platforms and The Day With Trae YouTube Channel.
