Science fiction is, in Nate Ragolia of Spaceboy Press’ words, “an opportunity to create the world you want.” But for so many, that is not the experience they have with the genre. Sci-fi overwhelmingly remains white and straight, and marginalized people who write sci-fi often face snobbery both inside and outside the subgenre. Ragolia is determined to change this, or at least do his part by providing an outlet for marginalized voices, but he refuses to do so in a tokenizing way.
“I’m repulsed any time I’ve worked anywhere and heard people talk about some kind of quota or checklist for diversity,” he admits. “I think the point is making space and being intersectional and welcoming. For example, I didn’t go, ‘I’m going to reach out to the 10 white guys I know who read science fiction and ask them to write a book for us to put out. We’ve always been about new voices, and that way, we meet so many amazing people. We find out about new stories and other peoples’ experiences, which is so important in writing.
In addition to not intentionally trying to check boxes, Ragolia says the process of telling expansive stories happened organically. By publishing diverse writers he discovered and appreciated, more marginalized voices started being drawn to Spaceboy. He has put out my queer short story collection, a Black author’s perspective on the future, a woman-written take on space travel, books that could easily have gotten overlooked without his efforts.
“Our initial intention was, we knew people who were writing really interesting science-fiction stories, and we just saw there wasn’t a place for those stories necessarily. There wasn’t room in this very insular environment with Tor and the other big, sci-fi book publishers. So we were like, ‘Well, let’s give the weird and wonderful an opportunity.’”
But don’t mistake all this for color-blindness. Ragolia is well aware of the positive impact he can have as a white, male ally publishing books.
“I’ve stopped caring, not in the sense of a conservative way where I ‘don’t see race,’ but more like feeling like we can be better when everyone is fully together. By mixing and not being segregated, that’s how we become the best people and have the most honest and real experiences. The beauty of science fiction has always been that it allows for us to confront the realities of now through the lense of something that makes it seem safer. It puts a narrative lens between you and what’s actually happening, because a lot of sci-fi is about civil rights, the environment, the government, dystopian society. So, it would be stupid and wrong not to voraciously welcome all sorts of ideas and stories because that’s honestly the only thing we’ve got; it’s the essence of so-called American innovation.”
“Every publisher should be seaking the best possible stuff anytime,” he adds. “So many stories have already been told, and we’re living in a world where everything is franchised out to the point that the same story is told again and again. I think it’s about telling the most honest story; just write your story the way you want it to go because that’s what’s important.”
Look out for more books to be published in 2022, and to be considered for publication, email readspaceboy@gmail.com.
