Helen Garnons-Williams, Publishing Director at 4th Estate, has bought SLAY IN YOUR LANE: The Black Girl Bible by Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinene, in a hotly-contested auction involving nine publishers, from Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedmann Agency. Rights secured are British Commonwealth excl. Canada. Publication is scheduled for Spring, 2018.
SLAY IN YOUR LANE is a guide to life for a generation of black British women inspired to make Lemonade out of lemons, à la Beyonce. Filling a keenly-felt void in books focused on their experiences, SLAY IN YOUR LANE touches on work, dating, representation, education and health, and takes a look at how being black and female affects each of these areas - as told by a bevy of successful black women. It’s about recognising and celebrating the strides black British women have already made, whilst inspiring those who want to do the same and challenging complacency and status quo to forge a better, visible future.
Infectiously smart, funny and furious, Yomi and Elizabeth are part of an ongoing conversation online about the recent crop of inspirational books, and the women that write them. For them, the question is: where is our voice? Between Sandberg's Lean In and Amoruso's #GirlBoss, what is out there for black British women trying to navigate their formative years in a world in which they're largely sidelined?
SLAY IN YOUR LANE is the answer. Yomi and Elizabeth jump into the conversation on behalf of their friends and themselves, tackling issues unique to being young, female and black. From 25 year-old beauty entrepreneur Florence Adepoju to BAFTA award-winning director Amma Asante, they have tracked down successful black British women across a variety of industries, and have interviewed them throughout the book, pulling them into the spotlight alongside their own experiences. Yomi and Elizabeth hope to highlight the stories of some of the country’s most accomplished and yet simultaneously underrepresented women.
The idea is to build a bright and brilliant campaign around SLAY IN YOUR LANE, utilising regular media, social media platforms (#SIYL), and spreading the word via the women involved. A call to action for black British women, the book not only aims to motivate and galvanise them but to inspire and enlighten all to the reality of their experiences.
Yomi and Elizabeth are well aware that black women may have been confined to a proverbial lane. But that doesn’t mean they won’t slay in and outside of it.
Twitter: @slayinyourlane