In the weeks since the new admin team has come on board, we have made some major decisions about our debut group, why it exists, and what it should look like moving forward. We believe that the real value of our group is in the support and guidance its members can give one another, and want to focus on how we can more effectively do that work, particularly when it comes to supporting marginalized voices. We have also seen that using the group as a promotional platform can become problematic, as there is no way to evaluate each of these books for potentially harmful content. Thus, we will be eliminating most public functions of the group (Instagram, Facebook, etc.) with the exception of Twitter, which we feel necessary to keep open, though not active, for transparency and accountability. We will also be overhauling this WordPress site and eliminating much of the content, though we will keep a list of our authors, their books, covers, Twitter/website/Facebook page info etc. as a matter of record and transparency.
To reflect the extent to which we are transforming the functions and priorities of our group, we will no longer be the Swanky 17s but simply the 2017 Debuts. Our authors will be using this hashtag (#2017debuts) to find one another on Twitter, and if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us at 2017debuts@gmail.com.
the swanky seventeens 