Hidden Gems: Meet Kameisha Jerae Hodge of Sovereign Noir Publications

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kameisha Jerae Hodge.

Hi Kameisha Jerae, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I had always been a bibliophile, but when I met my mentor back in 2005, I became obsessed with publishing. I fell in love with the editing process when she showed me her behind-the-scenes process of Trey Chaney’s book — especially knowing that he was in HBO’s The Wire. I realized that marketing and branding are important tools for book sales when I accompanied my mentor to her book signings. I also learned that graphic design is instrumental in a good book, too. (Despite what people say, everyone judges a book by its cover.)

Since 2005, I have been experimenting and participating in the book publishing industry. All of that work culminated in the creation of Sovereign Noir Publications, a publishing company that champions Black women writers (and our advocates) worldwide.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
One of the biggest struggles that I experienced was the quick growth of my vision and not truly knowing how to execute it. For example, after our first few clients, I wanted to move on to higher quality, more aesthetically competitive books.

The issue was that our POD (print-on-demand) book distributor that we used completely removed their live chat and phone call features during the pandemic. That, coupled with the increased cost of paper and decrease in printing quality from that distributor, forced me to seriously wrestle with the possibility of having to branch off into book printing on my own. I quickly realized that it was something I was mostly disinterested in, so I went ahead and switched distributors and got a much better printer. It costs a lot more, but it’s just an investment in my authors and our brand in the long run, so it was completely worth it.

A second struggle, but equally worth mentioning, is the difficulty in establishing boundaries with my clients. Because I’m so committed to seeing them through the process and actually seeing success in sales and brand building, I would fall on my sword often. I realized that my excessive flexibility was a huge liability and my boundaries and time actually became more respected than before.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Sovereign Noir Publications is more than just a publishing company; we’re an advocate for Black women writers worldwide.

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, more. We are currently accepting publishing clients, offer on-demand publishing trainings, and invite Black women writers to join our membership group. Learn more at www.sovereignnoir.com!

What matters most to you? Why?
What matters to me the most is creating a sustainable environment for Black women writers in a way that allows me to create better socioeconomic opportunities for my family and the different intersectional communities I am a part of. I see Black women who have lived full lives and want to explore their creativity through writing but are discouraged and are met with unkind criticism. I see little Black girls with few visible role models in the book publishing industry. It’s disheartening. Every single day, it’s an issue. That has to change, and it has to change now. We’re in the era of JuVee Productions, KeyTV, and Cinema South Studios. We are seeing a renaissance with Black women coming into our own and building our own. This is what matters. This has always been what mattered.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sovereignnoir.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesovereignnoir
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesovereignnoir
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/sovereignnoir
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/thesovereignnoir