Stark Reflections on Writing and Publishing

EP 352 - Being The Hero of Your Own Story With No Margins Agency

Mar 22, 2024

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Mark interviews Katie Nelson, Mari Dietz, and Brandon Winn about No Margins Agency, which offers stock photography of underrepresented and marginalized people.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update, and then plays a few words about this episode's sponsor.

No Margins Agency offers stock photography of underrepresented and marginalized people, because everyone deserves to be the hero of their own story.

In the interview, Mark, Katie, Mari, and Brandon talk about:

Katie's background writing when young, then getting back into writing science fiction with queer characters later in life shortly after reading a traditionally published book that disappointed her
Meeting Mari at a conference in Fort Collins, Colorado and being introduced to Superstars Writing Seminars a little later
How Mari has wanted to write her whole life, and the way her mom used to type out her poems when she was very young and post them on cupboards and elsewhere in the house
Stopping writing for a while, but then picking it up again in 2011, with a focus on writing fiction that featured plus-size people
Brandon feeling isolated during the pandemic along with feeling like his voice and wanting to see characters that were more representative of his own experiences
Being aghast at what was available in typical stock image sites when searching for "plus size" models for example
The often overlooked value of having to meet people where they're at, rather than assuming everyone is in the same place. A rising tide can only float all boats if people are in boats to begin with
How not everyone has a visible marginalization or disability
Getting in contact with them via hello@nomarginsagency.com
Allowing models to bring and wear things that they are comfortable with and to be free with who they are
The unofficial mantra of the company being "take up as much space as you want"
How the galleries on their website is broken down
One of the biggest challenges is convincing people that they don't have to have the confidence or "look" of a "model" in order to model for No Margins Agency
Scheduling a photoshoot when they're together in Colorado Springs in Feb 2024 at Superstars Writing Seminars
How they are starting to do reviews of books by more diverse and marginalized authors
The way they are managing the overhead costs by doing things like scheduling only a single photo shoot per month
The value and importance of finding the right community that can be there for you and support you
And more . . .

After the interview Mark shares a reflection about how this type of supportive community inspires him. He also makes an offer to listeners of the podcast (thanks to the help of those who support this podcast at patreon.com/starkreflections) with some of the services that No Margins Agency provides.

Links of Interest:

No Margins Agency is a company dedicated to helping marginalized people reach their audience, tell their stories, and drive sales.

The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast (“Laser Groove”) was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of www.incompetech.com and is Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0