The Em Dash #23
Publishing is white as fuck.
I’m coming in hot this week, Friend!
So I say it again: Publishing is white as fuck. Yeah, the industry is working on it, but we’ve got a LONG way to go.
In 2019, Lee & Low published the results of their Diversity Baseline Survey. (The 2023 survey results are not yet available, but I’m eagerly waiting!) The stat I found most baffling?
Editorial departments were 85% white.
Like, seriously?!
Some publishers, like Penguin Random House, are trying to diversify (as seen by their 2023 U.S. DEI Report), but let’s be real: There are DECADES of systemic racism to battle here.
You may wonder why this even matters, First name / Friend, and it comes down to this:
A lot of editors in traditional publishing won’t “champion a book that’s well written and has a defined audience” if they can’t personally relate to it. (PEN America, 2022)
So if editorial departments are 85% white, where does that leave us? With lots of BIPOC stories untold.
(And I’m not just talking about stories of our struggles or trauma, either. Those matter, but we’re also allowed to simply exist and tell “normal” stories, too. 😠)
Look, we can’t fix the white people who don’t want to uplift us, but we CAN let the industry know that authors of color are in demand, and diverse books do, indeed, sell.
The simplest yet still effective thing to do is buy books by authors of color to send the message that we want more! (Capitalism, man. We vote with our dollars. 🙃)
Another thing you can do?
✨Become an author of color✨
I know, I know—easier said than done. But guess what? You don’t have to do it alone.
My optimistic brain tells me the demand for books authored by writers of color will grow and grow, so we need people like YOU to write them.
(And allow me to break the fourth wall here and acknowledge my email service provider doesn’t tell me your race or let me customize emails based on that (thankfully!), so you may be white. But if you’re here, you’re at least an ally, so we continue!)
I repeat: You don’t have to write your book alone! There is nothing I would love more than to help you get super clear and confident on your book idea and come up with a plan to go from *idea* to *actual* book.
In fact, I take my coaching clients through a framework literally named “The Clear, Confident Writer Framework.”
I’ll talk more about my framework (and how it can help you) next week, but if you want to learn more now, just click this link to schedule a call and we’ll chat about it!
Books!
These were some of the recommendations I got recently—I haven’t read them yet, but they’ve been added to my ever-growing TBR. 😅
Raybearer - Jordan Ifueko
The Race Ahead: Overcoming Racial Bias by Rewiring the American Mind - Dr. J. Bruce Stewart (this one is soooo intriguing to me; this is actually an amazon link)
Family Lore - Elizabeth Acevedo
Note: These are bookshop.org affiliate links
Thanks for being here, Friend!
See ya next week. :)
P.S. If you found this useful, forward it to a writing friend! They can subscribe and be part of the cool kids club, too. 😎
