Now that the oracle has spoken (thanks, Doret!) I’m ready to analyze our data. I should start by saying that I underestimated the publishing industry—sort of. I didn’t think we’d hit 20 titles by black authors in the US and instead we topped 40! Consider, however, that the ALA estimates about 3,000 YA titles are published each year,* which means we’re still less than 2% of the total. Not surprisingly, most presses/imprints only put out ONE black-authored novel this year. Here are the publishers that did a bit better: (ETA ~ these numbers may change as additional titles are added to our list)
Dafina ~ 11
Kimani ~ 7
Scholastic ~ 5
Delacorte ~ 3
Hyperion ~ 3
Bloomsbury ~ 2
Knopf ~ 2
Little Brown ~ 2
Simon Pulse ~ 2
Simon & Schuster ~ 2
Gallery ~ 2
I haven’t read any Dafina titles, but they’re basically responsible for publishing 20% of the novels by black authors. Earlier this evening a very wise librarian friend remarked that it was a shame ALA didn’t care more about this issue; raising awareness about banned books is extremely important, but it’s also important to acknowledge the silenced voices of writers of color who continue to be marginalized within the publishing world…
*my list is fiction only, and the ALA figure may include non-fiction titles.
I’ve never heard of Dafina. I probably have read some of their books and didn’t realize it. This kind of data always makes me want to fall out on the floor and weep. (If I don’t get published maybe I will be an actress!!) It really does make me sad but it also keeps the fire in my belly going to keep working to get not only my voice heard, but others as well. Thanks for keeping us in the know.
It’s good to know what you’re up against, right? but also to know that our writing foremothers faced much worse odds–and they persisted, so we will, too!
That’s sobering. Really useful to have a clear picture of how the data breaks down and to have something concrete to refer to in future conversations about race in publishing. I wonder how the UK figures compare.
Hey, Jodie. I wonder if DIPNET keeps track of UK stats…I did a Canadian version of this a while back and it was even worse…I wish I had confidence in those “future conversations”–seems I’m always preaching to the choir!
I’ve sent them an email just to see if they might have something related. I remember your Canadian version, think that was when I first started following your blog – those numbers were very low.
Wow! Only one per year?! That’s embarrassing.
Hey, Em. It’s pathetic, though my “study” is certainly unscientific. I’d love to HEAR from publishers, but they don’t seem to think they owe anyone a response re: their diversity efforts (or lack thereof).
Yikes! Okay these sort of facts really help to draw a clear picture. This is just YA? (and 3,000 books a year!! sheesh!)
Hi, Amy. I do think there’s a perception that the market is flooded with multicultural titles, so this list was necessary to set the record straight. I re-read the ALA page I cited, and in those 3000 titles they include: “fiction in any genre, nonfiction, poetry, a short story collection, or graphic work.” My list (in the previous blog post) includes everything except non-fiction…
Dafina, the African-American-focused imprint of Kensington Publishing Group, is the principal publisher of YA titles by black authors. Most are in popular fiction genres, such as romance and inspirational, published as original paperbacks. Dafina started about 15 years ago with the mission of publishing popular adult titles by black authors and more recently moved into YA. In fact, many of the YA titles are written by authors who used to write only for adults. We’ve reviewed quite a few of these books in MultiCultural Review over the years.
Hey, Lyn. Do you think larger houses reject Dafina’s “popular” titles in hopes of winning a CSK (which requires that black characters be “noble” rather than “real”)?
That is a stunningly small number Thanks Zetta, and Doret, for the data.
Doret and I were so thoroughly discouraged we gave up on our efforts to come up with nonfiction titles–five or so, not enough to make a difference in the overall picture…
Zetta,
The Cooperative Center for Children’s Books at the University of Wisconsin keeps stats on an annual basis.
I’m behind on putting stats up for books by American Indian writers in 2009. Here’s the info for 2008:
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2009/04/books-by-and-about-american-indians.html
Do follow the link to CCBC’s webpage. You’ll find stats on African American writers there, too.
Hey, Debbie. Whenever I do a school visit I ask kids to guess how many books are published each year, and what percentage of those are written by black authors…they guess 60, 80, or 90% and then gasp in amazement when I say less than 2%. I then tell them that the stats are even worse for Asians, Latinos, and Native Americans. More books about us than BY us.
I feel like I cite the CCBC stats endlessly, but they’re a little confusing b/c authors and illustrators are grouped together. And since black illustrators generally only work on books by black authors, I’m not sure if one book is being counted twice…at any rate, I wanted a clearer breakdown, though after doing MG/YA novels for one year, I was ready to throw in the towel. On the upside, I did get an invite from the Tennessee Humanities Council; apparently the NEH has decided to tackle diversity in publishing at their November conference, so maybe our protests are reaching the right ears…
This really stunned me. I had no idea things were this bad. Now that I think about it, in the bookstores and libraries I tend to see the same “classic” black YA/MG titles over and over. I’m glad you opened my eyes to this! Now I feel even more respect for contemporary African-American YA/MG writers like Kekla Magoon and A.C. Britt. The next time I hear a writer complaining that if s/he were a member of a minority group it would be easier to get published, I can hand them a slice of reality.
Hey, Nora. You’re right–getting published is hard for most writers, but some of us face particular challenges that most folks simply don’t recognize…it’s especially challenging when members of the dominant group then want access to book awards reserved for marginalized writers! so much work to do…
Another reminder to work harder. We can help change this, ladies!
Thanks for your encouragement, Tarie–it’s much needed!
Zetta, thanks for presenting the facts. Dafina launched their YA line back in late 2006 the same time that Kimani Tru launched. I had high hopes that even with just those two in the game the number of YA with p.o.c. would increase, but it hasn’t significantly. And, truthfully speaking, a lot of the YA out there featuring p.o.c. are starting to fit into a very narrow box. So even the representation isn’t as broad as the population. Just one battle after another. But we’ve got to keep pounding this issue home!
You’re right, Paula. I don’t want to dismiss the “quality versus quantity” debate b/c it *does* matter; we don’t just want more books, we want a wider range of stories that reflect the varied realities of young readers. Still, if Dafina tapped adult writers to produce books for teens, I have to wonder why other publishers haven’t tried that, too…
[...] estimated by the American Library Association), only 60 or so were written by black authors. Zetta Elliot has provided a list of publishers who have released more than one title written by a black author [...]
[...] 2010, 41 (or 1.4% ) of the YA Books published, out of the approx. 3000 published, were written by black authors. The situation is even more [...]
[...] 2010, only 102 out of approximately 3,000* (or 3.4% ) of Children’s Books published, were written by black authors. Asian & Asian-Pacific authors saw only 60 titles published [...]