As I mentioned before, when you’re agitating for change you’ve got to walk with suggestions. So we made our list; we now know that about 50 MG/YA novels by black authors were published in the US this year. Here’s what I’d like you to do NEXT:
- READ THESE BOOKS! I had a lot of help putting together this list and there were many titles I’d never heard of, which is precisely the problem: publishers don’t put much marketing money behind books by writers of color. So now that we know about these books, we need to give them a chance—and if you find a title you like, recommend it! See what else that author may have written. Shine some light on books that are too often left in the dark…
- Go through the list of MG/YA titles and see how many of these are available at your local and/or school library. If these titles aren’t in the system, consider asking your library to acquire them.
- Take the list to your local bookseller—indie or big chain—and see how many of these titles are (or were ever) in stock. Many books by black authors don’t sell well because they never even make it onto the shelf…
- Print out the list and visit your ten favorite book blogs. Scan the archives and see how many MG/YA novels by black authors were featured, mentioned, or reviewed on your favorite blogs. Another challenge black authors face is invisibility in the blogosphere; consider asking your favorite book blogger to add (more) writers of color to their review list.
- The next time you attend a book festival or reading at your local library/bookstore, check to see how many authors of color are included. In 2010, it’s not acceptable for a literary event to exclude authors of color—especially when the exposure could help sales, which would then strip publishers of their excuse that “black books don’t sell.” If you’re a parent, make sure your child’s teachers use a diverse selection of books in the classroom (and not only during various heritage months).
If you have other suggestions, please share them by leaving a comment or taking up this issue on your own blog. Maybe we need our own designated week/month…what I’d really like to see is sustained support for MARGINALIZED WRITERS!
Ok, I’m 300 words shy of the 50K mark, so I gotta get back to my novel-in-progress…
Saving Maddie is available in the Philippines. I’ve been meaning to buy it. Thanks for the reminder, Zetta!!!
That’s great, Tarie! I hope Filipino authors also have access to US markets…
Did you see these links? http://randomactsofreading.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/multicultural-books-in-the-marketplace-if-it%E2%80%99s-a-good-story-people-will-like-it/
http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/shelftalker/?p=242 (selling books about poc)
Thanks for the ideas!
Thanks for these links, Ari! I saw Mitali’s post on the conversation, but not the Shelftalker post.
I wonder if pre-ordering books coming out soon would help? I know during the conversations about Silver Phoenix’s cover change people were encouraged to give the author power and encourage publishers and big chain bookstores to work with Asian authors by pre-ordering the sequel. I think the idea was to show that Cindy Pon’s book with Asian main characters had created a big following and other books by her and other books with Asian main characters coud show they could sell. How much notice do you think publishers and chain booksellers take of the number of pre-ordered books?
Hey, Jodie. This is where it would be really helpful for publishers to SPEAK UP! I don’t know about the impact of pre-orders, but it sounds like a good idea…so long as ARCs go out and get reviewed widely enough for readers to get a sense of the book. Did you see this?
http://www.franceslincoln.co.uk/en-gb/Page/98/Diverse_Voices.html
No I hadn’t seen any news about that award, thanks for the link (and now I want Too Much Trouble, but I can’t buy any more books until next month).
And Doret’s Cybils idea sounds good – seem to remember there was a blog campaign for increasing diversity in the list last year. I’ll have a good think about things to nominate.
Nominate your favorite book for the Cybils. It’s a great way to give it more exposur. From Oct 1 – Oct 15 anyone can vote for this favorite 2010 release.
Great idea, Doret!
[...] compiling the list, and considering how the list breaks-down publisher-wise, she offers “Next Steps” (Sept 26): When you’re agitating for change you’ve got to walk with suggestions. So we [...]
Thanks for compiling this! As a Black nonAmerican, I’d never noticed how being Black affects authors.
[...] he list. And I think we should revisit some of Zetta’s ideas for action: [...]