glad to also be part of that 3-4% of Latinx reviewers, though frankly I'm very disturbed at how low that number is.
something Roxane Gay tweeted years ago made me realize I'd only been solicited to review other Latinx writers until very recently-- I'm curious if that's your experience, too.
thanks for this post and your honesty about publishing!
I like this! I love Stephen Graham's books. He is a great writer. I also want to add that I hope people who are neurodivergent, have autism and ADHD also feel confident enough to publish books. As someone who is neurodivergent myself, and was once told I would never be able to read. I have overcome so many hurdles to get my writing published. I don't cry doing homework anymore but I remember those days. I hope that those who are autistic or have ADHD are not shadowed or forgotten or overlooked. I hope that them like me are also becoming successful in writing and publishing. We deserve some recognition too. I hope things get better and that there is more understanding because there really needs to be.
I think this is kind of simplistic. When 90% of publishers and agents have diversity statements on their websites saying they are seeking bipoc LGBTQIA etc etc authors that right there is evidence that they are prejudiced against writers who are not those things. I do agree that some of this is a result of people reading more widely, but there's also an anti straight white male bias being exuded, which you can see by just looking at last year's debuts, who won what awards, etc. What's really ruining publishing though is self-publishing and genre fiction. Since there are fewer filters now between writers and their audiences the quality of the work being published has really suffered.
Been researching and teaching diversity in publishing for a decade and “there's also an anti straight white male bias being exuded” is a stupid thing white male authors who can’t get an agent have been saying for the last five years with zero evidence. When confronted with numbers (percentages, Lee & Low’s baseline survey, etc), they ignore the facts or go complain elsewhere.
I think it says a lot that when I offer up my own experience you insinuate that I’m “stupid” and “can’t get published” and you refuse to take the experience of white authors seriously. I think you’re demonstrating your anti white bias right now so thanks. I in no way used my comment to demean you.
Have you tried to get an agent to speak up for you? Publishers hardly ever want to work with a writer directly because we just complicate things. Plus, as a writer it should be your duty to raise everyone else’s voices before your own
Conflating publisher employee demographics (Lee & Low 2023 = 20% male) with agent selection preferences, author debuts / award success and book character attributes demonstrates either a lack of understanding of the data and/or poor application of statistics. The paucity of young male author representation, particularly from lower sociodemographic cohorts, has been regularly remarked on for over a decade by press and commentators. The disparate male/female ratio is a pervasive and obvious issue throughout publishing and authoring, with little attempt at correction through internship selection (as has been the case with STEM industries), and is even a cause for celebration in some quarters. But perhaps recognising these particular facts requires a wider observational lens, with correction of the obvious selection and observational biases on display. (P.S. I'm at least 3 standard deviations from stupid.)
If there wasn’t a bias there would be no need for those kinds of diversity statements. Work would be published based on merit. But okay, give me the percentages and numbers that prove your point.
Thank you for this. I read a piece by a woman writer yesterday that made me bristle with rage: according to her, the ‘woke agenda’ is ruining publishing and our children are being brainwashed to boot (she didn’t spell out exactly what by, but reading between the lines, it seems she believes the existence of books for children that feature non white protagonists, people who aren’t straight, or just, well, feelings, are to blame for the world’s ills). That a woman would write this shouldn’t be a surprise to me given, well, everything, but it still saddened me. We’re not too far out from women having to write under men’s names or anonymous to get published at all. It is particularly gross to me that a woman would act as amplifier for these ‘white men are really the most oppressed group’ type narratives. It’s sad to see, too, this argument being lobbed at you in these comments from individuals whose experience in the rigorous study of diversity within publishing cannot ever equal yours. There’s a refusal amongst large groups of people to listen to expertise and evidence, and interestingly, they often like to cry that they have ‘evidence’ to support their ‘reverse racism/ sexism’ type arguments, only to inevitably fail to produce said evidence or produce any ‘evidence’ that doesn’t come from a hard-right opinion piece. Thank you again for this.
Here's my question: how do you feel about a white person creating characters of color, gender fluid, LGBTQ+ et al and having them live in my stories? I'm not asking for permission, I'm asking how you feel about it.
I know you love to drop “Well, actually…” comments and be the “but what about this idea?” guy, but this is just stupid. As of 2023, House Republicans had embedded at least 45 anti-LGBTQ+ provisions into must-pass funding bills just for the fun of it.
But Gabino this is just opinion. It's not fact. None of the congressmen would say they're ant-LGBTQ, or call their legislative efforts ant-LGBTQ. All would have some kind of argument, and would take great exception to accusations like this. But for partisans, of course, this doesn't matter. Their goal is to caricature and demean. It's all about winning, and that's what LGBTQ spells for them.
Nah. They anti just for being there. When you have one nazi at a dinner table of 10 people you got a party of 10. You can’t tolerate that. Us partisans gotta stand up for one another otherwise we fall one by one underneath a boot.
Doing my little part by getting my husband to read female writers :) - No kidding, it's hard!
What's hard? Just make him do it. That's what my spouse does : )
Ahahah... I believe in gentle persuasion, it lasts longer!
🏳️🌈 proud and striving for excellence.
glad to also be part of that 3-4% of Latinx reviewers, though frankly I'm very disturbed at how low that number is.
something Roxane Gay tweeted years ago made me realize I'd only been solicited to review other Latinx writers until very recently-- I'm curious if that's your experience, too.
thanks for this post and your honesty about publishing!
I like this! I love Stephen Graham's books. He is a great writer. I also want to add that I hope people who are neurodivergent, have autism and ADHD also feel confident enough to publish books. As someone who is neurodivergent myself, and was once told I would never be able to read. I have overcome so many hurdles to get my writing published. I don't cry doing homework anymore but I remember those days. I hope that those who are autistic or have ADHD are not shadowed or forgotten or overlooked. I hope that them like me are also becoming successful in writing and publishing. We deserve some recognition too. I hope things get better and that there is more understanding because there really needs to be.
🖤❤️💖🧚 love this so much!
Excellent!
I think this is kind of simplistic. When 90% of publishers and agents have diversity statements on their websites saying they are seeking bipoc LGBTQIA etc etc authors that right there is evidence that they are prejudiced against writers who are not those things. I do agree that some of this is a result of people reading more widely, but there's also an anti straight white male bias being exuded, which you can see by just looking at last year's debuts, who won what awards, etc. What's really ruining publishing though is self-publishing and genre fiction. Since there are fewer filters now between writers and their audiences the quality of the work being published has really suffered.
Been researching and teaching diversity in publishing for a decade and “there's also an anti straight white male bias being exuded” is a stupid thing white male authors who can’t get an agent have been saying for the last five years with zero evidence. When confronted with numbers (percentages, Lee & Low’s baseline survey, etc), they ignore the facts or go complain elsewhere.
I think it says a lot that when I offer up my own experience you insinuate that I’m “stupid” and “can’t get published” and you refuse to take the experience of white authors seriously. I think you’re demonstrating your anti white bias right now so thanks. I in no way used my comment to demean you.
Have you tried to get an agent to speak up for you? Publishers hardly ever want to work with a writer directly because we just complicate things. Plus, as a writer it should be your duty to raise everyone else’s voices before your own
Conflating publisher employee demographics (Lee & Low 2023 = 20% male) with agent selection preferences, author debuts / award success and book character attributes demonstrates either a lack of understanding of the data and/or poor application of statistics. The paucity of young male author representation, particularly from lower sociodemographic cohorts, has been regularly remarked on for over a decade by press and commentators. The disparate male/female ratio is a pervasive and obvious issue throughout publishing and authoring, with little attempt at correction through internship selection (as has been the case with STEM industries), and is even a cause for celebration in some quarters. But perhaps recognising these particular facts requires a wider observational lens, with correction of the obvious selection and observational biases on display. (P.S. I'm at least 3 standard deviations from stupid.)
Here’s a non white author saying the same thing since skin color is what matters to you. https://open.substack.com/pub/bariweiss/p/the-fight-for-the-future-of-publishing?r=g4gju&utm_medium=ios
If there wasn’t a bias there would be no need for those kinds of diversity statements. Work would be published based on merit. But okay, give me the percentages and numbers that prove your point.
Thank you for this. I read a piece by a woman writer yesterday that made me bristle with rage: according to her, the ‘woke agenda’ is ruining publishing and our children are being brainwashed to boot (she didn’t spell out exactly what by, but reading between the lines, it seems she believes the existence of books for children that feature non white protagonists, people who aren’t straight, or just, well, feelings, are to blame for the world’s ills). That a woman would write this shouldn’t be a surprise to me given, well, everything, but it still saddened me. We’re not too far out from women having to write under men’s names or anonymous to get published at all. It is particularly gross to me that a woman would act as amplifier for these ‘white men are really the most oppressed group’ type narratives. It’s sad to see, too, this argument being lobbed at you in these comments from individuals whose experience in the rigorous study of diversity within publishing cannot ever equal yours. There’s a refusal amongst large groups of people to listen to expertise and evidence, and interestingly, they often like to cry that they have ‘evidence’ to support their ‘reverse racism/ sexism’ type arguments, only to inevitably fail to produce said evidence or produce any ‘evidence’ that doesn’t come from a hard-right opinion piece. Thank you again for this.
heh. this is rather long, but… i put it up today, and damn if the ai i ‘worked’ with in the writing didn’t do lots of heavy lifting:
https://omnivoresalmanac.substack.com/p/run-the-scam?r=3ri9c1
shouldn’t that be in the past tense? not to nitpick
Loved this thanks for sharing
Here's my question: how do you feel about a white person creating characters of color, gender fluid, LGBTQ+ et al and having them live in my stories? I'm not asking for permission, I'm asking how you feel about it.
Dems politicized a non-partisan movement. They said the LGBTQ was under attack by the right. Republicans are overwhelmingly pro-LGBTQ. but no matter.
I know you love to drop “Well, actually…” comments and be the “but what about this idea?” guy, but this is just stupid. As of 2023, House Republicans had embedded at least 45 anti-LGBTQ+ provisions into must-pass funding bills just for the fun of it.
But Gabino this is just opinion. It's not fact. None of the congressmen would say they're ant-LGBTQ, or call their legislative efforts ant-LGBTQ. All would have some kind of argument, and would take great exception to accusations like this. But for partisans, of course, this doesn't matter. Their goal is to caricature and demean. It's all about winning, and that's what LGBTQ spells for them.
Nah. They anti just for being there. When you have one nazi at a dinner table of 10 people you got a party of 10. You can’t tolerate that. Us partisans gotta stand up for one another otherwise we fall one by one underneath a boot.