Leg Iron Books had better watch its step.
In December 2015, British publishing stood accused of woeful blindness to diversity, and not for the first time, after World Book Night (WBN) announced its titles, and none of the 15 books was by a writer of colour. An apology was issued by organisers but a wider malaise had already set in, and along with it, the troubling feeling that WBN’s oversight was less an isolated incident and more a recurring pattern of exclusion that stretched across the literary establishment.
Here we go again… If books are worth reading, people will read them. As for the publishing industry rejecting writers of colour, I would suggest that they also reject an awful lot of submissions from white authors too as established authors will confirm, having had many rejections before they finally got past the gatekeepers. Those gatekeepers are interested in what will sell, not the background of the author. They are however, over conservative as they frequently reject what subsequently becomes a best seller for a rival house.
A report on the state of the books industry had been published earlier that year by the development agency Spread the Word, which drew attention to how intransigently white, middle-class (and further up the ladder, male) it remained, from literary festivals and prizes to publications and personnel.
To which I would say “so what?” If a book is worth reading, it is worth reading. The skin colour and sex of the author is irrelevant and there should be no reporting or attempts to force the issue. And I will certainly not be reading this pile of racist dross. Do they expect to force the book buying public to buy a book just because the author is black – regardless of the quality of the product? Good luck with that one.
These days, the gate keepers can be bypassed – as Leggy is doing with his small publishing business. Likewise there are online platforms such as Inkitt where people can submit manuscripts. No one gives a fuck about the colour of the author’s skin. Indeed, the only people who do care are the professional racists at the Guardian.
“and none of the 15 books was by a writer of colour” And? Stories should be judged on their own individual merits, not by the colour of the writer’s skin.
‘Apologising’ like this is just raaaaaacist. There, I’ve said it too.
Quite so. The more they whinge and complain the less my sympathy.
I, like I suspect 99.99% of the reading public, have never even stopped to wonder what colour the author of the book I’m reading is. It’s a complete irrelevancy. The reality of the situation is that good authors who happen to be white by far outnumber good authors who happen to be black. I’m sure that if there was a sudden torrent of excellent books from black writers, the publishers would publish them. Publishers don’t give a damn about the author’s colour; all they care about is whether or not it will sell.
This business of ‘Positive Discrimination’ is just a race to the bottom, and does nobody any favours. And I’m damn sure that if I was rewarded in some way just because I was from some minority / ethnic group, that reward would have no real value at all. It’s a stupidity which will cost us all.
I wonder how many white authors get published in China. Or Egypt.
I read “a brief history of seven killings” written by a man of colour and award winning. It was utter crap and virtually unreadable.
I read the Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. Pile of poo.
do people still read books?
I’m not quite sure exactly how our Leggy could possibly be expected to know what colour all/any of his authors are, as he conducts pretty much all of his business via the Internet and, I suspect, has actually met very few of them in person. Probably goes for a lot of publishers in this Internet age. In any case, if “diversity” becomes the “obligatory thing” for publishers, wouldn’t some authors simply write under a deliberately-ethnic “pen name” if they thought it would improve their chances of getting their book published? After all, didn’t that chap Lobsang Rampa (he of the Astral travelling or some such oddness) turn out to be a bricklayer from Solihull or something?
That’s pretty much my underlying point here. Publishers have no way of knowing and have no reason to care.
A plumber from the West Country, actually.
What these talentless nomarks probably want in the first instance is approved reading lists in schools.
I held my nose and followed the link and while they don’t actually say that, based on past form for this sort of thing its the obvious next demand.
But its not just talent, its subject matter. I’d rather read a badly written novel with an orignal and interesting plot than a well written novel with a boring and formulaic one.
And I can imagine what they would want to foist on us. I doubt if even Shakespeare could make their whiney, self indulgent, politically obsessed white hating shite appealing. And it would have the added bonus that you would be made to know that the author wasn’t white.
i personally cant wait for positive discrimination to come my way as i am in a small minority group that daily suffers from racism, sexism, and others isms that i dont even know the name of yet.
I’m white hetero able bodied middle aged male.
I’m thinking of organising a diversity week to embrace what I am. I was thinking of calling it WHAM week.
I never thought about it before, but weren’t both the Bible and the Koran written by “persons of colour”?
Doesn’t count because reasons.