Tayari's Blog: Race and Publishing... again
Posted by TayariJones on August 26, 2007 07:42 PM
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Current Events
James Hannaham's recent article in TimeOut New York about race and publishing is the most interesting article on the subject that I have read to date. The piece starts with the fact that hardly anyone working in publishing is willing to talk about this matter on the record.
The article suggests that in addition to the racial issue, socio-economic class factors in heavily. After all, the salaries in publishing are so low, that you have to have money already to afford to work there. And then, there is the connections issue. Entry level jobs are usually filled by candidates who already know someone in the industry which perpetuates a culture of exclusion.
The next point was really shocking. It wasn't that I was shocked by the idea itself, as it had crossed my mind already, but I was shocked that it actually appeared in a mainstream publication:
Nevertheless, if the strings are generally pulled by whites, that creates a more complicated problem. “Invariably,” says Craig, “a black-themed book will come up for consideration, and there won’t be anyone of color to put in an opinion, or there’ll be one, who shouldn’t bear the burden alone. So we all pretend we’re experts. Maybe I’m the only one who’s embarrassed by that.” The end result of such roundtables, one can only fear, could be that the only books depicting people of color that get published are those that do not challenge white assumptions.
My only complaint with the article was on the matter of audiences for literature by people of color. Hannaham doesn't challenge the assumption that literature by people of color is to be read only by audiences of color. Take this quote from an industry official:
“There is a way to make money on books directed at people of color, [italics added] but you need to know how to publish them successfully. If someone has the energy and knowledge, they can do it. But you have to reinvent your machine.”
I can't help by wonder why it has failed to occur to the executives (or the author of the article) that the real way to make money off of books by writers of color is to figure out how sell them to everyone.
Or is that, (to quote another industry type), too "Pollyanna-ish"?
(via galleycat)
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There are 5 comments on "Race and Publishing... again". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.
Comment #1, by Tara Betts ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tayarijones.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
I have to admit that this is getting to the heart of the matter. No one is going to take books by writers of color seriously until the books are treated differently by a new wave of editors and publishers who make well-informed and thoughtful decisions that are at least a little different from the wealthy ilk of publishing's past. It's just unfortunate that we still have to discuss this still.
August 26, 2007 10:07 PM
Comment #2, by tulipsforjen
Tayari,
This is completely unrelated to the above post. :) I just wanted to say I greatly enjoyed "the Untelling" and even wrote a glowing review on Amazon.
My comment is about the cover art. I picked up "Leaving Atlanta" because I liked the graphics on the cover--shallow and silly, I very well know. As much as I loved the Untelling, I only read it because I already knew you as a writer I liked. This is not a criticism, but the cover art, I feel, does not do justice to the book. It isn't quite as modern and striking as that of "Leaving Atlanta" That's not really important, of course, since what matters is the writing. But I wonder if shallow readers like me won't miss out on a great book because of it.
Just a thought!
Again, I loved your book.
August 27, 2007 12:20 AM
Comment #3, by minaj
The phrase, "There is a way to make money directed at people of color" literally sent a chill up my spine. I am very afraid that the chosen method is - you guessed it - Urban Lit. As long as the only viewpoint in publishing is making money from a Black audience, we're going to get the same old themes over and over again. I am at a loss to understand why the publishing industry does not look at the Black community as diverse and, by the same token, give the wider American reading public credit for being able to appreciate a wide variety of authors from many ethnic backgrounds. There is certainly nothing about your books that could not be appreciated by anyone who enjoys good literary fiction, especially the large number of readers who love coming-of-age stories. I was very disturbed when I looked at the list of authors participating in this year's Decatur (GA, for you non-Atlantans) Book Festival. African-American fiction writers are almost nonexistent in the lineup. Last year, they had you, Ed Jones, Anthony Grooms, Pearl Cleage, Lisa Teasley, Tina Mcelroy Ansa, and probably a few Black fiction authors I'm forgetting. This year, unless I missed someone, Tina Ansa is it! Of course, there are a few other Black authors - Natasha Trethaway, most notably - but where are the literary fiction writers? The authors who participated last year drew a diverse audience; their books appealed to a wide variety of readers. I'm just hoping that this is an off year. Have things deteriorated this much in the publishing industry?
August 27, 2007 12:17 PM
Comment #4, by carleen
Oy. I've got a book coming out in February and so far it seems my publisher and I are on the same page that though it's a book written by a black woman featuring black women, it's not ONLY for black women. We'll see....
Re: the cover of The Untelling. I like it. I even sent it to my publisher as an example. Different strokes. :-)
August 27, 2007 05:43 PM
Comment #5, by carleen
One other thing: Trustafarians running the publishing industry explains a LOT about why it's run the way it's run. As much as I personally am not about urban lit, those folks know how to hustle and they're not afraid to try something new!
August 27, 2007 05:47 PM