*Usually I have more "light hearted" posts but I am extremely passionate about this issue and it needs to be talked about more often. The article photo is not related to this post but it was taken and edited by ATheReader.*
Let's Talk About The Publishing Industry
The entire time I've been part of the book community I have been consciously making sure that I read a diverse selection of books (Not just "The Hate U Give"), and I have also realized the duty a reviewer has to not read from offensive authors. Or more specifically: the duty to not support or defend authors for problematic things that they do. One can read anything that they want, but there has to be an understanding that there are consequences for supporting someone who has caused pain towards certain communities. The more popular a reviewer is, the more people who will listen to their review and even read a book because of them. (This can also apply to popular reviewers.) This is why it is so important to make sure that you are aware of the representation in books that you read.
Recently I have become even more aware of the clear discrimination in the publishing industry and opportunities that many authors don't have access to. As a white person I feel as though I have a higher likelihood of being listened to (sadly) and I want to use my voice to bring more awareness to various issues in the publishing industry. This is probably not going to be the last post I have about it. If you, or a blogger friend, have posted or posts on similar issues please comment/email me with the link to the post and I will add it to the end of my own post.
Now, let's get into it:
Various popular writers are problematic and they span from J.K. Rowling to Sarah J. Maas. Today I am using Jay Kristoff as a magnifying glass to show clear discrimination in the publishing industry because talk about him has brought my attention to this issue. If you don't know already, Jay Kristoff is considered problematic by many people. His depictions of teenage girls, especially Asian teenage girls, are frankly creepy. He hyper sexualizes them and has been known to have cultural appropriation and anti-indigenous themes in his books.
*Disclaimer: I have only read Illuminae by Jay Kristoff .*
Recently he gotten not one, but four special edition ARCs for his new release "Empire of the Vampire". This alone is not the problem (he is even donating money to a charity called Sea Shepard), but the problem is that he, a white man, is using poorly researched Asian culture in his books and is earning thousands of dollars because of it. Many Asian authors have an extremely hard time publishing a single book and yet he is able to have four special editions of his new book with an Asian MC. See my problem here?
If you don't, here is a quick rundown:
A white man is able to use poor representation of an Asian MC and gets all of his books published while an Asian author has a much harder time of getting the attention of publishers. Therefore, there is little to none wide stream Asian rep in books which causes there to be more misconceptions and stereotypes spread around. This is not Jay Kristoff's fault, but he (and other authors) is (are) responsible to have more reliable research when so many people are going to be reading his book with an identity that is different than his own.
This is not saying that writers can't write outside of their experiences. If they couldn't then all books would be nonfiction and extremely boring. What I am saying is that if somebody is going to be writing a book about an identity that is different than their own, they have the responsibility to do their best to include accurate representation. Whether this means doing extensive research or having proof readers, it is pretty essential when it comes to these types of scenarios.
So what does this point out?
This whole scenario shows how split representation is in the publishing industry and how desperately changes need to be made. Everyone deserves to have representation in books for their identities by people who also have that identity. We have a long way to go in society to make sure that everyone is able to stop fighting to see themselves in media, but we can start by talking about these problems. When I say "we" I mean everyone who cares about these issues. Whether you are White, Black, Latinx, Pacific Islander, Asian, or anything in between you have the responsibility to fight for the people around you, even if it doesn't benefit you.(This also relates to LGBTQ+) If you already have representation then you know how great it feels so why don't you let somebody else feel that as well?
On an ending note:
You can like a book, but not agree with the author's actions or words outside of the book. With this being said, you have to take into account how your support of the book could be offensive or wrong and how it could add to the support for that author.
-ATheReader