Semi-author-ized L.J. on Nostr: "[T]he sea change that almost was: the unprecedented demographic shift in the ...

"[T]he sea change that almost was: the unprecedented demographic shift in the decreased proportion of fiction published by white authors versus the increase in books by racialized authors in the past five years. But, they note, we are now seeing a rollback of those historic gains, in high-profile firings of prominent editors of colour and disavowal of the 'diverse' titles they championed. A commonly cited reason for this backlash is that the books didn’t do as well as hoped. But, as So and Sinykin point out, the prophecy that 'diversity doesn’t sell' is self-fulfilling—across imprints, there was a failure to throw serious marketing, publicity, and sales resources behind such books despite their eager acquisition. These writers were set up to fail."

- Tajja Isen, The Hidden #Racism of Book Cover Design https://thewalrus.ca/the-hidden-racism-of-book-cover-design/ #publishing #bookstodon