Beautifully Made Woman - BMW | October 2020 Issue 1

TEA TIME

Writers Questions:

Is The Publishing and Writing Industry Truly Committed To Diversification?

I want to start this article out by saying this is not... and I repeat... this is not a page to highlight the foolishness of the entertainment industries. This is a page to hash out the foolishness that's keeping talented indie artists from reaching their full potential. This includes all indie artists.

Whenever I find a new writing community that offers an opportunity for independent writers, I usually have the same experience. I read some of the stories on the site and I find myself asking the same question.

"How are these people winning award after award for these stories?"

I'm not an author who has worked in the writing community for decades. However, I am a reader who has spent the last thirty-three years reading books in all genres. I love both fiction and nonfiction. I am a truth-seeker, and therefore, I live for facts PERIODT!

I started writing when I was eleven years old. Nobody told me I could or couldn't write. It was just something I wanted to do. Not one person in my family was an author to my knowledge, but I decided that I wanted to write Young Adult (YA) Romance. When I read my first romance, I remember thinking that there were no black people in the stories. It was kind of strange to me because I grew up with a black mother and a white stepdad. In my house, everybody was the same. It didn't matter what color they were.

Of course, over time, I found that my assumptions were sheltered and grossly inaccurate in the world then and today.

Even though I was told how shocked my family was when they read my first hand-written novels at the ripe old age of fourteen, there was no chance that my work would have been published at that time. It is still highly unlikely that my work or the work of millions of talented writers will be published by traditional publishers because the people who make the decisions about publishing aren't interested in minorities.

I believe I have some great stories. I am extremely confident in myself and what I create, but I simply need some more time to develop my craft. Just like anyone else, I could use a little time and work to build up who I am as an author.

Now... I'm not the one to put anyone on front street, but the truth of the matter is... wait for it... the writing industry strives to produce the same old stuff and clone that stuff a hundred million times until they find the next dynamic non-minority thing.

There it is. I said it.

The writing and publishing industry has a well-known history of blocking and denying access to its reader base from minority indie authors.

I said what needs to be said and I'm not taking it back.

They say they want to diversify and then only publish a handful of African/African American/Black, Asian, and a smattering of other minority authors. Those in the position of gatekeepers want nothing to do with changing the status quo. They want to force-feed us a view of romance that is outdated and limited to a select few.

Interracial romance is gaining some attention, but don't hold your breath. Some of the romantic liaisons are still terribly antiquated. My question is, "Where is Urban Romance in all of this?". There are other minorities driven romance plots that I feel really lack support, but Urban Romance is a perfect example of how the publishing industry can't wait to force MINORITIES as far away from their audiences as possible.

The purpose of this article is to bring awareness to what's going on in the writing and publishing industries. This is not an argument because these are facts.

Please share your positive and negative experiences with us and I will select an indie author to feature your writing experience along with what changes you feel need to occur to extend minorities better opportunities in writing. (INLINE)----->x