Yesterday Entertainment Weekly ran a piece about debut novels with six-figure advances and why publishers are willing to take big financial risks on (relative) literary unknowns. The answer is, among other things, "because they believe they will make even more money later," but the part that really leapt out at me was this:
I trust book buyers to read beyond their immediate experience, beyond their census box. This is what readers have done since literacy became commonplace, so I don’t know why that’s a great leap for our industry today. But I still hear it all the time: “Does this group buy books?” “Is this group enough of an audience?” I hear real fear in that question.
Lee and Low Books, an independent publisher, just released a Diversity Baseline Survey of the publishing industry for 2015, and it's well worth reading.
The First Rule of Romance During the “Bollywood Basics” panel at the 35th annual Romance Writers of America meeting (July 23-26, New York City), Sonali Dev (A Bollywood Affair), Suleikha Snyder (Opening Act), and Nisha Sharma (My So-Called Bollywood Life, forthcoming) play a clip from the 2013 film Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela. A gloriously ripped and shirtless Ranveer Singh, clad in diaphanous pants, smolders at Deepika Padukone as she prowls toward him carrying a steaming goblet. Audience members…
I've loved Alexander Chee's writing for some time, from the powerful essays that served as my introduction to his work to his debut novel, Edinburgh. Chee won a Whiting Award for Edinburgh, and is a recipient of the NEA fellowship in fiction and residencies from the MacDowell Colony, Ledig House, and Civitella Ranieri. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Tin House, Slate, and on NPR. The Toast asked Alexander to talk with us about writing, teaching, changes…
After listening to my radio segment on CBC Here and Now , some commented on the statistics I cited. “You said that 82% of the nominees were white people but I looked it up and the percentage of white people in Canada is 76%. So, really it’s not that bad. They’re pretty close.” I was stunned and a little tired so I let the comment go without a reply. I’d heard similar…
Diversity is a hot topic in publishing right now. Though many have been working toward a more diverse and equitable literary landscape for years, there has been a significant increase in the number and frequency of conversations surrounding the topic in the past few months. Arguably, the tipping point came when independent children’s publisher Lee and Low released their “Diversity in Children’s Books” infographic in June 2013. Based on the report and statistics…
