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For Karen… And the Future!

…hope this helps, girlfriend.

Racism In Publishing, How Does It Affect You?

Are you an African American author who’s been published for at least one year? If so Karen Scott wants to hear from you.

She’s conducting a survey based on the racism within the publishing industry, and whether or not it’s as prevalent as some believe. She’s looking for black or African American authors who have been published for at least one year.

She would like to know about your specific experiences within the industry thus far. She wants to know how AA authors feel about the current shelving policies, and niche marketing. She wants to know who you feel is to blame for the problems that you face. She also wants your suggestions on how things can be improved upon.

In all, there are twenty questions in the survey, and all that she asks is that people be as honest as possible. Confidentiality is assured if requested, but for the findings to yield more weight, she would request that she be granted permission to directly quote from the answers given by the authors.

She’s hoping to poll at least 100 AA authors, in an effort to ensure that a fair representation is achieved.

If enough authors agree to partcipate, (and depending on the findings) the results may well be sent to representatives within media and press. No promises that Oprah will hear about it, but all efforts will be made to get the message out.

If there are AA authors out there interested in particpiating in this poll, please e-mail Karen at hairylemony @ gmail. com (without the spaces) with the subject header ‘Please send me the survey’.

The deadline for the survey to be completed and returned to Karen is March 1st 2007

This entry was posted on Monday, February 5th, 2007 at 8:15 am and is filed under Et Cetera, Promo & Pimpage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

8 Responses to “For Karen… And the Future!”

  1. rhian
    Posted: Feb 5th, 2007 at 8:39 am
    1

    Since i work extensively with the African American Art Community here i have a list of local authors that are published and will send it on to Karen. And you’re absolutely correct IMO that there is only a tiny percentage published. I’m just not sure if that’s because there is a less ratio of writers or if its publishing discrimination. I HAVE noticed a signifcant jump in the number of AA romance authors being published in the last 12 months.

  2. Karen Scott
    Posted: Feb 5th, 2007 at 8:50 am
    2

    Thanks Biatch!

  3. shuzluva
    Posted: Feb 5th, 2007 at 9:36 am
    3

    Karen, way to turn a conflagration into something that might be useful and insightful!

  4. December Quinn
    Posted: Feb 5th, 2007 at 11:16 am
    4

    Karen, would you like me to post this on the Absolute Write forums?

  5. bam
    Posted: Feb 5th, 2007 at 11:23 am
    5

    Yes. Yes she would. Thanks, December.

  6. Karen Scott
    Posted: Feb 5th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
    6

    Yes please December!

  7. December Quinn
    Posted: Feb 5th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
    7

    Posted!

  8. dl
    Posted: Feb 6th, 2007 at 8:57 am
    8

    Not an author, but have a rant. Really hate how some bookstores get all PC and rack books by race instead of content. I seriously looked for a particular book for weeks at Borders before discovering the author was black and her stuff was shelved seperately. I couldn’t buy the product because I couldn’t find it, and the author lost potential sales because she was not shelved with the rest of the romance titles… but “showcased” in the black authors section. Why do I have to know the race of a good author before I can find their books in the store? IMO attempting to do something special for them in this manner is actually hurting them.

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