Here We Go Again

In a blog I follow, Editorial Anonymous, the post for today commented on the odd cover Bloomsbury selected for a book for one of its authors. The problem is this. The protagonist in the book, Liar, is clearly described as an African American and the cover that was selected depicted a person that was NOT. Needless to say I had to comment.

There can be no mistaking the position that Editorial Anonymous is taking and I applaud him/her. While the choice of cover this house has made is quite an affront to me and those like me, it is refreshing to see that it offends more than people of color. One must ask, should an author of color create characters that represent themselves or are they better off (with respect to getting published) creating characters that represent the majority group? And, if things are to change, who are the ones responsible for that change?

I have always believed that if I want something to be different then I must do that something differently. Yet in doing this am I shooting myself in the foot with regards to my career as a writer? The risk is a large one, regardless of the beliefs of those around me.

In the blog by the author of Liar, Justine Larbalestier, she addresses this topic. What she says is that when authors of color write with characters that represent themselves (whether African American, Asian American, or Hispanic), many publishers respond: we already have 'a' book like that. Larbalestier says this is the reason her characters are always people of color, because of the paucity of representation in the publishing community. Further, when someone of the majority group writes with characters of color they are seen as enlightened and publishers almost rush to get it out there. Is that crazy or what?

There are those of you that would argue that these views are only the opinion of a prescious few. Well, here's the good news. When I read the comments on both of these blogs, the majority of responses were supportive of creating characters of color and offended by the American cover of Liar (the Australian publishers have a different cover). Not surprisingly there were those that believed the argument to be specious, using arguments such as business is busines or argued that this has nothing to do with racial issues. I guess it takes all kinds to make a world.

I would love to hear what you have to say on the subject, even if you disagree with me. But first I invite you to read the original posts.

Editoral Anonymous
 http://www.editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/

Justine Larbalestier
www.justinelarbalestier.com/blog/