Malinda Lo
Blog
Jan 26, 2011
Don’t judge a book by its cover
Today over at the Enchanted Inkpot, I posted a piece about cover trends in this winter’s crop of YA fantasy novels. Several commenters immediately noted that they saw a lack of people of color on the book covers, and expressed a desire for more diversity.
My reaction is sorta complicated, and since whitewashing YA covers continues to be discussed in the YA book community, I wanted to share some of my thoughts about this. (Warning: this is a looong post!)
From January to April 2011, I counted 57 young adult fantasy novels being published by all the major American book publishers. Among those 57, nine include main or major supporting characters of color:
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Dark Goddess by Sarwat Chadda
Eona by Alison Goodman
Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon
Huntress by Malinda Lo
Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney
Red Glove by Holly Black
Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves
Tiger’s Curse by Collen Houck
Three include main or major supporting gay characters:
City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
Huntress by Malinda Lo
Shadow Walkers by Brent Hartinger
So, that’s 11 books that incorporate racial and/or sexual diversity. That’s 19% of YA fantasy novels being published from January-April 2011. I think that’s actually quite an astonishing percentage.
Among those 11 books, two are represented by covers that clearly feature people of color:
Another three include distinct Asian elements that echo the books’ Asian inspirations:
(It is harder to tell in this small images, but the dagger on Fury of the Phoenix is engraved with a Chinese character. There is a Chinese character on the cover of Eona. And those curlicues on Tiger’s Curse look quite South Asian to me.)
A lot of commentary laments the low percentage of books with people of color on the covers (and yes, it is low), especially in comparison to the huge number of YA novels (fantasy and otherwise) featuring slim, attractive white girls. I totally get that. And yet, there are a few things that I think is important to remember.
Book covers are advertisements. This doesn’t mean that they can get away with just anything to sell a book to teens (because if that were the case, hello, freaking Robert Pattinson would be on the cover of every YA novel), but it does mean that cover designers are working within a marketing context.
Before you get upset and say, “But I am a consumer who wants to see more diversity! I would buy books with people of color on them!” — I assure you that I’m not talking about you. Readers who visit my website are already engaged in the dialogue online about race and representation in YA fiction (or they’ve read my book — hi, readers of my book! — and they know what I’m about). I’m talking about the mass market for YA books; teens who pick up a book because of its cover at Barnes & Noble or their local/school library.
Do I think that these “mass market” teen readers are racist? No. But they, like everybody else on the planet, is part of a world dominated by an entertainment industry (and society, too) that sells whiteness as attractive and desirable. Yes, I wish that were not the case, but you can’t ignore reality.
The reality is: At this point in time, slim, attractive white girls sell books. They sell freaking everything. Just look at an issue of People sometime, or turn on your TV. What do you see? Slim, attractive white girls.
This doesn’t mean that it’s OK to always slap a white girl on a YA book cover. But in order to change the status quo (which I believe is already changing), you have to do some sneaky manipulation in order to get the ordinary, non-YA-blogosphere reader to pick up a book about someone who is different from them. Sometimes that does mean putting a dust jacket on a book that does not shout out “HEY I’M TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM YOU!”
(Obviously, this scenario is different if you are a person of color yourself. Hang on a sec — I’ll address that a little further down in this post.)
The only job of a book cover, in my opinion, is to get someone to pick up a book and read the flap copy or the first page. Hopefully then the words will complete the sale.
And that’s the important thing: the words. The most important part of a book is always the words of the story; it is never the cover. There are good covers and there are bad covers, but most often, there are mediocre covers. No cover will ever perfectly match an author’s vision for her book, and no cover will ever attract every reader. That’s why it is so important to look beyond the cover, in all cases.
That maxim of “don’t judge a book by its cover”? Well, it’s still true.
Even if a book cover doesn’t echo the diversity within the book, that doesn’t erase the diversity. It hides it a little, yes, but the cover is not the story. The cover is an advertisement. (And in most cases, it’s removable.)
Every time someone reads a book about a character who is different from them — even if they didn’t know it going into it — that reader’s universe is broadened a little. This is how the status quo is going to change: publishing more books about diverse characters, and giving them covers that attract readers. As more of them sell, publishers will be more inclined to incorporate diversity overtly on the covers. (I’m being optimistic, but I actually do believe this.)
If you’re a person of color and you are sick of not seeing yourself represented on book covers, I get it, even though I don’t personally fret so much about not seeing Asian women on book covers (I do get a bit frustrated by Hollywood, though). I tend to be more annoyed by overly exoticized representations of “Asianness.”
But the reason I understand your frustration is because I’ve been following the representation of lesbians in the media for years. It is so hard to find a realistic, three-dimensional lesbian character in television or film. YA fiction actually is doing fairly well in this area, though it publishes far more books about gay boys than lesbian girls.
One way book publishers (both YA and adult) sell books that include queer characters is by hiding the queerness in the jacket copy — essentially by closeting the gay story lines. This happens all the time. I recently read Kate Morton’s The Distant Hours, a recent major women’s fiction commercial release, not suspecting it had a lesbian character at all, but it did.
This has also happened to my own first novel, Ash. The U.S. edition doesn’t entirely hide the gayness, but the jacket copy is, at best, suggestive. The U.K. edition, however, totally closets the gay story line. Here’s the U.K. jacket copy:
With her parents both gone, Ash finds herself a servant in the house of her ruthless stepmother and there seems no hope of finding happiness again.
But Ash is unaware of her mother’s legacy, and that it will lead her to a magical place. A place where love, identity and belonging are all waiting….
There are no blurbs on the cover from any authors who have written about gay teens (often a hint about gay content). There are no review quotes that mention the gay stuff. There’s not even a suggestive excerpt on the back, like on the American edition. Along with the obviously Cinderella image, the book seems totally straight.
The U.S. version of Ash has sold well. The U.K. edition has sold even better.
Partly, I think this has to do with distribution. In the U.K., Ash was available in bookstores, but it was also available at Asda, which is the U.K. equivalent of Wal-Mart. (In the U.S., it was definitely not available at Wal-Mart.) But I also do think it’s partly due to the heterosexual-seeming packaging.
I often get emails from readers in the U.K. saying, “I had no idea this book would turn out to be about a lesbian relationship, but I loved it anyway.” These kinds of comments make me both happy and a little sad. Happy because they loved the story enough to write to me, obviously! But a little sad because it implies that had they known it was a lesbian story, they wouldn’t have read it.
Many people still believe that books about people of color or LGBT people are only for readers who are also people of color or LGBT. This is a sad but incontrovertible truth. We can’t ignore this. Those of us who write books about people of color or LGBT people have to acknowledge it. And until the world changes — and every time another diverse book is published, regardless of the cover or the cover copy, that change happens — sometimes it’s necessary to market to the masses.
Taking to the streets (even figuratively) and shouting about the need for equality is something that needs to be done, and is being done by many people today.
But change can also happen subversively. Subversiveness is just another tool we can use, successfully, to make the world a more inclusive place.
I’ve talk about wanting to see Asian people represented on covers without the offensive shorthand, because I would like to see a striking cover with an Asian protagonist that didn’t scream “I am about Asian-American Issues!” at me (or as I call it, The Joy Luck Club Redux–ad nauseum). I am sick to death of that story, and I also feel it reduces the Asian experience to a single narrative, as though we couldn’t be Asians without those cultural clashes. (Insert a “bitch, please” eyeroll here.)
I am all about “incidental” diversity in that I want a great read with a great cover…with characters for whom race and/or sexuality is just another facet of who they are, just as being stubborn, clever, resourceful, etc. are all facets of the shiny gem that makes an awesome protagonist. That the “diverse” or “different” characteristic informs, but does not DEFINE the character.
I don’t think I’m asking for too much.
I don’t think you’re asking for too much either. I’m totally with you!
you are awesome. <3
why is that heart all crooked?
Hmm. I wonder if those readers who implied they wouldn’t have read Ash had they known about the gayness will be inspired by their positive reading experiences to pick up an overtly LGBT book in the future?
I’m mildly astonished that the UK Ash didn’t promote the lesbian romance. But then, that’s because I can’t conceive of anyone not immediately wanting to read a story billed as a lesbian retelling of Cinderella. And thus I have to remind myself that I am not the target market for most books.
This post was interesting especially in light of the conversations happening earlier this week about sex on YA covers. I actually just blogged about my impressions of LGBT YA covers and how they compare to hetero covers — in that LGBT covers tend to be on the non-sexy side compared to straight romances: http://robintalley.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/sex-ya-book-covers-and-gayness/
Because your affection for me is twisted.
I certainly hope those readers will be more open-minded in the future. I’d think that would be likely, since if you read something you like, you often try to find similar stories.
And hanks for the link to your post about LGBT covers — fascinating!
Hi Malinda,
I was definitely one of the commenters on the Enchanted Inkpot site bemoaning the lack of diversity on the covers of books – particularly when the cover belies the content. I in no way want to take away from the amazing job that you and other writers are doing in getting these stories that need to get out there, out there and into the hands of eager readers of all ethnicities/sexualities/etc. And of course the importance of the web presence you and Cindy and others have — or the significance of the two of you organizing a diversity in YA tour – which I think speaks volumes to how diverse authors/diverse stories are changing the “face” of mainstream YA altogether…
Vis a vis covers, I really admire Justine Larbalestier pushing (as I heard it) for the cover of her novel “Liar” to represent her MC’s ethnicity – but also the observation that she, as an established author, could raise a hue and cry, whereas a newer author might not be able to do that: http://jezebel.com/5451058/magic-under-glass-the-white+washing-of-young-adult-fiction-continues
As you say, like “closeting” the lesbian storyline on the jacket flap, “closeting” ethnicity on the cover assumes a status quo CREATED BY THE READERS. Might we conversely actually argue that the readers are READY for more diversity if the industry pushed for more diverse authors and storylines and marketed them more robustly? I in no way think this is an issue of one author’s life or responsibility but a systemic issue…
anyway, I could babble on and on about this, but in the end, salute you and cindy and your cadre of authors on the diversity in YA tour and encourage everyone to come and see you and in doing so support diversity in YA books, and hopefully, eventually, on their covers too!
lovely comment, JJ, well put!
I really think you did a great job of covering this topic from all sides. I wish I had something profound to say, but all I have is…great post! It’s thoughtful discussions like these that foster awareness and bring about change.
Thanks for your comment, Sayantani! I totally understand your perspective, and I agree that we should also be pushing publishers to be more progressive and to take chances. I just think there is more than one way to go about changing things, and we should use ALL those different methods.
At the same time, no, honestly, I don’t think most people are ready for more obvious diversity. This sounds sad and scary, but living as a minority in this country, it’s pretty clear to me that a lot of the country is still REALLY SCARED by difference. I want that to change, obviously, both personally and professionally, and a lot has already changed. We can’t be discouraged by reality, but also I think we must acknowledge it.
i agree, there needs to be rethinking of these (our) novels from reader to bookseller to marketer to publicity, etc. it’s not a simple thing. and change has *just* started, we’re on the cusp of something. and sometimes, to get where you want to go, it’s not always a straight path. and it’s definitely not always the easy path. just because we may not agree exactly on how to get there, it doesn’t mean we aren’t all fighting for the same end results, if you know what i mean.
well, I think you and other writers like Cindy are creating spaces of support for diverse writers/stories and I thank you for it.
yes, this is one of those issues that pushes my buttons – academically, creatively, personally. I grew up in the Midwest of this country, the only little brown girl around, and it’s hard for me to imagine that same painful environment for my children. I have to believe that people are ready for diversity! Why I love groups like the Asian American Writer’s Workshop and SAWCC (South Asian Women’s Creative Collective) – creating spaces of support for multicultural art/artists! (as is your tour!)
thanks, cindy. agreed. i think this discussion, the tour, Enchanted Inkpot, all these things part of a growing space, change…
Relevant of perhaps nothing, but it’s Indian Republic Day today. My 95 yo grandfather was a (jailed for many years) freedom fighter. For whatever reason this discussion here and at EI really hit home for me today.
This. Is. A. Phenomenal. Post.
I’m the plain-Jane, whitebread, Middle America reader that they market books to. I visit, say, the “African Studies” section of the bookstore because I think I should. I should support writers from a different cultural background than mine. And I’ve found some fantastic books that way, so yay me!
I believe, fundamentally, that stories are universal. No one has the market cornered on experience because of their race.
I also resent sermon-disguised-as-fiction. The publishing industry, for a long time, only put out books with non-white MCs if there was an important underlying social message. Whitey gets it. We know we suck and Hitler was a white dude and all that. We are not opposed to reading fabulous stories about people who don’t get sunburns as fast as we do. We have just been conditioned to expect those stories to be yet another reminder of how much we suck.
So these universal stories, the ones that aren’t about the Asian chick or the Black chick or the Latina, but about the PERSON, are now trying to overcome the “after school special” phenomenon. Because Big publishing was willing to put “important messages” out there and point and say, “See? We’re socially conscious!” But they can’t figure out what to do with a story that is universal, in which the race or culture or orientation shapes the MC but is not the story, so everybody not like me gets shelved in “African American,” “PoC,” “LBGT,” etc. Check it out. You go to any of those shelves and you will see only one thing in common with the titles: the MC. Fantasy, Romance, Historical, Mystery, whatever; it all gets lumped together under “Latin American” or “LBGT Interest”. If the MC fits the profile, it goes on that shelf.
If the cover does not specify race, if the blurb references an ancient Japanese myth but does not refer to the MC as Asian, so what? Inclusion by omission is fine, especially if it sells books. It’s deliberate exclusion based on the assumption that white folks only want to read white books and nobody else reads that is the problem. Seduce the white readers with the story before they know they’re reading something not white. It’s like a blind taste test. They’ll enjoy it. They’ll come back, not just for that author, but the next one.
And that’s the point, isn’t it? Tell the stories, get them out there, convince people to give it a chance. It might not be fair that the chances go up if the non-white person is blurry on the cover, but after enough crossover, maybe we will get to see anybody else besides Barbie and Fabio on the cover.
I totally understand. There were no other poc around me where I grew up in Colorado, either. I think, in my case, the gay thing has trumped the race thing. Isn’t that crazy (and kind of depressing) how that can happen? Sometimes you feel like you have to pick sides. I get all up in arms about the gay thing, but with race, sometimes I throw up my hands. That’s why people like you are necessary.
Thanks for your comment, Laurel! I’m not a fan of the after school special either. I’m really, really glad that we are moving beyond that kind of books-as-medicine thing.
hierarchy of oppressions! don’t make ‘em make you choose!
(I can’t TELL you how many times I’ve been asked – in my community organizing/workshop leading days if I was “of color first” or “a woman first” – say what?) Glad I’m needed and not just rant-y! 
<3 ha!
i know we have a strong sense of how things Should Be. it is frustrating when awareness begins and we don’t Get There Immediately. but sadly, i do agree with malinda. i don’t think our whole society *is* ready but i think as you said, all the discussion is creating awareness.
we all do what we can in our own ways, and those ways all do matter.
It says a lot about the sad state of morbid curiosity when readers choose books despite diverse characters rather than because of them.
When I was younger, my mother wouldn’t tell me the ghost stories that she heard when she was a little girl in Thailand because they were too frightening for western ears. A lot of my Southeast Asian friends said that their parents wouldn’t tell them their ghost stories either because they were afraid that by simply repeating these stories out loud, they would call the old ghosts from over the sea . . . especially if they were Cambodian or Vietnamese. No one’s parents ever believed that there were ghosts in America.
If a book of authentic Southeast Asian ghost stories is ever published, I hope the cover doesn’t white wash it or try to make the stories universal. If the stories can stay true to what they were and the culture where they took place, the book would be a piece of amazing contraband.
It’s late and I don’t have much to add (although hopefully I’ll be able to come back with more thoughts) but I definitely agree that not all of America is ready just yet for diversity in books. Pres. Obama is an anomaly becuase it’s still so hard to get poc elected and forget about seeing us on TV screens and in films in which we get to play light-hearted characters who aren’t sidekicks or deep, serious characters who don’t have an attitude or any other stereotype.
I am however heartend by the stories being published that focus less on cultural background and simply weave it into the story but focus on universal issues. The problem novel is relevant but s-l-o-w-l-y other stories are being told and we are seeing an uptake in fantasy, which makes me happy
I can understand why people would be so drawn to sci fi/fantasy novels because it would seem that race is not a big deal in those books and the covers are usually symbols of some sort. So if you’re tired of reading a problem novel, fantasy would be the way to go. And now contemporary is offering a few more options too (like The Latte Rebellion, Jazz in Love).
Wow this is all discombobulated and I apologize. If the part above makes no sense, ignore it. This post ROCKED my socks
Great post – really great. Thanks for addressing this. I suppose sometimes I get so caught up in pushing for things to change faster faster faster that I forget about the amazing progress that’s already happened in my lifetime. And which is still going on. The important thing is to get these rich, beautiful, funny, exciting, different stories into as many hands as possible, and trust to the magic of the writing to broaden minds.
I mean, afterall, I never read a book with a person of colour on the front of it probably until I was in my late teens! The books that had main characters that weren’t white, the books that shaped me and my world view (works by Ursula Le Guin and Tamora Pierce and Diana Wynne Jones) nearly always had Generic White Person on the cover. The stories were what changed me. Not the ad on the front.
This was a lovely post and one that made me come back to a long conversation over coffee with a librarian-to-be friend about diversity specifically in sci-fi and fantasy. Sci-fi is particularly devoid with Octavia Butler being the only woman of color we could think of who had written a sci-fi novel, though our brains are certainly not an exhaustive resource for such things. Though you must give Ms. Butler props for succeeding in a genre so successfully dominated by the white male almost to the exclusion of all else.
I think there is a contributory problem in the way we view fiction as well. I have grown up in a diverse household (my father is German, my mother is Texan and I was raised in the Midwest) and I have traveled extensively (China, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea and many more) so I’ve accepted it as just a part of my life despite being paler than a ghost myself, but even I largely find myself getting my dose of diversity in non-fiction, both in books and from people I meet. There’s a large population I think shares this quest with me where we will seek out the true stories of diverse peoples growing up, living and working in distant lands we may never visit or leaving those homes to pursue dreams in our own country. I recently met a new friend named Naim who is from Albania and I’m surprised he puts up with my endless stream of questions about his life. I have an extreme fascination with coming to understand other cultures and appreciating where people come from to the extent that I often feel my interrogations must be overkill, but Naim and my dad both bear it with kindness and are endless founts of amazing and unlikely stories. When faced with fiction, on the other hand, I largely find myself looking for characters I can relate to, that I can forge a deep and sympathetic connection with, and who can help me escape my reality for a time. These characters are typically like me — young, female, straight, usually very nerdy, and white — but doing outrageous and fantastic things I could never accomplish in the world I live in. We, as society, do not often look to fiction for the truth we seek about diverse cultures or different lifestyles, and there is SO MUCH we can learn from literature that features characters that endure the struggles of the LGBT community and people of color that in some ways is more honest than non-fiction. Particularly with LGBT authors, they can feel a lot more comfortable sharing their stories through fictional characters due to the attitudes much of the American population holds toward LGBT people. If you have a story to tell, it is often easier to put a character out there than it is to put yourself out there, even if you are exactly like everyone else. I agree that reality is what it is — even many of us who embrace diversity unconsciously make non-diverse choices in literature and other entertainment and I sincerely hope that through more deliberate choices and the infiltration of the main stream such things will change. For now, I’m glad there is an outlet for these stories, even if it may hide behind a whitewashed dust jacket, and I’m grateful to the authors brave enough to put themselves out there in a world that is still so obviously unfriendly. I haven’t read your book, but I hope to pick it up soon and I hope to fall in love with your characters regardless of our differences. I’m sure tearing off that misleading dust jacket will be very rewarding.
Excellent post! Nuanced and insightful. Just a hopeful addendum here. My next novel, Scored, has a mixed-race protagonist, and when my editor at Random House received the artwork for the cover, she sent it right back to the illustrator with an order to make the girl “less white.” Now the cover girl looks exactly the way I envisioned her. If any potential readers turn their noses up because she’s not white enough, well, double birds to them, I say.
Interesting post and discussion. It made me think of how I look at book covers, and I realized I never even look at WHO is on the cover, but just at the general feel/style of a cover. If it appeals to me I will read the back and a random page.
I don’t think book covers need to spell out what the background of characters is, unless it’s relevant for the story. I always thought of Ash as “a lesbian retelling of Cinderella”, so to leave out the lesbian part seems weird.
Very thoughtful, thank you. This jumped out at me: >>But a little sad because it implies that had they known it was a lesbian story, they wouldn’t have read it.
Maybe if they run across another book with a lesbian storyline, they’ll be more inclined to give it a chance in part because they loved yours so much. I hope so.
In case it’s of interest, my Tantalize series (including Blessed (1/11) and Tantalize: Kieren’s Story( 8/11)) features diverse casts, including protagonists/main characters, with regard to color and orientation.
Thanks Cynthia – I’m so looking forward to reading your new book. I hope that so many fantasy authors (regardless of their own ethnicity) are now incorporating a real diversity of characters (in all regards) that it soon becomes what’s expected rather than something unusual! Thanks to you, Malinda, Cindy, Mitali and others for paving the way for other diverse authors, and for all authors, readers, parents, educators to talk about these issues!
I’m not going to bemoan the fact I’m white or feel guilty for it–hey I love my Eastern European heritage–BUT I also am of the firm belief there needs to be more diversity out there. I actually am drawn to those books more. Maybe it’s my fascination for other cultures and the fact that most of my WiPs have non-white (or half-white) characters that makes me drawn to them.
Anyway, I know I’m beyond ready to see more diversity.
“you have to do some sneaky manipulation in order to get the ordinary, non-YA-blogosphere reader to pick up a book about someone who is different from them.” Sometimes that does mean putting a dust jacket on a book that does not shout out “HEY I’M TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM YOU!”
- Really?
The publishing industry is woefully behind the reality of diversity in which this country lives in. Books with skinny White girls on the cover sell b/c that’s been the template. That is their sales model. Readers are used to seeing it, for the most part that’s all they’ve been given- so they buy the familiar.
Lets not perpetuate outdated, antiquated, racially-insensitive business models by “reassuring” the masses that their “whiteness” is not under attack via a book cover.
When will the publishing industry join the rest of our diverse 21st Century world? That’s the real question that should be asked and answered.
YES
I appreciate your intentions with this post. But I think the onus of responsibility has to be put squarely on the shoulders of the publishing companies. They are perpetuating an outdated mode of thinking, selling and ultimately buying. A racially antiquated business model that is completely out of touch with the reality of our diverse society.
Yes, there are many scared people out there, and still much racism. There has been an obvious backlash since Obama was elected. But that said, I believe very strongly that people are very much ready for more diversity. My father, Arnold Adoff wrote “Black is Brown is Tan” in 1973, which featured the first interracial family in children’s books. That was almost 40 years ago. Why are we still having this conversation?
It isn’t the people of this country that are holding back progress, It’s the gatekeepers.
I think diversity is fantastic and having a person of colour or a different ethnicity to me on a cover does not make any difference to me at all – it’s the STORY I’m interested in. I’m a little sad about the cover for Cindy Pon’s new books though. They should have kept it in the same vain as Silver Phoenix.
And just so you know, I didn’t know when I bought ASH that it featured a lesbian character but so what? I’m still going to read it
Preach it.
The thing that disappointed me most about the repackaging of Cindy Pon’s books, other than the whitewashing, was how derivative they made it. The original cover is stunning but now it’s just like every other paranormal YA book out there. I used to work in a bookshop and we had an entire ‘dark romance’ section in the teenage section and every book looked the exact same with a few different bits now and then. On the one hand the obvious attempt to sell the book as something it isn’t bugs the hell out of me, especially since the publishers seem to suggest that having an Asian girl on the front is somehow a bad thing, but on the other hand one wants to support these writers and the work they do, so the more they sell the better. If people come to the book expecting one thing but getting another and enjoying it anyway, I find it tough to argue with that from a business point of view. But it still sucks, especially for those of us trying to write stuff with a diverse range of characters and fight back against archaic expectations and assumptions. I think the publishers really need to take a step back and think about how they continue with this stuff. They also need to widen their range of YA full stop because right now the most popular stuff out there is very very white and very very straight.
I’m from the UK, and I had no idea the UK cover of Ash didn’t promote the gay storyline. That’s mainly because I wanted to read it so much (*because* of the gay storyline) that I imported a US copy before it was out here. I really hope that readers who are actually looking for diversity in their YA fiction don’t fail to find it because the cover images and blurb aren’t guiding them to it.
this idea has been floating around the blogsphere lately. Everyone is agreeing with the need for diversity. SOOO lets those of us who are authors do something about it and write the dang book! Just because the majority of YA authors are white girls, doesn’t mean our characters need to be. Malinda, I am glad I found you and I will read your books! check out my book the Shifters and note that 3 out of five of my main characters are a minority of some sort.
may I quote this?
i feel the need to defend my publisher here. =)
they were the ones who spent the money in the
first place for that fantastic original cover. but it
simply wasn’t picked up widely by bookstores nor
by readers. the fact that it did stand out didn’t help
my book sell. many, alas, thought it was a middle grade
fantasy, due to its bright colors and illustrated look.
and Silver Phoenix is very much upper YA.
sells weren’t strong.
but instead of ditching the paperback and me as
an author, my publisher took it upon themselves
to repackage the novel. when in fact, it probably
wouldn’t have been carried at all by the main chains
due to my low hardcover sales. they didn’t give up
on me or my novels. for that, i’m so grateful. (i’ve seen
other authors lose their paperback and even the next
novel.)
my publisher did not think having an asian girl in the
front was a bad thing. they *put* an asian girl in the front,
afterall. people think that i imply bookstores didn’t carry
as widely because of that, but no, i don’t think so. i think the
issue is that my novel is going against multiple trends, the
main ones being that it reads historical and i lack vampires and
werewolves, etc, tho i do throw in some good monsters and demons. (at least, i think so. =)
i did have to comment as i’m honestly tired of seeing my wonderful publisher villainized. would it have been better if i kept my original cover the paperback and sequels were passed by bookstores? and readers have no access to them? the answer is pretty clear to me, as an author who is writing stories that are not “trendy”.
and i’m grateful for everyone who has taken the time to support my stories, no matter what cover it may carry. and as an aside, both my novels feature my own chinese brush art and calligraphy as chapter decorations.
Thank you!
Thanks, Ari!
“We, as society, do not often look to fiction for the truth we seek about diverse cultures or different lifestyles, ” –> That was a very interesting point. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I can see that could be true for a lot of people, who might then seek out difference in nonfiction.
Thanks for your comment, Lauren! Hope your next novel is a huge success.
I think it’s weird too. That’s why I’m always going around saying “it’s a lesbian retelling of Cinderella!” I do want queer readers especially to know that.
Thanks, Cynthia! I certainly hope so. And duh, I can’t believe I forgot about your series!
That’s interesting! If I may ask, why did you buy Ash? Because of the Cinderella aspect? I know that’s a draw for some (and a repulsion for others, LOL!)
Me too! Tell your friends!
Sure!
Poor Cindy! This just keeps coming up to bite you, doesn’t it? Even when you’re not mentioned in the original blog post it always surfaces somewhere in the comments. But at least it means that awareness of Silver Phoenix and Fury of the Phoenix are really high. Hopefully sales will reflect that.
I think it speaks to the fact that your books are highly regarded, Cindy, and also that we’re a broader community of readers and writers who care about things like diversity and representation in all books. I’m so sorry if that feels like people are coming down on you personally or your publisher! I certainly had no intention of implying that at all! (I’m a systems person – so always interested in how the broader system, society, community is functioning….) Keep writing your wonderful, delicious adventures!
Actually I thought this piece from racialicious on the burdens of representation might be interesting to this discussion: http://www.racialicious.com/2011/01/11/on-embracing-the-burden-of-representation/
I’m not villainising your publishers. I think it’s great that they continue to support your work and long may they continue. I know this is a tough business and such measures are necessary to survive i.e. packaging a book to fit with trends. It sucks that the repackaging seems to erase any sign of the cover model’s ethnicity and it’s sad that there seems to be this deep seated belief in our media that white is default and stepping away from the default means nobody will want to read/watch/listen/etc. I hope your books sell much more than they have done because I really like your work and further diversity will enter the YA-sphere. I honestly didn’t mean to villainise anyone here, it’s just the whitewashing/straightwashing issue really pisses me off. That’s more our general society’s fault than anyone else. Can’t wait to make it change.
“That’s more our general society’s fault than anyone else.”
This is what I wanted to point out. It’s useless to only point the finger at publishers, who are actually buying the books in the first place. Part of the blame does lie with them (there are attitudes and expectations within the industry that need to change), but racism is a systemic and entrenched problem. It can seem overwhelming to consider the many things that need to change, but at the same time, this means there are more places where we can make change. I don’t think there is one monolithic enemy to vanquish, which is what some of the internet rhetoric claims (of course, the internet is all about extremes).
i didn’t mean to dump my months of emo angst
on you ceilidh. =) i just had seen some nastiness online
and you may have received the brunt of my rant. sorry!
i totally agree and i *understand* it can be maddening
and disappointing. but i am a great believer of creating
change through positive action. (like the Diversity Tour.)
there is the Ideal and there is Reality. as a published author, i need to navigate between that, as we don’t get to Ideal without some bumps along the way. as i said, we are just beginning to publish more diverse stories, i KNOW that children’s publishers are excited and seeking them. but change isn’t instantaneous.
i only ask that everyone who may be angry or upset over representation on covers *support* the author and their stories as best they can (no matter what the cover). because without that positive support, it makes it that much more difficult to put these stories out there.
thank you for listening and more importantly, thank you for reading Silver Phoenix. =)
this comment is like whoa.
again, i give you my twisty heart love. <3
great link, sayantani. thank you!
and believe it or not, i too am looking at the broader picture. as i said before, we both want the same end results, more diverse stories with wonderful diverse covers. =)
ha! zoe’s thinking, wow, that cindy is ranting all over the place.
‘course I believe it Cindy!
glad you liked the link!
Just tried to do a round up of some of these discussions about covers and representations – hope I did the discussions (and all sides therin!) justice: thanks for how thought provoking it all was!
http://storiesaregoodmedicine.blogspot.com/2011/02/judging-asians-by-our-book-covers.html
What an immensely crucial, invaluable article. As a queer woman of color writer, thank you.