Below are quick links to my blog posts for authors about underrepresentation in Publishing:

Why I don’t default trust iconic authors: Granted there are exceptions, but in my experience, there tends to be a disconnect between the most iconic authors and the rest of us. And by disconnect, I mean the wealthier and more famous an author gets and the longer they’re at that level, the more out of touch they are with evolving worldviews and how to get from word one to book deal and beyond.

Ableism in the writing community: The last two and a half years of my life have been a kind of painful hell. It took some doing, but I’m currently being worked up for a chronic Lyme diagnosis, and I’m finally getting treatment as a result, but my path out of pain is non-linear and uncertain. Now you have context for why I wrote this non-exhaustive list of writing advice that has a ring of ableism to it.

How people are democratizing the publishing industry: There are people out there doing the hard thing in order to democratize the publishing industry. They’re risking their jobs, their income, their industry relationships, their mental health, and even their lives, all to make publishing more accessible, transparent, and accountable. Here are a few examples of people who did the hard thing and effected change in publishing as a result.

How white people uphold systemic racism in publishing: White people uphold systemic racism in publishing by not doing the right thing sometimes when it means doing the right thing will benefit people of color and especially BIPOC (Black and Indigenous people of color) in publishing more than it will benefit white people. Upholding systemic racism happens with both actions and inactions. The latter is what we’re focusing on here, which is to say, doing nothing. The only thing necessary for systemic racism in publishing to triumph, is for authors and other publishing professionals to do nothing.

The 2 kinds of diversity advocates in publishing: You might have noticed that a 9,000-member literary organization has been in the news since it wrongfully censured author Courtney Milan on December 23, 2019. I’m a member of that organization and a white woman, and I am still watching as other members who are also white women, over and over again, refuse to believe women of color. This is the lesson I learned from them.

Action plan for making Publishing representative: Romance author Melanie Greene workshops her ideas for how authors can help make Publishing diverse, inclusive, accessible, and equitable.