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Multicultural publishing
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From: Norma Jean Sawicki <nsawicki_at_nyc.rr.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 14:45:31 -0500
Under no circumstances am I speaking for publishers when I say…
this particular discussion has generated….
an abundance of direct and indirect attacks on publishers
an abundance of statements about publishers and publishers that could not be more wrong headed..wrong headed in terms of facts..for starters….executives are not in the booths at different conventions…
accusations that have existed for decades and could be filed under…same ol same ol same ol
statements by some writers that their books have not sold because their subject matter was centered on minorities when a check of the reviews showed the book(s) received mixed reviews or negative reviews…
A few facts….
As a former children's book publisher of over thirty years not one well crafted novel, or picture book about Native Americans written by a Native American or a white writer was ever submitted to any department I headed. Off hand, I doubt a total of five unpublishable manuscripts about Native Americans were submitted…
I loved being in the booth at conventions, it was a wonderful learning curve, I loved seeing old friends and making new ones. However, if I could see in the distance someone heading in my direction that I knew was going to berate me for what we did, or did not publish, I left the booth. I was weary of the same accusations, etc…and knew, depending on the person, anything I said would fall on deaf ears because I had said it to that person before.
Yes, publishing is a business…profit matters.. but it is also a business of passion…for writers and illustrators who know how to make words sing, whose stories can make one weep, laugh, expand a reader's world...…whose illustrations can warm the heart, make one laugh out loud….Writers/illustrators like making money , too…it means the books they have been created are being read…they can pay their rent, or mortgage, feed their families, send their kids to college, etc….Profit is not a dirty word. Established publishers hope to make a profit of 10-15%…one of the lowest profits of any business in this entire country.
The Children's Book Council…as a former president, and decades long active member..it is a non-profit organization that operates on a shoe string. It has done everything in its power to create a dues structure that makes it possible for even the smallest publisher to join…some don't want to…and for reasons that have nothing to do with money. The diversity committee is dedicated, passionate, works hard, and can create only a teeny teeny tiny dent in a country that from its founding has a history of bigotry, and violence…The publishing committee at large can, and has created a larger dent by what it publishes in all areas but it is tiny. This is not not not a country of book buyers and readers…people in Great Britain, Australia, other countries too, buy/read far more books in relation to the population than Americans. Even the poorest among us, own more cell phones, iPhones, etc... than books.
School and public library budgets for books, for staff, etc. have been cut dramatically since the Johnson years…where is the out cry? When a sports program is cut from a school budget, the outcry is deafening...
Almost last but most important…publishers can publish only what they have an opportunity to publish…if it ain't being written, and submitted, it cannot be published…..
And me…in the past, I have sometimes chimed in on discussions…sometimes a wrong headed accusation was made that would have been difficult for a publisher to address so I did…often, publishers wrote privately with thanks…In this discussion, a few publishers chimed in…eager to be helpful, eager to explain the facts…but only a few…I rarely said anything….for myself…weary…weary…and disheartened about…we…versus the big bad greedy publishers….Norma Jean
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 14:45:31 -0500
Under no circumstances am I speaking for publishers when I say…
this particular discussion has generated….
an abundance of direct and indirect attacks on publishers
an abundance of statements about publishers and publishers that could not be more wrong headed..wrong headed in terms of facts..for starters….executives are not in the booths at different conventions…
accusations that have existed for decades and could be filed under…same ol same ol same ol
statements by some writers that their books have not sold because their subject matter was centered on minorities when a check of the reviews showed the book(s) received mixed reviews or negative reviews…
A few facts….
As a former children's book publisher of over thirty years not one well crafted novel, or picture book about Native Americans written by a Native American or a white writer was ever submitted to any department I headed. Off hand, I doubt a total of five unpublishable manuscripts about Native Americans were submitted…
I loved being in the booth at conventions, it was a wonderful learning curve, I loved seeing old friends and making new ones. However, if I could see in the distance someone heading in my direction that I knew was going to berate me for what we did, or did not publish, I left the booth. I was weary of the same accusations, etc…and knew, depending on the person, anything I said would fall on deaf ears because I had said it to that person before.
Yes, publishing is a business…profit matters.. but it is also a business of passion…for writers and illustrators who know how to make words sing, whose stories can make one weep, laugh, expand a reader's world...…whose illustrations can warm the heart, make one laugh out loud….Writers/illustrators like making money , too…it means the books they have been created are being read…they can pay their rent, or mortgage, feed their families, send their kids to college, etc….Profit is not a dirty word. Established publishers hope to make a profit of 10-15%…one of the lowest profits of any business in this entire country.
The Children's Book Council…as a former president, and decades long active member..it is a non-profit organization that operates on a shoe string. It has done everything in its power to create a dues structure that makes it possible for even the smallest publisher to join…some don't want to…and for reasons that have nothing to do with money. The diversity committee is dedicated, passionate, works hard, and can create only a teeny teeny tiny dent in a country that from its founding has a history of bigotry, and violence…The publishing committee at large can, and has created a larger dent by what it publishes in all areas but it is tiny. This is not not not a country of book buyers and readers…people in Great Britain, Australia, other countries too, buy/read far more books in relation to the population than Americans. Even the poorest among us, own more cell phones, iPhones, etc... than books.
School and public library budgets for books, for staff, etc. have been cut dramatically since the Johnson years…where is the out cry? When a sports program is cut from a school budget, the outcry is deafening...
Almost last but most important…publishers can publish only what they have an opportunity to publish…if it ain't being written, and submitted, it cannot be published…..
And me…in the past, I have sometimes chimed in on discussions…sometimes a wrong headed accusation was made that would have been difficult for a publisher to address so I did…often, publishers wrote privately with thanks…In this discussion, a few publishers chimed in…eager to be helpful, eager to explain the facts…but only a few…I rarely said anything….for myself…weary…weary…and disheartened about…we…versus the big bad greedy publishers….Norma Jean
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Received on Wed 12 Feb 2014 01:45:56 PM CST
