Writing is empowering. Publishing is exhausting.
That is how most of my conversations start with diverse author friends since the beginning of the pandemic. Not only are we experiencing a social justice crisis, but we are also seeing more and more cracks and fissures in the publishing process for diverse authors. BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ children’s book authors are finding their stories on banned book lists. Women writing genre romances are facing blatant misogyny from a select number of indie bookstores who are folding their romance sections into general fiction, even though romance is the most profitable genre. Industry professionals are asserting microaggressions against diverse authors. And despite dissent from marginalized communities, publishers continue to support many political titles with harmful rhetoric.
As a corporate DEI professional who’s
