Yesterday, Lee & Low revealed the results of their 2015 Diversity Baseline Survey, which took a look at the diversity in 8 review journals and 34 publishers along race, gender, orientation, and disability lines. The results weren’t exactly surprising, especially not when “the number of diverse books published each year over the past twenty years has been stuck in neutral, never exceeding, on average, 10 percent.”
Here at Rich in Color, our focus has been (and will continue to be) reading and reviewing young adult books by or about people of color. Aside from the occasional link roundup, interview, or book list, we haven’t been able to do much active promoting for books we don’t have the time or opportunity to review. As we approach our third anniversary, we decided it was time to have an official promotion policy that would allow qualifying authors (or their agents/editors) reach out to us for activities such as guests posts, interviews, previews, giveaways, etc. We are particularly interested in highlighting the upcoming works of authors of color—especially debut authors of color.
We hope that this policy will allow us to better connect with authors so that we can further the discussion—and celebration—of diversity in young adult books.
This sounds wonderful! I happen to be half Japanese and my debut MG historical fiction, THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM comes out in August 🙂 It is based on my mom’s experience in Hiroshima. Please let me know what I can do to help promot this program 🙂
Kathleen, we focus specifically on YA books here, though we have occasionally taken up MG/YA crossover titles. Is THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM targeted toward early teens (12/13/14) as well?
Hi Audrey, yes it is more upper middle grade. I present this to 7th 8th or 9th graders about my mother’s experience in Hiroshima at the age of 12. Since the main character is under 13, it is in MG. ( However, it would be too much for an 8-11 year old to read).
Thank you for considering THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM though.
p.s. When my ARCs come out, I’d be happy to send one to you and you could decide after reading it, if you’d like.
Kathleen, sorry for the delay! We would be happy to accept an ARC for evaluation. Please email me (link on the promotion page), and we’ll keep in touch. Thanks!
I believe your new goal is an effective way to get more books from writers of color out to an audience. Most people buy or borrow a book via word of mouth and reviews.
Thank you for enriching us with more diverse books which allow us, as readers, to spread the word.
Let’s make that paltry 10% bump up considerably in 2016, and beyond.
Thanks for your support! We appreciate it a lot.