Tess Gerritsen wrote me in reponse to Guest blogger T.Myers's essay.
T.Myer's raises an interesting point:
"The hurdles have always been higher for black writers. We're supposed to be interested in a very limited palette of subjects: race, urban problems, slavery and its legacy -- in short, The Struggle. The pressure to conform comes not only from the white majority, but from within the black community. Believe me, you score no points with most black folks by creating a purely abstract painting or writing a book which makes no reference to black social issues. I've navigated those waters, and they aren't hospitable."
That's something we non-white authors don't talk about enough: that sometimes it's members of our OWN RACE who want to marginalize our work.
A few years ago, I was invited to speak at the Association of Asian American Journalists. I told them, during the presentation, that I had made a conscious decision as a novelist to feature mainstream characters and mainstream themes in my books, and not limit myself to Asian American plots. While I do use Asian characters, they are more likely to be secondary characters. As I explained it to the audience, I'm a working writer, and I want to sell to the largest audience possible. I have a mortgage to pay and kids to send to college and the bottom line for me is ... where's the money? Also, I had been advised, by an editor whom I trusted, that marketing research within their publishing house revealed that books with Asian-American heroes or heroines did not sell nearly as well as mainstream characters.
I had no idea that my comments would amount to self-immolation in that crowd. Audience members were visibly angry as they rose and said, essentially, that I was an Asian Uncle Tom. That I had a responsibility to my race to write about Asians. And why the hell was I writing under the name "Gerritsen" (my legal, married name) and not under my Chinese name? Clearly, I must be ashamed of my race.
They didn't accept my choices, which were purely practical. My goal was to reach the widest audience and become a bestselling author, which indeed I was -- and the reason I got invited to the convention in the first place. The very fact of my success, you would think, would make them listen and take notes. All it did was get them angry.
Even after I got home, the criticism didn't end. I continued to read online grousing about my status as an Uncle Tom. "Asian Americans should strive for success without resorting to the disgusting strategies that Tess Gerritsen used." And of course, they were never, ever going to buy any of my books.
No wonder so few Asian Americans make it onto the bestseller lists. We're too busy shooting each other down.
The lesson here? You can't count on your own race to applaud your success. You can't count on anyone, really, except your friends and loved ones and your literary agent. My advice? Trust your own instincts, and write the book you want to write. And stand behind it. (Unless, of course, it's a fake memoir.) Your book is your baby, and you should be proud of it.
No matter what anyone else says.
Tess, thank you for telling this story.
That was a painful experience which you shouldn't have had, one which wouldn't have happened if writers of color weren't marginalized. I doubt that white audiences would tell Tony Hillerman he's a traitor for writing about Navajos, or would tell Susan Straight she's betraying white people by writing about black characters. My belief is that any writer should feel free to write about any subject. We all live in the same world, and as artists, anything we observe and become interested in belongs to us. The only thing which should matter is the quality of the work.
Posted by: T. Myers | February 27, 2006 at 01:47 PM
Well said. A applaud your courage and your strength.
Posted by: patry | February 27, 2006 at 03:51 PM
Thank you for that, Tess. Until this moment I had no thought about your racial identity. In other words, I suppose you were in my mind defaulted to the unmarginalized middle of the middle -- white. Much to think about here.
Posted by: Katharine Weber | February 27, 2006 at 04:51 PM
I've been following this both here with Tess's Post and on some others concerning African-American writers and I have to admit that I
was not aware of the pressure on writers to include their ancestry/heritage in their works.
I read authors like
David Baldacci
James lee Burke
Lee Child
Tom Clancy
Harlan Coben
Stephen Coonts
Robert Crais
Jeffery Deaver
Nelson DeMille
Tess Gerritsen
Sue Grafton
James W Hall
Thomas Harris
Dennis Lehane
David Morrell
Kathy Reichs
Greg Rucka
John Sandford
Robert Ludlum
John Lecarre
Richard North Patterson
James Patterson
Stephen Hunter
Joel C. Rosenberg
Phillip Margolin
Michael Connelly
and other than LeCarre, Ludlum (from his pictures in the books)
Patterson and Morrell from T.V.I don't know what color/nationality or heriatge these writers are nor do I care. I look for writers who can tell a good story, period.
Stick to your guns Tess it shouldn't matter a wink if you were 4 feet tall and lime green, just be the best writer you can be.
Well that's my 2 bits.
Posted by: Steve Clackson | February 27, 2006 at 10:24 PM
Brilliant. I've never cared what "race" anyone belongs to as long as the book is good. I'm white and read many different books bases on my mood. Not really genre oriented. But when I read a book by L. A. Banks, with a black heroine, I assumed she was white. Turns out she is Black. I'm on my 4th book in the series now.
I never would have guessed there was so much pressure, or for that matter, small mindedness in this country.
Posted by: S. L | February 28, 2006 at 10:42 AM
S. L., the small-mindedness of booksellers as well as publishers is what continues to marginalize certain writers. I just discovered the other day when talking with my agent about the buzz on this subject that my white editor had to fight hard to get the same numbers of my books ordered for the stores as my white counterparts simply because certain folks didn't think my book with a black woman on the cover would sell as well. My editor knew exactly what she was dealing with (racism) and forced them to treat me as any other author. If she hadn't stepped in, I would have been shortchanged. This is a sad commentary on the industry and discouraging for a new writer just coming out.
Posted by: Sharon | February 28, 2006 at 08:51 PM
That descriptive writer's heritage word we grab to describe ourselves in the blurb for the first book is likely to become a stumbling block with the second book. I will not say I'm a "Southern Writer" because your reaction to that phrase says more about you than about my work.
--Malcolm
Posted by: Malcolm | March 01, 2006 at 11:04 AM
It's not racist for a publisher to believe that a certain book won't sell as many copies as a certain other book. This is a judgment about the particular market for a book, not a judgment about race.
Chances are the book won't sell as well as The Da Vinci Code. So is the publisher racist for not printing 15 million copies?
Posted by: Anonymous | March 01, 2006 at 11:23 AM
We aren't comparing my book to the Da Vinci Code. My editor is well established as a romance editor and knows the usual numbers that are ordered for her books. I was told that the order for my number was lower, prompting her to demand that I receive equal treatment as the other authors.
15 million copies? Please. Only star authors get those numbers.
Posted by: Sharon | March 01, 2006 at 08:50 PM
And it wasn't the publisher. It was the person ordering books for a particular chain.
Posted by: Sharon | March 01, 2006 at 08:51 PM
Wait a minute... Are you saying that the bookstores have to order a certain number of copies just because of the author's race? They're not allowed to decide for themselves how many copies they think they can sell?
Posted by: Anonymous | March 02, 2006 at 12:48 PM
That is an obtuse question. Because obviously that what he is already doing - lesser order for a black author. When a pattern diverges and no legitimate reason is given for the divergence, in this case all of the other books authored by white writers are ordered in a certain number and there is a marked diminishment of orders when a new (an only) black author publishes, then one can come to the conclusion my editor came to - that is is racism. And she has been in the business long enough to know. She's Caucasian and I'm glad she was open to the reality of what was happening and fought for me. Especially since my excerpt in another book is receiving a very strong response. She wants to make sure that there are enough books available when my book hits the stores.
BTW, what's with the anonymous posting? If I can post my name, surely you can.
Posted by: Sharon | March 02, 2006 at 02:33 PM
Why do you assume it was racism? Maybe the bookstore thought your book wouldn't sell as many copies as certain other books. Let's face it, a book pitched at a minority audience isn't going to sell as many books as one pitched at a majority audience. That's the reality of the math.
Posted by: Anonymous | March 02, 2006 at 08:04 PM
Let me elaborate. The audience it's being pitched to isn't a minority audience. The imprint has a mostly white readership. Maybe it won't sell. But all indications are that it will sell. In this case, I don't believe the problem is the potential market but the shortsightedness of the bookseller. Now, if it was just a case of messing with his money, that'd be one thing. But he's messing with OPM, including the publisher and me. The amount of books ordered are needed to pay out the advance, which was moderate, so we aren't asking anything astronomical of the bookseller. And as the industry goes, the publisher loses out with the returns of any books not sold, not the bookseller. So, he is not risking anything.
So, his assumptions are not sensible for the marketplace.
I wasn't the one who brought up the issue of racism; my editor made that call; maybe it was something other than just his undercutting the numbers; if she had a face-to-face meeting or spoke with him on the phone, she might have picked up an expression, a nuance in the voice that made her make that call.
Why do you so immediately assume that it isn't?
The problem with tacit racism is that it is often denied by those who don't have to experience it.
And assuming that it is racism, wouldn't it be wrong in your opinion?
Posted by: Sharon | March 02, 2006 at 08:40 PM
"Let's face it, a book pitched at a minority audience isn't going to sell as many books as one pitched at a majority audience. That's the reality of the math."
-------
This is the whole point. A statement like this proves this Anon person elects to ignore the facts of what's happening simply because an author is one race or another. The reality of the math is that if your skin isn't white, you don't get afforded the same potential in the market.
Stop dwelling in denial. The store was about to racially discriminate---her editor recognized that and stopped it. Wake up.
Posted by: Bestselling Author, Pontif. | March 03, 2006 at 03:25 PM
Silence.
Posted by: Sharon | March 05, 2006 at 11:34 AM
Yep...and it's deafening.
Posted by: Bestselling Author, Pontif. | April 05, 2006 at 12:59 AM
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/amateur.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/anal.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/anime.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/asian.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/bbw.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/bdsm.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/big-boobs.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/big-cocks.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/big-tits.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/bisexual.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/bizarre.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/black.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/blondes.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/blowjob.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/bondage.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/brunette.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/busty.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/cartoon.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/centerfold.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/cumshot.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/doggystyle.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/double-penetration.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/drunk-girls.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/ebony.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/ethnic.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/facial.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/fat.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/feet.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/femdom.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/fetish.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gangbang.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-asian.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-bear.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-black.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-free-chat.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-college.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-ebony.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-free-sex.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-hairy.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-hunks.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-latino.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-mature.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-older.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-twink.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-webcams.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/gay-young.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/group.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/hairy-girls.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/handjob.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/hardcore.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/hentai.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/hot-girl.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/hot-guy.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/indian.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/interracial.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/latino.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/legs.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/lesbian.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/live.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/manga.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/masturbation.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/mature.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/milf.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/older-women.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/orgy.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/panties.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/pantyhose.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/petite.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/porn-movies.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/porn-stars.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/porn-videos.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/reality.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/redhead.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/sex-toys.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/sex-videos.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/shaved.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/shemale.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/smoking.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/spanking.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/teen.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/tranny.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/transsexual.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/upskirt.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/voyeur.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/webcams.html
http://videosmovies.blog.espresso.repubblica.it/young.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/amateur.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/anal.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/anime.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/asian.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/bbw.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/bdsm.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/big-boobs.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/big-cocks.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/big-tits.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/bisexual.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/bizarre.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/black.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/blondes.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/blowjob.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/bondage.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/brunette.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/busty.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/cartoon.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/centerfold.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/cumshot.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/doggystyle.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/double-penetration.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/drunk-girls.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/ebony.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/ethnic.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/facial.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/fat.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/feet.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/femdom.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/fetish.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gangbang.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-anal.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-asian.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-bear.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-black.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-blowjob.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-boy.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-cock.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-college.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-cum.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-dating.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-ebony.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-free-chat.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-free-sex.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-fuck.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-hairy.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-hentai.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-hunks.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-latino.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-male.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-men.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-mature.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-movies.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-muscle.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-older.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-personals.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-pics.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-porn.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-sex.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-teen.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-twinks.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-videos.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/gay-webcams.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/young-gay.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/group.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/hairy-girls.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/handjob.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/hardcore.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/hentai.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/hot-girl.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/hot-guy.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/indian.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/interracial.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/latino.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/legs.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/lesbian.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/live.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/manga.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/masturbation.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/mature.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/milf.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/older-women.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/oral.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/orgy.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/panties.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/pantyhose.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/petite.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/porn-movies.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/porn-stars.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/porn-videos.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/reality.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/redhead.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/sex-toys.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/sex-videos.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/shaved.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/shemale.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/smoking.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/spanking.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/teen.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/tranny.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/transsexual.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/upskirt.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/voyeur.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/webcams.html
http://sexmovies.sh.nu/young.html
Posted by: JEROGatch | September 05, 2006 at 06:09 AM