3 ms·

Isn't it the writer's job to make the connection?

• jfengel 5y ago
  It requires both the writer and the reader to put in the work. No amount of effort by the writer will be able to bring around an editor who says, in effect, "This doesn't appeal to me and it won't sell to white audiences." It's a business decision to only publish books for the majority of readers. The editor isn't obligated to take books they can't sell. But that editor has to take responsibility for recognizing that they might as well put a sign on the door that says "white writers (and/or people willing to cater to the prejudices of white audiences) only". I don't mean this to just point at them and say "racist". That's too easy. It's a much more challenging situation where nobody has to be robes-and-torches racist but everything is harder for some people than others and it's never the fault of anybody you can point to. One way out of it is for editors to put down that particular shield and say, "I don't always have to connect to the characters. There are other ways to appreciate the book, and sometimes audiences like it." Shakespeare is wildly successful despite having few characters you can actually connect to. "Connection" is overrated. What's not overrated is good writing, which is harder to do and harder to pin down. We ultimately rely on editors to recognize it because they're the gatekeepers, and that puts responsibility on them.