Reply #89: Hmm.

[ThatPoetGuy]

It's difficult, arguing with idealists, because ideals create passion. But I admire ideals and I admire passion, even if sometimes the communication hits a brick wall. So I'm going to reach out and try to communicate anyway.

To arrive at a middle ground, I will tell you, yes, there are problems with these departments. The problems are significant, and they are real.

The departments have the potential to prevent Black writers from crossing over and reaching a larger audience.

The departments have the potential to present the work of Black writers as inherently Othered; the existence of these departments might imply that white people write fiction for everyone, but Black people can only write fiction for other Black people.

There's also something strange and unhealthy in the notion that romance novels should be shelved with sci-fi novels just because they're both about Black people.

But, on the other hand, the Black publishing industry has taken off in the last ten to fifteen years, and a lot of publishers attribute it to the sales in these departments. They base this attribution on watching the sales figures for the stores that have the separate departments vs. the stores that don't.

This expansion in sales has led to a publishing boom. More Black authors are being published now than ever before, and we're talking about large-scale print runs, fifty thousand copies, a hundred thousand copies, not the 300-copy print runs of the Harlem Renaissance.

This publishing boom has led to a lot of Black Young Adult (YA) fiction being published, bringing good stuff into the hands of young Black people who had little to choose from outside of Ntozake Shange and Langston Hughes twenty years ago, when they were curious about what it means to be Black in America.

I would love to have a long, deep conversation on the issues of race and publishing. It's close to my heart, and my career. I'm afraid, Number23, that you and I have begun our acquaintance on an oppositional note, which might prevent a richer dialogue from taking place in the future. Which is sad, because I think you and I are both approaching this issue from places of integrity.

So, to change the subject a little bit: Cindy Pon's book _Silver Phoenix_ didn't sell well. It's a fantasy novel set in China. The publishers didn't give up on it after its disappointing sales, which is actually impressive, but...

they decided to change its cover.

The old cover showed an Asian woman. The new cover shows a white woman.

Even though there are no white characters in the book.

What do you think of that? Let's talk. Let's learn. Let's start new threads, raise awareness, and communicate like adults.