What is your best advice for watching authors around you, who are not people of color getting published, while you are fighting for your story in the query trenches?
That’s a super good question. And that’s definitely frustrating to watch. My best advice is 1) to make sure you have some great peers and mentors around you who can lift you up and remind you that your story is good and has value, no matter what the struggle. 2) to know that some people in publishing are just crappy. It’s a hard reality to swallow, but it’s also important to know because you NEED to know that a lot of times your struggle is happening because of factors outside of your control–and it has nothing to do with your talent, which exists with or without others. and 3) to know that your person does exist and that good people, good allies, do exist in this industry. search them out and try your best to submit to people who won’t ignite that question: is this because I’m a POC?
I know it’s hard out there, and the industry is broken in such a way that there are no magic words 🙁 But our people are out there. Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with <3
Tara Kennedy
2 months ago
Oh gosh, I love your points about the walls you built being there for a reason, even if they may no longer be serving you.
I find media around publishing sort of reinforces the chosen one thing. Articles cover authors of color as if they are the very first to write books for kids, or books about people that look like them. Do you have any tips for how authors can push back on that?
Hi Tara! Thanks for your comment 🙂 Excellent point! I think one key is to always reach back and pull others up, so acknowledging the authors that came before at every opportunity is a great way to let people know that we’ve always existed: we just haven’t always had support. You can write posts about authors of color you’ve loved, cite them as your inspirations, and so on. Some media will probably always insist on covering us in a certain way without our knowing :/ but anytime you’re asked for input–and on your own platforms–you have that chance to drop some names. I know I LOVE reading an article about an author I love where they bring up the people who did it before, and now I have more authors to add to my list 🙂
JessicaAKassin
2 months ago
Do you have any advice for a writer who is writing about their culture, but was actually born in the U.S. and not actually in that culture? I want to blend Asian (mostly Chinese) elements into my fantasy story because my heritage is important to me (and I find it fascinating). In a way I’m connected because even here there are many traditions my family still follows and legends/stories my parents have passed down since they were born there, but with me being born overseas, does someone like me still have a right to write that into our stories and to use those elements? I feel caught in between people’s opinions because some say it’s ‘stealing’ a voice and not a voice for me to use, but yet it is also still my culture (I just wasn’t born and location-wise steeped in it). I realize this may be different for contemporary fiction vs. a fantasy.
Hey Jessica! Thanks for your comment 🙂 Super thought-provoking. It’s actually something I think about and work through a lot, because being mixed, I can sometimes hear the same things about ‘stealing’ a voice and have people try to invalidate my identity.
Here’s what I think: if you have that heritage, it’s yours. Being Asian has informed your life–your experiences, your struggles, your triumphs. And the traditions that have been passed down to you! It’s an inseparable part of you. So I do believe that we can write those things into our stories. I also think it’s an invaluable way to honor and connect to the things our ancestors were forced to give up when they arrived here. It’s a way to bring our families closer to the best parts of the past.
When writing about things we know nothing about yet (I’m not sure if you’re looking into including elements you’re not super versed in yet) we always have to be sensitive, I think. But when a white writer (for example) decides they want to incorporate Chinese elements into their story and does research on it, they’re absolutely taking. When you, a Chinese person (I’m assuming, correct me if I’m wrong!), does research on it, you’re connecting to a culture that belongs to you, and that belonged to your ancestors <3
I hope this makes sense. It’s definitely a complex topic and I feel like it maybe has a slightly different answer for everyone. I hope this adds something valuable to your own reflections! 🙂
What is your best advice for watching authors around you, who are not people of color getting published, while you are fighting for your story in the query trenches?
That’s a super good question. And that’s definitely frustrating to watch. My best advice is 1) to make sure you have some great peers and mentors around you who can lift you up and remind you that your story is good and has value, no matter what the struggle. 2) to know that some people in publishing are just crappy. It’s a hard reality to swallow, but it’s also important to know because you NEED to know that a lot of times your struggle is happening because of factors outside of your control–and it has nothing to do with your talent, which exists with or without others. and 3) to know that your person does exist and that good people, good allies, do exist in this industry. search them out and try your best to submit to people who won’t ignite that question: is this because I’m a POC?
I know it’s hard out there, and the industry is broken in such a way that there are no magic words 🙁 But our people are out there. Let me know if there’s anything else I can help with <3
Oh gosh, I love your points about the walls you built being there for a reason, even if they may no longer be serving you.
I find media around publishing sort of reinforces the chosen one thing. Articles cover authors of color as if they are the very first to write books for kids, or books about people that look like them. Do you have any tips for how authors can push back on that?
Hi Tara! Thanks for your comment 🙂 Excellent point! I think one key is to always reach back and pull others up, so acknowledging the authors that came before at every opportunity is a great way to let people know that we’ve always existed: we just haven’t always had support. You can write posts about authors of color you’ve loved, cite them as your inspirations, and so on. Some media will probably always insist on covering us in a certain way without our knowing :/ but anytime you’re asked for input–and on your own platforms–you have that chance to drop some names. I know I LOVE reading an article about an author I love where they bring up the people who did it before, and now I have more authors to add to my list 🙂
Do you have any advice for a writer who is writing about their culture, but was actually born in the U.S. and not actually in that culture? I want to blend Asian (mostly Chinese) elements into my fantasy story because my heritage is important to me (and I find it fascinating). In a way I’m connected because even here there are many traditions my family still follows and legends/stories my parents have passed down since they were born there, but with me being born overseas, does someone like me still have a right to write that into our stories and to use those elements? I feel caught in between people’s opinions because some say it’s ‘stealing’ a voice and not a voice for me to use, but yet it is also still my culture (I just wasn’t born and location-wise steeped in it). I realize this may be different for contemporary fiction vs. a fantasy.
I also realized this is a loaded question! I understand if you’re not comfortable answering!
Hey Jessica! Thanks for your comment 🙂 Super thought-provoking. It’s actually something I think about and work through a lot, because being mixed, I can sometimes hear the same things about ‘stealing’ a voice and have people try to invalidate my identity.
Here’s what I think: if you have that heritage, it’s yours. Being Asian has informed your life–your experiences, your struggles, your triumphs. And the traditions that have been passed down to you! It’s an inseparable part of you. So I do believe that we can write those things into our stories. I also think it’s an invaluable way to honor and connect to the things our ancestors were forced to give up when they arrived here. It’s a way to bring our families closer to the best parts of the past.
When writing about things we know nothing about yet (I’m not sure if you’re looking into including elements you’re not super versed in yet) we always have to be sensitive, I think. But when a white writer (for example) decides they want to incorporate Chinese elements into their story and does research on it, they’re absolutely taking. When you, a Chinese person (I’m assuming, correct me if I’m wrong!), does research on it, you’re connecting to a culture that belongs to you, and that belonged to your ancestors <3
I hope this makes sense. It’s definitely a complex topic and I feel like it maybe has a slightly different answer for everyone. I hope this adds something valuable to your own reflections! 🙂