Market Correction

Hi everyone! 

I am Young Adult and Middle Grade author Barbara Binns, writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for adolescents and teens. As my tagline says, I write Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 


This is part 1 of a two-part post on Diverse Writing.  You can read part 2, with tips for writing diverse characters and cultures, by clicking HERE

This month, Romancing The Genres will present tips for writing authentic diverse characters on weekends. In fact, I will be doing a post this Saturday, March 16. Currently, social media is operating in viral mode about a resent YA book involving the intersection of several layers of diversity. Some are calling the viral Twitter messages a mob attack that all authors should fear.

If you don't know, author Kosoko Jackson wrote a book called, A Place For Wolves. The book was scheduled to be published later this month. Instead, he and the publisher, Sourcebooks, have decided to withdraw it following diversity related attacks by what is being called YA Twitter.

Mr. Jackson is an #ownvoice, black, gay, and his book has a black, gay, non-Muslim American teen as the  protagonist.

This pre-publication withdrawal follows similar actions taken with two earlier books: Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao, and A Suicide Bomber Sits in the Library by Jack Gantos.  Blood Heir includes a racially insensitive portrayal of slavery, including the sacrifice of a black character to save a white. A Suicide Bomber Sits In The Library repeats the way overused caricature of a Muslim suicide bomber preparing to set off a bomb in the US.


School Library Journal considered A Place For Wolves a starred book. Nevertheless, the historical thriller was pulled last month  following a negative Goodreads review that led to a barrage of twitter attacks. Mr. Jackson and his book had received starred reviews from major reviewers. Interestingly, Mr. Jackson was a well-known and respected sensitivity reader. The reviewer who read a pre-release arc claimed – “I’ve never been so disgusted in my life.” She went on to detail issues with the importance of the plight of the Americans over the genocide of Muslim Albanians and placing one of those Muslim men as the stories terrorist villain.

Commenters on Twitter and Facebook discuss the possible harm this book could do to real people. The book is set in the Kosovo war in the 1990’s. It focuses on the suffering and fear of two non-Muslim American boys with little regard for the genocide suffered by the Albanian Muslims of Kosovo. And it makes a Albanian Muslim the terrorist villain.

The author apologized, stating

I failed to fully understand the people and the conflict that I set around my characters.

I call that the issue. Not the power of twitter, but the failure to understand. Without that, there would never have been a mob. Some have called the attack on this book a witch hunt. I think it's a sign that no one is immune from backlash if they use problem tropes and engage in cultural appropriation.

Of course people make mistakes. I almost made one myself, was on the verge of creating a stereotypical womanizing, hard drinking black male. Thank God for critique partners, since all I really wanted was for my protagonist to have a relative who drank too much and not be a caricature. I was able to catch the issue in time and re-write before arcs went out and reviewers got their hands on the book.

Many authors view are viewing this action with fear.  Especially while writing the story of his or her heart. They want the "exotic" character or culture without having to think about the implications that may have to readers. Existing groups and cultures have exiting human being who are part of it, and who may be hurt if the facts of that culture are misused. In this day of social media, those readers have the ability to voice their displeasure.

I called this post Market Correction for a reason. Some writers are running cared, fearing the comments on Social Media and calling this "censorship." Had this book been published, and then the government told the publisher/author to withdraw it because of concerns about the depiction of Muslim-American relationships, I would agree that that was censorship. But in this case, it was the market itself that spoke up and issued a correction. Just like an overvalued stock may decline after investors realize there are reasons to withdraw their money. In this case readers and their followers voiced their displeasure and were heard. I don't feel scared about that.

Note, on Saturday I will be back to provide some tips to help authors avoid these kinds of problems in the first place.  For now, feel free to ask questions in the comments and I will look at including those in the March 16th post.

PS - here is a link to the apology Kosoko Jackson posted on twitter when he removed A Place For Wolves from publication:

From me to the Book Community: I'm Sorry. pic.twitter.com/sFXQAlQCk9

— Kosoko Jackson (@KosokoJackson) February 28, 2019

I Read ...I Buy..Maybe Not!

By: Marcia King-Gamble
www.lovemarcia.com

It's a competitive world out there, and with so many authors offering free reads, I am  mighty selective about what I buy these days. Aren't you? Hard cover books are pushing the $30 mark and paperbacks can cost close to $10.00. So don't you  think twice before getting out that credit card? In today's world of outlet shopping I can get an entire outfit for that same 30.00 bucks.

Like you, I have a tendency to stick to the tried and true. Authors that I know for sure can deliver. Authors like Susan Elizabeth Phillips, because there isn't one of her stories I don't like. The same can be said for Donna Hill, and then there is Sandra Kitt - the reason I began this crazy writing career. Incidentally she is the co-author of my last book, titled By Design.

What most people don't realize is that even if you are traditionally published ( and you get editing services for free,) these professionals with their ivy league degrees are hardly infallible. You, the author, shouldn't leave all the proofing up to them. Your responsibility is to edit your book as best as you can, and even so, you are way too close to your work to catch all the errors.

That said, several things pull me out of a book. A poorly researched book being one of them. Sure I can forgive the occasional typo. I can even  forgive the dangling participles, and I can overlook the chapters that end without a hook. What I can't forgive are misspellings, or the inappropriate use of words. I have difficulty forgiving the author placing her story in a setting she is clearly unfamiliar with. For gosh sakes we live in the world of Google maps and videos.

Case in point, I recently read a novel set in the world of  the affluent, yet the author didn't have a clue that those enjoying that lifestyle would never wait in an airport lounge, or pick up their luggage at the carousel.  Further, she did not understand that the hotels they stayed in would never serve a $8.95 buffet breakfast in the lobby, and that such a thing as room service is a staple in most 4/5 star hotels.

I am by no means suggesting that we are all born with silver spoons in our mouths. I am simply suggesting that a little research could easily have added some authenticity to her story.  Another pet peeve of mine are self published authors with  homemade book covers.  Covers sell a book and if that book looks amateurish there go your sales. The only person you are hurting by being cheap is yourself. There are Internet companies that can help. I have gotten some beautiful covers from upcoming graphic artist looking to build a portfolio for as little as $5.00, and I have tipped them far more than they charged.

This brings me to another pet peeve of mine. Books with no internal conflict. What surprises me are the number of seasoned authors putting out books that are all external conflict. For those of you who don't know what I mean, let me elaborate. An external conflict is an issue created by an outside force; a situation going on in the hero/heroines environment. It drives the dramatic action of the plot. Think Romeo and Juliet and the two feuding families.

 The internal conflict is the war within. The struggle inside that usually prevents the characters from moving forward. It's the dilemma facing the characters and it's impact on them. If these people aren't relatable or flawed why should we care? Everyone has experiences that have scarred them and made them vulnerable. Readers want to read about people they can relate to and root for, and they want to see them grow. At the end of the book they want to have learned something.

When I read a book that is all external conflict, and no internal, it makes me wonder what drives that character. What are the stakes? How can I root for a character that I don't know, and why should they matter when the author has not provided the ground work for me to understand who they are, where they come from, and why is that goal so important to them?

Since I write romance, I need to know  what drives my characters. It's not enough that two people are attracted to each other and find love. What are the obstacles they face? What is so important to them to make them step out of their comfort zone to achieve that goal? It's got to be more important than winning that guy or girl.     

Books with no black moment are downright boring to me.  It's that knuckle biting moment when you think all is lost, and there is no hope of romance between these two people that keep you reading. If everything is hunky dory from start to finish it's yawn city.

I spend money on books to be carried away, and while I'm being transported to another world I want to learn something. If I stumble over sentences that require I reread them four or five times until I understand what the author is saying, then I get frustrated not carried away.

As authors we may only have one time to make a first impression (especially with new readers.) It pays to be your own harsh critic, and it also pays to enlist the services of an editor or proofreader.  It could very well be the best money spent.

About Marcia King-Gamble

Romance writer, Marcia King-Gamble originally hails from a sunny Caribbean island where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue. This former travel industry executive and current world traveler has spent most of life in the United States. A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned over 34 books and 8 novellas. Her free time is spent at the gym, traveling to exotic locales, and caring for her animal family.

Visit Marcia at www.lovemarcia.com or “friend” her on Facebook: http://bit.ly/1MlnrIS

A Small Epiphany

In the summer of 2009 I sat and watched my three little monsters playing in the garden. My youngest had just got mobile enough to chase his older siblings around the place and play with them on more equal terms. Me - I was overweight, bored and miserable. I felt I'd lost myself. I was proud of being a mum and wife, but beyond those labels I felt I had no purpose. No identity. Who and what was I?

So I sat at my computer, pulled out an old short story that I'd left in storage and put on some music. Having not written in nearly 20 years, I decided to give it another go.

A six week frenzy of scribbling and typing followed. My husband thought I'd gone mad. Maybe I had a bit. Because once I'd started putting down the words, I just couldn't stop. They poured out of me. At the end of those six weeks I had a 40 000 word rough draft, which I then split in two. By the end of 2009 I had a 100K novel ready to pitch, and nearly as much for a sequel.

At the same time I went on a diet, started a dance class, changed my hairstyle and dyed my hair, and completely changed my wardrobe, from baggy black to tailored reds, blues and greens. Hubs refers to it as my midlife crisis. I call it my epiphany. Because after 40 years I'd found myself and my real passion - writing. Until that point I hadn't realised how much I loved to write, and that it's what had been missing. And I haven't looked back. It took another eighteen months of rejections and rewrites and a change of tack before that first novel got a publishing contract with a small press but I count myself lucky. And now, four and a half years down the line I have five titles out, two contracted, one request on a full and one out on submission. I have two short stories scheduled for release in October and November this year. My only regret is that it took me nearly forty years to figure out what I really wanted to do. >.<

Right now, that debut novel isn't available to buy. My publisher - Lyrical Press Inc - has just been bought by Kensington, and titles have had to be taken down as the transfer occurs. But in the meantime, I'm doing a giveaway at Goodreads for three now rare paperback editions of that novel, and you can enter here.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Keir

by Pippa Jay

Giveaway ends February 14, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

And my scifi romance short went up at All Romance Ebooks just last week at the discounted price of $1.01 until the 23rd HERE. :)

EXCERPT | Available at... B&N
|ARe | Amazon US | Amazon UK
| Smashwords |

Happy New Year and happy reading!

Overheard at... the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland

“Listen to the fragrance.”

This line from a poem inscribed in the Lan Su garden has haunted me since I read and blogged about it a year ago (Overheard at... Art in the Pearl). I love the idea that our senses can be used to understand what is beyond our traditional comprehension. As Romancing the Genres plunges into the heat of August, we bring with us a focus on reader resources, spotlighting guest bloggers on the topics or book reviews, book clubs, and libraries. More than the blogs themselves, I am looking forward to hearing comments from our readers (wink, wink… that would be you!) about which resources they use to help them choose books.

Obviously dedicated readers know all about Goodreads and are probably well trained in how to use the Amazon system to narrow down their favorite picks. My husband is a pro, for example at searching Amazon for new books coming out by his favorite authors and then saving them to his wishlist or getting on the waiting list for when they are available at the library.

But when I look back, it seems like my favorite books have found me. I have been riding on a train and seen a cover that struck me, or been searching for one book and found something entirely different that called out to me. Like the moment when we ‘listen to a fragrance,’ sensing the presence of a great book is sometimes so unconscious I am not even sure most of us could articulate why or how it happened. All we know is that we walked into Barnes and Noble prepared to buy The Hunger Games (because, of course, we saw it mentioned on some great blog or something;>) and walked out with a copy of love poems.

And if sometimes that relationship, like many, deceives us and we sell the book back to Powells for a pittance, well, so be it. Because the very best reader resource I know is our own open mind and our willingness to try.

By Genre-ista: Deanne Wilsted

Author of BETTING JESSICA and UNTANGLING THE KNOT

www.deannewilsted.com

@dwilsted