After my post yesterday about knowing when to unplug, and wanting to keep up with all the online conversations, I totally got sucked in to the conversation about the cover for Justine Larbalestier’s forthcoming book, Liar.
The Publishers Weekly article, Justine’s report, Chasing Ray opinion, E. Lockhart’s two cents
There is a lot of outrage, and I think for good reason. Though, some of the comments floating around the o’sphere indicate a belief that the publisher is evil, bad, calculating, etc. Here’s what I think: it’s not like editors and marketing people are monsters. I have met a lot of people in children’s publishing over the last few years, and almost to a (wo)man, they are great, smart, hardworking, passionate people who wants to get books into readers’ hands and to be able to keep doing that by staying in business. I think this was simply a bad decision symptomatic of a larger, mostly hidden problem that we need to talk about and it’s good we are doing so. Being the clueless raised-in-diverse-and-liberal-SF white girl that I am, I had no idea, personally, about the belief that black people on covers don’t sell (or inside picture books – read E. Lockhart’s post). I’ve always been a little naive about racism and racial bias. In the soil I grew out of, it didn’t seem come up much.
Aside from the bigger implications, the cover story itself is yet another reminder of how little we as authors can control* about our jobs. The only part we can totally control (to the extent that we can control it) is the writing, and making it the absolute best we can. And by all accounts, Justine has done her job and written a brilliant book. Seriously, I have heard nothing but raves, and I can’t wait to read it. I wouldn’t want that to get lost in the scuffle. No author wants a controversy to overshadow the hard work on her baby.
*…which is not an excuse to not fight for things that should be fought for. But sometimes, you lose.
P.S. Here is the cover I mentioned in my comment on Justine’s post—a cover that made me pick up the book in the first place, when I was just browsing my local store. I bought it based on the cover. I can’t imagine I’m the only reader/book buyer in the world that is drawn to covers that have people on them who are not like me.
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