True Diversity Is One Of Thoughts.

Creator: “The Dream” Henri Rousseau 1910 | Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Hey. Come closer.

Did you know that the publishing landscape was very diverse?

Me neither.

It must be a multiverse situation. Maybe an alternate plane where publishing is vibrant, daring, and luxurious. Who the fuck knows?

Anyways, that’s not the case.

I could cite the New Lee & Low Report and mention that your inevitable white women rule the shelves and best-seller lists, but that’s not the angle we’re examining today.

Let’s talk about blanket statements and false equivalence fallacies in this crazy line of work—especially the ones revolving around diversity and what the word currently does mean, versus what it should truly entail.

DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) is an essential practice for any movement.

It’s a big deal for all the Big 5 publishers (those who control the publishing monopoly, ironically contradicting their DEI claims), who constantly produce some kind of rhetoric around the “voices” they promote and the stories they champion [insert the obligatory New York Times Best Seller or mainstream book club tag here].

The thing is… it’s all bullshit.

As an indie author, I can assure you that we are still missing the mark on rooting for more unique voices.

As always, we must seek the truth. The root cause. The sound argument supporting this bleak picture. Where do we start?

Well, first and foremost, they weaponized diversity. It’s a tool rather than a cultural framework. It’s a market driver, the holy grail to achieve a balance and meet quotas that this billion-dollar industry can use to prop their cisgender white women up in peace. It was never political will or a genuine interest in defending more groundbreaking narratives against the otherwise bland landscape of books.

It’s just a means to an end (i.e., tokenism), not an ideology that grows stronger as it deepens its roots in healthy soil.

Then, there’s the… semantics issue.

To the publishing world, diversity is tied to only certain factors: mainly gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. It’s quite reductive.

Being well-versed in that concept considering my colorful background, I can attest that true diversity relies on a much broader range of variables. It’s beautifully complex.

Your upbringing, your exposure to other cultures, your travel experience, your relationships, intellectual curiosity, religion, humor, political views, and overall (yet completely overlooked) thoughts.

Thoughts, right? How brilliant.

An author labeled as diverse should not always translate to a queer woman with neurodivergent tendencies and blue-colored hair (with the septum for good measure).

That’s great, but it goes against the very core of what diversity is. It’s thoughts!

A straight white man can have a unique voice if he’s been exposed to unique circumstances. A Black woman can bring something fresh that thrives outside of the Tyler Perry/Hood Romance/Trauma Porn archetypes (no shade to M. Perry, but this is the best way to demonstrate that given his broad appeal).

And so on and so forth. Diversity should not be caged in “templates.” It’s strange, layered, and (by definition) daring. If the industry truly wants to champion DEI as they currently falsely claim, they need to prove that they have a stronger understanding of what makes a diverse creative.

It’s something you can evaluate as you review manuscripts.

Do you often explore such facets of the world? Are the characters rather unpredictable? Did the underlying themes challenge your preconceptions in their execution?

Let US show YOU what a vibrant painting does to your space, how its rich and deep tones ground the sharper and lighter angles of your immutable structure.