In 2019, Penguin Random House planned to publish the debut novel of young adult (YA) author Amelie Wen Zhao. A few months before the publication date, there was an uproar on Twitter. People who had never read Blood Heir proclaimed that it was racist because it was set in a fantastical world where oppression was not based on skin color. According to Zhao's critics, it was "cultural appropriation" and "antiblack" to depict slavery that was not African American slavery. The uproar was so loud that Zhao canceled the publication of Blood Heir. In a statement posted to Twitter, she apologized for the "pain" and "harm" her unpublished novel had caused the "readers" who never read it.
- From That Book is Dangerous! How Moral Panic, Social Media, and the Culture Wars Are Remaking Publishing by Adam Szetela
[Photo by Anthony Roberts at Unsplash]
4 comments:
Srsly? Why would she not say to hell with alla youse and take a chance on people actually reading it first and then grade it??
My reaction as well. The story continues: It was later announced that the novel would be published but it would "first be sent to sensitivity readers" so they could check it for "potentially offensive material."
'Scuse my language but...sensitivity readers. Holy Shikee. What are editors for?
We live in crazy times. Get ready for a revolution in the publishing biz.
Post a Comment