The Dragon's Den

This picture was taken at Sharon Hill Library today, featuring the President of Sharon Hill Library Richard E. Ashby, and a special appearance from Philadelphia City Councilman, Anthony Phillips! I’m all the way on the right, laughing at something someone said behind the camera.

This event was something special– All of the authors at this exhibition were experienced and I spoke in length with all of the authors in this photo, each one of them providing a different outlook into the world of publishing. It’s my hope that in the next few weeks, I can think about Traditional publishing.

This community event made me really appreciate the fact that everyone had one goal that Mr. Ashby wants to see– and that’s more black authors. I don’t talk about it much– though I do reference it in my book, but it should be no surprise to you that I’m black.

I know. Crazy, right?

To my fellow reader, I know you’ve likely heard tales from other black or brown people about how American society will stifle us just because of our skin color. It’s something that should be common knowledge among kinfolk, and it should not bear repeating. With that said… Being an author that is black in the industry is still something that is not commonplace. Searching for descisive data online has given me a few links into the percentage of BIPOC published authors to white published authors.

The general concensus between each article is that anywhere between 79% to 90% of published authors that hit the popular sphere are white, while the remaining 21% to 10% of the rest are people of color. Definitive proof is something I’ll need to buckle down and find studies for, but with that said, knowing how costly it is to even get a book published and marketed, it’s safe to say that it’s not just an issue of race, but an issue of class as well, and both go hand-in-hand.

Mr. Ashby is someone who is eccentric and funny, passionate and a bit old school with what he does, but he does what he does for a reason; he wants to bridge that gap to see successful black authors thrive, and I’m grateful for him and Literacy Nation for making me feel… seen. That’s the hardest part about this industry– feeling like you’re being looked at.

I’ll be going on more reading tours with my mind set on getting my desired age group to read Kane and Mysherra’s story. I’ll be going to a huge expo in June. I’ll be kept up to date about that, and so will you guys!

I’m signing off, but before that, don’t forget there’s a raffle for Sins of the Fire Merchandise! With only 4 days left, you might be a lucky winner!