Welcome to the 2018 Epic BookExpo Recap episode!

If you don’t already know what BookExpo is, it’s the big industry trade show that takes place in the United States every year, and today it’s going to be just me talking to you about this awesome event!

This year, the big thing was the idea of the Reimagined BookExpo, so I wanted to give you a rundown of what’s new, what’s still the same, and what I think all these things say about the book industry as a whole.

Listen in as I chat with you about what the Reimagined BookExpo looks like, and some new and exciting trends I saw in the publishing industry.

In this episode, I give you an inside look at:

• Then and now, how BookExpo has changed over the years.
• Knowing your audience, BookExpo vs. BookCon.
• New trends and themes in the publishing industry that jumped out at me.
• The broadening definition of diversity.

Plus a teaser about the types of books I was most excited to check out, and why.

The Reimagined BookExpo

BookExpo has changed a lot over the many years of this trade show, and this year might be it’s most drastic change yet. Check out the recap episode if you would like the full rundown of my hot and not list for BookExpo 2018, but here’s a little sneak peek of some of the biggest things I saw at this year’s show:

1. The show was much smaller than it has been in years past, and while I did enjoy the more civilized and professional air (and not getting mauled in a stampede for free ARC’s), the ever decreasing size of BookExpo does have me a bit worried.
2. Many of the smaller presses, along with the literary magazines, I had seen in the past were not present at all this year.
3. There was a definite shift in the BookExpo vibe away from book bloggers and other media, and towards booksellers and librarians.
4. There were not as many people with media badges, and this allowed for more business talk to be had and streamline the focus of BookExpo.

Links and Resources

Learn more about BookExpo and BookCon by visiting their websites.

Check out my interview with children’s author Jen Calonita mentioned in this episode here: DIYMFA.com/087.

And if you want to learn more about diversity in publishing listen to my interview with Patrice Caldwell on the Writer’s Digest Podcast here: writersdigest.com/ep5.

Also, here are links to some of the books mentioned in the episode:

• The Orphan’s Wish by Melanie Dickerson
• A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
• Misfits by Jen Calonita
• Maid by Stephanie Land
• There Will Be No Miracles Here by Casey Gerald
• Southern Discomfort by Tena Clark
• The Girl King by Mimi Yu
• You Don’t Know Everything Jilly P by Alex Gino
• Evolution by Eileen Myles

Remember pre-orders help build buzz for the authors so please consider ordering these books before their release dates. If you do check out the books, we hope you’ll do so via the above Amazon affiliate links, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 205

(Right-click to download.)

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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 205: The Epic BookExpo Recap — 2018 Edition appeared first on DIY MFA.

If you noticed something wrong with that list, you aren’t the only one. Despite the diverse range of authors currently producing work and being read, the list, especially for young adult authors, was decidedly whitewashed, heteronormative, and male.  While all of these authors are fantastic, a panel should feature a diverse array of voices and opinions.  This announcement followed a series of small strikes back and forth. Walter Dean Myers wrote an exceptional article calling attention to a lack of diversity in children’s books, an article that called attention to some of the truths everyone who has been in a bookstore knows.

An Obvious Problem

Just to put some numbers to the lack of diversity in children’s books: In 2013, out of the young adult books published, 21.9 percent featured characters of color.  4.9 percent featured characters that identified as LGBTQ. It’s worth noting that both of those numbers have improved substantially since 2011. Only 2.9 percent had disabilities, including learning disabilities.  This is not representative of the world that we live in, and erases the existence of many families.

Presented with this information and the panel at BookCon, Ellen Oh created the #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag, a place to discuss the need for a greater variety of texts. Over the course of several days, readers, authors, educators and librarians tweeted about the reasons why diverse books needed to be on shelves. This push prompted the creation of an additional panel in BookCon lineup, featuring a panel of authors from a variety of backgrounds discussing the need for diversity and what readers can do to make this goal a reality. We Need Diverse Books blew up quickly, and now is a large team.

A Unique Solution

The We Need Diverse Books panel was by far one of my favorites.  With amazing authors, passionate speakers, and an audience on the edge of its seat, the panel was in turns lighthearted and heavy hitting. Despite the continued insistence by many in the industry that there is no ‘push’ for diverse books and that they ‘don’t sell well,’ the room was standing room only, with some being turned away at the door.

The speakers emphasized that this isn’t an either-or debate, but rather an ‘and’ debate. There’s room at the table for every voice, and advocating for diversity doesn’t need to come at the expense of other great titles. Likewise, the speakers reminded the audience that multicultural isn’t actually a genre, and books with diverse casts held appeal for all audiences. Indeed, Matt de la Pena discussed the joy of hearing from readers who connected with his protagonist through a mutually shared love of basketball. Grace Lin shared the joy of seeing a character like yourself in a book, a joy many readers are currently missing. The power of the speakers truly can’t be summarized easily, instead here is a link to the unedited audio from the panel. https://tmblr.co/ZWNYhn1HaZzne . Thanks to the We Need Diverse Books team,  an important conversation has been started, one that we’ve been dancing around for entirely too long.

Looking to the Future

If 50% of children are non-white, if 10% will identify as LGBTQ, and if one in three will experience a mental illness, why are these realities being erased? Less than ten percent of books featured diverse main characters, and this harms everyone. Every reader needs two things from books. They need a window into the lives of people who are not like themselves, and they need a mirror that lets them see themselves in a book and know they’re not alone.

So, what’s next? The first ever Diversity Festival will be held in Washington D.C. in 2016.  You can follow the We Need Diverse Books campaign on Twitter and on Tumblr for up to date information, and some truly inspiring personal stories.

……………..

Meghan Drummond graduated from Virginia Tech, and is currently an MFA student at The New School, the curriculum coordinator for DIY MFA, and a young adult writer.

The post We Need Diverse Books: The Book Con-troversy appeared first on DIY MFA.