The Thirteen Percent Problem: Authors of Colour in the British Young Adult Market, 2017-2019 edition

Melanie Ramdarshan Bold

doi:10.24877/ijyal.37

Abstract

The underrepresentation of people of colour in books and authorship is a critical issue for the British publishing industry. Recent studies have provided both qualitative evidence and longitudinal, quantitative evidence that demonstrates the extent of the problem, fuelling numerous discussions and initiatives within the book community. This article will extend my previous study on YA authorship in the UK, which found that between 2006-2016 only eight percent of the published authors were people of colour. Findings are presented from an analysis of all YA books published in the UK between 2017 and 2019, contextualised with the data from 2006-2016 and recent developments in the market. This article will present yearly trends from 2006 to show if and how things have changed over the years. Specifically, as with the previous research, this study sought to investigate the percentage of YA books that are written by authors of colour, and the percentage of YA authors that are people of colour and British people of colour.

Highlights

The language may have changed, and the social, political, and literary landscapes may have shifted, since 2016; the issue of ‘diversity’ is still, ostensibly, high on the agenda for publishers
The main purpose of this article is to provide ongoing statistical evidence to support discussions about YA authors of colour being published in the UK publishing industry
The data presented in this article is encouraging and demonstrates a yearly increase in the percentage of authors of colour being published and appearing on bestseller lists. 2019, in particular, shows how far the publishing industry has progressed over this 14-year period of study

Summary

Introduction

The language may have changed, and the social, political, and literary landscapes may have shifted, since 2016; the issue of ‘diversity’ (or lack thereof) is still, ostensibly, high on the agenda for publishers. Since my previous study, which highlighted the dearth of authors of colour in the British YA market (“The Eight Percent Problem”), there have been numerous reports, studies, and conversations about representation and misrepresentation These voices all, essentially, say the same thing: racism in the UK is insidious, and the publishing industry has a role in maintaining (or challenging) the status quo (Publishers Association; Black Writer’s Guild; Ramdarshan Bold, Inclusive Young Adult Fiction; Saha and Van Lente). This structural inequality can manifest in different ways: in the way people of colour are visible (or invisible, as is often the case) in books (CLPE, “Reflecting Realities, 2017”; “Reflecting Realities, 2018”; “Reflecting Realities, 2019”; Chetty and Sands O’Connor) and on their front covers (Kimura); in how publishing professionals consider authorship and audience (Ramdarshan Bold, Inclusive Young Adult Fiction; Saha and Van Lente); in the demographic of authors being published (Ramdarshan Bold, “The Eight Percent Problem”, “Representation of People of Colour among Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators (2007-2017)”, “Representation of People of Colour among Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators (2017-2019)”; So; So and Wezerek); in how authors of colour experience the publishing process (Ramdarshan Bold, Inclusive Young Adult Fiction, “Representation of People of Colour”); and in the racial pay gap between authors (Flood, “#Publishingpaidme”)

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