Publishing must make room for disabled authors - for its own good

Attention to diversity has yet to pay much heed to us, but we are the biggest minority in the world, so if space is cleared everyone stands to win As a disabled writer, it has been a little strange to watch publishers rush to put on online events during the pandemic. Authors have been understandably worried about the impact of Covid-19 on sales and their relationship with their readers – book signings are pretty tricky over Zoom – but this sort of adaptation isn’t novel for all of us. When I released my book, Crippled, last year, my chronic illness meant I couldn’t do a traditional in-person book tour. Instead, I did several online events with book groups with audiences from Belfast to London, all from my living room. Everyone I worked with was kind and problem-solving, but I was very aware I was doing something rare. At times, I felt like the only disabled author out there.Diversity in publishing has thank goodness been on the agenda of late, but there’s been very little mention of disability. Disabled people are the biggest minority in the world – one in five will have a disability, mental health condition or chronic illness in their lifetime – but the publishing industry is still disappointingly unrepresentative of us. A 2019 Publishers Association survey found only 6.6% of the workforce identified as having a disability, and there aren’t any available statistics on disabled authors. Another 2019 study found that only 3.4% of children’s books published last year had a... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2020-09-04 14:00:57 UTC ]

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Printing in Hong Kong and China 2021: All Our Coverage

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LoveAudio campaign returns with online events

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A long way to go

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Al Qasimi makes history at International Publishers Association as body hits 125

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Bologna Today: AIE and Aldus Call for Publishing Research Coherence

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UK Book Publishing Industry Raises Copyright Alarm: ‘Save Our Books’

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The Conservative Publishing Industry Has a Joe Biden Problem

Neither authors nor publishing houses have figured out how to turn the new president into a compelling villain. Continue reading at The Atlantic

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Audio Publishers Association Cites 12-Percent 2020 US Audiobook Revenue Growth

In 2020, the Audio Publishers Association sales report finds more than 71,000 audiobooks were published in the US, up 39 percent over 2019. The post Audio Publishers Association Cites 12-Percent 2020 US Audiobook Revenue Growth appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

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Obituary: Joel Friedlander

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Nevertheless, they persisted

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The UK’s Publishers Association 2020 Report: ‘In the Face of COVID’

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UK book sales soared in 2020 despite pandemic

New figures from the Publishers Association show fiction and audiobooks did particularly well, with value of consumer sales up 7% on 2019 despite bookshop closuresFiction sales in 2020 soared by more than £100m for UK publishers, as readers locked down at home made their escape into books, with... Continue reading at The Guardian

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UK publishing income up 2% in Covid-hit 2020 despite print decline

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In the Instagram age, you actually can judge a book by its cover

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Stop being ‘nice’, start doing good: 15 steps to doing better

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Treading a Fine Line: On Translating Tove Ditlevsen’s Gift, by Michael Favala Goldman

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8 Audiobook Recommendations for the Disability Readathon

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