Many authors would kill
to make good money writing books, to see their books land with a real
publisher, and to gain some notoriety. In last year’s Oscar-nominated movie,
American Fiction, a Black writer struggles to have any of this, despite putting
together quality literary works. Then, one day, fed up by seeing what he views
as low-brow books getting industry attention and huge commercial success, he
asks his literary agent to peddle a sub-par manuscript filled with
stereotypical depictions of Black people as a joke.




He soon finds out the white establishment book
industry is eager to embrace his gangsta-in-da-hood, ghetto-style book. He is
reluctant to have it published and is further disgusted to see that such books
are what gets published and not the quality literary content he has produced.




The academician peddles a farcical “black novel”
that gets eaten up by guilt-ridden woke whites who think the black experience
is only poverty, racism, violence, and broken families. But sadly, publishing
is looking not just for the next great American novel, but also the next
greatest LGBTQ novel, Black novel, woman’s novel, and novel’s of every group.




Book publishing now recruits to publish authors of
books that meet its DEI targets. Whatever happened to a standard, not of race,
but simply quality?




The movie is a
satirical expose on publishing, takes a look at racism, and offers commentary
on relationships: marriage, parents, siblings).




I agree with the movie’s overall concept that book
publishing’s gatekeepers often fail to publish worthy gems while green-lighting
garbage. It also shows it has a racial blind spot. But it also reveals the news
media and reading public as being just as dumb as the book publishing industry.





Need PR Help?

Brian
Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over 3.9 million page
views, can be reached at 
[email protected]  He is available to help authors promote their story,
sell their book, and grow their brand. He has over 30 years of experience in
successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your
advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian
Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be
followed on
www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. This is
copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2024. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now
resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue
dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The
Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This
award-winning blog has generated over 3.9 million pageviews. With 4,900+ posts
over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by
BookBaby 
http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018
as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by
www.WinningWriters.com as a “best resource.” For the past three decades,
including 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book
publicity firm, and director of publicity positions at two independent presses,
Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres,
right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark
Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay,
Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan
RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler. He
hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and
has spoken at ASJA, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence
College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association,
Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and
Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. His letters-to-the-editor have
been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY
Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News
(Westchester) and The Washington
Post
. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, &
Co-Op Association Handbook
.  It was featured
in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.