Books and Problematic Authors

[issybird]

Deflect, deflect. We can all see what you’re doing here and I’m moving on, as you should have.

Back on topic now. And that’s not a suggestion.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

Cancel culture is real. Even if the biggest fish aren't hurt by it, smaller fry most certainly are.

Small fry don't attract enough attention. I stand by my assertions. What people choose to call cancel culture doesn't cancel anything. And those who rail against what they call cancel culture are merely trying to control the narrative.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What actually started this wanting to get authors terminated?

I'm still waiting for a substantial list of authors who have been fired. From the links Paperbackstash provided, I counted a single author who saw themselves terminated. Books were dropped either at the authors request, which hardly counts as firing, or by the publisher but without dropping the author.

Only in the case of the author who tweeted support of Rowling did the author get fired, and that was from a collective authorship of a YA series, the publishers stating that she connected her views the the ficticious author of the series.

Several of the links were about an author already mentioned, who did not actually get cancelled and later went ahead and published a revised book. And there were two, I believe, about an author who had their first book lambasted though it was published.

So where are these cancelled authors? YA Twitter is certainly a hot mess, but it's not getting the vast majority of its targets removed.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Small fry don't attract enough attention. I stand by my assertions. What people choose to call cancel culture doesn't cancel anything.

Perhaps not now, but it may well discourage new creators from creating content on controversial topics, from fear of some group or another taking offense and starting a witch hunt. The end result would be stagnation of publicly available literature/movies/music etc. Of course underground alternatives would then appear and start to circulate. Now what does this remind me of? Yep, the Soviet times. Censure, fear of saying what you really think out loud, punishment for any deviation from the party line.

No, we're not there yet, not by a long shot. But we might be some day.

[DiapDealer]

May, might, some day ... yada, yada.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

Like ^&**^ there is't. Yeah, the Woody Allens and J.K. Rowlings of this world can pretty much ignore it, sure. But I suggest you read (and follow the links in) Paperbackstash's post.

Cancel culture is real. Even if the biggest fish aren't hurt by it, smaller fry most certainly are.

What I got from reading the shared articles is that authors and publishers should just stay off of YATwitter and proceed as planned.

The most famous example (or at least the one I have any familiarity with) is The Black Witch by Laurie Forest. Despite the Twitter rage, the book was released, seems to be popular and has garnered good reviews and has two sequels.

Same goes for Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao.

A Place For Wolves by Kosoko Jackson would likely also be fine if the author and publisher just decided to plow ahead.

The heat on Twitter is real But in the end, it's also insular and ignored by the rest of the world (including apparently YAs, as YATwitter is mostly made up of adults).

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

May, might, some day ... yada, yada.

If you never want to spare a thought for anything other than the present moment, then that's your choice, of course.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

I'm still waiting for a substantial list of authors who have been fired. From the links Paperbackstash provided, I counted a single author who saw themselves terminated. Books were dropped either at the authors request, which hardly counts as firing, or by the publisher but without dropping the author.

Only in the case of the author who tweeted support of Rowling did the author get fired, and that was from a collective authorship of a YA series, the publishers stating that she connected her views the the ficticious author of the series.

Several of the links were about an author already mentioned, who did not actually get cancelled and later went ahead and published a revised book. And there were two, I believe, about an author who had their first book lambasted though it was published.

So where are these cancelled authors? YA Twitter is certainly a hot mess, but it's not getting the vast majority of its targets removed.

Linda Fairstein was fired and she has over 20 books published.

[ZodWallop]

Here's a related story: Providence Athenæum Wrestles with Racist and Anti-Semitic Legacy of H.P. Lovecraft

A bust was donated to the Athenæum in 2003. And now the library is deciding what (if anything) to do with it.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Linda Fairstein was fired and she has over 20 books published.

Well there’s one, a somewhat problematic example given she’s a former prosecutor turned mystery/true crime writer who uses her previous work in her books. Granted she’s hardly alone in that as an author.

It’s also not clear if another publisher won’t pick her up, or if she won’t go the self published route (she’s easily got the funds to).

It’s also pretty easy to see why she’d be dropped it’s not like she made a bad call in the 80s and since repented for it. She was involved in a rather egregious case of overt racism and has since then doubled down on her previous stance in more recent years. More over the offense was a byproduct of her doing her job at the time, a job she directly benefits from as an author of true crime. Perhaps if she hadn’t commented on it recently she’d have been given a pass. Or if her current books weren’t so tied to her prior job.

[Paperbackstash]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

It’s also not clear if another publisher won’t pick her up, or if she won’t go the self published route (she’s easily got the funds to).

I doubt they'd take the risk due to outcry and not risking loss of rep/money

For the woman who lost her book contract due to Twitter anger/cancel culture when people were upset about her photo of the employee eating on the train, she tried to sue the publisher. She had to remove all her media off the internet and delete her profiles due to private messages and attacks. Not sure what ever happened to the lawsuit. Writer sues after losing book deal over transit worker flap

We all remember Milo Yiannopoulos was dropped due to outcry from Twitter and liberal media from his six-book deal

[ema1982]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Names. Authors, book titles and publishers, please. Whose art is the literary world being deprived of in this day and age of anybody-can-write/sell-a-book?

Hi, I’m new.

I have another name for you. Kosoko Jackson was pressured into cancelling his debut novel “A Place for Wolves” before it was even published because some random claimed it was Islamophobic. Turns out she was wrong, but that didn’t stop the Twitter mob.

Just last month, Alexandra Duncan was pressured into cancelling her book “Ember Days” because she, a white woman, dared to use Gullah culture as an inspiration.

So yeah, it’s a problem. People who “don’t believe in cancel culture” are typically the types to use it against people...like getting someone fired because that person supported the current President.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

I doubt they'd take the risk due to outcry and not risking loss of rep/money.
We all remember Milo Yiannopoulos was dropped due to outcry from Twitter and liberal media from his six-book deal

Give it some time on Linda, outrage tends to burn out and that she’s written 24ish books with several bestsellers means she’s got a fan base. And for what it’s worth Amazon has a untitled book from her for this year, it’s possible it’s a incorrect listing or a hanger on from her last book.

And you really want to rally behind Milo Yiannopoulos as an example? Another grossly problematic person, he also went ahead and self published though apparently his book did not do particularly well. Perhaps if S&S hadn’t dropped him he’d have sold more, but in any case he’s hardly cancelled.

As for Natasha Tynes I’d be surprised if she won. Publisher’s aren’t stupid and contracts with them will usually have an escape clause for them to turn around and cancel the book for some nebulous reason the author would never be able to defeat. As for the defamation she’d have to prove definitively that it was the publisher’s tweet that caused the backlash against her and that their intent was malicious. Which doesn’t seem likely when it was her tweet that sparked the outrage. It’s further complicated because she was writing for a group author not herself.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by ema1982

So yeah, it’s a problem. People who “don’t believe in cancel culture” are typically the types to use it against people...like getting someone fired because that person supported the current President.

No. It's a problem for people who want to think it's a problem. For the rest... not so much.

I don't believe in cancel culture (not as some dangerous, creeping bogeyman anyway), and I don't use social media or outrage to try and get anyone fired. Nor do I participate in organized boycotts of any kind.

I believe people are free to believe anything (or any way) they like. They're also free to express those beliefs or opinions. But no one is entitled to immunity from criticism (organized or otherwise) that might stem from those beliefs or opinions (or the expression therof) should they become public knowledge.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

If you never want to spare a thought for anything other than the present moment, then that's your choice, of course.

Oh, I spare many thoughts for the future. I've just learned to filter them through a reality lens. If I didn't, I might have been crippled by terror at the notion of killer bees travelling up from Mexico for the last 40 years or so.

A future where angry twitter mobs control the dispensation of world knowledge and determine who does or doesn't get to publish books or express ideas is not a notion I think warrants much fear of coming true.