lemonsharks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lemonsharks) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
agonyaunt2020-08-18 09:41 am
lemonsharks) wrote in agonyaunt2020-08-18 09:41 am
Entry tags:
Dear Prudence: #Ownvoices vs. privacy
Q. #Ownvoices vs. privacy: I’ve wanted to publish a book for a long time, and I’ve recently signed with an agent. I’m queer, and so is the main character in my YA novel. However, as I prepare to go submit to publishers, I’m dreading the inevitable question of whether the character is #ownvoices. I know it’s important that editors make sure they’re publishing writers who are speaking from their own experiences when it comes to marginalized identities, but this isn’t something I especially want to tell them about myself. I’m out to my friends and family but don’t consider it anyone’s business in my professional life. I also don’t want to put queerness at the center of my “brand” as an author; I want my future books to have queer representation, but I want people to read them because the writing is good, not because the writer is queer. That said, I know it’s a privilege to be able to choose whether or not to come out. I also don’t want to hide my identity. I certainly don’t want to lie or push away potential readers—especially young readers—who are actively seeking out queer novels by queer writers. In the near future, I’m expecting to be asked outright about this. I’ve already been asked by an agent, although not the one I signed with; I told the truth but didn’t feel comfortable with the conversation. I know this will become even more of a thing after I’m published (if that happens). How can I balance #ownvoices with privacy?
A: A few thoughts, in no particular order: It may be helpful to relinquish a sense of control over why someone who might read your book one day chooses to do so. Assuming your book is published, people might pick it up for all sorts of reasons (from “liked the cover” to “saw a bad Goodreads review from someone they dislike and grabbed it out of low-grade spite,” and a dozen others), none of which you can possibly know or manage. If you’re able to get your book published, you’ll cede control over why someone reads it, whether they like your writing, how they respond to it, whether they finish it, whether they recommend it to others, and what (if anything) they’ll think about you as the author. Nor does coming out necessarily “center” queerness as part of one’s brand or mean you’re then required to continue to discuss your orientation in the context of your work. That said, you have every right to decline to come out to potential publishers and resist the idea that only (out) queer authors have some exclusive ethical claim on writing queer characters. I don’t think you need to worry over whether coming out is a privilege or not—it can be a number of things, some of them contradictory, at the same time, but this is about what’s best for you, and you’re quite right to say you’re the only person who gets to decide whether your orientation is anyone else’s business.
To that end, I’m glad you didn’t sign with the agent who asked you directly; you two might have ended up at odds trying to work together. Since not coming out publicly is important to you, consider such questions a sign of possible incompatibility before signing with any publishers who might make you such an offer. Make it clear to your current agent that you’re not going to answer questions about your orientation as you try to sell your book. They’ll be able to act as a buffer for you on that front, and you don’t have to come out to your agent in order to deputize them to deflect such questions. Perhaps some readers who are actively seeking publicly out authors won’t pick up your book, but no author gets every member of their target audience, and plenty of readers don’t consider authorial outness a going concern. Your goal of trying to publish a book without coming out publicly is eminently achievable and it’s nothing you need to apologize for. Good luck selling your book!
---
Edit: I've set comments to disabled for my own wellbeing and I'm taking a break from social media.
A: A few thoughts, in no particular order: It may be helpful to relinquish a sense of control over why someone who might read your book one day chooses to do so. Assuming your book is published, people might pick it up for all sorts of reasons (from “liked the cover” to “saw a bad Goodreads review from someone they dislike and grabbed it out of low-grade spite,” and a dozen others), none of which you can possibly know or manage. If you’re able to get your book published, you’ll cede control over why someone reads it, whether they like your writing, how they respond to it, whether they finish it, whether they recommend it to others, and what (if anything) they’ll think about you as the author. Nor does coming out necessarily “center” queerness as part of one’s brand or mean you’re then required to continue to discuss your orientation in the context of your work. That said, you have every right to decline to come out to potential publishers and resist the idea that only (out) queer authors have some exclusive ethical claim on writing queer characters. I don’t think you need to worry over whether coming out is a privilege or not—it can be a number of things, some of them contradictory, at the same time, but this is about what’s best for you, and you’re quite right to say you’re the only person who gets to decide whether your orientation is anyone else’s business.
To that end, I’m glad you didn’t sign with the agent who asked you directly; you two might have ended up at odds trying to work together. Since not coming out publicly is important to you, consider such questions a sign of possible incompatibility before signing with any publishers who might make you such an offer. Make it clear to your current agent that you’re not going to answer questions about your orientation as you try to sell your book. They’ll be able to act as a buffer for you on that front, and you don’t have to come out to your agent in order to deputize them to deflect such questions. Perhaps some readers who are actively seeking publicly out authors won’t pick up your book, but no author gets every member of their target audience, and plenty of readers don’t consider authorial outness a going concern. Your goal of trying to publish a book without coming out publicly is eminently achievable and it’s nothing you need to apologize for. Good luck selling your book!
---
Edit: I've set comments to disabled for my own wellbeing and I'm taking a break from social media.