The hashtag #PublishingPaidMe on Twitter has drawn attention to inequitable compensation for Black writers. Only 5% were Black, African American or Afro Caribbean. More than than 1,300 publishing industry employees participated in a strike on June 8, in which, Johnson said, they protested the industry’s systemic racism, lack of opportunity for diverse workers and disparities in compensation.Ī 2019 survey by Lee & Low Books of 7,893 industry employees found that 76% were white. In recent weeks, Black writers and publishing employees have advocated for change in the industry. 'Black joy is at the heart of Indy native Leah Johnson's YA novel Campaign aims to boost profile of Black-owned businesses Initiative asks Central Indiana shoppers to buy Black Desire for justice can outweigh business losses Two or three people have also called the store asking if it had “How to Be An Antiracist” by Ibram X. Over the last six months, a few women have come into the store and asked for multicultural books, said store employee Kelly Hogue. However, Deanie Hogue, owner of bookstore Book Rack, said customers occasionally will ask the store for books by Black authors, but not a lot of customers do. “It's not just white or Black or young or older people buying these books, but people of all races and ages.” “We’ve noticed, in particular, a diversity of customers shopping these tables,” Westermeier said in the statement. A lot of people have been buying the books on the tables. One of the tables holds children’s books and the other contains adult books. He said in a statement that the store has two tables with books about race or the history of racism, which are predominantly written by people of color. Patrick Westermeier, sales and inventory manager at the Barnes & Noble in The Shops at River Crossing, said that his store has seen an increase in sales of works by Black authors immediately after the killing of Floyd and the subsequent protests. That has since shrunk to about two shelves. In the front of the store, Books on Sale also had four shelves of books by Black authors right before the pandemic.
In November, Indianapolis bookstore Books on Sale had about two cases of books by Black authors in the back of the store, and now it has half or three-quarters of one bookcase, said the store’s general manager, Christie House.