Posted on July 10, 2022

We received many responses to the June blog post which is enclosed for convenience below. Were have included six that have been edited for length; as is the case of the June blogger, all of these blog posts are also anonymous:

“Of course this white man is frustrated: for the first time he’s being asked to make room for other voices by actually giving something up, the way marginalized people have always done for him, without him ever knowing it.”

“Let’s assume everything he says is true. That is, his writing is excellent and that he is being discriminated against because he is not a member of an under-represented group. If his superior writing is rejected in place of inferior writing by an under-represented person, his complaint is 100% legit. On the other hand, if his as well as a piece by an under-represented person is in a similar vein, he still has the right to be upset, but he needs to understand that others have to have an equal shot.”

“What upsets me is that a lot of really inferior books written by those who’ve been discriminated in the past seem to win a disproportionate number of awards. I get it that there are groups that have been shut out of publishing and that they should have equal access to agents and publishers. But to award prizes to second rate books simply because they are written by non-white (etc.) folks really lowers the standards. This is happening all over the country, not just in the books business.”

“I’m Jewish and have also found it tough to get published. Oh, did I mention that I’m Black and Queer? I have often wondered if I left out that I am Jewish and pro-Israel and simply presented myself as Black and Queer would I have a better chance? No doubt I would. But I would also not be true to myself. So I will keep plugging away as the person that I am.”

“I thought the whole purpose of the Civil Rights Movement was for equality of opportunity and access. What a noble cause. Now, it seems, this has devolved into a quota system based on identity. How undemocratic. How sad. But the scary part? Who knows if we’ve reached the bottom?”

“A headline in Newsweek: San Francisco School Board Commissioner Calls Merit-Based Education ‘Racist,’ Sparking Debate – https://www.newsweek.com/school-called-racist-san-francisco-1566895. This is what we’ve come to: throw quality out the window in favor of quotas based on identity. In the words of the comedian Yakov Smirnoff, What a country!”

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The June Blog Post:

We received this letter from an author who wishes to remain anonymous:

“Dear Fig Tree Books,

I am writing to express my lament about certain aspects of the state of publishing in the hope that you may find it informative and relevant. I ask to remain anonymous for obvious reasons when you read this note. I am a white, straight, male, and Jewish, born in 1960, near the end of the Baby Boom. I wrote well-received short stories and essays in both niche and mainstream publications. My writing has been described as “elegant” and “sophisticated” and almost always comes with words that describe it as “quite literary.” A few years ago, I decided to write a literary novel that could be categorized as historical fiction. On the strength of my short stories and essays, as well as a summary of the novel and the first chapter, I was able to get a good agent to represent me. That was my ‘high’ moment. Since that event a few years ago, I have been in a ‘decline’ mode as my manuscript has been rejected over and over again.

My agent asked for off-the record feedback and was initially stumped, as the words that came from someone at a publishing house (always on the phone, never via email, as that would leave a paper trail) were universally in praise of the work. The rejections were given in a fairly generic way, customarily in the vein of great tributes for the writing, the content, the story and character development, but there was always an ending that went something like, “…however, we’re going in a different direction.”

When my agent pressed, she was able to uncover hints that related to the fact that they were not looking for writers who were white, straight, male, and Jewish. It seemed to be that there was (and is) a hidden agenda to focus on groups of writers that could be characterized as underrepresented, and exceptions to this rule seem to be rare. 

It turns out that many of those who are tasked at publishers with reading new materials look to the identity(ies) of the author as the major if not sole determinant of whether a manuscript gets sent up the chain for further review. Of course this is not 100% universally true, but it does seem to be what many writers of quality fiction with whom I interact have also faced in getting rejected time and time again.

I am neither against underrepresented authors getting their due, nor making a case for less than grade A work from those who look like me getting to be published. But the focus on the identity of the author at the expense of the market seems to be foolish. After all, there are more than 70 million Boomers, and with many of us being retired, have the time to read and the cash to spend on books. From what I can tell (being in two book groups and interacting with lots of book aficionados on Facebook), we Boomers are eager to read all genres of fiction, non-fiction, and memoirs, regardless of the origin of the author. Perhaps if some of the triage readers at the publishing companies were Boomers, those of us ‘of a certain age’ would have our books admired enough to get to the next level. My friends and I have commented that we are not sure that if a Philip Roth, a Norman Mailer, or a Joseph Heller (to name just a few post-World War II writers who were white, straight, male, and Jewish) were submitting their first words today that they wouldn’t get the “…however, we’re going in a different direction” comments directed towards them as well. 

My agent and I are not giving up. Perhaps we will get lucky with one of the major presses. Maybe the tide will eventually turn. After all, there is room for a white, straight, male, and Jewish well written book that addresses important issues regardless of the identity of the author.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Sincerely yours,”

Name withheld on request