Last week, many generous people spoke about why, as a rule, white people should not be writing POC POV characters. A key reason for this is because publishing is not currently an apparatus that selects POC creators first (or at all). This is related to how it treats abusers...

Publishing is a lowish-margin business in a late-capitalist society that pretends to be just art. Due to decades of entrenched sexism, racism, and more, it's got a LOT of work--a full rehaul, I think--before it's able to actually be a welcoming place for women and minorities.

Publishing is convinced that books by white, cis, straight men are better than any other author. It's built, structurally, around this, in who is able to work in the biz, who gets promoted who gets paid, what books it promotes, and, most importantly, who gets a chance. Or chances

It's not a coincidence that Paul Kreuger got canceled in 48 hours and Myke Cole is on year 3 of his apology tour, with book deals all the while. It's racism.

SFF editors knew about Sam Sykes for YEARS and yet, he's still around. That's greed and misogyny.

Publishing, at all levels, is incapable of protecting its authors. It's uninterested in protecting the future genius/success of writers who are easily pushed out of a system it built and upholds to this day. Because why protect some woman when there's an established Man to sell?

As writers, but more importantly as readers and consumers (because again, capitalism means our wallets matter more than our potential as workers/creators), we must demand that publishers reassess who matters, and who is valuable to the art community they claim they want to shape

In addition to holding abusers accountable, we need to hold their agents, editors, publishers accountable. If publishing is made up of a series of gatekeepers, we need to demand they do the work (no matter how easy that advance check is to get!) to keep unsafe people out.

I don't care if someone will be a draw to a con. Organizers, don't let them come!

If you're an agent and someone comes to you to disclose harassment? Don't wait 2 years until you have corroborating evidence to drop the abuser!

If you're an editor who is subbed a book by a bad actor, guess what? Just walk away! And if your boss forces it, make it very clear that this is a Bad PR Idea.

The only thing that trumps money in this business is bad press, and so often, publishers and agents hide behind the author, divesting themselves of all responsibility.

Yes, this is about individual men in positions of power, but this is also about the people who put them there.