I've been thinking about the overall concept of #OwnVoices a lot lately, particularly how it relates to my responsibility as an editor of books for young readers. 1/14

The necessity--both for readers and the publishing industry in general--of acquiring and supporting diverse own voice books is pretty obvious. (At least it is to many of us who work in publishing... the overall industry has quite a ways to go ) 2/14

Personally I prioritize acquiring own voices work by creators from marginalized backgrounds. But I can't often tell if something is actually OV unless it specifically says so in the pitch. And even then, intersectionality isn't always taken into account. 3/14

Completely random example to explain what I mean: A book about a queer character of color could still technically be labeled OV if the author is queer, but not PoC, or vice versa. 4/14

So if I'm not specifically told a book is OV, or if intersectionality is a factor, what is my obligation as a publishing professional, particularly one with privilege? 5/14

It doesn't feel right to me at all to flat-out ask an author if their story is OV. I'm not here to police anyone's identity. And especially if the OV element of a book is a pain point for an author, who the hell am I to demand they "prove" this is their story to tell? 6/14

But at the same time... isn't it also my responsibility to make sure diverse OV voices are being heard? To make sure I'm not perpetuating an abusive cycle of instead supporting non-OV narratives that are ultimately harmful to the communities they portray? 7/14

I've seen a couple conversations on here that seem to conclude that ONLY writers who share a particular identity should ever write about it. That... doesn't feel quite right to me either? So that brings me to the questions I've been pondering lately. 8/14

Wouldn't an OV-only policy just further tokenize marginalized identities? Isn't that saying to people from marginalized backgrounds, "If you want to see yourself in books, you have to do it yourself"? Doesn't that pressure those authors into ONLY writing OV stories? 9/14

I don't presume to have the right answers to these questions... if they even exist. And this is NOT me saying "Authors should write about whatever and whoever the hell they want, who cares." I CARE. 10/14

There absolutely needs to be responsibility and accountability in all facets of the publishing process, from authors to agents to editors to designers to publicists to booksellers and everyone between and beyond. ESPECIALLY if a book in question is not own voices. 11/14

I guess it all boils down to: Is it at all acceptable for an author to write outside their personal experience if it's done positively, respectfully and with multiple points of input from the community portrayed? 12/14

Or... are non-own-voices narratives irredeemable and inherently harmful, regardless of intent OR result, simply because an author does not share that identity? 13/14

Phew, that was a lot of philosophizing for pre-9am I look forward to hearing other folks' thoughts on this topic! It's an important conversation to have, imho. 14/14