Do I market something I have no say in?

[apiphile]

Two areas of book sales and publishing continually grate at my patience.

Well, more than two, but these two are especially applicable to me.

1. "This author is a DEMOGRAPHIC DEMOGRAPHIC and they write about DEMOGRAPHIC!", which smacks of the Facebook/celebrity culture age of existence, in which you cannot possibly just shit out a book and disappear,

Comments

[wolfy_writing]

This makes sense. The whole social aspect of creating and valuing identity labels does weird things to the effort to find common ground, and marketing based on that is ugly, and like you said, demeaning. It's taking one thing that's true about yourself and selling it as a defining quality.

(Also, I know, based on in-community discussions I've seen, I don't have The Disability Experience or The Female Experience or The Lesbian Experience, and don't relate to a lot of stuff that's widespread enough to be considered a normal part of being in one of those groups. If I sold myself as expressing The X Experience, I'd either let a lot of people down, or write something anyone who was willing to do research and interested in what a typical member of X group experiences could write.)

[ruthi]

You have reminded me of a thing I have seen from black and other minority ethnic writers (and other artists) when they come to sell their work, the editors publishers etc. asking for the work to be more 'authentic' as-white-mainstream people expect it to be, that is to meet the expectations rather than reflect the actual authentic experience / sensibility .

[wolfy_writing]

I can imagine. Considering how far off "person who fits the definition of this demographic" can be from "typical member of this community", adding in stereotyping and outsider expectations would result in something miles away from the writer's actual life.

[apiphile]

It's taking one thing that's true about yourself and selling it as a defining quality.

And yet certain people of my extended circle are perfectly happy to do this, which makes me wonder if they have much confidence in their actual work.

and don't relate to a lot of stuff that's widespread enough to be considered a normal part of being in one of those groups

FUCKING PREACH.

[swear_jar]

I can understand not wanting to trade on something that's inherent and not something you've worked for-- like the actual writing you've done. There's part of the whole marketing-by-identity that feels like it erases the actual work involved in writing (or whatever art).

[apiphile]

There's part of the whole marketing-by-identity that feels like it erases the actual work involved in writing (or whatever art).

Exactly that. Or, if you prefer, the people who are okay with it are desperate to have their identity acknowledged but feel like their work speaks for itself? I don't know. I don't care about IDENTITY. I just want my WORK read.