Sisters in Crime releases diversity report

In the US, a recent survey of 1,100 Sisters in Crime members found that white, non-Hispanic people make up 93% of the total membership, reports Publishers Weekly. The organisation, which supports female crime writers, released their ‘Report for Change’—a study about diversity, equity and inclusion—revealing that three percent of members identify as African American, 1.5% identify as Native American, 1.5% Asian and one percent Hispanic or Latino. Sisters in Crime president Leslie Budewitz stated that the crime organisation ‘recognised that writers of colour, LGBT writers, and writers with disabilities face additional obstacles to getting published’, and that the ultimate goal of the report is to ‘deepen our understanding and expand opportunities’ within the crime fiction community. The report also found that writers of colour have been ‘flocking’ in the direction of ebooks and self-publishing to ‘avoid gatekeepers in the publishing industry’. It was found that 21% of Sisters in Crime members surveyed reported having self-published their last book, while 63% of writers of colour within the organisation sought out this method. Additionally, 50% of LGBTQ authors surveyed reported self-publishing. One Sisters in Crime member said that it is ‘tougher for people of colour’ within the ‘very white and privileged’ publishing industry, as editors struggle to imagine ‘an audience that isn’t like them’.

Category: International news