Books are so bland...
Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2021 11:02 am
Matthew Broberg-Moffitt is 'gender queer' and of 'non-binary identity'. He suffers from autism, learning disorders and narcolepsy – suddenly falling asleep at any time of the day.
Of Romany heritage, he has experienced homelessness and poverty, is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and has a genetic birth condition.
The good news is that he is perfectly placed to work as a 'sensitivity reader', vetting authors' manuscripts before they are published.
And that's exactly what he does, helping eliminate lapses in taste or authenticity when it comes to writing about, say, homelessness or narcolepsy – and protecting future readers from feelings of offence or 'triggering' moments of distress.
However distinctive he might seem, Broberg-Moffitt is no one-off.
Listed on the website of a leading American agency, he's part of a rapidly expanding 'sensitivity' industry which aims to offer guidance in a world where diversity is king and stereotypes must be avoided at all cost.
But its critics say the movement has American publishing by the throat. 'Sensitivity readers', they say, are the 'imagination police', terrifying authors into self-censorship lest they inadvertently upset readers from one minority background or another. And their influence is growing ever stronger.
According to a New York publishing source who asked to remain anonymous, no US book is printed without being first run past a person, or sometimes a whole committee, so that it can be examined for questions of sex, gender identity, race and a range of 'trigger' subjects including sexual assault, suicide, disability and domestic violence.
'It's a boom industry,' said the source. 'It's been growing for the past few years but in the last year it has become the norm.'
Already worth an estimated $35 million (£24.5 million), it is projected to be a $100 million (£73 million) business as soon as 2025.
'Publishers and authors are terrified of being cancelled,' the source continued. 'Social media is so swift and brutal. We are living in a hair-trigger society where one false move can destroy your livelihood.
'Manuscripts are being run past people of colour, members of the LGBTQ community, people with disabilities, those with mental health issues – anything you can think of, really.
'When you are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in an author and a publicity campaign, it makes sense to desensitise the book to any criticism.'
These risks were played out last summer, when the novel American Dirt was 'cancelled' despite glowing reviews from critics and the powerful endorsement of Oprah Winfrey's Book Club – because the author Jeanine Cummins was a white woman writing about Mexican immigrants.
Cummins was accused of 'cultural appropriation' and a book tour was called off after 'Latinx' critics accused her of 'taking the Mexican experience and using it to make money off the back of those who have died crossing the Rio Grande'.
'That scared the hell out of us,' said the source. 'That book was a sure-fire success. Until it wasn't.'
It is a testament to the influence of the woke lobby and its social-media cheerleaders that so few publishers dare go on the record, particularly in the US.
But a glance at the list of 50 or so sensitivity experts at the Salt & Sage agency, which includes Mr Broberg-Moffitt, shows the bewildering scope of what's now at stake.
The specialists include Sachiko Burton, who is a 'white-presenting' expert in Japanese-American characters. Mixed race, she understands trauma, sexual abuse, post-traumatic stress, fat-phobia and abusive relationships.
Ravi Teixeira, who is hard of hearing, offers expertise in 'transmasculine and non-binary people' as well as mental illness and writing about people of colour.
Nicole Hawken can call on her experience of sociopaths and traumatic home childbirth, plus sexual assault and a range of mental health difficulties including anxiety, depression, addiction, bipolar problems, narcissism and mental abuse by parents. Al McKay is an expert on the 'rural queer experience', gaslighting and veganism.
Meanwhile, Mr Broberg-Moffitt's range of specialisms is enhanced by archery, baking and cheesemaking, not to mention his experience as a classically trained chef, former substance abuse counsellor and a one-time Buddhist monk.
Salt & Sage has already published a number of 'How to' books for writers wishing to include characters who are black, asexual and overweight, and is due to publish 17 more, including guides on non-binary people, atheists and characters with anxiety.
Dot and Dash, another US agency, has sensitivity readers who can help on subjects from being Asian-American to having connective tissue disorder, tinnitus and being working class.
The company has produced a 'conscious language guide' suggesting, among other things, that using 'female' as a noun 'is perceived by many as derogatory toward women'.
No doubt such publications will be eagerly read in Britain, too, where sensitivity readers are already hard at work.
Philippa Willitts, for example, specialises in disability and mental health. According to her website, the proofreading fees start at £10 per 1,000 words, although adding a specialist LGBT sensitivity editing package to the course increases the cost to £14 per 1,000 words.
Another, Hamza Jahanzeb, offers to make sure that manuscripts don't 'include any adverse characterising or harmful tropes to marginalised communities'.
Georgina Kamsika offers her 'expertise as a British South Asian' to 'give feedback on whether you are perpetuating stereotypes and actively harming people like me'. People, that is, who 'don't like opening a book and being met with microaggressions and stereotypes'.
The consequences can be serious, after all.
Kate Clanchy might have won the Orwell Prize, but the vicious reaction to her recent memoir, Some Kids I Taught And What They Taught Me, left her traumatised.
Her crime was to use such well-worn phrases as 'chocolate skin' and 'almond-shaped eyes' when describing characters. She said that a Muslim girl was 'very butch-looking… with a distinct moustache.'
Accused of 'racist' and 'ableist' tropes in an overwhelming campaign of hostility on social media, Ms Clanchy issued a grovelling apology along with her publisher, Picador.
She is now undertaking a major rewrite in consultation with 'specialist readers'. The result, she hopes, will be 'more loving'.
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I was recently able to sell 15 books (purchased at author price) but as it was a museum/library endeavor I only added $2 per book.