It's time for the annual "Where's the White Male" contest.
Also known as the GoodReads Choice Awards.
No, really, where are the white males? Let's see...
First category, Fiction.
White men: 0
Next up, Historical Fiction.
White men: 0
Mystery genre.
White men: 2
So we're at 2/30 so far. Doing great.
Romance.
White men: 0 (As God intended, but still)
I have no idea what Romantasy is but
White men: 0
Fantasy
White men: 3
Running total, 5/50
Sci Fi brings all the white dudes out
White men: 5
Running total, 10/60
Horror also has a lot of white dudes.
White men: 6
Running total, 16/70
Debut novel, these are repeats so I dunno if they count but let's count them anyway. They need all the help they can get.
Whtie men: 2
Running total, 18/80
Audio book. Another repeat category, but hey!
White men: 3
Running total, 21/90
Young Adult Fantasy
White men: 1
Running total, 22/100
Young Adult Fiction
White men: 0
Running total, 22/110
Nonfiction
White men: 2
Running total, 24/120
Memoir
White men: 1
Running total, 25/130
History
White men: 6
Running total, 31/140
So the overall percentage of white men with prominent literary works out this year is roughly 22%.
This is notable for one reason, because normally IDGAF about racial distribution across industries. But in this case, I care. Why?
Back around 2014 the literary world began a massive, concerted effort to eliminate white men from the ranks of the published authors out there.
They weren't hiding it. They bragged openly about it.
And here we are, 10 years later. They've been reduced to a fraction.
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