Writers’ conference takes on the crisis in book review
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In 2018, as many as 3.5 million books were published in the United States, however, these books are largely going unreviewed due to a lack of book critics. Not only are books left unreviewed, few Latino, Black and Asian-American critics exist, which may be putting authors of color at a disadvantage when it comes to books becoming best-sellers.
This week, the D.C.-based literary nonprofit Day Eight is hosting “The Crisis in Book Review,” a writers’ conference focusing on the art of book reviewing, why reviews matter and training for aspiring critics. The conference aims to increase the numbers and diversity of reviewers while casting a spotlight on local authors, including Hola Cultura’s Alberto Roblest, our organization’s president, co-founder and a prolific book reviewer and author. Roblest is one of the local writers coming together online Friday night for a keynote session that will feature national figures such as the novelist Joyce Carol Oates, poet and screenwriter Brian Broome, writer Russell Jacoby and Jennifer Harlan, a special projects editor at The New York Times.
“Writers in our community spend thousands of hours each year authoring books, only to essentially hit a brick wall when it comes time for publication,” says Day Eight’s executive director Robert Bettmann. “In immigrant communities, access to book review is essentially non-existent.We think that’s a loss for the authors and the community, and we’ve organized this conference to discuss the issue.”
The four-day conference will also hear from well-known D.C. writers such as journalist Jonetta Rose Barras and author-activist E. Ethelbert Miller. The conference began last night with an online discussion moderated by Bettmann. It will continue through Feb. 26 with panels and book review workshops led by The Washington Post’s Stephanie Merry and Ron Charles, and Holly Smith, editor-in-chief of the Washington Independent Review of Books. There’s a workshop for high school reviewers as well. All sessions are free and open to the public, though Day Eight encourages donations.
All three book reviewing workshops have already filled up and have waiting lists, an optimistic development given the staggering number of books published each year.
The crisis in book reviewing is partially rooted in the sheer quantity of new texts produced each year. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s report, “The Global Publishing Industry in 2018,” 3,485,322 new books were published in 2018 in the United States based on their International Standard Book Numbers. The ISBN is a 13-digit signature that identifies a singular publication in the book supply chain. It’s important to note the number of new ISBNs issued each year are notoriously hard to estimate, as there may be double counting because the same publication will receive a new ISBN for every new medium; for example, E-book, paperback and hardcover editions of the same text will all receive a new ISBN. Of those nearly 3.5 million newly published books, ProQuest and their affiliate Bowker estimate 1,009,188 books were self-published without the publicity backing of major publishers, according to the report “Self-Publishing in the United States, 2013-2018.”
Just as it’s hard to say exactly how many books are published annually, there’s little data on how many book reviewers are working today. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the country has 46,700 “news analysts, reporters, and journalists,” the umbrella category that includes book reviewers, as well as all the TV, print and digital reporters, editors, freelancers and staff members. The National Book Critic Circle, a nonprofit professional organization, says it represents about 800 “critics, authors, literary bloggers, book publishing professionals, student members, and friends.” Given the discrepancy between 46,700 and 800, it’s safe to assume the country doesn’t have enough reviewers to keep up with the number of new books published each year.
Larger publishing houses have responded to the mismatch ratio of books published to books reviewed by hiring in-house critics to praise their own publications. Small presses and independent publishers lack the resources to replicate this strategy and struggle to compete in the highly competitive attention economy that determines whether books will gain the requisite notoriety to be purchased in large numbers by consumers.
Authors from minority backgrounds, small presses and independent publications may be particularly susceptible to being passed over by critics. This unfortunate reality leaves significant gaps for deserving texts to fall through, without publicity, promotion or a chance for critical acclaim and commercial success.
“The reviewer is the bridge between the author and the reader, as well as between the book and the market,” says Roblest, who frequently reviews Spanish-language books for Hola Cultura. He also understands the need for reviews for his most recent publication, “Against the Wall,” a collection of short stories published late last year by Arte Público Press.
The importance of book reviewers can’t be overstated. Critics lend publicity to texts. They influence public opinion. They direct sales, impact attitudes and can change the course of an author’s career, especially a new or upcoming author. A book’s commercial success, experts studying diversity say, may very well hinge on its ability to secure a review.
Furthermore, the demographics of book reviewers may play a part in what texts they choose to review. According to a survey of 174 U.S. book reviewers by Zippia in 2019, 71.15% of reviewers were white, 11.8% were Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% were Asian American, 5.3% were Black or African American and less than 1% were American Indian or Alaska Native.
Research suggests a diverse authorship alone doesn’t ensure that the books reaching the general public will be representative of this diversity. On the contrary, a diverse pool of book reviewers is a key component to ensuring this diversity of authorship is reflected in widely consumed literature, according to a study created by Lee & Low Books, a New York City-based independent children’s book publisher specializing in diversity.
The study co-authored with Ph.D. Sarah Dahlen and graduate student Nicole Caitlin, found that despite countless minority authors, there’s little diversity in publishing. The researchers broke down the statistics by department. Unsurprisingly, book reviewers were the least diverse of all departments, with 89% white reviewers, 3% Asian, 3% Hispanic or Latino, 1% Middle Eastern and 1% Black or African American. The researchers believe this lack of diversity may be tied to the stagnation in the rise of minority published texts, which has remained at 10% for the last 20 years.
To combat their lack of publicity, Bettmann says sometimes unreviewed authors will turn to social media to promote their work, however, “only authors who are social-media significant — who have a large number of followers on social media — ever have a real chance for their ideas to be heard,” Bettman says.
The conference hopes to provide another avenue of publicity. Besides Roblest, other minority authors being reviewed as part of the conference activities include queer Afro-Guyanese poet Saida Agostini, Indian author and oral historian Shilpi Malinowski and deaf writer Sarah Katz. Roblest and Malinowski, along with Daniel Barbiero, Jonathan Katz, Jenn Koiter, Gregory Luce and Ellen Sazzman will discuss book reviewing during Friday’s online session starting at 7 p.m. All are local writers who have new books that will be reviewed as part of the conference activities.
Authors and their books are competing in the most competitive market in history. Of all ISBNs ever minted in the U.S., 11.3% were issued in 2018, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization. Without some form of promotion, books are lost in a seemingly infinite abyss of publications. Conferences like The Crisis in Book Review seek to bring attention to the lack of book reviewers and the need for diversity within the critic industry today.
— Connie Moore
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