Stats on BIPOC publishing & novel updates!
I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of visibility, trendiness and sustainability. There is this weird narrative that’s been going on for the last few years (& probably longer let’s be honest) that it’s now suddenly easier for artists of color to get their work picked up, their work to find opportunities, and for us to find homes for our work. I can’t believe how many times that this has been told to me (by white people) from things that are as innocuous as ‘wow, you must be so grateful that you have something exotic to write about’ to people literally saying to me ‘well your work is trendy right now because you’re [insert x identity trait] so it’ll be easier for you to publish something.’
The reality that many of artist of color face, even ones that are seemingly successful, is how hard it is to sustain a life and a career as an artist. My friend and I were having a convo about this recently and she described being an artist as ‘feast or famine’—where in some moments you think you’re LIVING because you might be able to pay your bills and rent and groceries and perhaps go on a vacation or do something nice for yourself. But then, because we’re often not salaried employees, that money runs out and you have to learn to really monetarily plan for a life of uncertainty and a life where the flow of money is not always consistent. It is a very strange existence, trying to be an artist in a society that uplifts capitalism, and how to create sustainability.
I’ve often had to explain the discrepancy of the reality of my life vs what people think that my life is like to non-writer friends as well. They’ll be like—oh, but it seems like you travel all the time. And I’ll have to explain how when I do travel it’s usually because it’s for work where my travel is being paid for by an organization and then I’m being paid on a contractor rate. Because I don’t work a salaried job, this isn’t extra money to me—that money that comes from the gig directly pays part of my rent, groceries or living expenses. And when you are lucky and gigs are high/ you’re in demand, the travel can really take a toll on you. But, because we’re talking about sustainability, sometimes the gigs dry up, and usually when there’s a big economic crisis, artistic gigs and people who are artists full-time and not sheltered or protected by an institution feel the hit deeply. Because of pandemic in 2020, like many people, mine and a lot of my friends work streams changed rapidly due to the economy and less money flowing to artists. In my experience, while there have been some small moments of reprieve, that has continued to be the case the longer the pandemic has gone on, how the government has handled the pandemic (disastrously), the increased economic crises, and how difficult it has been to find opportunities and sustainability for artists in these times.
This week I was reading Take Creative Control’s 2022 Creator Economy Report and just really felt moved by seeing these statistics. I feel as though I see statistics like this floating around on twitter & online every few years, but to see them all very cleanly laid out like this was very helpful. Statistics like BIPOC writers barely make up for a fifth of the total online publishing community, and that 40% of the writers who publish in online mediums earned an income between $1k-$20k in 2020. And that the largest earning gaps are found when comparing Asian and Latinx writers to their white counterparts. And that only 4% of writers earned more than $20k in 2020 for their works.
I also got an email from Pillars this week releasing the statistics that only 1% of characters on TV are Muslim, even though 25% of the world’s population is Muslim. This is just honestly, so depressing.
(the following art by Mona Chalabi:)
It’s so wild to me when people do make ignorant comments about trendiness, identity and how that should lead to sustainability while completely ignoring the very real and concreate statistics that show just how deeply untrue those things are. How difficult it is for writers to sustain themselves monetarily, and how overwhelmingly underpaid women and femme of color writers are in comparison to their white counterparts. I think these comments about being trendy or being lucky to have something to write about can be so insidious not only because they are dehumanizing and attempt to collapse your entire life experience into a ‘trend’ but also because they undermine and undercut the very real (& statistically true) reality that most writers of color are very under protected in our society, barely able to make a living, and are also living in a world where it’s very hard to create genuine financial sustainability to support themselves, having to deal with gatekeeping and trying to get things passed in industries that are predominately controlled by white people, while also being told that they’re ‘trendy’, ‘lucky’ and ‘should be grateful’. The dissonance, hunny. It feels wild.
I strongly encourage everyone to look through the Take Creative Control Reports—they have reports on publishing, music, podcasts, art & design, crafts and video. It’s just good to be armed with this kind of information and help ground in statistics, so that you’re not subject to the weird ass logic of white supremacy telling you to be grateful.
And just a reminder that as we look out for each other, make sure that you’re uplifting and supporting the creatives you love, even if you can’t do so financially. In this world, we all need all the love we can get.
In some other, exciting news:
Nazia Erum wrote a beautiful article about me and WHEN WE WERE SISTERS in Vogue India!
Annnnndddd…. LA! I’m going to be having some events next month for WHEN WE WERE SISTERS that I would love for you to join:
On October 19th, I’ll be reading at Skylight Books with Fariha Róisín!
and on October 20th, I’ll be at Reparations Club with Jay Ellis! I hope to see you all there!
xo