I've been reading your criticisms of this category and you certainly make very valid points. I apologise for using "we"--I can, after all, only speak to my own experience and those of my friends, who are in this demographic. I will try to be more mindful of it in the future.
However, please bear in mind that I am working for a publisher and that I have no power to make executive decisions on whether or not a book gets published or where it gets shelved. This lies in the hands of the editorial board and with the buyers in bookstores. Yes, labels are problematic and genres are problematic, but I'm afraid this is a function of the industry. My blog is a platform for what my publisher wants, and while my own feelings certainly align, I did not intend to "pigeonhole" people. Other publishing houses have turned down manuscripts with protagonists in this age demographic, asking writers either to "age down" or "age up" their characters to place the book on shelves. St. Martin's is trying to give these manuscripts a home. My thoughts on the subject are mine and I'm sorry if I have offended you.
Also, please do not make assumptions about me either. I am not white. I am a Korean-American. I am not single. I am engaged to be married, but I am not heterosexual. I am not thin. Thanks.
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Date: 2009-11-17 10:38 pm (UTC)However, please bear in mind that I am working for a publisher and that I have no power to make executive decisions on whether or not a book gets published or where it gets shelved. This lies in the hands of the editorial board and with the buyers in bookstores. Yes, labels are problematic and genres are problematic, but I'm afraid this is a function of the industry. My blog is a platform for what my publisher wants, and while my own feelings certainly align, I did not intend to "pigeonhole" people. Other publishing houses have turned down manuscripts with protagonists in this age demographic, asking writers either to "age down" or "age up" their characters to place the book on shelves. St. Martin's is trying to give these manuscripts a home. My thoughts on the subject are mine and I'm sorry if I have offended you.
Also, please do not make assumptions about me either. I am not white. I am a Korean-American. I am not single. I am engaged to be married, but I am not heterosexual. I am not thin. Thanks.
-S. Jae-Jones