The Ripped Bodice (the only bookstore in the United States dedicated solely to romance books) released a report looking at the state of diversity in 2016 romance novels. Last year there were only 7.8 published romance novels by writers of color for every 100 books from 20 major romance publishing companies. “Of particular concern is the suggestion, as revealed by the study, that publishers are not reflecting their readership base with any kind of parity. According to Pew Research, black women with college degrees are more likely to read a book than any other group. Since romance readers are approximately 84 percent female, this suggests there is a large swath of the population who don’t see themselves represented in authors or protagonists.” Entertainment Weekly highlights some major takeaways from the survey, read the rest of the appalling stats and then go support romance writers of color.
Lack of Diversity in Romance Novels
Graywolf’s All-American Sale
Graywolf Press is having an All-American Sale this month, and that means you can celebrate Independence Day by grabbing any books with “America” in their title for 30% off. Each purchase will also include Elizabeth Alexander’s Praise Song for the Day chapbook – featuring the poem read at Barack Obama’s first inauguration.
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Good Company
What do you get when you combine Jorge Louis Borges, Vladimir Nabokov, Pablo Neruda, and W.H. Auden? You get a list of the losers of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. The prize was won by the controversial Soviet author Mikhail Sholokhov, who had spoken out against granting the Nobel to Boris Pasternak a few years earlier. Not such bad company on the losing side, there.
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The Most Read Novel on Amazon
The Most Read Novel on Amazon is the Handmaid's Tale! Makes a lot of sense. Read how Amazon figured this out and the runner ups here.
And She’s A Mary Ann
"You heard me: I said, Ann M. Martin is queeeeer." A longtime Baby-Sitter's Club fan gets her mind blown. Pair with this celebration of Martin's oeuvre.
New McSweeney’s with Franzen, Meno, Oates, and Lepucki
Now available for order at McSweeney's and Amazon, McSweeney's Issue 37, featuring Jonathan Franzen, Joe Meno, Joyce Carol Oates, and most importantly, new fiction from The Millions' very own Edan Lepucki!
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Plimpton Really Would Try Anything
It turns out Martin Amis wasn’t the only literary gamer. Check out this 1980 Intellivision advertisement in which George Plimpton uses his iconic voice to slam Atari’s lineup of sports games — a full two years before Amis' book released.