+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
upworthy

writers

Joy

Famous writers pep talked a new author after just two people came to her book signing

Ah, the power of vulnerability and solidarity.

@chelseabwrites, @jodipicoult, @neilhimself, @MargaretAtwood/Twitter, Photo by Pauline Loroy on Unsplash

Famous writers shared their book signing woes with a disheartened new author.

Putting creative work out into the world to be evaluated and judged is nerve-wracking enough as it is. Having to market your work, especially if you're not particularly extroverted or sales-minded, is even worse.

So when you're a newly published author holding a book signing and only two of the dozens of people who RSVP'd show up, it's disheartening if not devastating. No matter how much you tell yourself "people are just busy," it feels like a rejection of you and your work.

Debut novelist Chelsea Banning recently experienced this scenario firsthand, and her sharing it led to an amazing deluge of support and solidarity—not only from other aspiring authors, but from some of the top names in the writing business.

Banning shared on Twitter that 37 people had responded as "going" to her book signing at Pretty Good Books in Ashtabula, Ohio, on December 3, but only two showed up.

"Kind of upset, honestly, and a little embarrassed," she wrote.

A librarian by trade, Banning spent 15 years crafting the story for her fantasy trilogy about King Arthur's children. The first book in the series, "Of Crowns and Legends," was published in August and Banning has been trying to market it ever since.

"For a while I felt like I was throwing my book into the void and getting nothing," she told NPR. "This felt like last straw."

Then something amazing happened.

That tweet—which Banning had considered deleting shortly after she posted—started making the rounds. And much to her surprise and delight, Banning got responses from the likes of Margaret Atwood, Jodi Picoult, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King and other famous authors, who shared their own unattended book signing woes.

Even some famous nonauthors unexpectedly swooped in to lift Banning up.

Story after story poured in from dozens upon dozens of household writing names who had experienced two or one or zero people showing up to a book signing event. Anyone who has ever felt like they had failed due to a lack of interest or audience would find the thread inspiring, or at the very least, comforting.

But what was just as heartwarming as the successful writers commiserating with Banning was the fact that she shared her story in the first place. It's not easy to be vulnerable like that—most of us want to share our wins, not our perceived losses, with the world. But Banning demonstrated how opening up invites others to do the same, which lets everyone know they are not alone in their struggles.

What a beautiful thing all around. And to make it even better, Banning sold out of her signed copies that very same day. Here's to the power of sharing and caring!

From Your Site Articles
Most Shared

What 'Master of None's' Emmy wins and losses say about the future of TV.

Alan Yang and Aziz Ansari gave a funny, important speech at the Emmys on Sept. 18, 2016.

The duo accepted the award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for their show, "Master of None" on Netflix — a big win for diverse television and the people behind the scenes who make it.

"There's 17 million Asian-Americans in this country, and there's 17 million Italian-Americans. They have 'The Godfather,' 'Goodfellas,' 'Rocky,' 'The Sopranos.' We got Long Duk Dong," Yang said, referencing the stereotypical character from "Sixteen Candles."

"We have a long way to go. But I know we can get there."

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

It was one of those speeches that should have gone about five minutes longer — not just because it was fantastic, but because Ansari totally got cut off by the music before he could give what was probably going to be an epic speech himself.

Watching Ansari get rushed off stage wasn't the only downer for his fans, though; soon after, we watched as he lost what would have been an enormous win in a different category.

Ansari was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. He would have been the first South Asian actor to ever win in a leading category.

But he lost. And that, of course, meansthere's still never been a South Asian actor to win a leading category. Ever!

Although Ansari's co-writing win was great, his acting nod loss (as well as his show's loss in Outstanding Comedy Series) touches on the state of diversity on television Yang alluded to earlier. Because while the Emmys may be more diverse than the Oscars, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images for Peabody.

Throughout the 68 Emmy award shows, no East Asian actor has ever won, either. (None!) 30 years have gone by since the last black woman was nominated for Lead Actress in a Comedy (shout-out to Tracee Ellis Ross for breaking the streak this year). And the acting slots for drama? They’ve been particularly behind on the diversity front — this year, just three of the 24 acting slots in those categories went to people of color. (These stats are all on top of the fact Ansari's loss was to quite the problematic category favorite.)

That's not OK to the "Master of None" star.

Ansari has a history of speaking out on the importance of diversity in Hollywood. And he walks the walk, too.

As a co-creator of "Master of None," he's helped develop one of the most diverse casts on TV right now. He gets why representation in our media matters.

Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images

"I want to thank Netflix and Universal for believing in us and letting us tell our stories," he said back in May at the Peabody Awards. "I think they really seem to get what diversity really is. It's not, 'Hey, let's give this white protagonist a brown friend!' No. It's, 'Let's have a show where there's a token white guy.' And that's what [our show] is."

Things are looking up though. Despite Ansari’s loss tonight, diversity at the Emmys have gotten a lot better recently.

"I believe in us," Yang said in his Emmys speech. "It's just gonna take a lot of hard work."

That hard work is already paying off.

This year, 25% of the acting nominees were people of color — since the first Emmys, just 9% of the nominees in total have been actors of color — so 2016 was certainly a step up.

Even better, it’s probably not a one-off. The past few years have boasted relatively inclusive nomination slots, which means there’s every reason to be hopeful diversity at the Emmys isn’t just a fad.

Check out Upworthy’s timeline of trailblazers who’ve helped make the 2016 Emmys one of the most diverse ever.

Most Shared

10 sci-fi books written by women of color to add to your reading list.

Female science fiction writers just swept the Hugo Awards.

Obviously, science fiction books by and about women of color exist.

But all too often, we don't get to see them. Awards for literature overwhelmingly go to male authors who write about men or boys. Female writers of color face additional barriers in the literary world, especially in sci-fi, which tends to be dominated by male authors.

But at a ceremony earlier this week, something cool happened: The winners of the Hugo Awards, some of the most prestigious awards in science fiction, were announced, and the top four fiction awards were awarded to four women. Three of those winners were female writers of color.

In honor of these women, here are 10 recommendations for books about science fiction, fantasy, or speculative fiction by women of color:

1. "The Fifth Season" by N.K. Jemisin

We'll start with the recent Hugo Award winners. If you like stories about collapsing civilizations and the apocalypse, you'll enjoy "The Fifth Season," which won the Hugo for best novel. (Fun fact: N.K. Jemisin is the cousin of comedian W. Kamau Bell!)

2. "Binti" by Nnedi Okorafor

The Hugo for best novella went to this story about a 16-year-old on a harrowing journey to get an education. It's only 96 pages, so you can knock this one out on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

3. "Folding Beijing" by Hao Jingfang

The Hugo for best novelette goes to a story between 7,500 and 17,500 words. This year's award went to Hao Jingfang, a Chinese writer, and her translator Ken Liu, for a story set in the Beijing of the future, where the city folds in on itself every day. "Folding Beijing" is also a commentary on the divisions between social classes. You can read the full novelette online.

Hao Jingfang and Ken Liu. Image via Charles Tan/YouTube.

4. "The Winged Histories" by Sofia Samatar

This novel by a Somali American author is about four women caught up in a rebellion. It's riveting fantasy, especially if you like solid character development.

5. "Parable of the Sower" by Octavia Butler

OK, it's not really fair to only put one Octavia Butler book on here because really you should read everything she's ever written. But this book, the first volume of the "Earthseed" series, is a really good place to start.

6. "Ink" by Sabrina Vourvoulias

If you think our immigration system sometimes feels like a dystopia, you'll want to read "Ink." This speculative novel takes place in the U.S., and four central characters tell the story.

7. "The Island of Eternal Love" by Daína Chaviano

Chaviano takes the reader on a journey through time with this novel. Several complex plots thread through the book, which is the most translated Cuban novel in history.

8. "The Grass Dancer" by Susan Power

This novel, which centers on a Sioux reservation, weaves together mythicism and magical realism so skillfully that it's hard to believe it was Susan Power's first novel. But believe it — she won the PEN Award for Best First Fiction after its publication in 1994.

9. "Love Is the Drug" by Alaya Dawn Johnson

This one's for all the young-adult fiction lovers out there. The book won the Nebula Award for Best Young Adult Novel in 2015.

10. "Legend" by Marjorie Lu

If you like young-adult dystopian series like "The Hunger Games," pick up "Legend" at the library. Once you're hooked, you'll be happy to know that CBS Films has acquired the film rights for the novel.

Listen, I could keep going — there's a whole universe (multiverse?) of science fiction written by women of color.

But if you're still reading my words and not checking out these books, get out of here. Go read!

More

J.J. Abrams has a plan to put Hollywood on the path to diversity.

In response to the Oscars controversy, the 'Star Wars' director has big plans.

You've probably heard lately that diversity in Hollywood is not looking good.

In fact, just last month, the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism released its annual report on diversity in entertainment media.

The study found that across writers, directors, and actors, Hollywood has a tendency to be very white and very male — disproportionately white and male.We even put together some cropped photos to illustrate how skewed the whole mess is when compared to the actual representation groups have in the U.S. population.

One reason this problem continues is that the people who have the power to make a difference (who are often white and male) don't see that discrimination is happening because it doesn't happen to them.

Just two weeks after the conversation around #OscarsSoWhite, producer/director J.J. Abrams told the Hollywood Reporter that he'd like to see things change in the hiring process.



Abrams has seen firsthand how well movies led by women and people of color can do at the box office.

He directed a little movie you may have heard of called "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Know that one? The one with the cast that looked like this:

Lupita Nyong'o, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Isaac. Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney.

That movie did pretty OK at the box office, bringing in more than $1 billion and breaking all sorts of box office records. The excuse that movies won't make money unless they center on white men simply doesn't hold water.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" and "The Hunger Games" franchise prove that women can lead badass action films. The "Pitch Perfect" franchise, "Bridesmaids," and "Spy" demonstrate that yes, people are interested in seeing female-fronted comedies.

And when it comes to people of color, the same thing goes: Yes, movies with predominantly black, Latino, or Asian casts can also be commercial successes. "Straight Outta Compton," "Beasts of No Nation," and "Creed" saw commercial and critical success this year. Sadly, though, movies led by women and people of color are still way underrepresented in society.

Using the data from the USC Annenberg report, you can see just how off-kilter and unrealistic some of Hollywood's proportions are.

Let's take a look at gender. The study found that 71.3% of speaking parts in movies went to men, despite the fact that men make up a little less than half of the U.S. population.

Upworthy original. Data: Comprehensive Annenberg Report on Diversity in Entertainment, U.S. Census.

For directors, the comparison is even worse. In the film industry, female directors are almost nowhere to be found. The same goes for writers: Nearly 9 in 10 writers in Hollywood are men.

Creating a more diverse cast and crew makes for a stronger, more well-rounded entertainment experience. A focus on diversity isn't just for diversity's sake, but for the benefit of audiences too.

As Abrams says in his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the goal isn't simply to have more diverse writers, directors, and actors, but to create better films.

Just two weeks after the #OscarsSoWhite backlash hit the entertainment industry, Abrams' production company, Bad Robot, enacted a new policy for hiring directors, writers, and actors. For each new project, teams will be required to submit job candidates in line with the proportions of the U.S. population.

He explains the reasoning in the interview:

Does this mean the final product of Abrams' future films will be completely and totally balanced? Of course not.

This new setup has to do with the interview and submission process, not the hiring. So fear not, Internet commenters ready to smear this plan as affirmative action run amok (I see you getting those tweeting fingers ready to go), this is nothing like that.It is, instead, a path forward to a more authentic (and better) Hollywood experience for everyone involved.

Trending Stories