The Carina Press watch continues
Back in mid-September (of 2015), I mentioned on Dear Author how Carina Press lacked a multicultural or IR category. I got a response and a request to send an email to Angela James. I followed up with an email as requested, on September 16th.
I kept it short and to the point:
Hello Ms. James,
I wish I had better news to report, but as of the date of this post, Carina still lacks a category for either IR, multicultural or diverse characters.
Here’s a screen shot as of November 26th:
Why is this important? Well, for readers who enjoy romances featuring Angels and Demons (a niche category that’s listed on the site) they can readily find them, or male/male or female/female, djinn, BDSM, Minage, Shifters, Dragon, Vampires and Ghosts . . .
Quite simply, making it easier for a reader to find books with diverse leads benefits not just the reader, but also the publisher. Buyers can’t purchase these books if they don’t know the publisher carries them.
There’s an irony about all this that I hope won’t be lost. Imaginary creatures are front and center, but including a category or categories that reflect the world as we know it, somehow aren’t?
And in fairness, Carina Press isn’t the only publisher without a category or designation for diverse reads readily visible.
Here’s my hope, that publishers will start routinely including categories for readers who enjoy romance between people of different races and people with disabilities.
I’m a reader first and foremost. I also support authors who write for major publishers as well as indies. Yes, change takes time. As someone who has contributed labor for a web site redesign (for a large company), I recognize this. So, I’ll just stay patient.
UPDATE: No change as of 6/27/16.
Moving on:
Torii and Ethan are getting a sequel. I’m doing more research, and I’ve got a solid story line for their next ebook.
The next ebook release is HUI