Hello, Dear Readers, I am trying to get myself back into a blogging frame of mind. Not easy but I’m trying. Today, however, I am reblogging Teach Me Tonight‘s excellent post on the past and present racism of Sue Grimshaw and how she is perceived by people on both sides of the issue.
As Twitter filled with authors and readers wondering what possessed two separate small publishers to hire her as an acquisitions editor, one, Jack’s House, let her go but the other, Glenfinnan, has doubled down on the insistence that Grimshaw is a Nice White Lady and not at all what so many people have the receipts for.
Glenfinnan’s CEO, Suzan Tisdale, even went live to give us 12 cringe worthy minutes defending her bestie. This link will get you to the post. THen Teach Me Tonight posted her blog with some history of Grimshaw’s past behavior and a transcript of Tisdale’s defense including screenshots of people’s reactions posted on Twitter.
Racism and the Corporate Romance Buyer: a “little fiasco” involving Sue Grimshaw
There’s been a lot of discussion about readers and publishers and who has the greatest role in blocking the publication of particular books/preventing them becoming a success. There’s also been discussion about how the RWA awards (which can help boost an author’s career) might be shaped by racism and homophobia.
Recently, another type of player has been under discussion: the corporate book buyer. In particular, Sue Grimshaw. In 2007, Grimshaw was interviewed at Dear Author and the importance of her role was explained: Link to post.
The next day Vivanco posted a second piece, Shaping Submissions via Omissions, which details how Glenfinnan’s submission requirements keeps any sort of diversity out.
Both posts provide a clear picture of the effect of a pattern of behavior that should no longer be socially, ethically, or morally acceptable.
38 Caliber Reviews 