James Patterson claims white male writers face ‘another form of racism’, and can’t break into writing

“What is all this about? Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes,” Patterson, 75, told the British newspaper. “It’s more difficult for older writers. You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males.”

Now, Patterson is facing a backlash from critics and writers who say the author has blatantly ignored recent data showing what the publishing industry was and still is.”A company owned by white men. In the diversity of self-review from Random penguin house, the publisher found that about 75 percent of the contributors during that period were white. The audit showed that only 6 percent were black, while 5 percent were Hispanic. The company also acknowledged that more than 74 percent of its employees are white.

Post Reports: “Publishing is still a white man’s business”

2019 survey from children’s publisher Lee Lu Box It found that 85 percent of publishing workers who buy and edit books are white. 2020 report from The New York Times It found a similar result across the US publishing industry, where 89 percent of books written in 2018 were written by white paper.

“James Patterson of All People”, bestselling author Roxanne Gay chirp. “First of all, write your own books, my friend.”

Patterson Uses ghost book To help him publish multiple titles a year.

A representative for Patterson did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Tuesday.

With over 300 titles to his name, Patterson is one of the world’s most popular writers. He has sold over 400 million copies of his books, with New Yorker This week, Patterson was praised as the “world’s best-selling author”. His 260th New York Times bestselling book led Publisher’s Weekly to his title as the best-selling author since 2005.

Forbes mentioned In 2018, Patterson’s net worth was estimated to be $800 million, linking him to golfer Tiger Woods. Patterson foot 70 million dollars In 2019 alone, according to Forbes, only JK Rowling lags behind.

While hundreds of millions of his books have been bought, critics and authors have beaten Patterson over his writing style and use of ghost writers to help him publish several titles annually. Patterson said Washington Post in 2016 that his simple, illustrative style aims to “run movie projectors in our heads”.

“I removed the fat from the commercial novels,” he said at the time. “In an overwhelming number of novels, there is more within it than it should be.”

James Patterson often does not write his books. And his new readers often don’t read – yet.

Patterson’s rise is partly due to the success of the “Alex Cross” series, in which a fictional black detective takes on threats to his family and Washington. The series led to three films, with actor Morgan Freeman as Cross in “Kiss the Girls” and “Along Came a Spider.”

When the Sunday Times noted the early success of a series featuring a black main character, Patterson noted that race played no problem in developing one of his most memorable characters.

“I just wanted to create a character who just happened to be black,” Patterson said. “I wouldn’t have tried to write a serious story about a black family. It’s different in a detective story because the plot is so important.”

In addition to his comments about white men in publishing, Patterson deplored the decision of his own publisher, the Hachette Book Group, to drop Woody Allen’s memoirs in 2020 after employees staged a protest against the book over longstanding allegations of sexual assault against them. famous director. Arcade Publishing picked up Allen’s memoir, “Apropos of Nothing.”

“I hated it,” Patterson said of Allen’s book that was pulled. “He has the right to tell his story.”

Patterson added, “I’m always on the side of free speech.”

But much of the attention from Patterson’s interview was on his claim that white men struggle to find work in publishing. Gina Denny, Associate Editor, TouchPoint Press, pointed that when USA Today reported on Patterson’s comments, Only nine authors The non-white book was on the newspaper’s list of 150 bestsellers. Three titles for Patterson topped the list, while five Women of Color and four Men of Color were on the bestseller list. The rest were white men between the ages of 36 and 84 – and some of the white males on the list are long dead, Denny said.

“Dead white men are statistically more likely to be on the USA’s best-selling list as a person of color” Wrote.

Several black writers objected to Patterson’s comments, including Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, author of This is Why I Resist.

What a nonsensical statement from James Patterson. He better picks up books and educates himself about what racism is.” Wrote. “Has he missed the old days when white men had all their clerical gigs?”

Frederic Joseph noted that 20 publishers rejected The Patriarchal Blues, which became a bestseller last month, because it He said Publishers “didn’t think people would buy a black man’s book discussing patriarchy.”

“James Patterson believes that white men face racism in publishing,” Wrote Joseph, who has written two bestselling books. From a black man who has over 50 book rejections (all of which are now bestsellers) because white editors don’t understand them or they ‘have black male authors’…shut up.’

Joseph addedSupport for Black Authors.

All the while, Patterson keeps selling. His autobiography, “James Patterson for James Patterson,” came out last week, and Sony Pictures recently had “Run, Rose, Run,” which was a March bestseller, Limit.