US Demographics Are Changing, and the Publishing Industry Needs to Follow Suit

It is both gospel-minded and good business for books to represent our increasingly multiethnic population.

By Helen Lee

I

’ll never forget the time I attended a popular Christian writers’ conference where the vast majority of attendees were white, and I struggled to find a single session that spoke to my reality as a person of color. But then I found a workshop on “The Immigrant Experience,” and relief washed over me. As I settled into the classroom, I was joined by numerous other eager writers of color. It seemed we had all jointly gravitated to this one session.

Imagine our collective surprise when the all-white panelists walked in and began to introduce themselves. It became clear that the panel topic was actually about “The Norwegian Immigrant Experience.” Disbelief cascaded through the room. In this moment when the conference organizers could have demonstrated cultural sensitivity, they did the exact opposite, resulting in an already marginalized segment of their attendees feeling even more unseen.

This is often still the reality in the book publishing industry. The 2019 diversity survey by Lee & Low Books, which independently tracks the racial makeup of book publishing, indicated that the industry remains largely white (76 percent), with little change since their last survey in 2015. “[U]ntil we all start to care about equity, we will not make progress, and any gains the industry makes will continue to be not statistically significant,” the report declared.

The situation is no better at Christian publishers, according to a recent article in Publishers Weekly, based on outreach to major evangelical publishers to inquire what they were doing to represent people of color on staff and in books. “[M]any industry members acknowledged more work needs to be done,” said reporter Emma Wenner.

Thankfully, Wenner noted some bright spots: “The most comprehensive program PW found at independent religion publishers is at InterVarsity Press (IVP).” In addition to people of color making up almost 25 percent of staff, IVP also has a new initiative, Every Voice Now, which focuses “on developing, marketing, and selling books by authors of color and recruiting diverse professionals.”

I am fortunate to have a front-row seat to IVP’s work with authors of color, as a former acquisitions editor and marketing director, now point person for Every Voice Now. This new initiative is just the latest in our efforts to demonstrate commitment to multiethnicity and multiethnic publishing, outgrowths of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s commitment to affirm the dignity of all people. 

It’s certainly good for more publishers to be similarly committed, so the church as a whole can become more aware, conversant, and ultimately transformed by a godly perspective on how we are all created in God’s image.

But it is not enough to just publish books by authors of color. Most if not all of the main Christian publishing houses reach a predominantly-white readership due to systems and structures that predispose them in this direction. To reach more readers of color, we need to take more intentional efforts to do so. If we have a book that would be ideal for millennial African American women, for example, then advertising in standard evangelical media publications won’t likely yield the best results. We need to keep challenging ourselves to build relationships with other organizations, churches, and influencers that are connected to audiences of color, and then earn trust with those audiences.

The reality is that what has long been the center of Christianity here in the US—white evangelicalism—is going to fade in power and influence as the years go by. By the year 2050, we will no longer be in a majority-white nation. But for Gen Z and younger, that reality is already here. Simply put, it makes business sense for publishers to recognize reality and make adjustments now based on where the church will be in ten or twenty years. 

More than that, it makes good spiritual sense. Making disciples in our growing multiethnic reality means that we have to find writers who can speak to our increasingly diversified church and do so in ways that communicate who God is and what God is about so that the full range of Christian audiences can experience transformation in Christ. American Christians need to learn from Asian American, Latinx, Black, Native, and mixed-ethnicity authors so we understand that white leaders (and particularly white men) are not the only ones God can use to speak gospel truth.

Another key approach is to increase recruiting efforts and strengthen our cultural competency as an industry. These are the kinds of efforts that take time and intentional effort; they do not just happen in any organization, which is a significant reason why our industry has remained so static. 

Is publishing still so white because there aren’t enough book professionals from diverse backgrounds to hire? No, I don’t believe so. I can immediately think of scores of qualified men and women of color who would be amazing in the publishing industry. The issue is less about availability and much more about access. Publishing is a unique industry that relies heavily on personal networks for recruiting, acquisitions, and marketing efforts. If people of color are not given intentional access into the networks that lead to hiring and recruiting, then they will continue to stay on the margins.

This past summer, I saw what seemed unthinkable just a few months prior: multiple Black Christian authors on the New York Times bestseller list at the same time. The racial unrest that had gripped our nation after George Floyd’s murder, combined with our being largely confined to our homes and seeing the world through social and online media, resulted in newfound recognition throughout the country that voices of color have much to teach us.

I hope that moment was not just a cultural flash in the pan, but the beginning of a true desire in many publishing houses to more intentionally pursue authors of color—not just for monetary gain, but out of a true conviction that the church needs to honor and care for those who have been valued least in the body (1 Cor. 12). We pursue diversity not just for diversity’s sake. We want to reflect a multiethnic body that is unified in its collective devotion to Christ, so that the world can know the power of God’s love to bridge any and all gaps. No other institution can fully display racial harmony like the church can. 

I’m so grateful that the picture of God’s people in Revelation 7 looks nothing like the all-white panel I experienced at the Christian writers’ conference. But the publishing industry has a long way to go before we approach the ideal that God has set before us, made clear in his Holy Book. Publishing professionals need look no further than God’s own Word to chart a path forward and make changes that have eternal impact.

Learn more about InterVarsity Press’s Every Voice Now initiative and its accompanying podcast, which features the stories of authors of color.

Photo by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash

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Helen Lee is the associate director of strategic partnerships and initiatives at InterVarsity Press and the director of content and resource development at Missio Alliance. She began her career in Christian publishing at Christianity Today and is the author of The Missional Mom. Helen is currently writing a book with Michelle Reyes tentatively titled The Race-Wise Family. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @HelenLeeBooks.