The Thirteen Percent Problem: Authors of Colour in the British Young Adult Market, 2017-2019 edition

Abstract

The underrepresentation of people of colour in books and authorship is a critical issue for the British publishing industry. Recent studies have provided both qualitative evidence and longitudinal, quantitative evidence that demonstrates the extent of the problem, fuelling numerous discussions and initiatives within the book community. This article will extend my previous study on YA authorship in the UK, which found that between 2006-2016 only eight percent of the published authors were people of colour. Findings are presented from an analysis of all YA books published in the UK between 2017 and 2019, contextualised with the data from 2006-2016 and recent developments in the market. This article will present yearly trends from 2006 to show if and how things have changed over the years. Specifically, as with the previous research, this study sought to investigate the percentage of YA books that are written by authors of colour, and the percentage of YA authors that are people of colour and British people of colour.

Keywords

• authorship
• inclusive ya
• book culture
• uk ya
• bestsellers
• publishing