It’s no secret that the media is image-obsessed and has a problem with whitewashing and gender stereotyping. From magazine covers doing Photoshop “touch-ups,” to fandoms having an issue with a character’s casting in a film, to debates about the term “chick flick” or just how overly pink “girl” toy shelves are. For the publishing world, book covers are a problem we have to fix. In recent years there has been more discussion about this issue, and a few people within the industry have even spoken out about it.
Some of the earliest conversations about this issue have happened in children’s literature. In 2013, Bank Street College Center for Children’s Literature hosted a five-part series called “Are All Book Covers Created Equal?” led by Allie Bruce, a children’s librarian, and Anshu Wahi, a diversity director. Students in sixth grade were asked to study book covers with professionals. The event turned into an in-depth conversation about gender marketing and the lack of diversity in race, sexual orientation, and body image. The group toured bookstores and asked questions to a panel of editors, and a few of them even said that the experience inspired them to think about a career in publishing. Knowing that these sixth graders, so passionate about change in our industry, are now two years out of high school and possibly working towards a career in the book world gives me all of the feels.
Here are a few quotes from the participants:
“Why do the people who make covers sometimes make the people of color not have the spotlight? Like LOCOMOTION, why couldn’t we see the African American face?” Part One
“Society is almost afraid of putting a dark-skinned or Asian character on the cover of a book. I feel like these are minor forms of segregation.” Part One
“The main character is going back in time to see Mickey Mantle but ends up seeing Dorothy Maguire. She played catcher and her mask was blocking her face which was interesting … In the one book that is about a female ball player there is no evidence on the cover that is true.” Part Two
“The guys have tense looks, and the girls are like, whooooo…” Part Two
“On the covers, I saw thin, pretty girls. I didn’t see any overweight girls or anyone with acne. I think that these covers shape an idea of perfect in a girl’s mind, and makes them want to be like that, even though everyone was born perfect.” Part Three
“It surprised me that both of the editors had seen multiple books with gay or lesbian people in them because I’ve seen so little of that in book stores.” Part Four
“The books were all predictable, with endings that you could tell by hearing the title.” Part Three
Some authors have also begun fighting back against publishers who misrepresent their characters on book covers. Nnedi Okorafor and Rick Riordan have both publicly expressed frustration with publishers whitewashing their characters on the covers of their books.
In her book, The Shadow Speaker, the protagonist is a Muslim girl named Ejii in 2070 Niger who Okorafor described as “black skinned.” When the cover presented by her publisher featured a woman with fair skin and straight hair, she “threw a shit fit” and worked with her agent to get it changed. In 2017, she wrote a Twitter thread about the issue where she said, “As a black woman writing a black female main character in a sci-fi novel, seeing my character whitewashed on the cover felt-like-erasure.” Okorafor, who I had the opportunity to meet at a convention, is publicly passionate about how her culture inspires her writing and seeing more black characters in science fiction, so an erasure of her identity while fighting for representation must’ve really felt like a rejection. Luckily, she was able to work with her agent to change the cover, but some authors aren’t as lucky.
Just two years earlier, Rick Riordan had similar issues with his publisher, but he didn’t get to comment on the covers until they were already on the shelves! His book series, The Kane Chronicles, follows the adventures of brother and sister Carter and Sadie Kane, descendants of the magicians of Ancient Egypt. Despite Carter being described as “dark brown” like his father, foreign publishers in countries including Russia, Italy, and the Netherlands featured covers with Carter depicted as a white boy. Even lines like, “Carter, you’re getting older. You’re an African American man. People will judge you more harshly, and so you must always look impeccable,” couldn’t stop foreign publishers from slapping fair skin and straight brown hair on the cover. Riordan vented on social media about how his characters were being whitewashed and how he was able to give very little input for book covers even in the US and UK, but especially when dealing with foreign publishers. Even though Russian and Dutch publishers listened to his concerns and revised the covers, it’s upsetting to see how much control an author loses when they sell to a publisher.
The idea that black and brown people and people outside of the “perfect” image won’t sell on book covers needs to be a thing of the past, and gender marketing should go along with it. Once publishers let go of these limiting ideas, imagine the amazing book covers that can be created. The good news is that change in our industry is being led by the best Hugo-award winner authors, international bestselling authors, and sixth graders.