A moment of silence for all the poor future casts of ACOTAR adaptation. Especially actors who will play Rhys, Feyre and Tamlin. I hope they don't have social medias for their peace of mind.
Sarah J Maas created stories where her own idea of beauty is the most important thing (along with power, imperialism/colonization, and big... ehm... wingspans). Her standards of beauty being: super thin white women, with somehow big butts and breasts. In her books, you are either drop-dead gorgeous, or you're ugly (and most of the time evil). Female characters that are suffering and losing weight due to depression and trauma somehow mantain their big butts and breats for their male love interests to objectify and pine over (for example, Nesta is depressed and suicidal, yet Cassian comments over and over about how much he wants to have sex with her, and how hot her boobs are smh, barely paying attention to her mental health until she loses it). How can we expect book stans to act better, when their idol is like this?
The actress who played isabelle in Shadowhunters got racist abuse when she was casted. YA fandom has a history of going crazy over casting. Oh and let's not forget Rue from the hunger games
@@NaomiVirshbo People were awful to Amandla, the actress who played her, cause they didn't read the book properly. They pictured her as a lil white girl, so when Amandla was cast, folks when nuts. Even though the author of the book explicitly wrote Rue as Black.
i also dont love people saying ‘shes not too fat to play feyre! shes beautiful!’ like i understand the sentiment but as a fat girl the Least comforting thing to hear is ‘youre not fat youre beautiful’ since beauty is still being equated to skinniness
As a B&N employee, having a table dedicated to the TikTok books makes it easier for us to find those books because we are being asked for them, multiple times a day. It helps us keep track of how many we are selling, because its easier to see the stock running out on a table vs in the runs. We will do displays for other social media from time to time but nothing has had such a demand response from the public like tiktok. I think because tiktok sort of forcing content on its viewers through the FYP, its like a youtube recommended page but you have no choice but to watch every video that comes up, and its under a minute so you aren't really hurt by investing in content from an unknown user/genre than normal. It feels like YA Booktube on crack. The same 5 titles that people were shouting about last year but to pop music and over and over again like a meme. They aren't reviews either, just a quick hot take or emotional reaction (i.e. marketing). It will be interesting to see if it can keep up or if its just a pandemic year fluke.
I work for Indigo (the Canadian B&N) and we are doing the same thing. I think it will be interesting to see if this continues. I’ve been working for indigo for almost 4 years and I haven’t seen anything as impactful as tiktok has been for boosting the sales of random books very suddenly.
Something I saw to explain this on bookstagram is this: many of us on bookstagram are older than the Tik Tik generation (not everyone obviously but stastically). I buy books at my local B&N all the time that I saw on bookstagram. But I don't tell any employees. I keep to myself and find the book. Or I buy it online because I have credit cards lol
dont know if you guys gives a damn but if you are bored like me atm you can watch all the latest series on Instaflixxer. I've been watching with my brother for the last couple of months =)
I can’t explain how much is frustrates me when BIPOC book lists circulate on Instagram for like 2 weeks (during tragic events or heritage months) only for me to never see people really talk about those books again. We’ll get to the end of the year “my favorite books of _____” and not a single BIPOC author on that list, and I guess the argument could be made that readers just didn’t like those books, but I refuse to believe that people reading 50-100+ books a year didn’t find one book by a BIPOC author that they loved. I feel like some people are using and sharing those lists to prove something or to check a box. All I want is for people to have the same energy for BIPOC authors that they have for white authors day in and day out.
It's weird when people only read books by BIPOC authors because they feel like they have to prove something. And as you mentioned, it's even worse if they forget about them a week later and never mention them again. Of course it kind of depends on the type of books you read. Some genres have more BIPOC authors than others. I love classic literature, but I'm aware that most of the authors are white. Or at least it's harder to find BIPOC authors. However, I try to balance that out and therefore made it a rule to read one book by marginalized authors a month. Yes, technically I'm still checking a box, but this box helps me learn more about important topics, because most of these are non-fiction works about racism, feminism, homophobia etc.
July hi! I noticed that too! Seeing list of books by BIPOC only to get forgotten shortly after. What I think is important at least for me is to diversify my reading by picking authors from different countries from different backgrounds and genres. I think that made my reading year a lot richer and fresher, giving that we were indoors for the most part of the year I read a lot more than usual, but I have to admit that reading people that are other than American felt good, the booktube, bookstagram communities are so USA centric that voices from other countries are hardly ever heard. Then when it comes to classics, i have a serious problem believing those lists (Again only white male from USA, Britain, Russia), as there are classics from, Nigeria, India, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, Argentina,... it hurts that people all over the world are taught at school that classic literature is only a hand full of books that someone put together and now that's that.
@@lilithcarter Right! I'm from Germany, so I definitely read a lot of German classics as well. The problem is that even if you read classics from different countries, they could still be only written by men or by straight people or Christians and the list goes on. It's hard to find German classics written by women, because most were written by men. It's not easy to always read diverse, but we should all do our best to include different voices in our reading.
Also my hot take: I remember when people use to make book content just to talk about books they liked and enjoyed because no one was talking about books irl. When money got involved it messed up the social media book community. I dont think people read books that they love anymore and it shows too when half my booktube feed are people releasing a video about the same book and come to find out all of them are doing a marketing campaign for the book. It's why booktube feels so repetitive to me. I also don't think reviews are unbiased. Which is why I am liking reading vlogs, but I did fall out of love with the book community
Ok as someone who has extensively studied statistics, I'd like to point out 2 things: 1) "raw data" doesn't mean "the names of authors and book titles used in the study." It doesn't involve ANY personalized information. In fact, personalized information is considered inherently biased and proper protocol is to remove the data from personal identifiers prior to processing it (common practice is to use randomly generated numbers). [Note: my statistics background is Psychology so "common practice" and "proper protocol" may not be universal.] What the critics want is not a list of books and authors used in the study, but something like "[Publisher] published 10 books in the Romance genre. Of those, 6 were by white authors, 1 by a black author, 1 by an Asian author, and 2 of indeterminate race. The 2 undetermined authors were left out of the study." 2) the information in the Ripped Bodice Report is useless. While it can be validating to see evidence of perceived racism, it has a severe problem that renders it meaningless: it's asking the WRONG question. It's question is "how many books by BIPOC authors were published in [Year]?" The question it SHOULD be asking is "what percent of BIPOC authors who go on submission end in a book contract?" Why is that question more important and why does it invalidate the one they ask? Let's take the publisher with 0% of their published romance books being by BIPOC authors - what if they publish a specific subgenre of romance that no BIPOC authors have gone on submission with? What if, because of that first report, agents decided that that publisher was racist and submitted 0 of their BIPOC author's work to them? What if they published 100% of the BIPOC authors' books they could have and that number just happened to be 0? We don't know and we can't know because that report didn't ask that question, didn't even CONSIDER it.
Danielle has a perfectly normal body, this coming from someone who's traditionally skinny. She's gorgeous and you can't even use the word fat with her because it doesn't even apply.
I seriously can’t stand the fat shaming being hurled at this actress. She looks nearly identical to all of the Feyre fanart from the past 6 years and people are going after her?!?! Toxic fans are asking too much and giving little in return 🙄
Compiling medical reports is part of my job, so through a 'professional' lens I can't help but grimace at the vague methodology of the Ripped Bodice report---it's not a report I would put my name next to. That being said, I think that they should be offered some level of grace considering they're not an academic body, nor is their business is dedicated solely to compiling this type of research. They're just trying to point out that a problem exists, which is true, but there's not much to be said or done beyond that without better insight.
This is exactly how I feel about it. Sure, it’s vague and kind of wishy washy but it’s also done by people whose job this isn’t. I think what this has shown especially this last year is how even publishing houses are showing their ass in the performative activism. So let’s say one year publisher mcpublisher, published 4% by bipoc and in month 3 there was another big movement like last year and they came out to say ‘we want more black stories and we’re going to listen and learn’ and then the next year it’s 4% again they ain’t done shit. I think that’s what I get from this, and I think it’s important to keep it going even though it’s flawed so we can see patterns.
B&N employee here. I can’t keep the books stocked on our table for tiktok. And no the books that are on them are not the best, but these kids that would never read (or even adults who lost the touch) are reading. Also if they come in for one thing and love it you can share some actually great and sometimes lesser known titles. It’s insane honestly I’ve never seen this happen before.
Just to play Devil's Advocate-ish... publishers have the money *when they see a clear ROI for that money*. There isn't ROI on blogs (at least not in any substantial way), and also b/c of how book blogs came up (primarily as review sites), they function journalistically and it's policy NOT to pay for that kind of coverage (like there's a LOT of media ethics that go into that). I find that video/image media based social media sites can operate differently and outlets can position themselves more as PR--and PR can be paid for. But even then you need a) the clout/platform to charge and b) decide you want to cross that line (b/c you can't really go back once you've gone PR/sponsored). (and it gets into nebulous and honestly confusing questions, re: measuring sales vs. word of mouth buzz and which platforms does what, etc.) But really ultimately: it's down to whether a platform can actually sell books, and right now that's mostly just TikTok. It used to be RUclips and Instagram, and some creators on those platforms can still get paid, but the money follows the money. Bloggers have never traditionally been paid (see above), though most blog tour owners are able to charge for their services AFAIK. And honestly I expect TikTok's efficacy will fade just like the other platforms and thus the norms will later shift as well. I do also think publishers are shady-ish about these allocations but given my journalism training and how I feel about media ethics/reviews, I don't think book bloggers/tubers/grammers/tokkers should be paid as a matter of course. That feels like pay-to-play, and as I said you can't really come back from that: you're either paid to talk about media or not, and once you are, your relationship to the publishers and the books/authors changes. If someone with a platform and who can charge/wants to and is offering to do substantive promotional work, yes, they should be compensated. But it won't happen if that ROI isn't there. (but this all said... I think there's a LOT for discussion in this and the rise of TikTok and how it's basically forcing the influencer model onto publishing, finally, is VERY interesting)
I disagree with the concept that only Tik Tok is selling books. I'm mostly on bookstagram and I know plenty of people on there with 10k followers (or less) who are selling a lot of books. Idk how publishers can figure out the numbers but I don't understand how it's different than companies using commercials to sell products. They can't know for sure it works but we know it works.
@@brissa2010 I agree Tik Tok is not the only one selling books and it's astonishing someone would ever think that is the case. I don't follow Tik Tok at all and I buy a lot of books. Publishers just don't understand the "markets" they think are gone, non existent and or small but wont grow in size are not actually small at all but these "Markets" are where 95 % of people who sell books reach 99% of the bookworms in the world. I can bet that 85% of the Tik Tok users buy the book, read it for a week then sell, give away, or toss the book.
Stupid Question: How does one even become like a PR person for say, books? I'm not asking because I want to, I just don't understand where the line is between someone who just likes to post their reads or something on Bookstagram and a promoter. Like, is publishing making all these blog people do the work and then refusing to pay them, or are they just offering a free book in exchange for a review? I might be woefully out of touch and I'm totally open for correction but unless you've been approached and asked to promote a book, can you really expect to make a post about it and then turn around and ask for pay? That might not be whats happening, just how I'm understanding it. Would it be more beneficial for these platforms to just stop doing the work if they aren't being compensated? I guess I don't understand how this works happens. I'm sorry. I do think it's weird they're willing to spend thousands on a Tik-Tok video, but this seems super early still to really know the results. I wonder if they're just experimenting to see the ROI? Maybe it will lead to more paid posts on other social media platforms. As a consumer I only buy books I'm interested in, based on the blurb or past history with an author. Social Media just makes me aware of books coming out, and then I follow people with similar reading tastes to me cause they're more likely to show me books I'd like. But I won't buy it unless I'm genuinely interested in reading it. I'm not comfortable with the idea of paid reviews though... that would definitely make me question the legitimacy of the review. I mean, as I said, I pick who I follow based on shared reading tastes. I really rely on their subjective experience even if I don't always agree with them. That's why my favourite videos and posts from booktubers/bookstagrammers are hauls they bought themselves, 5-Star predictions, anticipated releases, etc. Maybe to get away from paid reviews, Tradtional publishing could start to pay for social media posts of Influencers just going over their upcoming releases. Not to review them or even read them, don't even have to give them the book, just to say "hey, this is what's coming out". And you'd tailor your lists to the Influencers brand. If they're a romance reader give them your romance titles, if they read mostly fantasy, focus on that, etc. It might be more ethical/transparent than paying for full-on reviews for individual books.
One really good thing that comes from gathering the BIPOC publishing data is how it helps writers find publishers. New BIPOC authors who are looking to do traditional publishing can target the best option. Why waste time on Bethany House or Bold Strokes Books when Carina and Kensington are showing they want to work with BIPOC. Maybe the others will turn it around, but it's been five years and it's not looking good.
Carina is a digital first imprint of Harlequin that doesn't publish a lot of books a year which is one of the reasons why we say the data misconstrues things.
@@AshWritesLots also, Bethany House is a niche part of publishing since it specifically focuses on Christian stories. I know because I read on accidentally one day at the library. I didn't realize that until finished and was left confused about blurb and actual content.
@@deconstructingdamsels2746 Trust me, I would've been confused too. After doing a bit more reading on it, the list seems to really just be that, a list. Kind of like a first statistical report for a Quantitative Skills and Reasoning college course. It's a start but would need a lot more research to get an 'A' on the final project. So, Bethany House would have to be in, at least, the categories of BIPOC, Christian romance literature, and imprint then, compared to those that fit the same criteria.
@@MsWOCReader Oh, I completely understand. I was thinking of it being more like a jumping-off point for authors who are looking. Since there are so many options to choose from, narrowing it down seems like a good idea. Not to say it's impossible to get published by those that have low stats or anything. Maybe it's more helpful to help gauge the proper expectations to have when submitting to any publishers.
@@AshWritesLots It's also interesting that they noted -their- bestsellers. While many people outside of the internet may not know the scope of their influence. So the question begs, did they pick Bethany House on their criteria or a thrown in option to counter the other Christian romances put out by other people? Do they promote a lot of Bethany House or request BIPOC authors from the house as buyers? I keep getting stuck on how they decide, year to year, what constitutes as a narrower look. Versus a lumping. Kensington, for instance, has Zebra. And how does that breakdown compared with Zebra's overall data as an older imprint, where the heyday was 35 years ago? I feel like shapshots don't show traditional publishing's real numbers. They can beef up numbers for a good job pat for a few years, but are they promoting the authors and getting inquires based on established backings? A single 2-3 page report every year doesn't really do a whole lot when the conversation is nuanced.
That poor actress! She’s beautiful! And really, I wouldn’t want to see an actress lose weight to fit a character who is supposed to be underfed because that’s not healthy.
i hope you stop apologizing for the length of your videos! i love that you don’t cut it down a lot! i listen to podcasts that can be 2-3 hours so this is right up my alley! love it love you!
The last issue with Book TikTok prompting resurgent interest in older titles reminds me of what libraries deal with anytime a book is made into a film. The Kissing Booth by Beth Reckles (I think?) was made into a movie by Netflix, and suddenly our community is like, "Hey, where's this book? You got this book in stock?" Seriously??? The reviews were moderate to okay when the book first published, and now there's sequels. Oh, well, at least it's more circs at the library.
Your own summary of the whole Ripped Bodice situation was really on point, and also how I feel about it. I do work with statistics in my job, so it was interesting to read the Nick and Ari’s critique. If this was the first time the Ripped Bodice was publishing the report, then yes, absolutely, there would be a lot more leeway and it is great to have some concrete numbers to back up racism in publishing, which sadly is a thing. But since they’ve been doing this for a while, they really need to think about some more precise methodology. There is the possibility to induce measures of uncertainty into this kind of analysis, and while they should not make their list public where they categorize writers (which yes, is a whole other can of worms), they should include the raw numbers of books etc. I’ll be interested to see whether they’ll overthink how they do the report going forward. I hope they continue collecting numbers, but as the twitter thread you showed pointed out, they have a large audience and get media attention, so yes they should be held accountable for their flawed approach.
Also the Bodice was offered help in the past. And Bea was an academic. While social sciences and humanities have different criteria, there are still fundamentals in lower level courses. Like ethics, biases, etc. Even in intro psych. The transparency thing struck me as something I missed. You can't guess on that. Heck, in my CAWPILE data, i leave out racial, gender, nationality, and ownvoice if not explicitly stated by the author. It's not my decision to declare for stat purposes.
@@JessOwens They do, but it won't effect the general public or industry's opinion, so nothing will change. It'll still be the same issues next year. They'll just rememeber to mark the axis lines.
My two cents Re: The Ripped Bodice topic- I think the issue here isn't so much that their reporting is flawed (although it is and they acknowledge again and again that it is), but that they seem to be the only ones reporting on diversity in publishing (specifically, romance). Now that we know we want more, we should expect more- but maybe from the industry, and not just from a single bookstore. I'm absolutely LOVING your Book CommuniTEA series, I love hearing your two cents on things. Thanks for the fun discussions!
I'm a bookseller and have been seeing a LOT of people ask for "They Both Die at the End," "Song of Achilles," and "We Were Liars". Happy people are finding these books and hope that they like them, but I also home that midlist and smaller books get some of that same love.
Book blogger over here, I could never do what you do (my face is half covered by a mug of tea). Thank you for bringing the tea to light. I'm small but waiting for the SEO (search engine optimization) to pick. I'm seeing traffic but I would like to see more love to book bloggers
Not gonna lie, I've joined booktok in this past month and the content and recommendations I see is very similar to what booktube was like earlier, around 2014-2016. I think one reason for this is because a majority (not all) of people on tiktok are gen z. Some of them probably grew up watching booktube around that time period and their tastes have been influenced by it. I also feel like since this community is so new it's gonna take a while for it to find it's grounding and get on the same page as booktube on the diversity front. It kinda makes me want to raise my voice over there though 👀
These videos seriously brighten my day, I find it so nice to just wake up in the morning and listen to these. You're such a pleasant person to listen to speak - you've got the perfect mix of personality and humour that I feel like I'm hanging with a friend, but still getting the full story and facts. Your openness to learning and educating yourself I find really helpful as well and appreciate for my own education. Listening to the drama of something like the book community just takes my mind off my anxiety for the day ahead. Nigel is a welcome addition as well. Thank you for making these, I can tell you work hard on them and spend a lot of time of them. You really brighten my day and it's the first thing I click on in my sub box! Thank you Jess 💕
*trying not to cry on the treadmill while reading this 🥺* thank you so much. I’m always worried if these videos become dull, but I’m so happy you enjoy them !
@@JessOwens at least for me, these could never be boring! It's like talking to a friend, even if the topic is menial, it's a pleasant experience. Definitely keep making them! And I hope you find the confidence to wear whatever tops you want bc you're lovely ☺️
When I worked for a nonprofit prek I took over the small library which had ZERO books on various topics. I organized and catalogedthe whole thing, and figured out what topics were missing. They had like 2 bookcases on Christmas, but ZERO on MLK, hygiene, the state we live in, food, exercise, multiple cultures, etc. A big part of the issue is that they depended on donations. I down sized the Xmas books to 2 shelves of the best ones and then proceeded to buy up books in those other subjects. Then, I made sure to display books relevant to seasons, holidays, and topics the teachers were teaching. I also added a return bin so teachers wouldn't have to waste time putting things away and wouldn't mess up my system. The previous director had lamented that the teachers continuously used the same books and the library was going to waste. With the new set up, teachers were competing to get books for their class and were excited to read a book they hadn't read 10 billion times. Why did I leave? Many many MANY reasons, but one major one was that the new director decided to punish me by taking the library away from me. The library soon became a mess, books I had put on display had fallen over and weren't being changed, the book return box was over flowing and when she had my assitant put books away... she just shove the books anywhere. (My awful assistant was the other half of why I left. I got the assistant no one in the nonprofit wanted. Ugh.) It was so sad and maddening. (Btw, the new director's daughter was a friend of mine and we had a falling out over her racism. 🤷🏻♀️ She couldn't comprehend why representation was important. I ended up walking home at midnight. I was so pissed at everything she had said.) I miss my kids, but I don't miss the constant stress and harassment and not having an AC while everyone else did. The director legit complained that our crafts were too pretty. She complained that our class practiced for our holiday performances. She complained that I got a filing cabinet she wanted me to get and placed it where she had wanted it to go. Ugh, sorry for the rant. I'm obviously still not over it. Can't even look at pictures from that time. Anyway, ask your teachers and librarians if they need particular books. Donate.
I love how many things are on screen simuktaneously, so I can choose between what I want my eye to focus on. Also, thanks for the very accurate subtitles! (And, of course, thank you for your diligent reporting--your personal comments are appreciated as well! 👌)
lol "I mean Ima watch it" lmao me too as much as I'm hesitant how they're gonna pull it off. I also have way more confidence in Netflix or HBO. I was SO ANGRY at how fans reacted to the actress - they also threatened SJMs family recently - did you hear about that? I am incredibly incredibly disappointed.
I saw an eye roll after the mention of *A Little Life* and I would love to hear more of your thoughts. Bc that book gets me HEATED. Have you reviewed this book in a past video? A link would be much appreciated if you did!
@@JessOwens I am tired of it too! And part of it is bc I have the "unpopular opinion" that the book sensationalizes pain in a way I didn't like. Of course weepy booktokers would eat it up though 😆🙄
oof, seeing people call this honestly completely straight size women fat in a derogatory way is really hurting my feelings like jeez. if they think that's fat, they'd think I'm a repulsive blobber monster
Look, I love the ACOTAR series, going to be honest. I am worried about the adaptation. But I am EMBARRASSED on the daily to admit I like that fandom because of things like this that happen... that actress is stunning and she looks like she would be an incredible Feyre for looks alone!
I would like to see BIPOC statisticians and/or publishing professionals release their own survey that polls BIPOC romance authors in a detailed way answering the questions that were not addressed. The time and energy taken to create that response could have been used to create something new. Not saying it’s their responsibility but I really hope someone will step up because my fear is that like so many other things, this will be pulled and we’ll be left with no information...
The ACOTAR drama is reminding me so much of what happened when we got news of the Hunger Games adaptation. I still remember Twitter being filled with body shaming and racist comments based on the casting, aimed at literal CHILDREN! Jennifer Lawrence was also flooded with mentions telling her she was too fat for the role. Katniss and Feyre both start their series starving and no actress should fit that description. When I see people calling that actress fat, someone at a completely normal weight and size, I remember why I used to have an ED and thought I was fat when I weighed 6st 8lbs. I'm nervous for the bat boy casting because I am already seeing the racist SJM fans negatively comment on any fan cast where they aren't pale white dudes. I already see fan casts with Henry Cavill as Cassian... as if Illyrians aren't described as having varying shades of golden brown skin. The SJM stans are quite toxic and this incident with that poor actress proved the point.
Re: Ripped Bodice: I mean, I agree that it's better to have these lists than to run RB out of town on a rail for not doing it in full-on academic study fashion, you know? RB at least did try to address some of the criticisms, and they have a chance to improve things. We need this list, is all I'm saying, so pressure can be put on romance publishers to branch out a little. Or maybe a lot.
watched this during my lunch break, i don't mind the longer vids! specially bc the ripped bodice situation definitely needed it i show missed that on twt and it was interesting to see the info but also the criticism and response. great vid as always 🤍
Another romance diversity thing we need more of is more fat leads. Spoiler Alert, the Brown Sister series, and One to Watch are some of the only ones I’ve seen that truly feature diverse body sizes, and rarely for the male leads if they’re there. Would love to see more of that! 💞
Honestly, I was really disappointed in the SJM fandom when all this went down, but I wasn't surprised. I found her books back when Throne of Glass was first published, and I joined Throne of Glass fan groups on FB before I discovered Booksta and Booktube (where things are much more civil), and the fandom as it exists on FB is absolutely toxic - a regular occurrence were knockdown drag out fights over things like diversity in the books and whether people should be "allowed" to visualize different characters as anything other than white or straight. It's absolutely absurd. I've muted most of the groups, but I like to go back and scroll if I ever am in the mood to get mad, and this last week there have been a lot of posts whining about how the whole fandom is being demonized, and it sounds suspiciously like Not All Men
I kind of thought reports like the Ripped Bodice one were more for the consumer- just giving them like a heads up on where they want to spend their money. I suppose I just assumed corporations don't really care about reports as long as they're getting paid.
None of the data makes any sense with The Ripped Bodice. How do they determine an increase when they don't state how many books were published the current year compared to the year prior? Is it an improvement if the publisher overall published less books? Carina Press and HQN are also Harlequin so separating them out based on the editor makes no sense. The publishers who increased also published less romance books than some of the larger ones. Also how many of those Kensington books are actually romance? Kensington has a Black imprint called Dafina however it's a mixed of romance, suspense, urban fiction, etc. They are also trying to determine race based off photograph which isn't always accurate. You can't really use their report to accurately check progress. Inaccurate data is not helpful to progress. So I disagree with Alyssa Cole's notion that bad data is better than no data so essentially people should shut up. And then The Ripped Bodice's response proved their intentions. The two white women running the report are more concerned about PR on the back of diversity than actual diversity.
Some of the questions you asked were answered in the report and in this video. They separate based on *imprint* (not publisher) depending on whether there are different teams making the decisions. And they don't determine an author's ethnicity based on a photo, the author's publicly available identity information (i.e. whether thr author openly says they're a certain race/ethnicity). They also said they didn't count characters because while it's important to see the diversity in narratives, they're interested in looking at tangible, real-world impact to these communities. E.g. Who is actually getting paid and who will be moving through the world with these identities. As for the other questions you asked, imo it would be interesting to know the exact number of books, but that's just another metric. To me, knowing the *percentage* of total books that imprint published is just as important and interesting. It shows a dedication to improvement. Like sure one year an imprint might publish 25 more books from BIPOC authors, but if the percentage is still only 5% of all the books they published that year, what does that say about the imprint? It's an improvement in the narratives available but it shows lack of effort on the part of the imprint.
And the last part about "how Kensington many books are actually romance?" They also answered they question- they use the information about the books specifically. If they're marked as romance in the database they're counted, otherwise they're discarded. So it's percentage of romance books from the imprint
@@OfficiallySarabi Carina, Harlequin Series, and HQN are all divisions of Harlequin whose larger publisher is Harpercollins. Though it's different teams of editors they're all following similar guidelines. TRB specifically stated they use photos as one of their methods to determine ethnicity. Knowing the total number of books published each year is an important factor to determining whether they actually made an increase or not. If they published half the books they did the year before that significantly impacts the numbers.
@@MsWOCReader as one of the methods, but not the only method. Meaning they use a variety before making a decision. And their report is specifically about the increase in percentage, not the increase in total number of books
the fact ripped bodice had the audacity to act like they refused to give numbers to protect people drives me nuts. also YES i feel like imprints should be 100% separate because giving them a break because they shove all of their bipoc authors under one imprint feels like it negatively impacts their goal so it just. doesnt make sense? theyre actively harming themselves and what their goal is.
Thank you! I can't get into TikTok either. The videos just make me so uncomfortable. I think I've hit that "almost 30" wall where I'm just set in my ways and can't handle new stuff...
I am going to start this by saying that I have never read the ACOTAR series, but the fat shaming of that actress is ridiculous. First I don't love how when someone is called fat the response is that "no you're not fat you're beautiful", like being fat and being beautiful are mutually exclusive. As a fat person, every time I hear that it is just soul crushing. That I am not beautiful because I am fat is just fat phobic. But why would it be a bad thing if the actress they casted to play Feyre was fat? The amount of fat representation in media is slim to none, whenever we are casted we are the ugly duckling who needs a makeover or the funny best friend who is jealous of our "pretty" best friend. As much as I loved the Shadow and Bone adaptation, I was disappointed in Nina's casting. Nina is a fat bisexual character and I saw a lot of myself in her, being a fat bisexual person myself. One of the things I loved about her character was that she loved herself the way she was, and I got to watch her go on adventures and fall in love, being a fat person we get denied that a lot, how could anyone love us because we are fat? Nina really helped with that, so when I saw that the actress who was playing her wasn't fat, it was heartbreaking and invalidating. I just want to see fat people living their lives and falling in love like anybody else. So maybe the ACOTAR adaptation should cast a fat person in the lead role of Feyre, I would love to see a fat main character in a fantasy world choosing which fairy she wants to bang in the sky (I know it's Rhys, but I think you get my point), I doubt her being super skinny is a big part of her character and I would just love to see a fat main character at the heart of a big fantasy show where she is dealing with problems that don't have to do with her weight. Anyway stop saying people aren't fat and that they are beautiful, when you can and are beautiful and fat at the same time. Lizzo is not out here being her best self for this kind of fat phobia to be around.
The initial critique of the report had a lot of very valid points. Like I understand not sharing all the raw data, but more numbers would be very helpful and a survey would be a great way to better collect the data. I look forward to future studies that come from this conversation!
That deep dive into the gaps of that study kind of blew my mind, there's so many issues with that study from a research perspective!! Also, I had no idea you need a "happily ever after" to be considered romance??
It's an industry standard since I believe RWA began. Nicholas Sparks isn't romance. I wouldn't call Danielle Steel, either, since a lot of her folks live in misery ever more.
@@kristina_lynn Yep. Otherwise it's fiction with romance elements. Kind of like how King is considered horror, even though he has fantasy elements, like homicidal cars. HEAs indicate a conclusion. It doesn't need to be marriage and a baby carriage. Just the two or more characters finding that ending.
The reason The Ripped Bodice used percentages in the first place was to compare publishers across different sizes without big publishers getting rewarded for having a small handful of BIPOC authors that they pointed to whenever people complained about diversity. Yes, the report absolutely needs to be updated but they aren't reaserchers and are providing it for free. I've seen some people saying that by not providing the number of books by authors of color they're trying to make publishing look worse than it is and that the industry has gotten so much better and it's not a problem anymore. I think that's what Alyssa Cole was reacting to, but obviously I can't say for sure.
I think it's good to remember that there are probably a lot of other factors we aren't considering when it comes to these numbers. For all I know, the numbers fluctuate for a variety of reasons. Of course, and obviously, there are just some crappy publishers. But it would be silly to think that only one factor is the only one that is influencing these numbers. Every statistical report does have a standard of error. Keep that in mind when analyzing stats.
Loved the in-depth analysis of the Ripped Bodice report. There's a reason why there's academics & professionals in statistics/data science.... collecting and presenting data on a large scale is a huge job! (Bonus points for the critique mentioning data security, too!!) Tbh I think they should approach major universities with programs in areas that would meet this niche market's criteria. There's no way a bookstore can handle a report like this on their own (imho)
it makes absolutely zero sense to me when people get worked up and sad or angry about a book/book series getting adapted to tv. at the end of the day no one is forcing anyone to watch it and it’s great marketing for the author and the books themselves to get more attention. so many acotar fans were going off in sjm comments and it was so weird. just don’t watch the show if you’re that scared it will be bad or wait for reception of the show to come out and see what people have to say about it.
As always, thank you for putting in the work for these videos. And a huge thank you to Nigel for gracing us with his presence 🥰 I'm sorry you're going through some body issues right now, I hope you feel better soon 💖 but now, onto the tea! I'm disappointed in The Ripped Bodice's response... Nick & Ari made some valid criticisms about the yearly reports and I would hope that Bea and Leah would take the time to deep dive and re-examine the metrics of their diversity reports and maybe even take a break from 2021 to reconsider their project altogether. Their intent was good but what they're trying to capture with faulty data isn't enough. And this is not a dig against them but how can they accurately capture such data? They don't seem to have any background in stats or research and I wonder...are they the only ones who are crunching the numbers?? That's too much to take on. The main issue is that publishing isn't transparent, their reports have been treated as The Ultimate Truth and their reports have become a resource that people trust. A resource that is helpful but flawed bc it is crowdsourced. I...can't with the toxic SJM fans. That actress is literally the definition of hollywood beauty and they tried to fat shame her? Smh. If she were to become Feyre, I would absolutely watch the adaption lol. I have more words but I'll stop here bc this comment is already too long 😂
Okay I know this doesn't actually help those less-than-stellar body image days but you always look great Jess! Once again I hadn't heard of this discussion until now! but I think some of the issues pointed out in the Diversity Report wouldn't be so egregious if the Report weren't so popular/well-known. I didn't realize before this video that so many publishers and news sites are treating it like THE data for diversity in romance - like if it's intended to be a less stringent collection of data used for getting a general idea of something and everyone acknowledges it as such that's one thing, but the fact that it's touted as the be-all, end-all of addressing diversity in romance is definitely a problem! And you said it perfectly: we've always known publishing had the money but chose not to use it, but to have so much in-your-face proof is...something 😑
I think the Ripped Bodice situation puts them in a bit of a sticky place. I could be wrong but I haven't seen TRB position its report as definitive or scientifically rigorous, it's always felt to me as an informal review from a bookseller. Part of the issue with demanding more rigor from them is that they're not statisticians nor can they compel employee data from publishers (which also seems like it wouldn't be appropriate for an employer to give to a third party. I don't think I'd be pleased to find out my boss was identifying my marginalized identity to a third party without talking to me). Maybe the key is repositioning the report as less "Diversity Report" and more "Trends We've Noticed As Booksellers"? Because this kind of data analysis isn't their skill set or job so I don't know that it's fair to ask booksellers to be the definitive report. But at the same time if they were to stop doing the report because they didn't have the resources or skills to do it to the standard that is being asked of them, they would equally face the backlash of stopping when they were critiqued. ..also "go touch grass" 🤣
I feel like I might get where Alyssa Cole was coming from. The report isn't perfect but it is getting attention to the issue and they the critique, while it brings up valid points, seems to take the focus off of the lack of diversity in traditionally published romance and instead focus it on their flawed data collection process for the report that they, of their own volition, publish for free. And there's the fact that some will now point to the critique and say, "See, there's no diversity issue, the report was just flawed and BIASED." I have a LOT of Libra in my chart, so I tend to play the Devil's advocate, but I guess personally I land somewhere in the middle. I think the critique made a lot of very valid points, but also it seemed like a lot of time and energy aimed at the wrong place. It seems like the report is the Ripped Bodice's passion project and if the author's of the critique don't like the methodology and think they can do better, maybe they should.
Why not? Erotica sells. Frankly, I'd rather have the folks at Pornhub working on the next "50 Shades of Grey " than have EL James create a new BDSM series with another poorly written stalker and 2-D characters with little plot and sex scenes that are about as interesting as watching paint dry.
@@TheGoofy1932 i mean i agree, but this was a joke about acotar which is kinda exactly what you just described 😂 (there even is one sex scene where paint drys)
Me: *finally sitting down after work and running three miles* Me: sees an hour long book comminutea Me: grabs my favorite blanket and my peanut butter captain crunch and dives right in. Also, it's 2021, can we please stop fat-shaming? JFC. Stop skinny shaming, stop fat shaming, JUST STOP THE F*KING SHAMING. (Saying that, I'm pretty excited for some soapy, trashy ACOTAR from Hulu. They do a-bit-more-mature-than-the-CW pretty well in my view, and they do have Disney backing, so the CGI should be pretty up to par.) Also also, I'm so glad I'm not the only person who feels to old for TikTok. I just don't understand it.
I think the problem with the ripped bodice takedown is that they are pretty much the only ones doing this report and others are standing in glass houses throwing stones. Should there be better studies out there, yes. But they seem to be the on,y ones wiling to do the work. If you think it’s not good enough, do better yourself
Feyra was "rail thin" and starving in the first book - not throughout the entire series. From the descriptions the throughout the series after actually being able to feed herself, Feyra put on an perfectly normal amount of weight. This actress would be perfect. As someone who battles with an ED, I would appreciate someone like Danielle playing the role. Uppity YA stans calling this women a fatty and unsuitable for the role is like Victoria Secret saying Trans women can't sell the fantasy. Danielle can sell the ACOTAR "fantsy".
As someone with stats background, you nailed it for The Ripped Bodice report. It's somethong a data scientist or social scientist could use as a starting point and thus is great to have published each year and accessible. The downside is that, as with all things statistical, the media often latches onto and over-generalizes the most easily summarized bits and it can lead to unintended consequences. It makes robust critique necessary and helpful to future research. That's not necessarily on the publishers of the report (they aren't an academic body or public agency) and I didn't like some of what I saw as flippant and accusatory language in the critique, but I also am not frustrated by trying to get more information on the original methodology for years. That might have influenced the critique quite a bit.
I don’t get why booktok so popular because I watch videos here on RUclips and honestly it’s the same few books over and over, nothing really new since it’s the same handful of books constantly,like the ones they name are the ones everywhere. I am currently trying to get through the cruel prince as I wanted to read it before all this “hype”. Honestly the books suck,no hate for people who like the book, but honestly the world is amazing but the characters suck and ruin the whole story. I don’t get the “hype” around it.
I will repeat myself from my video today too but their data literally gives us nothing formative to make changes and it’s just such a disappointing situation overall. Also there is another romance bookstore in Laguna so they aren’t the only west coast one 💀
I understand that all fandoms have their problems, but I’m just going to take a moment to feel annoyed and observe that for as much whining as SJM stans do about being unfairly judged they never seem to have a problem bullying others (like you can’t throw out the mildest of critiques of her books without getting anon hate). Also people seem to feel they have they right to comment on DRR’s body a lot this year and it makes me feel sad for her.
I just did some digging, (see the long comment) they have an author whose father an immigrant from Thailand on their upcoming releases list. Let's hope Anjuli Paschall is the start of an exponential growth of diversity in their author lineup!
Omg god I love Danielle Rose Russell💖 She would be perfect for the role of Feyre. Like if you don't know she also played Hope Mikealson in the Legacies and she was literally a high schooler in that series so she would be perfect as Feyre is only 19 in ACOTAR
As a fellow old person, most of the books I saw on my cursory glance through booktok were primarily Sarah Janet, so idk. It just seems like it’s moving books that already have established fanbases. Also, last I checked Throne of Glass has already been optioned and is currently in production hell with Hulu, but it’s been a long time since I’ve checked.
![Book CommuniTEA: Kristoff gets 4 ARC editions? Authors/problematic book content, Lindsay Ellis..[CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/w4YMHwG0Kp0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Book CommuniTEA: Kristoff gets 4 ARC editions? Authors/problematic book content, Lindsay Ellis..[CC]](/img/tr.png)
![Book CommuniTEA: L. Bardugo Responds, Mediocre YT Man AJ Finn, Publishing & Interracial Romance [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/mN5Pa1ULXiI/mqdefault.jpg)
A moment of silence for all the poor future casts of ACOTAR adaptation. Especially actors who will play Rhys, Feyre and Tamlin. I hope they don't have social medias for their peace of mind.
Sarah J Maas created stories where her own idea of beauty is the most important thing (along with power, imperialism/colonization, and big... ehm... wingspans).
Her standards of beauty being: super thin white women, with somehow big butts and breasts.
In her books, you are either drop-dead gorgeous, or you're ugly (and most of the time evil).
Female characters that are suffering and losing weight due to depression and trauma somehow mantain their big butts and breats for their male love interests to objectify and pine over (for example, Nesta is depressed and suicidal, yet Cassian comments over and over about how much he wants to have sex with her, and how hot her boobs are smh, barely paying attention to her mental health until she loses it).
How can we expect book stans to act better, when their idol is like this?
The actress who played isabelle in Shadowhunters got racist abuse when she was casted. YA fandom has a history of going crazy over casting. Oh and let's not forget Rue from the hunger games
Her name is Emeraude and I absolutely love her as Izzy!!!
What happened with Rue? :(
@@NaomiVirshbo People were awful to Amandla, the actress who played her, cause they didn't read the book properly. They pictured her as a lil white girl, so when Amandla was cast, folks when nuts. Even though the author of the book explicitly wrote Rue as Black.
What???? She played Izzy SOOO well!!!
Well, HBO had the budget for the 8th season of Game of Thrones and we saw what they did with it.
SWEET LORD, WHY MUST YOU BRING THIS UP 🥴🥴🥴
i also dont love people saying ‘shes not too fat to play feyre! shes beautiful!’ like i understand the sentiment but as a fat girl the Least comforting thing to hear is ‘youre not fat youre beautiful’ since beauty is still being equated to skinniness
As a B&N employee, having a table dedicated to the TikTok books makes it easier for us to find those books because we are being asked for them, multiple times a day. It helps us keep track of how many we are selling, because its easier to see the stock running out on a table vs in the runs. We will do displays for other social media from time to time but nothing has had such a demand response from the public like tiktok. I think because tiktok sort of forcing content on its viewers through the FYP, its like a youtube recommended page but you have no choice but to watch every video that comes up, and its under a minute so you aren't really hurt by investing in content from an unknown user/genre than normal. It feels like YA Booktube on crack. The same 5 titles that people were shouting about last year but to pop music and over and over again like a meme. They aren't reviews either, just a quick hot take or emotional reaction (i.e. marketing). It will be interesting to see if it can keep up or if its just a pandemic year fluke.
I work for Indigo (the Canadian B&N) and we are doing the same thing. I think it will be interesting to see if this continues. I’ve been working for indigo for almost 4 years and I haven’t seen anything as impactful as tiktok has been for boosting the sales of random books very suddenly.
Something I saw to explain this on bookstagram is this: many of us on bookstagram are older than the Tik Tik generation (not everyone obviously but stastically). I buy books at my local B&N all the time that I saw on bookstagram. But I don't tell any employees. I keep to myself and find the book. Or I buy it online because I have credit cards lol
@@brissa2010 exactly ! I feel like the “older” ppl on book tube just order their books online, I only go into a book store ifs it’s sold out online
“Go ahead girl, give us nothing!!” Omg I’m dying 🤣
Right? That had me weak too 😂
Best thing in a while!
dont know if you guys gives a damn but if you are bored like me atm you can watch all the latest series on Instaflixxer. I've been watching with my brother for the last couple of months =)
@Kylo Ramon definitely, been using instaflixxer for since december myself :)
I can’t explain how much is frustrates me when BIPOC book lists circulate on Instagram for like 2 weeks (during tragic events or heritage months) only for me to never see people really talk about those books again. We’ll get to the end of the year “my favorite books of _____” and not a single BIPOC author on that list, and I guess the argument could be made that readers just didn’t like those books, but I refuse to believe that people reading 50-100+ books a year didn’t find one book by a BIPOC author that they loved. I feel like some people are using and sharing those lists to prove something or to check a box. All I want is for people to have the same energy for BIPOC authors that they have for white authors day in and day out.
It's weird when people only read books by BIPOC authors because they feel like they have to prove something. And as you mentioned, it's even worse if they forget about them a week later and never mention them again.
Of course it kind of depends on the type of books you read. Some genres have more BIPOC authors than others. I love classic literature, but I'm aware that most of the authors are white. Or at least it's harder to find BIPOC authors. However, I try to balance that out and therefore made it a rule to read one book by marginalized authors a month. Yes, technically I'm still checking a box, but this box helps me learn more about important topics, because most of these are non-fiction works about racism, feminism, homophobia etc.
July hi! I noticed that too! Seeing list of books by BIPOC only to get forgotten shortly after. What I think is important at least for me is to diversify my reading by picking authors from different countries from different backgrounds and genres. I think that made my reading year a lot richer and fresher, giving that we were indoors for the most part of the year I read a lot more than usual, but I have to admit that reading people that are other than American felt good, the booktube, bookstagram communities are so USA centric that voices from other countries are hardly ever heard. Then when it comes to classics, i have a serious problem believing those lists (Again only white male from USA, Britain, Russia), as there are classics from, Nigeria, India, Japan, Thailand, Turkey, Argentina,... it hurts that people all over the world are taught at school that classic literature is only a hand full of books that someone put together and now that's that.
@@lilithcarter Right! I'm from Germany, so I definitely read a lot of German classics as well. The problem is that even if you read classics from different countries, they could still be only written by men or by straight people or Christians and the list goes on. It's hard to find German classics written by women, because most were written by men.
It's not easy to always read diverse, but we should all do our best to include different voices in our reading.
Also my hot take: I remember when people use to make book content just to talk about books they liked and enjoyed because no one was talking about books irl. When money got involved it messed up the social media book community. I dont think people read books that they love anymore and it shows too when half my booktube feed are people releasing a video about the same book and come to find out all of them are doing a marketing campaign for the book. It's why booktube feels so repetitive to me. I also don't think reviews are unbiased. Which is why I am liking reading vlogs, but I did fall out of love with the book community
I agree.
Ok as someone who has extensively studied statistics, I'd like to point out 2 things:
1) "raw data" doesn't mean "the names of authors and book titles used in the study." It doesn't involve ANY personalized information. In fact, personalized information is considered inherently biased and proper protocol is to remove the data from personal identifiers prior to processing it (common practice is to use randomly generated numbers). [Note: my statistics background is Psychology so "common practice" and "proper protocol" may not be universal.]
What the critics want is not a list of books and authors used in the study, but something like "[Publisher] published 10 books in the Romance genre. Of those, 6 were by white authors, 1 by a black author, 1 by an Asian author, and 2 of indeterminate race. The 2 undetermined authors were left out of the study."
2) the information in the Ripped Bodice Report is useless. While it can be validating to see evidence of perceived racism, it has a severe problem that renders it meaningless: it's asking the WRONG question. It's question is "how many books by BIPOC authors were published in [Year]?" The question it SHOULD be asking is "what percent of BIPOC authors who go on submission end in a book contract?"
Why is that question more important and why does it invalidate the one they ask?
Let's take the publisher with 0% of their published romance books being by BIPOC authors - what if they publish a specific subgenre of romance that no BIPOC authors have gone on submission with? What if, because of that first report, agents decided that that publisher was racist and submitted 0 of their BIPOC author's work to them? What if they published 100% of the BIPOC authors' books they could have and that number just happened to be 0?
We don't know and we can't know because that report didn't ask that question, didn't even CONSIDER it.
You referring to Sarah J. Maas by her full government sends me EVERY TIME 😂.
Danielle has a perfectly normal body, this coming from someone who's traditionally skinny. She's gorgeous and you can't even use the word fat with her because it doesn't even apply.
I seriously can’t stand the fat shaming being hurled at this actress. She looks nearly identical to all of the Feyre fanart from the past 6 years and people are going after her?!?! Toxic fans are asking too much and giving little in return 🙄
Compiling medical reports is part of my job, so through a 'professional' lens I can't help but grimace at the vague methodology of the Ripped Bodice report---it's not a report I would put my name next to. That being said, I think that they should be offered some level of grace considering they're not an academic body, nor is their business is dedicated solely to compiling this type of research. They're just trying to point out that a problem exists, which is true, but there's not much to be said or done beyond that without better insight.
Great take on this!
This is exactly how I feel about it. Sure, it’s vague and kind of wishy washy but it’s also done by people whose job this isn’t. I think what this has shown especially this last year is how even publishing houses are showing their ass in the performative activism. So let’s say one year publisher mcpublisher, published 4% by bipoc and in month 3 there was another big movement like last year and they came out to say ‘we want more black stories and we’re going to listen and learn’ and then the next year it’s 4% again they ain’t done shit. I think that’s what I get from this, and I think it’s important to keep it going even though it’s flawed so we can see patterns.
omg for some reason when you said "Sarah Janet Maas" I cracked up. I've never heard someone say her whole name like that before lmaoo
the acotar adaptation is going to be a hot mess and I'm so ready
I'm 20 seconds into the video; there's going to be an adaptation??
SAAAME
I haven't even read the full series but I'm here for the mess. I hate those books lmao.
B&N employee here. I can’t keep the books stocked on our table for tiktok. And no the books that are on them are not the best, but these kids that would never read (or even adults who lost the touch) are reading. Also if they come in for one thing and love it you can share some actually great and sometimes lesser known titles. It’s insane honestly I’ve never seen this happen before.
"Go read a book. Go touch grass" AMAZING
Just to play Devil's Advocate-ish... publishers have the money *when they see a clear ROI for that money*. There isn't ROI on blogs (at least not in any substantial way), and also b/c of how book blogs came up (primarily as review sites), they function journalistically and it's policy NOT to pay for that kind of coverage (like there's a LOT of media ethics that go into that). I find that video/image media based social media sites can operate differently and outlets can position themselves more as PR--and PR can be paid for. But even then you need a) the clout/platform to charge and b) decide you want to cross that line (b/c you can't really go back once you've gone PR/sponsored). (and it gets into nebulous and honestly confusing questions, re: measuring sales vs. word of mouth buzz and which platforms does what, etc.)
But really ultimately: it's down to whether a platform can actually sell books, and right now that's mostly just TikTok. It used to be RUclips and Instagram, and some creators on those platforms can still get paid, but the money follows the money. Bloggers have never traditionally been paid (see above), though most blog tour owners are able to charge for their services AFAIK. And honestly I expect TikTok's efficacy will fade just like the other platforms and thus the norms will later shift as well.
I do also think publishers are shady-ish about these allocations but given my journalism training and how I feel about media ethics/reviews, I don't think book bloggers/tubers/grammers/tokkers should be paid as a matter of course. That feels like pay-to-play, and as I said you can't really come back from that: you're either paid to talk about media or not, and once you are, your relationship to the publishers and the books/authors changes. If someone with a platform and who can charge/wants to and is offering to do substantive promotional work, yes, they should be compensated. But it won't happen if that ROI isn't there. (but this all said... I think there's a LOT for discussion in this and the rise of TikTok and how it's basically forcing the influencer model onto publishing, finally, is VERY interesting)
Did NOT expect to see YOU here. Hi Alexa!
@@henrywayne5724 I love Jess's videos! :D
I disagree with the concept that only Tik Tok is selling books. I'm mostly on bookstagram and I know plenty of people on there with 10k followers (or less) who are selling a lot of books. Idk how publishers can figure out the numbers but I don't understand how it's different than companies using commercials to sell products. They can't know for sure it works but we know it works.
@@brissa2010 I agree Tik Tok is not the only one selling books and it's astonishing someone would ever think that is the case. I don't follow Tik Tok at all and I buy a lot of books. Publishers just don't understand the "markets" they think are gone, non existent and or small but wont grow in size are not actually small at all but these "Markets" are where 95 % of people who sell books reach 99% of the bookworms in the world. I can bet that 85% of the Tik Tok users buy the book, read it for a week then sell, give away, or toss the book.
Stupid Question: How does one even become like a PR person for say, books? I'm not asking because I want to, I just don't understand where the line is between someone who just likes to post their reads or something on Bookstagram and a promoter. Like, is publishing making all these blog people do the work and then refusing to pay them, or are they just offering a free book in exchange for a review? I might be woefully out of touch and I'm totally open for correction but unless you've been approached and asked to promote a book, can you really expect to make a post about it and then turn around and ask for pay? That might not be whats happening, just how I'm understanding it.
Would it be more beneficial for these platforms to just stop doing the work if they aren't being compensated? I guess I don't understand how this works happens. I'm sorry. I do think it's weird they're willing to spend thousands on a Tik-Tok video, but this seems super early still to really know the results. I wonder if they're just experimenting to see the ROI? Maybe it will lead to more paid posts on other social media platforms.
As a consumer I only buy books I'm interested in, based on the blurb or past history with an author. Social Media just makes me aware of books coming out, and then I follow people with similar reading tastes to me cause they're more likely to show me books I'd like. But I won't buy it unless I'm genuinely interested in reading it. I'm not comfortable with the idea of paid reviews though... that would definitely make me question the legitimacy of the review. I mean, as I said, I pick who I follow based on shared reading tastes. I really rely on their subjective experience even if I don't always agree with them. That's why my favourite videos and posts from booktubers/bookstagrammers are hauls they bought themselves, 5-Star predictions, anticipated releases, etc. Maybe to get away from paid reviews, Tradtional publishing could start to pay for social media posts of Influencers just going over their upcoming releases. Not to review them or even read them, don't even have to give them the book, just to say "hey, this is what's coming out". And you'd tailor your lists to the Influencers brand. If they're a romance reader give them your romance titles, if they read mostly fantasy, focus on that, etc. It might be more ethical/transparent than paying for full-on reviews for individual books.
Most shocking thing I learned was that the J in SJM names stood for Janet. I don't know why I was so shocked. 😅🤭
Same 🤣 i had no idea
I hate when fandoms/communities have toxic reactions. But I especially hate it when it’s a fandom/community I’m a part of. Thanks. I hate it. ♥️🪴
One really good thing that comes from gathering the BIPOC publishing data is how it helps writers find publishers. New BIPOC authors who are looking to do traditional publishing can target the best option. Why waste time on Bethany House or Bold Strokes Books when Carina and Kensington are showing they want to work with BIPOC. Maybe the others will turn it around, but it's been five years and it's not looking good.
Carina is a digital first imprint of Harlequin that doesn't publish a lot of books a year which is one of the reasons why we say the data misconstrues things.
@@AshWritesLots also, Bethany House is a niche part of publishing since it specifically focuses on Christian stories. I know because I read on accidentally one day at the library. I didn't realize that until finished and was left confused about blurb and actual content.
@@deconstructingdamsels2746 Trust me, I would've been confused too. After doing a bit more reading on it, the list seems to really just be that, a list. Kind of like a first statistical report for a Quantitative Skills and Reasoning college course. It's a start but would need a lot more research to get an 'A' on the final project. So, Bethany House would have to be in, at least, the categories of BIPOC, Christian romance literature, and imprint then, compared to those that fit the same criteria.
@@MsWOCReader Oh, I completely understand. I was thinking of it being more like a jumping-off point for authors who are looking. Since there are so many options to choose from, narrowing it down seems like a good idea. Not to say it's impossible to get published by those that have low stats or anything. Maybe it's more helpful to help gauge the proper expectations to have when submitting to any publishers.
@@AshWritesLots It's also interesting that they noted -their- bestsellers. While many people outside of the internet may not know the scope of their influence. So the question begs, did they pick Bethany House on their criteria or a thrown in option to counter the other Christian romances put out by other people? Do they promote a lot of Bethany House or request BIPOC authors from the house as buyers?
I keep getting stuck on how they decide, year to year, what constitutes as a narrower look. Versus a lumping. Kensington, for instance, has Zebra. And how does that breakdown compared with Zebra's overall data as an older imprint, where the heyday was 35 years ago? I feel like shapshots don't show traditional publishing's real numbers. They can beef up numbers for a good job pat for a few years, but are they promoting the authors and getting inquires based on established backings?
A single 2-3 page report every year doesn't really do a whole lot when the conversation is nuanced.
That poor actress! She’s beautiful! And really, I wouldn’t want to see an actress lose weight to fit a character who is supposed to be underfed because that’s not healthy.
I love her in the show Legacies so I think she’s going to do fine acting wise.
i hope you stop apologizing for the length of your videos! i love that you don’t cut it down a lot! i listen to podcasts that can be 2-3 hours so this is right up my alley! love it love you!
I think Nigel thinks he's a cat sometimes 😆❤️
For sure. Also when he’s outside he’s part goat and part bunny 😂😂
Almost an hour long. My lucky day ❤
The last issue with Book TikTok prompting resurgent interest in older titles reminds me of what libraries deal with anytime a book is made into a film. The Kissing Booth by Beth Reckles (I think?) was made into a movie by Netflix, and suddenly our community is like, "Hey, where's this book? You got this book in stock?" Seriously??? The reviews were moderate to okay when the book first published, and now there's sequels. Oh, well, at least it's more circs at the library.
Yes, and tv series too. Little fires everywhere, game of thrones, and classics that get an adaption. Its crazy how much we circulate older books
@@beebacchusvines7642 Oh, most definitely!
I live for these uploads about booktea. I'm on twitter, but quite frankly book drama is exhausting. So thanks, sis ✊🏿
I do what I can
Your own summary of the whole Ripped Bodice situation was really on point, and also how I feel about it. I do work with statistics in my job, so it was interesting to read the Nick and Ari’s critique. If this was the first time the Ripped Bodice was publishing the report, then yes, absolutely, there would be a lot more leeway and it is great to have some concrete numbers to back up racism in publishing, which sadly is a thing.
But since they’ve been doing this for a while, they really need to think about some more precise methodology. There is the possibility to induce measures of uncertainty into this kind of analysis, and while they should not make their list public where they categorize writers (which yes, is a whole other can of worms), they should include the raw numbers of books etc.
I’ll be interested to see whether they’ll overthink how they do the report going forward. I hope they continue collecting numbers, but as the twitter thread you showed pointed out, they have a large audience and get media attention, so yes they should be held accountable for their flawed approach.
Also the Bodice was offered help in the past. And Bea was an academic. While social sciences and humanities have different criteria, there are still fundamentals in lower level courses. Like ethics, biases, etc. Even in intro psych.
The transparency thing struck me as something I missed. You can't guess on that. Heck, in my CAWPILE data, i leave out racial, gender, nationality, and ownvoice if not explicitly stated by the author. It's not my decision to declare for stat purposes.
At this point, they need to admit it’s outside their scope
@@JessOwens They do, but it won't effect the general public or industry's opinion, so nothing will change. It'll still be the same issues next year. They'll just rememeber to mark the axis lines.
"will it be a full length film?"
59.59
Yes...yes, it will, and I'm getting snacks 🍪
Preparation is key
My two cents Re: The Ripped Bodice topic- I think the issue here isn't so much that their reporting is flawed (although it is and they acknowledge again and again that it is), but that they seem to be the only ones reporting on diversity in publishing (specifically, romance). Now that we know we want more, we should expect more- but maybe from the industry, and not just from a single bookstore.
I'm absolutely LOVING your Book CommuniTEA series, I love hearing your two cents on things. Thanks for the fun discussions!
I'm a bookseller and have been seeing a LOT of people ask for "They Both Die at the End," "Song of Achilles," and "We Were Liars". Happy people are finding these books and hope that they like them, but I also home that midlist and smaller books get some of that same love.
Book blogger over here, I could never do what you do (my face is half covered by a mug of tea). Thank you for bringing the tea to light.
I'm small but waiting for the SEO (search engine optimization) to pick. I'm seeing traffic but I would like to see more love to book bloggers
Jess, if you ever decided to make merch, the phrase "go touch grass" is my vote. 😂😂
😂😂🙌🏾
Love Nigel just being concerned with how comfortable he can be on your lap 😍
His comfort comes first
Not gonna lie, I've joined booktok in this past month and the content and recommendations I see is very similar to what booktube was like earlier, around 2014-2016. I think one reason for this is because a majority (not all) of people on tiktok are gen z. Some of them probably grew up watching booktube around that time period and their tastes have been influenced by it. I also feel like since this community is so new it's gonna take a while for it to find it's grounding and get on the same page as booktube on the diversity front. It kinda makes me want to raise my voice over there though 👀
Do it, add to the diversity ! I keep hearing their book recommendations are way behind 😂
These videos seriously brighten my day, I find it so nice to just wake up in the morning and listen to these. You're such a pleasant person to listen to speak - you've got the perfect mix of personality and humour that I feel like I'm hanging with a friend, but still getting the full story and facts. Your openness to learning and educating yourself I find really helpful as well and appreciate for my own education. Listening to the drama of something like the book community just takes my mind off my anxiety for the day ahead. Nigel is a welcome addition as well.
Thank you for making these, I can tell you work hard on them and spend a lot of time of them. You really brighten my day and it's the first thing I click on in my sub box! Thank you Jess 💕
*trying not to cry on the treadmill while reading this 🥺* thank you so much. I’m always worried if these videos become dull, but I’m so happy you enjoy them !
@@JessOwens at least for me, these could never be boring! It's like talking to a friend, even if the topic is menial, it's a pleasant experience. Definitely keep making them! And I hope you find the confidence to wear whatever tops you want bc you're lovely ☺️
When I worked for a nonprofit prek I took over the small library which had ZERO books on various topics. I organized and catalogedthe whole thing, and figured out what topics were missing. They had like 2 bookcases on Christmas, but ZERO on MLK, hygiene, the state we live in, food, exercise, multiple cultures, etc. A big part of the issue is that they depended on donations. I down sized the Xmas books to 2 shelves of the best ones and then proceeded to buy up books in those other subjects. Then, I made sure to display books relevant to seasons, holidays, and topics the teachers were teaching. I also added a return bin so teachers wouldn't have to waste time putting things away and wouldn't mess up my system.
The previous director had lamented that the teachers continuously used the same books and the library was going to waste. With the new set up, teachers were competing to get books for their class and were excited to read a book they hadn't read 10 billion times.
Why did I leave? Many many MANY reasons, but one major one was that the new director decided to punish me by taking the library away from me. The library soon became a mess, books I had put on display had fallen over and weren't being changed, the book return box was over flowing and when she had my assitant put books away... she just shove the books anywhere. (My awful assistant was the other half of why I left. I got the assistant no one in the nonprofit wanted. Ugh.) It was so sad and maddening. (Btw, the new director's daughter was a friend of mine and we had a falling out over her racism. 🤷🏻♀️ She couldn't comprehend why representation was important. I ended up walking home at midnight. I was so pissed at everything she had said.) I miss my kids, but I don't miss the constant stress and harassment and not having an AC while everyone else did.
The director legit complained that our crafts were too pretty. She complained that our class practiced for our holiday performances. She complained that I got a filing cabinet she wanted me to get and placed it where she had wanted it to go.
Ugh, sorry for the rant. I'm obviously still not over it. Can't even look at pictures from that time.
Anyway, ask your teachers and librarians if they need particular books. Donate.
I'm sorry to hear you've been having body image issues. Those are awful. You look lovely and I hope you can have better body image days ahead
Bethany House is a Christian publishing company. They mostly publish those "bonnet ripper" Amish romance books.
I was going to say this. I’m not surprised everything is 0
I love how many things are on screen simuktaneously, so I can choose between what I want my eye to focus on. Also, thanks for the very accurate subtitles!
(And, of course, thank you for your diligent reporting--your personal comments are appreciated as well! 👌)
🥰🥰🥰 thank you !
Ditto! I loved the nature scene on the tv!
lol "I mean Ima watch it" lmao me too as much as I'm hesitant how they're gonna pull it off.
I also have way more confidence in Netflix or HBO. I was SO ANGRY at how fans reacted to the actress - they also threatened SJMs family recently - did you hear about that? I am incredibly incredibly disappointed.
Her family, why did they do that?
I saw an eye roll after the mention of *A Little Life* and I would love to hear more of your thoughts. Bc that book gets me HEATED. Have you reviewed this book in a past video? A link would be much appreciated if you did!
I haven’t read it but I’m so tired of people reading it solely to cry and film themselves being miserable 🙄
@@JessOwens I am tired of it too! And part of it is bc I have the "unpopular opinion" that the book sensationalizes pain in a way I didn't like. Of course weepy booktokers would eat it up though 😆🙄
@@LG-to6gm I felt the same way about the book.
You made a feature length film and I am HERE FOR IT
☺️😆
oof, seeing people call this honestly completely straight size women fat in a derogatory way is really hurting my feelings like jeez. if they think that's fat, they'd think I'm a repulsive blobber monster
This was very much my reaction. Like if Danielle is “too fat” what about the rest of us. Fat phobia is disgusting and so toxic.
@@alliecat1019 💛💛💛
I assure you, they do, and they'll say it to our faces. :-\
She’s not even Hollywood husky....I can’t
I always love Nigel's input on everything. He's a wise young man.
Look, I love the ACOTAR series, going to be honest. I am worried about the adaptation. But I am EMBARRASSED on the daily to admit I like that fandom because of things like this that happen... that actress is stunning and she looks like she would be an incredible Feyre for looks alone!
If you ever do merch, "go touch some grass" has to be one of the t-shirts
Oh yes. 👍
I would like to see BIPOC statisticians and/or publishing professionals release their own survey that polls BIPOC romance authors in a detailed way answering the questions that were not addressed. The time and energy taken to create that response could have been used to create something new. Not saying it’s their responsibility but I really hope someone will step up because my fear is that like so many other things, this will be pulled and we’ll be left with no information...
The ACOTAR drama is reminding me so much of what happened when we got news of the Hunger Games adaptation. I still remember Twitter being filled with body shaming and racist comments based on the casting, aimed at literal CHILDREN! Jennifer Lawrence was also flooded with mentions telling her she was too fat for the role. Katniss and Feyre both start their series starving and no actress should fit that description. When I see people calling that actress fat, someone at a completely normal weight and size, I remember why I used to have an ED and thought I was fat when I weighed 6st 8lbs. I'm nervous for the bat boy casting because I am already seeing the racist SJM fans negatively comment on any fan cast where they aren't pale white dudes. I already see fan casts with Henry Cavill as Cassian... as if Illyrians aren't described as having varying shades of golden brown skin. The SJM stans are quite toxic and this incident with that poor actress proved the point.
“Go girl, give us nothing!” 😂😂😂
I would literally watch anything you make Jess, A one hour video is like a birthday present, trust meee.
🥺🥺 thank you
Re: Ripped Bodice: I mean, I agree that it's better to have these lists than to run RB out of town on a rail for not doing it in full-on academic study fashion, you know? RB at least did try to address some of the criticisms, and they have a chance to improve things. We need this list, is all I'm saying, so pressure can be put on romance publishers to branch out a little. Or maybe a lot.
I love your videos. I have them running in the background when I’m doing chores. It’s like I’m listening to a friend 💕
watched this during my lunch break, i don't mind the longer vids! specially bc the ripped bodice situation definitely needed it i show missed that on twt and it was interesting to see the info but also the criticism and response. great vid as always 🤍
The zoom-in on a sleepy Nigel!! Hilarious - sorry that he's distracting me from your great content.
I try to give him his shine whenever I can
Close up of Nigel falling asleep has made my day XD
i was drinking soda when you got to the bethany house data and now my eyes are watering because i choked "go ahead girl give us nothing!"
we DO NOT need more ACOTAR content, especially not live action jesus CHRIST nO
Another romance diversity thing we need more of is more fat leads. Spoiler Alert, the Brown Sister series, and One to Watch are some of the only ones I’ve seen that truly feature diverse body sizes, and rarely for the male leads if they’re there. Would love to see more of that! 💞
There's one coming from Disney Books soon that's an adult Cinderella retelling called Meant to Be: If the Shoe Fits
by Julie Murphy
Marie Lipscomb has a three book series with a larger male lead. Which is lovely to see. Starts with The Lady's Champion.
The post from LL McKinney about not just supporting BIPOC during tragedy is such a spot on point actually.
Spot. On.
Honestly, I was really disappointed in the SJM fandom when all this went down, but I wasn't surprised. I found her books back when Throne of Glass was first published, and I joined Throne of Glass fan groups on FB before I discovered Booksta and Booktube (where things are much more civil), and the fandom as it exists on FB is absolutely toxic - a regular occurrence were knockdown drag out fights over things like diversity in the books and whether people should be "allowed" to visualize different characters as anything other than white or straight. It's absolutely absurd. I've muted most of the groups, but I like to go back and scroll if I ever am in the mood to get mad, and this last week there have been a lot of posts whining about how the whole fandom is being demonized, and it sounds suspiciously like Not All Men
My son loves Nigel. He kept telling me to look at his cute face haha. Love the tea this week. Great video Jess!! 🙌🏾😁
Thank you !!
I kind of thought reports like the Ripped Bodice one were more for the consumer- just giving them like a heads up on where they want to spend their money. I suppose I just assumed corporations don't really care about reports as long as they're getting paid.
None of the data makes any sense with The Ripped Bodice. How do they determine an increase when they don't state how many books were published the current year compared to the year prior? Is it an improvement if the publisher overall published less books? Carina Press and HQN are also Harlequin so separating them out based on the editor makes no sense. The publishers who increased also published less romance books than some of the larger ones. Also how many of those Kensington books are actually romance? Kensington has a Black imprint called Dafina however it's a mixed of romance, suspense, urban fiction, etc. They are also trying to determine race based off photograph which isn't always accurate. You can't really use their report to accurately check progress. Inaccurate data is not helpful to progress. So I disagree with Alyssa Cole's notion that bad data is better than no data so essentially people should shut up. And then The Ripped Bodice's response proved their intentions. The two white women running the report are more concerned about PR on the back of diversity than actual diversity.
Some of the questions you asked were answered in the report and in this video. They separate based on *imprint* (not publisher) depending on whether there are different teams making the decisions. And they don't determine an author's ethnicity based on a photo, the author's publicly available identity information (i.e. whether thr author openly says they're a certain race/ethnicity). They also said they didn't count characters because while it's important to see the diversity in narratives, they're interested in looking at tangible, real-world impact to these communities. E.g. Who is actually getting paid and who will be moving through the world with these identities. As for the other questions you asked, imo it would be interesting to know the exact number of books, but that's just another metric. To me, knowing the *percentage* of total books that imprint published is just as important and interesting. It shows a dedication to improvement. Like sure one year an imprint might publish 25 more books from BIPOC authors, but if the percentage is still only 5% of all the books they published that year, what does that say about the imprint? It's an improvement in the narratives available but it shows lack of effort on the part of the imprint.
And the last part about "how Kensington many books are actually romance?" They also answered they question- they use the information about the books specifically. If they're marked as romance in the database they're counted, otherwise they're discarded. So it's percentage of romance books from the imprint
@@OfficiallySarabi Carina, Harlequin Series, and HQN are all divisions of Harlequin whose larger publisher is Harpercollins. Though it's different teams of editors they're all following similar guidelines. TRB specifically stated they use photos as one of their methods to determine ethnicity. Knowing the total number of books published each year is an important factor to determining whether they actually made an increase or not. If they published half the books they did the year before that significantly impacts the numbers.
@@MsWOCReader as one of the methods, but not the only method. Meaning they use a variety before making a decision. And their report is specifically about the increase in percentage, not the increase in total number of books
the fact ripped bodice had the audacity to act like they refused to give numbers to protect people drives me nuts. also YES i feel like imprints should be 100% separate because giving them a break because they shove all of their bipoc authors under one imprint feels like it negatively impacts their goal so it just. doesnt make sense? theyre actively harming themselves and what their goal is.
Thank you! I can't get into TikTok either. The videos just make me so uncomfortable. I think I've hit that "almost 30" wall where I'm just set in my ways and can't handle new stuff...
I am going to start this by saying that I have never read the ACOTAR series, but the fat shaming of that actress is ridiculous. First I don't love how when someone is called fat the response is that "no you're not fat you're beautiful", like being fat and being beautiful are mutually exclusive. As a fat person, every time I hear that it is just soul crushing. That I am not beautiful because I am fat is just fat phobic. But why would it be a bad thing if the actress they casted to play Feyre was fat? The amount of fat representation in media is slim to none, whenever we are casted we are the ugly duckling who needs a makeover or the funny best friend who is jealous of our "pretty" best friend.
As much as I loved the Shadow and Bone adaptation, I was disappointed in Nina's casting. Nina is a fat bisexual character and I saw a lot of myself in her, being a fat bisexual person myself. One of the things I loved about her character was that she loved herself the way she was, and I got to watch her go on adventures and fall in love, being a fat person we get denied that a lot, how could anyone love us because we are fat? Nina really helped with that, so when I saw that the actress who was playing her wasn't fat, it was heartbreaking and invalidating. I just want to see fat people living their lives and falling in love like anybody else.
So maybe the ACOTAR adaptation should cast a fat person in the lead role of Feyre, I would love to see a fat main character in a fantasy world choosing which fairy she wants to bang in the sky (I know it's Rhys, but I think you get my point), I doubt her being super skinny is a big part of her character and I would just love to see a fat main character at the heart of a big fantasy show where she is dealing with problems that don't have to do with her weight.
Anyway stop saying people aren't fat and that they are beautiful, when you can and are beautiful and fat at the same time. Lizzo is not out here being her best self for this kind of fat phobia to be around.
The initial critique of the report had a lot of very valid points. Like I understand not sharing all the raw data, but more numbers would be very helpful and a survey would be a great way to better collect the data. I look forward to future studies that come from this conversation!
That deep dive into the gaps of that study kind of blew my mind, there's so many issues with that study from a research perspective!! Also, I had no idea you need a "happily ever after" to be considered romance??
It's an industry standard since I believe RWA began. Nicholas Sparks isn't romance. I wouldn't call Danielle Steel, either, since a lot of her folks live in misery ever more.
@@deconstructingdamsels2746 interesting! I don't read romance often so I had no idea
@@kristina_lynn Yep. Otherwise it's fiction with romance elements. Kind of like how King is considered horror, even though he has fantasy elements, like homicidal cars. HEAs indicate a conclusion. It doesn't need to be marriage and a baby carriage. Just the two or more characters finding that ending.
The reason The Ripped Bodice used percentages in the first place was to compare publishers across different sizes without big publishers getting rewarded for having a small handful of BIPOC authors that they pointed to whenever people complained about diversity. Yes, the report absolutely needs to be updated but they aren't reaserchers and are providing it for free. I've seen some people saying that by not providing the number of books by authors of color they're trying to make publishing look worse than it is and that the industry has gotten so much better and it's not a problem anymore. I think that's what Alyssa Cole was reacting to, but obviously I can't say for sure.
I'm not saying their poor response is justified, just that other people should do their own surveys as well. We need more reporting.
I think it's good to remember that there are probably a lot of other factors we aren't considering when it comes to these numbers. For all I know, the numbers fluctuate for a variety of reasons. Of course, and obviously, there are just some crappy publishers. But it would be silly to think that only one factor is the only one that is influencing these numbers. Every statistical report does have a standard of error. Keep that in mind when analyzing stats.
Loved the in-depth analysis of the Ripped Bodice report. There's a reason why there's academics & professionals in statistics/data science.... collecting and presenting data on a large scale is a huge job! (Bonus points for the critique mentioning data security, too!!)
Tbh I think they should approach major universities with programs in areas that would meet this niche market's criteria. There's no way a bookstore can handle a report like this on their own (imho)
You put the work in to do these videos and is shows. I appreciate it. Lots of kisses to Nigel. I miss him when he's not on camera. 😁
💜💜💜🥰🥰
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 to everything in this whole video but the “go touch grass” had me spraying my coke across the lunch table at work. 😂😂😂
I think Hulu is really underrated they have produced some awesome shows
"we love consistency" I spat out my tea lmao
Live reading sprints with random chatting on the breaks would be so fun!
I watched in two sittings! Thank you for doing all this work each week to explain so much about all these issues. 💖💖
it makes absolutely zero sense to me when people get worked up and sad or angry about a book/book series getting adapted to tv. at the end of the day no one is forcing anyone to watch it and it’s great marketing for the author and the books themselves to get more attention. so many acotar fans were going off in sjm comments and it was so weird. just don’t watch the show if you’re that scared it will be bad or wait for reception of the show to come out and see what people have to say about it.
As always, thank you for putting in the work for these videos. And a huge thank you to Nigel for gracing us with his presence 🥰 I'm sorry you're going through some body issues right now, I hope you feel better soon 💖 but now, onto the tea! I'm disappointed in The Ripped Bodice's response... Nick & Ari made some valid criticisms about the yearly reports and I would hope that Bea and Leah would take the time to deep dive and re-examine the metrics of their diversity reports and maybe even take a break from 2021 to reconsider their project altogether. Their intent was good but what they're trying to capture with faulty data isn't enough. And this is not a dig against them but how can they accurately capture such data? They don't seem to have any background in stats or research and I wonder...are they the only ones who are crunching the numbers?? That's too much to take on. The main issue is that publishing isn't transparent, their reports have been treated as The Ultimate Truth and their reports have become a resource that people trust. A resource that is helpful but flawed bc it is crowdsourced. I...can't with the toxic SJM fans. That actress is literally the definition of hollywood beauty and they tried to fat shame her? Smh. If she were to become Feyre, I would absolutely watch the adaption lol. I have more words but I'll stop here bc this comment is already too long 😂
Okay I know this doesn't actually help those less-than-stellar body image days but you always look great Jess!
Once again I hadn't heard of this discussion until now! but I think some of the issues pointed out in the Diversity Report wouldn't be so egregious if the Report weren't so popular/well-known. I didn't realize before this video that so many publishers and news sites are treating it like THE data for diversity in romance - like if it's intended to be a less stringent collection of data used for getting a general idea of something and everyone acknowledges it as such that's one thing, but the fact that it's touted as the be-all, end-all of addressing diversity in romance is definitely a problem!
And you said it perfectly: we've always known publishing had the money but chose not to use it, but to have so much in-your-face proof is...something 😑
Publishing continues to disappoint us 😭 and yes, if the report wasn’t so popular, it wouldn’t be that big of an issue
'Maybe it's my age' hard relate 😂
I think the Ripped Bodice situation puts them in a bit of a sticky place. I could be wrong but I haven't seen TRB position its report as definitive or scientifically rigorous, it's always felt to me as an informal review from a bookseller. Part of the issue with demanding more rigor from them is that they're not statisticians nor can they compel employee data from publishers (which also seems like it wouldn't be appropriate for an employer to give to a third party. I don't think I'd be pleased to find out my boss was identifying my marginalized identity to a third party without talking to me). Maybe the key is repositioning the report as less "Diversity Report" and more "Trends We've Noticed As Booksellers"? Because this kind of data analysis isn't their skill set or job so I don't know that it's fair to ask booksellers to be the definitive report. But at the same time if they were to stop doing the report because they didn't have the resources or skills to do it to the standard that is being asked of them, they would equally face the backlash of stopping when they were critiqued.
..also "go touch grass" 🤣
I feel like I might get where Alyssa Cole was coming from. The report isn't perfect but it is getting attention to the issue and they the critique, while it brings up valid points, seems to take the focus off of the lack of diversity in traditionally published romance and instead focus it on their flawed data collection process for the report that they, of their own volition, publish for free. And there's the fact that some will now point to the critique and say, "See, there's no diversity issue, the report was just flawed and BIASED."
I have a LOT of Libra in my chart, so I tend to play the Devil's advocate, but I guess personally I land somewhere in the middle. I think the critique made a lot of very valid points, but also it seemed like a lot of time and energy aimed at the wrong place. It seems like the report is the Ripped Bodice's passion project and if the author's of the critique don't like the methodology and think they can do better, maybe they should.
The sweatshirt with A/C on - I FELT that in my soul
Cant believe pornhub is doing book adaptations now!
Why not? Erotica sells. Frankly, I'd rather have the folks at Pornhub working on the next "50 Shades of Grey " than have EL James create a new BDSM series with another poorly written stalker and 2-D characters with little plot and sex scenes that are about as interesting as watching paint dry.
@@TheGoofy1932 i mean i agree, but this was a joke about acotar which is kinda exactly what you just described 😂
(there even is one sex scene where paint drys)
💀💀 OMG I THOUGHT THIS WAS REAL😂
@@JessOwens IMAGINE😭😭😭😭
Me: *finally sitting down after work and running three miles*
Me: sees an hour long book comminutea
Me: grabs my favorite blanket and my peanut butter captain crunch and dives right in.
Also, it's 2021, can we please stop fat-shaming? JFC. Stop skinny shaming, stop fat shaming, JUST STOP THE F*KING SHAMING. (Saying that, I'm pretty excited for some soapy, trashy ACOTAR from Hulu. They do a-bit-more-mature-than-the-CW pretty well in my view, and they do have Disney backing, so the CGI should be pretty up to par.)
Also also, I'm so glad I'm not the only person who feels to old for TikTok. I just don't understand it.
I think the problem with the ripped bodice takedown is that they are pretty much the only ones doing this report and others are standing in glass houses throwing stones. Should there be better studies out there, yes. But they seem to be the on,y ones wiling to do the work. If you think it’s not good enough, do better yourself
Feyra was "rail thin" and starving in the first book - not throughout the entire series. From the descriptions the throughout the series after actually being able to feed herself, Feyra put on an perfectly normal amount of weight. This actress would be perfect.
As someone who battles with an ED, I would appreciate someone like Danielle playing the role.
Uppity YA stans calling this women a fatty and unsuitable for the role is like Victoria Secret saying Trans women can't sell the fantasy.
Danielle can sell the ACOTAR "fantsy".
And the "I don't want a #loveyourself casting"... Ma'am, you need to take a seat and reread the books.
As someone with stats background, you nailed it for The Ripped Bodice report. It's somethong a data scientist or social scientist could use as a starting point and thus is great to have published each year and accessible. The downside is that, as with all things statistical, the media often latches onto and over-generalizes the most easily summarized bits and it can lead to unintended consequences. It makes robust critique necessary and helpful to future research. That's not necessarily on the publishers of the report (they aren't an academic body or public agency) and I didn't like some of what I saw as flippant and accusatory language in the critique, but I also am not frustrated by trying to get more information on the original methodology for years. That might have influenced the critique quite a bit.
I don’t get why booktok so popular because I watch videos here on RUclips and honestly it’s the same few books over and over, nothing really new since it’s the same handful of books constantly,like the ones they name are the ones everywhere. I am currently trying to get through the cruel prince as I wanted to read it before all this “hype”. Honestly the books suck,no hate for people who like the book, but honestly the world is amazing but the characters suck and ruin the whole story. I don’t get the “hype” around it.
I will repeat myself from my video today too but their data literally gives us nothing formative to make changes and it’s just such a disappointing situation overall. Also there is another romance bookstore in Laguna so they aren’t the only west coast one 💀
also talking about tiktok algorithm...it's pretty interesting considering how tiktok often criticized for supressing videos about lgbtq
I listen to these like a podcast at work so the longer the better lol. 👍
Yassss☺️
I don’t know how I haven’t come across your channel before but you are absolute GOLD! love the content, the intelligence, the humor. Girl 👏🏻
☺️☺️
These videos are getting longer and longer and I love it! ❤️
I understand that all fandoms have their problems, but I’m just going to take a moment to feel annoyed and observe that for as much whining as SJM stans do about being unfairly judged they never seem to have a problem bullying others (like you can’t throw out the mildest of critiques of her books without getting anon hate). Also people seem to feel they have they right to comment on DRR’s body a lot this year and it makes me feel sad for her.
Bethany House, what a consistent queen.. you know exactly what you're going to get 🙃🙃🙃
I just did some digging, (see the long comment) they have an author whose father an immigrant from Thailand on their upcoming releases list. Let's hope Anjuli Paschall is the start of an exponential growth of diversity in their author lineup!
@@jessicapatterson492 A 100% increase in that metric year over year -- impressive!! 😅
We love the consistency, yes gawd 💅🏾
Omg god I love Danielle Rose Russell💖 She would be perfect for the role of Feyre. Like if you don't know she also played Hope Mikealson in the Legacies and she was literally a high schooler in that series so she would be perfect as Feyre is only 19 in ACOTAR
As a fellow old person, most of the books I saw on my cursory glance through booktok were primarily Sarah Janet, so idk. It just seems like it’s moving books that already have established fanbases. Also, last I checked Throne of Glass has already been optioned and is currently in production hell with Hulu, but it’s been a long time since I’ve checked.