Woke books which received huge advances have flopped commercially following dire sales, industry experts claim.
Insiders suggest “ideological fanatics” who allow politics to dominate professional decisions have seen profits plummet.
Among the books which have suffered huge losses includes a memoir by actor Elliot Page about his journey transitioning.
“Pageboy” was bought for a $3million advance but has sold just 68,000 copies.
Among the books which have suffered huge losses includes a memoir by actor Elliot Page about his journey transitioning
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Publishers paying $7 per book sold is thought to be a good deal by industry standards – meaning books that sell thousands of copies can still flop commercially.
Carolyn Ferrell’s “Dear Miss Metropolitan” described as “a story of three young girls, Black and biracial, who are kidnapped and thrown into the basement of a decaying house in Queens” also appeared to generate a massive loss.
In a deal estimated to be worth more than $250,000, the novel has sold just 3,163 copies since it was published in 2021.
While “queer feminist Western” “Lucky Red” by Claudia Cravens which has sold around 3,500 copies despite receiving a $500,000 advance.
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Many white authors have complained that they are facing more challenges to get work published.
American writer Joyce Carol Oates said: “A friend who is a literary agent told me that he cannot even get editors to read first novels by young white male writers, no matter how good; they are just not interested.”
Editors have also echoed the same claims.
“We flat-out decided we weren’t going to look at certain white male authors, because we didn’t want to be seen as acquiring that stuff,” one senior editor told The Free Press.
Many white authors have complained that they are facing more challenges to get work published including American writer Joyce Carol Oates
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When asked whether editors acknowledged they were “discriminating against writers because of their skin colour”, the editor replied: ‘I don’t think it was worded quite as blatantly as that.
“It was worded more like, ‘Is this the right time to be championing authors of more traditional backgrounds?’
“Often, the language was a bit opaque.”
