• Trend: Promoting #OwnVoices writing
  • Who’s doing it: Writers and Publishers
  • Why it’s important: This makes the publishing industry a more inclusive and diverse space

When making the decision between pursuing traditional or self-publishing, a big factor to keep in mind is that the publishing industry, like many others, is a business. More so, for traditional publishing especially, it’s a business that relies on understanding, predicting and responding to trends.

In YA publishing, for instance, vampires were once all the rage, as were dystopian fictions. While it’s still possible to get a publishing deal for works of either topic, their popularities have definitely waned since their heyday and it’ll probably be a while until the demand for them surges again. These days, nonfiction and realistic fiction genres are gaining popularity, especially those that are told from #OwnVoices perspectives.

It all started from this tweet:

Coined by writer Corinne Duyvis, an #OwnVoices perspective pertains to works written by an author from a marginalized or underrepresented group, who reflects their own experiences, views or perspective in their writing. This is in contrast to an author from an outside frame of reference writing assuming someone else’s perspective in their writing.

The benefit to #OwnVoices is that members of marginalized and underrepresented groups are encouraged now more than ever to submit their works for publication in an industry that has been historically marred by its reputation for gatekeeping.

In my experience, the main con to #OwnVoices is the learning curve this poses for outside writers. While there’s no surefire guidebook to getting a publishing deal at one of the five big trade publishing companies, trying to assume a perspective other than your own (as if it’s your own) just isn’t on-trend. Agents and editors would likely recommend you to either take a more distant, journalistic approach to your subject or co-write with someone from the group you’re representing in your work.

Otherwise, #OwnVoices is really a positive trend that promotes inclusivity in the publishing industry. Here are some interesting #OwnVoices books for you to check out:

  • Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
  • Dear Leader by Jang Jinsung
  • The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
  • Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
  • Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
  • A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  • Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
  • The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
  • American Street by Ibi Zoboi
  • In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez