Small steps beginning of big change

Sometimes, the iniquities of the world we live in overwhelm me. It's easy to be dragged down into a space where it seems change for the better is impossible. Then an individual or organisation will do something to prove me wrong and remind me of the best qualities of humanity, like resilience, resourcefulness and hope. Last year the world seemed to going backwards, reverting to hate and bigotry, focusing on stirring up fears of  'otherness' rather than looking for commonalities and humane, empathetic solutions.This year bad things continue, but in this first quarter I have seen things to restore my hope. Teenagers marching in the US demanding better gun control. And the Romance Writers of America making a small but significant change to level the playing field of their important RITA awards for indie authors. This year, publishers and authors were required to enter a PDF not a paperback. Why is this important? Because corporations (like publishers) will always tread the conservative, proven path to success. Until proven otherwise by a massive bestseller produced at somebody else's risk, they will confidently declare is no viable market for:

• wizard boarding school books in the 21st century
• LBGTQI heroes and heroines
• romances featuring POC
• steampunk
• authors from non-mainstream (read English-speaking, white, heterosexual) cultures)
• etc. You get the idea.

The authors for these stories have found their voices in independent publishing (self publishing). Many critics still rail against the standards of indie publishing. It's true the barriers to entry are lower. It is not true that the best of traditional publishing is better than the best of indie publishing.The changes to the RITAs resulted in 22 indie authors making the finals - out of a total of 78 finalists, almost one third and the most ever. Other minority demographics are also better represented even if not to the same extent.Jackie Horn has done an excellent job of analysing the data of the RITAs and what it means for diverse authors and characters. I recommend reading her post at Romance Novels for Feminists.Small changes, big results. Go RWAmerica! Thank you for leading the way.And go students of America! Thank God for the passion and idealism of youth.