Sexual harassment and assault has occurred at industry conventions, conferences, and other networking events, leading to calls for policy change
| In late 2017 and early 2018, as sexual-abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein and other powerful media figures became widespread, the book-publishing industry experienced its own #metoo moment. Early-career writers came forward with stories of harassment by more successful authors, often at conferences; children’s writers organization SCBWI was rocked by a particularly high-profile crisis; literary superstars such as Junot Díaz and Sherman Alexie were accused of misconduct, leading publishers to add or strengthen morality clauses in book contracts; and publicists reported inappropriate behavior by authors and colleagues (which we covered in 2017). A new round of allegations has surfaced, including one that’s upended the International Thriller Writers. Author and ITW debut author chair Laurie Chandlar tweeted, “I and another female author brought serious concerns to the ITW board regarding a male author’s behavior at an industry event. They were summarily and callously dismissed. For years I’ve heard of women being harassed, groped, and cornered at industry events. And even with serious complaints involving a police report, it seems some leaders have preferred over the years to just sweep it all under the rug.” Chandlar resigned her position with ITW. ITW says they have not dismissed the serious allegations, but that the sexual assault that took place was not at an ITW event, but MWA’s Bouchercon. (Note there’s some community overlap with these two organizations and events; ITW’s co-president is also co-chair for 2021’s Bouchercon.) Some ITW members have signed a petition calling for the board’s resignation; eight out of 11 ITW board members have now resigned, and a new interim director has been appointed to manage the election of a new board. Meanwhile, some authors have withdrawn their titles for consideration for ITW awards. Bouchercon now says they’ve received a formal complaint about an incident of harassment at their Dallas event, held in fall 2019. A statement from Bouchercon says, “We take every complaint of harassment seriously, treating the victim with respect, and honoring the confidentiality and privacy requested by the complainant. We have an anti-harassment policy which condemns any form of harassment. We are currently reviewing the policy to ensure it contains appropriate reporting procedures, actionable steps, and transparency.” Additional and separate allegations have surfaced against some authors, mainly in the genre fiction community. Author Jason Sanford collected key instances in the June 25 issue of his Genre Grapevine. We’ll briefly note them here; see Sanford’s issue for links to more information, primarily via Twitter threads:SFF author Myke Cole is dealing with allegations of abuse after he already had to apologize for similar behavior in 2018. His agent (at JABberwocky) and publisher (Angry Robot) have parted ways with him.Fantasy author Paul Krueger has been accused by multiple women of harassment; his agent, DongWon Song, has ended their relationship.Fantasy author Sam Sykes faces allegations of inappropriate behavior and has been acknowledging that behavior and apologizing on Twitter.YA authors Taylor Barton and Kaelan Rhywiol face harassment and racism allegations. Their publisher has ended its relationship with both authors.Charles Brownstein has resigned from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund because of a 2005 sexual assault. Other resignations from the board have followed; learn more at The Comics Journal.The flurry of allegations has led to calls for change at conferences and conventions, where socializing and networking often happens at bars. Catherynne M. Valente tweeted, “Conventions & convention bars are professional networking spaces for writers & artists. By sexualizing that space, you’re taking opportunities away from people who could be spending time with someone who values their work & not the use of their bodies for your temporary amusement.” SA Chakraborty responded, “It would also be really, really, REALLY great if we could have more networking spaces that don’t involve alcohol.” Bottom line: While in-person events are few and far between right now—and may be for another year—harassment can still happen at online events. We encourage anyone hosting virtual conferences or workshops to take a look at Janie Chang’s article, Zooming More Securely (applicable not just to Zoom), and to make use of her sample online event attendance and anti-harassment policy. |
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
