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The Quiet Part Out Loud:
Frederick Joseph recently published his debut young adult novel, This Thing of Ours, which became an instant New York Times bestseller under the most extraordinary of circumstances:
In an age where there is intense backlash against books by Black and other authors from marginalized communities, spearheaded by the Trump/Vance/Musk regime and carried out by their cults.
With little to no promotion at the corporate level.
With no representation from an agent.
After having decided not to sell his book at a large retailer like Target due to their anti-diversity/equity/inclusion stance.
Relying almost entirely on his own ingenuity to ensure the public was aware of his book and were inclined to purchase it.
It really is extraordinary.
And here’s the ripple effect:
In This Thing of Ours, Fred writes about his main character Ossie’s love of reading. One of the books he loves is The Prophets, my debut novel. And guess what? Sales of The Prophets have doubled for the past two weeks with no other reasonable explanation for that except that the people who are reading This Thing of Ours were so moved by what they read that they went out and purchased The Prophets.
Why is this important?
It points toward a strategy for the marginalized artists who are generally overlooked by the mainstream because we are artistic outside of particular gazes, have the courage to criticize the dominant culture, or are experimenting in ways that defy stereotypical expectations.
Word-of-mouth is a power that can be utilized to ensure artists’ survival. What could that look like if we were more intentional and thoughtful about it? If it were not just organic, but also structured? Something as simple as being (and I hate this word) evangelical about telling our circles: “I read this book/saw this movie/watched this show/heard this song and yoooooo…it’s worth your money to buy”? Think Sinners and Forever.
What would marginalized people’s art and labor look like if we were Greenwood with it? By which I mean, what if we cherished it rigorously by our own selves? What if Black (or queer or trans or disabled or femme) was enough? The results could be exponential—which, as Greenwood showed us, we would then have to be ready to protect from envious outside forces.
I say all that to say: Thank you, Fred. You didn’t have to do that, but you did. And I am grateful.
As our Ancestors said: “When you’ve been blessed pass it on.” “When you get free, your job is to free somebody else.”
Ase.
[BLOOMBERG] “Sinners Is Resurrecting the Art of Word-of-Mouth Marketing”: archive.is/ZlRBq
