Read on Twitter
Hi, I wrote a well-loved soulless IP MG and this is the type of take that used to make me worried about writing IP. https://twitter.com/tldaaollf/status/1293692814656765952
If you don't see the second tweet, it goes on to trash IP and say that people should be supporting ACTUAL authors who take ACTUAL risks.
Again, when I was a blogger? This used to steer me away from all IP.
Again, when I was a blogger? This used to steer me away from all IP.
This is sad and ironic considering how many careers were built on the Babysitters Club, how many fans were forged on the Vampire Diaries, and how many well-loved YA titles that are original and took actual risks were because IP companies took on marginalized voices.
You know how SHOOK I was when I realized that Everywhere, Everywhere was an IP title?
But everyone was saying that IP was cookie cutter? That an idea couldn't have heart and wonder in it if it wasn't yours from the get go?
But everyone was saying that IP was cookie cutter? That an idea couldn't have heart and wonder in it if it wasn't yours from the get go?
That book gave a WoC author a chance. She took that idea. She made it hers.
Please do not tell me that because a company came up with that original kernel of an idea and Nicola Yoon was the one who got it, that it wasn't important and formidable when it hit shelves.
Please do not tell me that because a company came up with that original kernel of an idea and Nicola Yoon was the one who got it, that it wasn't important and formidable when it hit shelves.
I'll proudly and always honestly say it. The Gauntlet wasn't entirely my idea. @sona_c and @brownbookworm, as @CakeLiterary CEOs, wanted a fantasy adventure and they tapped their young, Muslim social media intern to audition for it.
But in my hands?
But in my hands?
In my hands, that heroine? Got to be a 12-year-old Bangladeshi American girl from Queens. Got to eat spinach pies I grew up on and fight mechanical spiders that I typed while hiding my eyes behind one hand. That was my food, my fear, my loves, my friendships.
That is MY book.
That is MY book.
Sona and Dhonielle took a chance on me, but I also took risks and chances in that book.
Dhonielle had to make a deal with me to make it a freaking MG. I was set on writing a YA.
"Five pages, try the voice for five pages," she insisted.
I did it. It was an MG.
Dhonielle had to make a deal with me to make it a freaking MG. I was set on writing a YA.
"Five pages, try the voice for five pages," she insisted.
I did it. It was an MG.
It was the first book I've written, in my life, and finished a draft of that featured a girl who looked like me.
It is the first MG on shelves, still, with a Bangladeshi girl. And its sequel? Has the first Bangladeshi boy.
Don't tell me there weren't actual creative risks.
It is the first MG on shelves, still, with a Bangladeshi girl. And its sequel? Has the first Bangladeshi boy.
Don't tell me there weren't actual creative risks.
That book? I ran back and forth between undergrad classes and the library, took a phone call once from Sona to run changes I was making past her just to be sure. After all, it was an IP, right?
"It's your book, that sounds good!"
That is MY book.
"It's your book, that sounds good!"
That is MY book.
I am an actual author. My blood, sweat and tears is in my book, and the sequel, and in the IP retelling of The Jungle Book that I wrote for Sesame Workshop - yes, THAT Sesame Workshop - where they were kind and encouraged me to look loosely at the story but make it MINE.
IP titles, like any other book, come from an idea.
The difference is in who comes up with that idea.
And? CPs have shared ideas with me they want me to wrte. Friends have said, "Write about this!"
What makes that any different and not, as you say, "late stage capitalism"?
The difference is in who comes up with that idea.
And? CPs have shared ideas with me they want me to wrte. Friends have said, "Write about this!"
What makes that any different and not, as you say, "late stage capitalism"?
Also, I mean, you have to AUDITION IP. I auditioned for an IP right before I auditioned for The Gauntlet. The editor and development team literally sat, from what I heard, and went head to head over two samples for which had the most heart.
I lost out. But that's okay.
I lost out. But that's okay.
ALSO, I heard that one of these IPs is from a LGBTQ+ PoC? Which makes this an even WORSE take.
Someone told me, to my face, right after The Gauntlet sold, "Oh, that was lucky for you. WoC CEOs + WoC Muslim editor? You didn't have to work for it."
Ha. Wow.
Someone told me, to my face, right after The Gauntlet sold, "Oh, that was lucky for you. WoC CEOs + WoC Muslim editor? You didn't have to work for it."
Ha. Wow.
IP can often be the make or break for authors who need money to come in in between original projects.
IP taught me as a WoC who hadn't gotten any chances yet to meet deadlines, turn in work, work off a detailed outline, work with an editor. I was a student. That money mattered.
IP taught me as a WoC who hadn't gotten any chances yet to meet deadlines, turn in work, work off a detailed outline, work with an editor. I was a student. That money mattered.
Because of my IP work, I was tapped for another project that didn't fit. I passed it to a friend who I KNEW had the voice and the heart. That was @farahnazrishi and, even if GTE sucks and I wouldn't do it now, her book SINGS. That's all Farah.
I mean, why the heck does everyone get excited if they get to write for Star Wars or get tapped for Marvel?
Why do fans still reach out for those books, that connection to their fandoms?
Oh. Late stage capitalism and no actual creative risks. Right.
Why do fans still reach out for those books, that connection to their fandoms?
Oh. Late stage capitalism and no actual creative risks. Right.
Anyway, that is a very bad take and I don't usually say this but I hope that person is ashamed of trying to step on someone else's hard work and legitimate talent.
Support IP books. Support books by PoC. Support voices getting chances.
Support IP books. Support books by PoC. Support voices getting chances.
