By Madison Parrotta
Disability often remains the afterthought when it comes to diversity in publishing. Although more disabled authors are being represented and published, the numbers are still very low. And even though you may see more books than ever with disabled characters, it doesn’t necessarily mean that those books are Own Voices.
Lillie Lainoff is the founder of Disability in Kidlit and an advocate for disabled writers of all kinds. Her debut, One for All, will be published in Winter 2022 with Farrar, Straus and Giroux. She obviously wants to see more disabled stories by disabled authors in the coming years—so many more that she can’t read them all—but there’s much more when it comes to disability diversity.
Here is Lillie’s wishlist for more disability inclusion in publishing:
• An end to traditional gatekeeping and a change to the structure of publishing. Most authors and publishing professionals know that the industry is made up of cis, straight, white, nondisabled women. There may be more diversity when it comes to internships and entry level jobs, but there needs to be an overhaul of more disabled workers in all facets of publishing and agenting, and especially in the higher roles. Getting disabled professionals to that level will involve figuring out why they’re not in these positions now. Is it because acquisition meetings aren’t accessible? Is it because they need to work remotely? Or maybe the salaries are too low?
• Disability representation in more genres. Right now, most disability representation is in contemporary MG and YA, though not all are #OwnVoices. While these are obviously great genres, the kids who are reading those stories have few stories to grow into as they get older and become adults, and the lack of disability diversity in other MG/YA sub-genres (and other adult genres like Science Fiction/Fantasy and Historical) does a disservice to all disabled readers. In addition, Lillie would like to see the eradication of sicklit and inspiration porn, as well as characters who are physically disabled and have mental illnesses and multiple disabilities.
• An end to publishers using marketing and/or readership as an excuse to not buy disabled books. 20% of the US population is disabled, so there is definitely a wide readership. In addition, many disabled people read! When it comes to marketing, there’s not much research being done in terms of disabled readers or disabled books, and it’s difficult to have a market without that. But there is a shift happening, albeit slowly.
About Lillie Lainoff:
Lillie Lainoff received her B.A. in English with a concentration in creative writing and distinction within the major from Yale University. She currently lives in Norwich, and is getting her MA in Creative Writing Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia.
Her fiction, non-fiction, and poetry has been featured in The LA Review, The Washington Post Outlook, Today’s Parent, via the Disability Visibility Project, Washington City Paper, and The Yale Daily News, amongst other places. She’s received recognition from Glimmer Train and The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and won the 2019 LA Review Literary Award for Short Fiction. She was a featured Rooted in Rights disability activist, and is the founder of Disabled Kidlit Writers (FB).
As an undergraduate, Lillie was a member of Yale’s Varsity Fencing team. As a senior, she was one of the first physically disabled athletes to individually qualify for any NCAA Championship event, and helped her team to an end-of-season 10th place ranking by the National Coaches Poll. She still fences competitively and coaches. In 2017, she was named a recipient of the inaugural Spirit of Sport award by the US Fencing Association.
Website: http://www.lillielainoff.com/
Twitter: @lillielainoff
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialLillieLainoff/
Instagram: @lillielainoff
Lillie Lainoff is represented by Jennifer Wills.
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