I was thinking the other day on how much I actually judge books by their publishers. I feel like I create the judgemental notion that, if a book comes from a popular publisher such as HarperCollins or Penguin, then it will be better than a book from a publisher I haven't heard of. I judge books by their publishers so much that I knew I had to do a post on it, and I'm going to be focusing on a number of factors.
I'm just gonna come out and say it: I usually only ever read books from mainstream publishers. And I fully admit that this makes me look like a crappy person, because I'm thinking that a book only gets better when it's picked up by a mainstream publisher. When in reality, there are a ton of diamond in the ruff's out there, especially from indie authors, that need more attention. I myself am an aspiring writer and know that it takes a lot to be picked up by one of the big guys. I don't understand why I'm not exposing myself to those books more?
One might also judge a book by their publishers because the publisher might be a bit sketchy. Take Simon and Schuster for example. Simon was recently going to publish a racist book by Milo I don't care that much about him to put his last name. Because of this, a lot of people started to boycott Simon and refuse to buy books from that publisher. I seem to not read a ton of Simon books, but I'm definitely more aware than I used to about the company.
So the question is, is it ok, for whatever reason, to judge a book by their publisher? Whether that would be from stereotypes, from the publisher being sketchy, or by something else? Do all books published by a publisher fit into that publisher's worldview? It's an interesting thing to think about where we normally gravitate towards.
For me, I typically read Penguin and Harper novels. But Harper has had a history of publishing some problematic books in the past as well, so should I distance myself from Harper novels? I think that the views of the author do not necessarily reflect the views of the company. However it makes you wonder, if Simon and Schuster considered themselves not racist, why would they pick up the deal for a racist book? I think it is important to be cautious where you're putting your money into.
So I kinda talked about two sides to judging a book by a publisher. On one hand, I have this stereotype that they will be better, and on the other hand, it seems more moral to not support publishers who publish racist books. But where do you draw the line?
I want to know what you think. Do you judge books by their publishers, and if so, for what reason?
Emily @ Paperback Princess
