10.11.17 Issue No 5777. Established 1858 Incorporating Bent’s Literary Advertiser, established 1802
Us too R
LEADER THIS WEEK
05
eading the responses that came in to The Bookseller’s anonymous survey of sexual harassment in the industry last week (see the Lead Story, pages 06–08) was a sobering experience. Numbers were fairly
evenly split, but for every one of you who said you had had no bad experiences at all, there was someone else who reported being harassed, sometimes very seriously, in the course of their ordinary working life. The percentages (54% of women respondents reporting harassment, and 34% of men) may be inflated by the self-selecting nature of those who filled in the survey but, even taking that into account, there is quite clearly an issue here for the industry–and one that has been waiting to be addressed for some time. The Weinstein scandal provides the prompt. If we’re honest, some of the stories emerging from the survey aren’t such a surprise. Although publicists are professionally discreet, we’ve all heard rumours of unnamed authors lunging on book tours late at night. And we’ve all been at industry parties where alcohol has flowed freely and the usual friendly contact has got a bit over-friendly. It’s a tactile, social industry, filled with creative people and, with its own quirky and interesting ways, that’s how the usual narrative goes. But that narrative needs revisiting. When
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It is time for us to look at the workplace culture we are fostering
a more senior staffer is able to assault a junior employee at an office party, and they are too ashamed and fearful to speak up and report the problem; or when a young publicist is expected to politely dodge the advances of an author in a hotel room on tour because that writer is too important to the company to offend; or equally when a female author describes being
inappropriately touched and propositioned, then something has gone amiss. It’s time for us to re-examine the guidelines, training and penalties that should be preventing this from happening, and look at the general workplace culture we are fostering too. Even low-level harassment is draining, so why should anyone tolerate it? This subject has been discussed quietly among peers for a long time; but
now, as many who filled in the survey say, we need a more open and public dialogue. Thanks to all who shared their experiences in our survey to help that happen. In this week’s issue, we have focused on the findings of the survey itself. Next week, The Bookseller will look at HR policies and best practice for dealing with harassment issues, as well as practical next steps that the industry can take to improve its record. Responders to our survey have already offered some very good suggestions, which you’ll find on page 08.
BENEDICTE PAGE, DEPUTY EDITOR
R THIS WEEK...
Harassment at work is widespread and unreported, according to respondents in our online survey
SURVEY 06–08 Guiding light
Your 24-page guide to the key issues and events at this year’s FutureBook Conference
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S ISSUE TOTAL CONSUMER MARKET £32.6m BOOKSCAN TCM UP 2.9% ON LAST WEEK’S FIGURES COLD COMFORT
Mary Lynn Bracht’s historical début centres on the wartime plight of Korea’s ‘comfort women’
AUTHOR PROFILE 16–17 CHARTS 10 BOOKS 18 CAREERS 36
THIS WEEK’S PREVIEWS NEW TITLES NON-FICTION (FEB) 18 AUDIOBOOKS SPOTLIGHT 33
Conference preview
DON’T DELEGATE THE FUTURE FUTUREBOOK 2017
FRIDAY 1ST DECEMBER 2017 155 BISHOPSGATE, LONDON
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