Chapter 22
It took all of Julien’s willpower not to allow his leg to bounce with the same speed his mind was going.
Ever since he’d read the little snippet of writing in Martha’s notebook, he couldn’t think of anything else.
His brain jumped from wanting to read the rest of her story because he was already invested in the characters but also to see if it was as good as he knew it would be, to finding out a way to talk her into letting him publish the books, to snowballing production and marketing plans to sell as many copies as possible.
Would the romance genre strategy of rapid release work with a middle-grade book?
Romance readers were so voracious that an author could release a new book every month and not overwhelm their audience.
How many books did Martha already have written?
Would multiple new books in the same series in the same catalog work as well with a younger audience as it did at Queen?
On the one hand, if they hooked a reader with the series starter, then that reader could immediately go on to book two without much, if any, wait time, thus generating more sales in a shorter period of time.
His dad would have to be impressed with that.
On the other hand, if they released the books too quickly, would that hinder reader anticipation and build up and put a damper on any presales?
Did that play a big role when it came to the audience of children’s literature?
What about marketing innovation from book to book?
Hmm. He needed to talk to Damien, Squire’s marketing manager.
“This next question is for the whole panel.” The voice of the panel moderator brought Julien back to the present.
Julien was currently sitting on stage with four editors from various publishing houses.
He’d tried to bow out of having a representative from Squire participate in this panel discussion since it was Caroline who’d originally been slated to fill the role, but the conference leaders had asked him to fill in for her instead.
He’d somehow managed to not have to answer a single question yet, but something told him his luck was running out.
Hopefully when the time came for him to speak, the inquiry would be one about the publishing industry in general and not specific to the children’s realm.
He still didn’t feel confident in this corner of the market.
“What are your thoughts on industry trends to provide content warnings, or trigger warnings, as they’re sometimes called, in the beginning of books or on the cover itself?”
The woman to Julien’s right reached out a hand for the microphone, which the moderator gave her.
“I see someone here is looking to heat up the discussion with a controversial topic,” she said lightly and was met with a smattering of soft chuckles.
“In all seriousness, though, this is an issue that has merit from both sides of the coin. Those of us at Cub Books, however, have decided to not add content warnings to any of our published books. The reason for this is that it is essential to expose children to important topics, and literature is a safe and perfect place to do that. Within the pages of a book, they can explore diverse topics from multiple points of view and develop critical-thinking skills that would be hindered if we censored their reading material.”
The hand of the editor at the end of the line shot up. The moderator handed him a second microphone. He leaned forward a little so he could look at the original speaker.
“I just want to point out that we’re not talking about censorship.”
The woman raised her brow. “Aren’t we?”
“No. We’re talking about an accessible way for parents to help determine if they deem a book appropriate for their child or not. A way for parents to protect their child. A way to foster open discussion of said topic between the parent and the child to promote better understanding of an issue.”
“Like I said, there are merits on both sides of the coin. But who decides what is ‘triggering’?” She said the word with air quotes.
“It is subjective, is it not? You say these warnings aren’t censorship, but I say it’s a slippery slope.
Red-flagging a book because of its content is the first step toward book banning.
It’s the first step toward erasing a diverse understanding of history.
Of bubble-wrapping the human experience. ”
“Now you’re being extreme. There’s a big difference in offering a content list and starting a bonfire for a book burning.”
Should Julien step in and comment? This was a subject that had come up a lot at King Publishing and all of their imprints. It affected every reader, one way or another, but it wasn’t until he’d sat in a meeting with one of their copy editors that he’d garnered a deeper, personal understanding.
Slowly, he lifted his hand. The woman against content warnings who sat beside him offered him her microphone.
“My esteemed colleagues make very important points on this subject, but before we get too heated in these polar views, I’d like to offer a third perspective, if I may.
” He scanned the audience, his gaze landing on Martha in the front row.
Her skin was pink, bordering on red. Had she gone out without sunscreen?
Needing to focus and knowing she was a distraction, he pushed his gaze past her and focused instead on a grandmotherly woman sitting in the middle of the room.
“The perspective I’d like us to consider is that of a specific reader.
Let’s call him Johnny. Johnny comes from an abusive home where his father has used him as a punching bag in the past. Johnny is safe now.
No one hits him anymore. But he still remembers.
Still has nightmares. Still carries that trauma around.
When he is triggered, Johnny’s body forgets that he’s no longer in danger and reminds him of all the fear and hurt and ugly that he had to endure.
It can sometimes take hours or even days for Johnny to claw his way out of that panic. ”
The tone in the room grew somber. It was too easy, unfortunately, for everyone to picture a child like Johnny.
Either they related personally to a boy with a story like his or they had seen the same scenario too many times on the news.
Either way, by the grim looks on the faces around him, Julien knew each person had the image of a little boy who’d experienced something no one should in their minds.
“Now imagine that Johnny picks up a book. The cover is fun. The book looks like it will be a good escape from reality for a little while. Until the boy in the story also suffers at the hands of domestic violence and Johnny gets a solid right hook to his mental and emotional stability.”
Julien paused a moment before continuing.
“I think it’s readers like Johnny who are the intended audience of trigger warnings.
And it isn’t necessarily to shield them from distressing realities, but to provide them with the autonomy and agency to moderate their own emotions while they interact with the book.
It allows them to search within themselves and decide if they are ready to face such realities.
To steady and brace themselves and not be caught off-guard by something that could unbalance their healing. ”
The room was quiet a moment as the audience seemed to absorb what he’d said.
His gaze drifted back to Martha of its own accord, her own eyes holding a specific sheen to them.
She smiled at him, closed-mouthed and a bit tight-lipped, like she was holding in her emotions.
But she couldn’t stop them from spilling out of her gaze.
And if he wasn’t mistaken, those honey-hued eyes of hers said she’d been moved by him, that she was proud of him, and—maybe it was wishful thinking on his part—maybe there was something more there as well.
The other panelists continued to discuss the topic.
The gentleman at the end dove off Julien’s words, capitulating that truly traumatic event warnings inside of a book instead of the cover could be a good middle ground, but that there was harm when the warning was on topics in general or indicated language or sexual content, going on to say those things could stigmatize a book.
Julien tuned out the rest of the Q&A. His mind reverted back to Martha, her books, and Squire.
He couldn’t shake off the way she’d looked at him.
It was a look that gave his heart hope, but in his enthusiasm to grasp hold of the solution to saving Squire by publishing Martha’s books, he hadn’t taken the time to consider another more personal problem that answer would bring.
If he signed Martha as a contracted author at Squire, then her temporary status as his employee would become more permanent.
He’d been counting down the days until her contract was fulfilled so he could voice his romantic interest. If he published her books, he wouldn’t be free to confess his growing feelings and pursue a possible relationship with her.