Dear Gail, as an aspiring black writer, I'd love to create the next Batman, Superman, or Harry Potter.I sometimes worry that if I write a story with a black character as the lead, I might have a hard time selling it to a publisher. Also not sure if that wo

I am not going to pretend I have knowledge of all aspects of publishing and the media, but I know very few people who have ever had to sell the idea of a white person being ‘commercially viable,’ while the same can’t be said of characters of color.

I think in many cases, the creative team doesn’t click…recent comic books with POC leads, I think some of them failed might have failed because people didn’t find them compelling. But I’m also sure that many books with POC leads might have a different struggle in the marketplace.

However.

There is an antidote to this, and that is a combination of clout, name recognition, branding, and talent. If a book is exceptionally well-written, that can break down a great many walls. For a lot of people, Harry Potter was the first series of fantasy novels written by a woman that they had ever purchased. Quality of work and commitment still can make a difference. Not always, sometimes great, committed works still go nowhere. But it can help.

Then the other is clout. If you have built up a name for yourself, if your work is known and followed, you can make things happen that may be harder for a newbie writer. If Geoff Johns and Jim Lee decided to create a character of color to star in their own book, it would succeed.

My final thought is this, though. It may have a higher degree of difficulty to make a book with a non-white, or non-cis, or non-het lead and have it succeed. But it IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE.

And truthfully, I think it’s worth it. If the first one doesn’t succeed, do a second one. I think it’s absolutely worth it. I don’t know anything at all about what it’s like to be a writer of color, but I do know that writing diverse casts is important to the audience and to the writer, the importance of it can’t purely be measured in sales. It means something, it moves the needle, it shifts the gameboard.

Good luck, let me know how it turns out!

Edited to add: Ohmygil makes an excellent point that Image has had breakout POC stars since they started and quite a few just recently. But again, most of those were established creators, too. Definitely don’t let it hold you back!

Good luck!