Having got well into adulthood before encountering characters representing my marginalised identities in fiction; I know how important diverse rep is. The thrill of FINALLY encountering someone you actually relate to on the page is the best!
Fiction is a great way to experience our world -and others- from the point of view of people you may not know in real life. Its an opportunity to build understanding and empathy, something the world could do with SO MUCH MORE OF at this point in time.
As an indie author, I’ve noticed that queer, neurodivergent, and BIPOC characters are more common in our books. And we seem likely to write own voices characters. But how can you find diverse (and indie) books?
Queer, Autism & Diverse Books
You can search books by LGBTQIA+ identity, and Fantasy, SciFi, Cozy and Horror, in Read Fantay Indie’s LGBTQIA+ Book Collection.
You’ll find fiction and nonfiction about autism or autistic characters, by autistic authors, on the Autism Books by Autistic Authors Project website. They’re organised by theme, representation, audience age and genre.
We Need Diverse Books has a short selection of mainly BIPOC books, including include banned books.
Bundles
As an indie author, the most effective way I know of to make diverse and indie books more visible is selling them in bundles, on Itchio. Books are only sold together in bundles for a week or two. But after that, each bundle still lists and links books you can buy individually, with a main character or author of that identity -often both. All of these books are DRM free, and can be side loaded onto your ereader.
I’m Currently Hosting…
From February 1st to 15th I’m hosting a bundle for my favourite kind of SFF books; a Friendship Centred SFF bundle. The criteria for books in this bundle are the book must be SFF, and contain any of;
-the main character makes and develops a friendship.
-a friend plays a significant role in the main character’s growth.
-a friendship group develops throughout the book.
-a friendship group tackles a plot problem together.
You can read mini blurbs, view all covers (and have the option of purchasing books individually or the whole bundle) from it’s page on Itch.
Diverse Books By Identity
Over the last year, I’ve participated in bundles with characters and or authors of the following identities. You can no longer purchase these as bundles, but selecting any cover will take you to that book’s blurb and purchase button.
Trans People Take on the World
I missed Disability Pride Bundles, Bundle 1 and bundle 2.
(I’m still on the lookout for a BIPOC bundle. Will link it here when I find it!)
