The Bookseller - Spotlight - Publishers’ development of Black writers questioned as data shows bestseller wane

Leading figures in the trade have questioned the industry's commitment to publishing commercially successful Black writing after it emerged there has been a downturn in the number of bestselling Black-authored books published in 2022, as measured by Nielsen BookScan. The research, undertaken by The Bookseller, suggests that the wave of diverse publishing that followed the killing of George Floyd in summer 2020 has failed to result in the promised broadening of publishing's output.