BookCon is a production of ReedPop which is behind the very successful ComicCon.
Reaction has included varied blog posts summarized here
The reaction to this has cumulated in a group called We Need DiverseBooks, online participation/events on May 1 to 3 to show that we need
diverse books and that this is something that readers do indeed want!
WHAT YOU CAN DO!-
On May 1st at 1pm (EST), there
will be a public call for action that will spread over 3 days. We’re
starting with a visual social media campaign using the hashtag
#WeNeedDiverseBooks. We want people to tweet, Tumblr, Instagram,
Facebook, blog, and post anywhere they can to help make the hashtag go
viral.
VISUAL CAMPAIGN - TAKE A PICTURE
- Take a photo holding a sign that says “We need diverse books because ___________________________.” Fill in the blank with an important, poignant, funny, and/or personal reason why this campaign is important to you.
- The photo can be of you or a friend or anyone who wants to support diversity in kids’ lit. It can be a photo of the sign without you if you would prefer not to be in a picture. Be as creative as you want! Pose the sign with your favorite stuffed animal or at your favorite library. Get a bunch of friends to hold a bunch of signs.
- However you want to do it, we want to share it! There will be a Tumblr at http://weneeddiversebooks.tumblr.com/ that will host all of the photos and messages for the campaign. Please submit your visual component by May 1st to weneeddiversebooks@yahoo.com with the subject line “photo” or submit it right on our Tumblr page here and it will be posted throughout the first day.
- Starting at 1:00PM (EST) the Tumblr will start posting and it will be your job to reblog, tweet, Facebook, or share wherever you think will help get the word out.
- The intent is that from 1pm EST to 3pm EST, there will be a nonstop hashtag party to spread the word. We hope that we’ll get enough people to participate to make the hashtag trend and grab the notice of more media outlets.
- The Tumblr will continue to be active throughout the length of the campaign, and for however long we need to keep this discussion going, so we welcome everyone to keep emailing or sending in submissions even after May 1st.
TWEET IT!
On May 2nd, the second part of our
campaign will roll out with a Twitter chat scheduled for 2pm (EST)
using the same hashtag. Please use #WeNeedDiverseBooks at 2pm on May 2nd
and share your thoughts on the issues with diversity in literature and
why diversity matters to you.
BUY DIVERSE BOOKS!
TAKE PHOTOS!
On May 3rd, 2pm (EST), the third portion of our campaign will begin. There
will be a Diversify Your Shelves initiative to encourage people to put
their money where their mouth is and buy diverse books and take photos
of them. Diversify Your Shelves is all about actively seeking out
diverse literature in bookstores and libraries, and there will be some
fantastic giveaways for people who participate in the campaign! More
details to come!
For some lists of diverse books see:
THE RESULTS-
We hope that you will take part in this in
any way you can. We need to spread the word far and wide so that it will
trend on Twitter. So that media outlets will pick it up as a news item.
So that the organizers of BEA and every big conference and festival out
there gets the message that diversity is important to everyone. We hope
you will help us by being a part of this movement.
