Without Fear of Punishment... or Publication

Do editors worry when children’s book authors post political trash talk on the internet?
I’ve seen some pretty offensive comments on Facebook and other forums; as a result I’ve passed on purchasing several titles over the last couple of years. I don’t believe in banning books, but I just can’t bring myself to personally contribute to authors I find offensive.

Well, editors are busy people and may or may not find the time to look into what a potential (or currently signed up) author is getting up to on the internet. So perhaps not-- ignorance is bliss.

But I would hope that if any of my authors held political views that they knew would offend major segments of the public (if aired publicly), they would take that under advisement. I don't mean to say that they should necessarily say nothing about their views-- I'm a big believer in free speech, and I doubt that any one of us doesn't hold some belief that would set someone else's hair on fire.

Sane people know that however true and irrefutable their beliefs are, there's no point in bringing them up just anyplace, and in front of any audience. Respectful, reasoned discussions of current topics are a wonderful thing, but there's no point in them if the audience in front of you just isn't listening. And if it's not a respectful, reasoned discussion, but rather an angry, emotional screed, most people will respond by not listening and getting angry about it. Sane people know this.

Crazy people don't know this.
I don't want to work with crazy people. Nobody does.

I don't want anyone to be quiet when they feel it would be untrue to themselves. But I also want my authors to remember that they are ambassadors for their books, just as their publishing house is.

If they aren't interested in being ambassadors for their books, then they shouldn't be surprised if their publishing house loses interest in that, as well.