/lit/ - Literature

Is your name Tyrone?

>>15537506
>skip the awards ceremony to protest BLM
Kek, do this. By the time you get your next book published people will have forgotten you're meant to be a blackman

There is only one way

>>15537518
No it's John with a black-ish surname

>>15537518
Genuinely thinking I might do this. Just when I finally get a break there's this complication. On the other hand if I turn up in person maybe it's best to get the sharp shock over with? But what if I was in line to win, and if they see I'm white they give it to someone else?

>>15537506
Your story is silly, but your line

>to protest BLM

is nice. I anticipate the jacket photo of the novel we're imagining as being a black and white one and incorporating a hat. I would also advise wearing a pencil beard and preferably an earring.

>>15537506
Just reply to the email right now and tell them that you're white. Unless I'm mistaken it appears that you've never explicitly stated that you weren't, they just extrapolated this from your name and the setting of your story. If you cleared this up now it would save you a lot of trouble in the future.

>>15537571
This is the best advice in this thread, though >>15537518 is also an option. Who do you think your future audience will be? If you plan to try getting published by mainstream or academic or literary publishers in the future, you'll want to clear this up (not because it matters to your work, but because it will matter to the current publishing mindset).

If, on the other hand, you plan to self publish or want to make a political point, or want to write for a more right-wing audience, you can keep quiet. You'll eventually be 'found out,' and there will probably be some backlash that will lead to you being the cause célèbre of the conservative movement for 5 minutes or so, which you can try to play off into a publishing contract with a right-wing group (though I don't know of many conservative *literature* publishers, as opposed to non-fiction publishers of which there are several).

Your call. If you end up being dropped from your state's contest, you can always publish in lit quarterly.

Hire a black male prostitute to accompany you to the ceremony as your boyfriend.
The progression points you'll get from that will largely compensate for those you'll lose for being white.

>>15537506
Does the story contain, you know... the word?

>>15538193
Yes, the protagonist makes his living by working as a short order cook at southern themed chain restaurant. The title is "The Nigger in the Cracker Barrel."

Sounds like you're gonna have to take the L.
I would write the organizers tellimg them that they made a mistake in assuming you're black.
Then just don't suffer the embarrassment of showing up to an event that was clearly looking for a token black guy to fit with the BLM theme America is infatuated with right now.

>>15537506
>they were excited to be able to include the experiences of a person of colour.
Say something non-committal like "that's a funny way to phrase it". Your characters are PoC, they have experiences...
>Do I send a message saying I've skipped the awards ceremony to protest BLM?
Could do. Either way you're authentically shortlisted and that can be enough to get noticed elsewhere without people assuming you're black. If someone outright calls you black and you can't pretend you didn't notice I would say something.

>>15537571
This, don't spill your spaghetti and turn this into a Peep Show episode, it's a perfectly reasonable understanding. Charlie Brooker wrote a lesbian romance as a Black Mirror episode and it ended up winning two Emmys and becoming one of the most popular pieces of LGBT media of the past decade. If the story's genuinely good enough, it won't matter too much. If it's enough to get you booted off the shortlist they're probably a student-tier organisation anyway.

>>15538206
Oh, then get out of there, you'll be lynched in the current climate.

>>15537518
Unironically. Make them seethe.

>>15538413
>it's a perfectly reasonable understanding
*misunderstanding

>>15538193
No it does not.

>>15538206
I am OP, the story is not called this.

>>15538389
>>15538411
>>15538413
I guess I'll just have to do this. I'll email them back with my concerns. It's a big enough competition I doubt they'll pull me off the shortlist, at least, even if it costs me the win.

There's nothing illegal or wrong about pretending to be black, especially if you made no such claim.

If they get angry it's because they hate white people and give special privileges to black authors, so fuck 'em.

>>15537542
alright John King, first, you fucked up a looong time ago. second, send them an audio and link the vocaroo up here.

>Self-publishing and tweeting under the pseudonym Niggerman
This is the fastest way to go from being worshiped to getting lynched once they find out you're white

OP, unless your story is racist as fuck, you are a raging faggot. I hope you are exposed as the cuck you are.

>>15538602
Why?

>>15538484
no, I am OP. The story is called “The Nigger and the Frog”

>>15538497
>There's nothing illegal or wrong about pretending to be black
Really depends on the context in which you do so.

>>15538747
>writes about black people and doesn't show their terrible behavior

You should be ashamed.

>>15537506
Be honest, OP, especially if it isn't a pseudonym. Get in touch and let the judges know the truth. There will be other opportunities to get published, but if you burn this bridge in a dishonest fashion you might be blacklisted. Explain though that you're also passionate about what is happening and you wanted to make some positive impact on the communities that have been hurt, and use your privilege to bring their issues to a wider audience.

>>15538833
Literally all of the black characters in the story behave terribly except the MC, who has behaved terribly before. I get away with it because all the bad ones are male and the MC is female.

Turn up in blackface and/or claim you are transblack

>>15537506
Anons itt have already given you good, straightforward advice. Know, however, that due to the current ideological climate, so to speak, the fact that you are shortlisted might depend on them thinking that you are black. Know, also, that telling the truth will surely bring negative consequences. An interesting yet simple ethical excercise. Good luck regardless of your final decision.

>>15537506
Just tell them you aren't black. If it were me, I'd email them saying I found it insulting to be chosen on the assumption of being black and that I hope they chose writers on talent rather than assumptions they made from the author's name, but then I also get into a lot of arguments with people.

>>15537506
Absolutely just tell them the truth right away, will make life so much easier. Still chocked to see people weave themselves into shit when you can just be straight with people and relax.

>>15539899
Really fucking relieved that he's not you.

>>15537506
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz1gcbojL6M
Do this, but with pic related.