Publishing Establishment's DEI Focus Is Driving Readers Away From Mainstream Fiction
Source: https://www.facebook.com/americanspectator/. "Winning the Cultural Cold War: Why Americans Are Turning Away From the Literary Establishment | The American Spectator | USA News and Politics." September 28, 2026. spectator.org
The Gist
The author argues that big publishers and literary award committees have become so obsessed with diversity and identity politics that they're ignoring good storytelling, which is why fewer people are reading new fiction. He believes independent publishers who focus on traditional, exciting stories (rather than identity-checkbox literary fiction) are the future, and that this mirrors how the Soviet Union collapsed because it prioritized ideology over reality.
Conclusion
Mainstream publishers, driven by an identity-politics/DEI agenda rather than literary merit, have alienated the mass reading public, causing declining fiction readership, and independent publishers who prioritize traditional storytelling represent the future of publishing.
Premises
- The National Book Award has become a 'D.E.I. checklist,' with nine of ten 2026 fiction finalists selected primarily for minority identity and identity-focused subject matter rather than literary quality or popular appeal.
- Straight white male authors who write traditional, gripping, mass-appeal fiction are systematically excluded from major literary awards and publishing opportunities regardless of talent.
- None of this year's National Book Award fiction selections are likely to become bestsellers, indicating a disconnect between what judges/publishers reward and what readers want.
- The steep decline in fiction reading is not because people stopped wanting to read good books, but because mainstream publishers stopped producing books people actually want to read.
- Major publishers have lost the talent pool capable of writing popular, gripping traditional fiction because they have spent years excluding such writers, leaving only ideologically-approved but less skilled replacements.
- Historical precedent shows that systems prioritizing ideology over quality/reality eventually collapse (Soviet Union's suppression of Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn, contrasted with the commercial and cultural success of Tom Clancy's traditionally-styled thriller).
Assumptions
- Literary merit and popular appeal are objectively correlated with traditional/non-identity-focused storytelling.
- Identity-focused fiction is inherently less artistically skilled or engaging than traditional fiction.
- The National Book Foundation's selections are representative of the broader publishing industry's practices.
- Feminism and identity politics are inherently opposed to good storytelling ('feminism is inherently inartistic').
- Declining fiction sales are primarily attributable to content/ideology rather than other factors (e.g., digital media competition, changing reading habits, economic factors).
- A binary exists between 'woke slop' and 'traditional entertainment' with no meaningful middle ground or diversity of quality within either category.