Words Unchained: Embracing the Power and Resilience of Unfiltered Storytelling
It feels like you hear about another attempt to ban a book every few weeks. There’s a good reason for that, actually. According to the Banned & Challenged Books website, there have been a reported 695 attempts to censor almost 2,000 titles so far this year. That’s up a staggering 20% from the same timeframe last year, and believe it or not, people are still burning books.
People who want to ban books do so because they perceive them as a threat. They don’t want opportunities for ideas that contradict their philosophy to be heard.
At StoryForge, that’s not the way we roll. Stories need to be told. Ideas should thrive or fail on their own merit, not based on the decisions of gatekeepers. So what should we, the writing community, do about this?
Well, that’s simple: keep writing books, even if someone will want to ban them. Be the representation that is so desperately needed.
If someone is seeking to ban your book, you have written a powerful story that means something to a lot of people, people who might be feeling underrepresented. It’s the kind of story that people are going to tell their friends and family about because it just meant that much to them. It’s the kind of book that people are going to hold in their hearts and soul for a long time.
Ironically, this push to have a book banned can actually end up increasing its popularity which can boost your reputation as an author.
At StoryForge, we would be proud to help you publish your book that someone will want to ban. We support authors from all cultures, nationalities, races, and forms of gender identification. Our goal is to provide you with a place to write and get feedback on your story so that one day, you too might be the author of a book that librarians stand up to protect.
