Jul 30

Jul 30 Episode 73: Virtue Signaling on Social Media

Welcome to episode 74: The Virtue Signaling Episode! Grace and Alvina catch up on each other’s lives, talk about the touch decisions about school and creating pods this fall, upcoming books from Little Brown, and being performative on social media.

How have you been?

Alvina left Brooklyn for the first time since the shutdown and went to Burlington, Vermont! She rented a car, had a beautiful drive, and discovered the summer gem of Lake Champlain. She went to the beach and climbed up Camel’s Hump, the 3rd highest mountain in Vermont!

The Little Brown focus meeting last week went really well. The company is moving from two to three seasons. Winter season, Summer, and Fall, no more Spring. There were a lot of titles to present. It was the same number of titles, it’s just that it is normally more spread out. They are small in terms of the number of children’s books that they publish. There are really not enough titles for a “Children’s Only Sales Force”.

Grace has been really busy but glad she can find time for creative work. She has been working through the over 200 applicants for the Book Reviewer Club on her Kids Ask Authors podcast. By the end of the summer, she hopes to have a Patreon account set-up! Her craft camp that she started has been going well with a pod of kids.

She’s been busy working on a Where the Mountain Meets the Moon trilogy calendar. It’s been a fun experimental pandemic project. She’s going to print it herself and try to sell it.

What has mostly been consuming Grace’s mental space, like so many other parents, is the issue of pods and how to decide what to do with kids during the fall. She has been concerned about the racists and exclusionary nature of pods. However, she recognizes her daughter needs to be with her peers. Grace and Alvina discuss how it can sometimes divide the Haves and the Haves Nots because some pods are able to hire teachers, some families have essential working parents on the front lines, and and everyone has different opinions and feelings about taking Covid risks. Should the schools step in? How do parents go back to work with pods or no pods?

Virtue Signaling

The main topic of today’s podcast is about virtue signaling on social media that came up on the BFF’s minds specifically after the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement. Grace talks about the artists and designers who rubbed her the wrong way by getting so many accolades and profiting off someone else’s pain.

Alvina sees both sides in that she does understand how people want to feel like they’re doing their part, but also trying to push their career farther through the movement seems kind of wrong. She feels that the the government is paying attention to the temperature on social media so it does matter how often people posts things and what they’re saying. “If your post profits you more than a black person than you’re making a wrong choice.”

People who virtue signal on social media…are they doing anything on behalf of the movement beyond just the computer screen? These are the questions the BFF’s discussed. What will they do down the road into the future after their performative posts? Alvina mentioned the pressure to post on Facebook around certain events too like Mother’s Day and Anniversaries. Many celebrities feel obligated. It’s a complex thing!

Grace brought up her Kidlitwomen* podcast. There was one woman who was really upset with her because she felt Grace was virtue signaling. “If you’re truly virtuous, I suppose you don’t need to signal about it?” Grace was trying to be really honest about it. In the end though, the point was to create change and sometimes you need to share and talk about it in order to do so. Alvina mentions how it goes back to what motivates us….being motivated by negative emotions is not a good thing but can sometimes promote really good work. You may not please everyone but it’s better to try and be doing something to make change.

What are you grateful?

Alvina is grateful for nature! She had a beautiful hike in Vermont and truly enjoyed being around the water of Lake Champlain.

Grace is extremely grateful for air conditioning and central air in her home. She can work better when she’s physically comfortable and she knows that not everyone has that luxury.

2-Minute Book Review with Alison Morris:

Dream Builder: The Story of Architect Philip Freelon. by Kelly Starling Lyons & Illustrated by Laura Freeman.

Alison is highlighting a picture book biography of a black artist with a black author and black illustrator.

This book works for readers of all ages. It offers an insightful and interesting overview of Phil Freelon’s life and career, starting by introducing readers to a really relatable kid with early encounters to his art and proud connections to his black family, community, and history that would later help shape the places he would create.

Alison Morris is a nationally recognized children's book buyer with an infectious enthusiasm for reading and 20 years' experience matching books to readers. As the Senior Director of Title Selection for nonprofit First Book, she oversees the curation of children’s and young adult books on the First Book Marketplace, hand-selecting a diverse range of titles that speak to and address the needs of kids in underserved communities, with a keen eye to inclusion, authenticity, and kid-appeal. She previously served as Senior Editor at Scholastic Book Clubs, Children's Book Buyer for Wellesley Booksmith and The Dartmouth Bookstore, and was the founding blogger of the ShelfTalker children’s book blog for Publishers Weekly. She'll be joining us from her home near Washington, DC where she spends LOTS of time discussing books with her husband, illustrator and graphic novelist Gareth Hinds.