An Interview with a Sensitivity Reader
Have you ever wondered if you needed a sensitivity reader—also known as authenticity readers—or even what a sensitivity reader is?
If that’s you, don’t worry. I interviewed one and asked them all about what they do, so you don’t have to.
But first, what is a sensitivity reader?
A sensitivity reader is someone who has the lived experience that one of your characters has but that you don’t. For example, you might want to find a sensitivity reader if you’ve written a blind main character if you aren’t blind yourself.
The sensitivity reader is there to help ensure you’re writing believable scenarios for your character. They’re there to add depth to your character’s emotions, goals, and experiences.
Sensitivity readers are crucial when you're writing characters from marginalized groups outside your lived experience. Most people from marginalized groups have to deal with bad representation, so you need to take care to do those characters justice.
Sensitivity reads aren’t about making every person from one group happy either. They’re there to make you think deeper about your work.
Robert Kingett explains this in our interview below.
1. Who are you and how do you fit into the indie book space?
I'm Robert Kingett. I'm a blind and gay author myself.
My genre is romance and even sometimes erotica, but I mostly stick to romance. I used to be a journalist but stopped doing journalism to focus on fiction work. I still write personal essays on occasion, but at the moment, I'm really focused on fiction.
To supplement my writing life, I do a lot of consulting work. I'm an expert witness for many law firms, and I do a lot of sensitivity reading for multiple publishers, companies, and authors. The sensitivity reading allows me to have a side job that makes it easier to write.
As for the indie space, that's my biggest clientele, independent authors and independent/small publishers. I love working with independent publishers and more because I just love their approach to inclusivity.
That's key for me, as a blind author. It's rare that I see blind characters in traditionally published books so independent creators really fill that gap for me. I love working with other marginalized authors.
For me, the indie space represents a network of support. The indie space has a lot of voices that have been sidelined, and it allows me to really meet them halfway with their work. Also—let’s be real—it's a fantastic networking opportunity as well.
2. Why should an author have you on their team?
Authors are really missing out on a chance to make their characters more authentic if they don't consider, at least, a basic sensitivity read. Other Disabled readers like myself don't just celebrate when we find a disabled character in a book. We compare their portrayal to our own life, and if we notice that authors don't take the time to do even basic research about our lived experiences, that really shows on the page. If this happens too many times, well, for me, I just honestly put the book down and read another one.
There's going to be a book out there that speaks to me, and because you didn't take the time to ensure at least some aspect of your marginalized character isn't shown with nuance or even care beyond their appearance for the sake of diversity, then why should I read your book? In cases like that, it feels like you just wanted to put something out there. I can bring nuance to appearances, dialogue, and even characters that get a lot of page time.
My sensitivity reading subjects allow me to flesh out characters so that more people read your books and more people give you a second chance, because by allowing me to tweak an aspect of a character's disability portrayal, you’re allowing me to communicate to the reader that this author invested time and money into making a much better product than you initially believed.
By having me on your team, I can help you appeal to a broader readership you might not have ever had if you just went at this alone. There's just a bunch of disability wisdom that only lived experience can bring, and that can't be gleaned by reading the internet.
3. What’s the one thing you wish indie authors knew about your profession?
There are two aspects I wish authors knew about sensitivity reading.
The first is there's no perfect sensitivity read. Because we're all viewing things from our own lived experiences, there will be differing opinions, so in certain cases, having one reader just isn't enough.
The second is that I wish authors understood that not all sensitivity readers are correct or even wrong. We're just advisors, with perhaps some developmental editing bonuses, and you’re free to reject our suggestions, ask us questions about our suggestions, or even get a second opinion from someone else within that lived experience.
For example, I'm probably one of the few sensitivity readers that actually welcomes stereotypes in books. People do live in the world that embody some, if not all, stereotypes, and I believe it's important we don't erase those people that are happy to live with some stereotypical traits. To them, these are not just traits. To them, this is their authentic lived experience even if it's stereotypical. If you erase that, you’re saying not all are worth portraying authentically.
4. When should an author think about booking your services and how much should they budget?
Ideally, an author should think about booking me as soon as their first draft is one. I know other sensitivity readers prefer to become more involved in the development stages, but I don't want to get involved that early on. I do want to work on something before stuff is locked in, though, so just after finishing a first draft would be the best thing for me.
Because I am honestly very busy, I take longer to edit than someone else would, but my notes are like four pages long! Expect me to request a two month or longer turnaround time because I am on Crip Time, and my spoons are low, so I’d want a lot of turnaround time. Two months or more.
Because I do this extensively and have for many years, and because I'm an expert consultant, my prices are a bit higher than most. That being said, I'm willing to talk about rates with disabled authors but you should budget for at least $500 and above.
5. When would you recommend an author not book your services?
I’d say an author shouldn’t book my services after they've made a few significant drafts and the book is going to go to production really soon. There needs to be conversations, tweaking other scenes to work with suggestions, and making sure that continuity flows throughout the manuscript.
Nobody should book me if they expect a deadline of a month or under a month. It's never going to happen, with my demands. A lot of publishers and lawyers and otherwise demand my services months ahead of time. You'll never get the care you deserve if I'm rushing anything or juggling.
6. What’s your favourite part about your job?
The best part about my job is honestly seeing manuscripts where authors are trying to do as little harm or no harm as possible. It warms my heart seeing so many authors genuinely trying to get it right.
And honestly? I get paid to read books. What could be better than that! This does mean my pleasure reading has plummeted somewhat, but I really do enjoy this work and the care that authors put into their attempts.
7. How does someone book you?
The best place to book me is on my website, which is is https://blindjournalist.wordpress.com.
I hope you learned a bit about sensitivity reading, why you need one if you're writing characters from marginalized groups, and how it will benefit everyone.
Thank you, Robert, for sharing your expertise!
Did you know that some editors also offer sensitivity services?
For example, I can read for some LGBTQIA+ and mental illness elements. Click here to inquire! Or find a sensitivity reader with a different speciality here.
(Do note that sensitivity reads are generally a separate service and will be charged as such.)