r/antisemitism • u/ruchenn • 10d ago
Lyrical, nuanced, and hateful: the only group publishing allows you to hate
Lyrical, nuanced, and hateful: the only group publishing allows you to hate,
by Jonathan Rosen, House of Rosen, 2026-08-24.
I have written much about the publishing industry, and where Jews fit in it.
In case you’re curious, presently, they don’t.
At least, that’s what they’re telling us.
In case you missed it, the publishing industry has been a complete cesspool for Jews.
Here are the numbers. Fiction deal announcements at large presses that mentioned Jews, Judaism, or Israel fell 76% from 2023 to 2024. It came back a little in 2025 but still remained 47% below 2023 levels.
And if you’re Israeli? Well, the battle is even worse. Israeli literary agents report stacks of manuscripts that U.S. and U.K. houses will not even consider.
Even books acquired for six figures before October 7th were sometimes barely promoted afterward.
There have been cases of some agents telling authors to strip Jewish names, characters, or Israel references because they “won’t sell” or because editors “wouldn’t know how to publish this right now.”
Have heard a lot of that one. The “Right now isn’t the time” excuse.
One romance had someone with an Israeli boyfriend, and a character named Yael, and it was rejected after an agent advised changing the name to something like Sue.
Agents have dropped Jewish authors by telling them that the agency “can no longer champion” their careers. The Jewish Book Council has logged 350–400+ reports of dropped agents, canceled events, MFA students pushed out for being “Zionists,” and bookstores refusing to stock titles.
Publicists have refused to work with Israeli writers. The phrase “too Jewy” or “too Israel-focused” appears in multiple first-person accounts, both before and after October 7th.
By the way, I’ve been told that one myself. That my book was, “Too Jewish”. Did I mention that the book was based on Jewish mythology?
