Alberto Gullaba Jr. is a first-generation college grad from a working-class background, who was set to publish his debut novel when his publisher made an eleventh-hour discovery that could have only happened in the age of remote work: Though the book featured a black protagonist, Gullaba himself is Filipino.
"And the agent said, wait a minute, we thought you were black," recounts novelist and culture writer Kat Rosenfield. "And everything fell apart from there." After this discovery, not only was Gullaba asked to make changes, but the agent also hired a black "sensitivity reader" to give the book a careful read.* Though authors rarely talk about this process publicly, sensitivity reading is a growing phenomenon among publishers and writers fearful of social media mobs.
