There’s a lot of talk in kidlit about the need for more diversity, and often we struggle to talk about this problem in a way that feels productive or helpful. One possible way of thinking about this issue is through the structural lens of financial access to the industry. “Making it” in kidlit certainly requires hard work and talent. It also requires time and money: how many thousands of unpaid hours have you spent creating your portfolio and book dummies? How many thousands of dollars have you spent trying to get your work in front of the right people? Money dictates our ability and capacity to make connections, or even have the time to make books to begin with.For this blog post I contacted over 100 creators (some have multiple books, others don’t) and asked them about how they make ends meet. Many people I asked didn’t respond (for many reasons, I’m sure). A few people who weren’t quoted in this blog post mentioned that they’re able to do kidlit full-time because they’re independently wealthy. And that’s fine, it’s actually great to contribute your time and energy towards making a positive impact on your communities and to the field at large. But I’m wondering what would happen if we were to collectively shine a light on these issues of access and think about the impact it has on diversity in our field. If money is critical to success in kidlit, who can’t afford it and who can’t? Perhaps kidlit being a cost-prohibitive industry to begin with is one of the contributing factors to the lack of diverse books and diverse creators.