Publishers want to sell books to as many people as possible. Ultimately, what they are looking for are gripping human stories, universal truths, compelling family dynamics, unique worlds that are going to capture the imagination. And no matter what its cultural background, a good story will translate. I sat with a children’s book librarian yesterday who works in south central L.A., and she happened to say, “They love reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” Inner city kids want to read what everyone else is reading, but at the same time there are unique cultural dynamics. So in addition to wanting to sell to as many people as possible, publishing companies want to make sure they are reaching audiences who are often neglected. That could mean boys older than twelve, those reluctant readers we hear about so often. It could be minority communities. I’m half Latino, and I would love to see more Latino characters out there, but at the end of the day, does the character’s ethnic background always have to matter? If the character is compelling, I’m going to read that story. One of the sources for compelling characters and stories that I would like to see a lot more of is folklore and mythology. Rick Riordan is an author I work with (and whose work I love) who does some of that. Percy Jackson is delving into Egyptian mythology with the Kane Chronicles. That’s wonderful, but there are a lot of other worlds out there, deep wells of stories to be told that are different from the Western model. Romeo and Juliet is fantastic, but there are a lot of other love stories out there.