sensitivity reader
Cultural accuracy consultant
A sensitivity reader is someone hired to review a manuscript for potentially offensive, inaccurate, or stereotypical portrayals of marginalized groups.
Publishers and authors use sensitivity readers to identify blind spots in depicting experiences outside the writer's own—race, disability, sexuality, religion, or culture.
The publisher hired a sensitivity reader to review the novel's portrayal of Indigenous characters.
The practice emerged in the 2010s and remains controversial, with critics viewing it as a form of censorship and supporters seeing it as a tool for authenticity.
Professional advice provider
- expertiseSkill from extensive practice
- guidanceAdvice for decisions
- recommendationsProposed courses of action
- editorialPublication's official viewpoint article
advisory · freelance · hire · fee · report · notes · revision · collaboration
One who revises text
- authorCreator of written works
- manuscriptOriginal text before publication
- draftPreliminary version of text
- galleyOnboard food preparation area
acquisition · imprint · fact-check · production · marketplace · readership · gatekeeping · industry
Original text before publication
- feedbackReturned response data
- critiqueDetailed evaluative analysis
- analysisMethodical study of parts
- biasUnfair inclination or prejudice
stereotype · harm · offense · trope · blindspots · marginalization · microaggression · problematic
Regard with honor
- empathySharing another's emotions
- confidentialityQuality of protecting secrets
- accountabilityObligation for one's actions
- honestyTruthfulness, sincerity
professionalism · discretion · judgment · responsibility · trustworthiness · boundaries · harm-reduction · good-faith
Quality of being genuine
- portrayalDepiction of someone
- charactersPersons in a narrative
- identityWho someone is
- voiceSound from throat
experience · underrepresented · misrepresentation · storytelling · narrative · perspective · backstory · centering
Relating to shared traditions
- disabilityImpairment affecting life activities
- LGBTQSexual and gender minorities
- raceCompetition of speed
- ethnicityShared cultural heritage group
religion · neurodivergent · deaf · blind · indigenous · immigration · gender · class
consultant
Professional advice provider
- expertiseSkill from extensive practice
- guidanceAdvice for decisions
- recommendationsProposed courses of action
editorial · advisory · freelance · hire · fee · report · notes · revision · collaboration · specialist
editor
One who revises text
- authorCreator of written works
- manuscriptOriginal text before publication
- draftPreliminary version of text
galley · acquisition · imprint · fact-check · production · marketplace · readership · gatekeeping · industry
manuscript
Original text before publication
bias · stereotype · harm · offense · trope · blindspots · marginalization · microaggression · problematic · inaccuracy
respect
Regard with honor
- empathySharing another's emotions
- confidentialityQuality of protecting secrets
- accountabilityObligation for one's actions
honesty · professionalism · discretion · judgment · responsibility · trustworthiness · boundaries · harm-reduction · good-faith · compensation
authenticity
Quality of being genuine
- portrayalDepiction of someone
- charactersPersons in a narrative
- identityWho someone is
voice · experience · underrepresented · misrepresentation · storytelling · narrative · perspective · backstory · centering · agency
cultural
Relating to shared traditions
- disabilityImpairment affecting life activities
- LGBTQSexual and gender minorities
- raceCompetition of speed
ethnicity · religion · neurodivergent · deaf · blind · indigenous · immigration · gender · class · intersectionality
- publishing jobseditor, publisher, writer, author, editor-in-chief
- writersauthor, novelist, writer, poet, journalist
- editorseditor, copy editor, chief editors, editor-in-chief, managing editors
- prepublicationgalley, galley proof, galleys, proofs, advance copy
sensitivity readerprovocateur
One who deliberately incites
shock jock · edgelord · agent provocateur · button-pusher · rabble-rouser
sensitivity, reader, sensitive, sensitively, insensitive, insensitivity, sensitize, desensitize, sense