I came across a tweet thread a couple of week ago in which an author lamented the pressure they felt to adopt American usuage and spelling. I almost ignored it, but it's been festering in my head as unfounded, and unfair Yank-bashing so I thought I'd add my two cents.
Something in the writing community that few actually talk about:
— N. Malone | Etani Book 3 Out Now (@NMalone8) March 10, 2021
The pressure on non-American authors to Americanise our books or it "won't sell as well."
I was told that right up until the publication date, by my editor, proofreaders, other authors, and so on.
I've even seen
It's not something I've talked about hitherto, since I can honestly say it has not been an issue for me. In fact, the vast majority of Americans (writers and readers) I've had the pleasure of interacting with have been very kind, gracious and accepting of my use of Australian/British English – or at least polite enough not to complain.
Funnily enough, I write American English for my day job as technical writer. So, blogging and writing stories in my native dialects is a pleasant change. It means I can be more natural, and not worry about my spelling and idioms. No, dialects isn't a typo; my native dialects are British (South Welsh) and Australian.
Incidentally, the only person who made an issue of my choice of English in my stories was...well, I won't mention names. They fancied themselves as an aspiring editor and insisted that Americans only read 'Merican books. Naturally, they wanted me to pay them to 'fix' my book. They was so pushy and rude, their behaviour ruined any further business between us.
With 80% of my book sales and blog readers hailing from the US of A, I can happily conclude she, and the thrust of the tweet thread I linked to, are both wrong.