This project is mainly argumentative and seeks to change an observed pattern in literature. As a result, much of the response of stakeholders is expected to be action, or at the least an opened discussion. The primary stakeholders of this project are publishing communities, authors, and educators, as well as the discourse communities they belong to, both as primary audiences and as the focus of the arguments.

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Publishing groups are to be considered the greatest stakeholder, and therefore the primary stakeholder, for this project as they appear to be the largest target of the writing. Much of the argument presented is in criticism of publishing groups, particularly the gatekeeping in publishing such as the appearance of bias in accepting and responding to works depending on their authors, and marketing choices by publishing agents. As “producers” of the literature industry, how a publishing company chooses to market their works directly corresponds to its reception, sales, and the works and author’s reputations and standing in the community. Therefore, publishing groups should be able to respond to the findings of this project the most by looking into agents’ biases that may affected the works unfairly, as well as put in efforts towards inclusive and broad publishing.

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Authors, particularly- but not limited to- woman authors and other marginalized authors or authors who write about marginalized characters, are considered a “middle ground” stakeholder who may benefit or be damaged by the project as they and their works are the “object” of the argument. As stakeholders, authors will mainly agree or disagree with the existence of this phenomenon relative to themselves and their works while also, possibly, using whatever advantage they have to bring diversity into their works, promoting and supporting works by other authors, and fostering an accepting and inclusive community by the means of their fans through author engagement. Authors are just as responsible as publishers for what gets put out for readers, however as the argument also focuses on the treatment of the authors themselves relative to their works, they also stand as stakeholders due to the publishers’ and consumers’ responses and how they will be affected by it.

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Teachers, particularly language and literature teachers, serve as another stakeholder for this project due to being part of and their influence on the “other end” of audience: the consumers. Much of the consumers of writing are the teachers themselves and students and young adults, most of whose access and exposure to literature come from their teachers and their curriculums. Teachers also have an influence in the perceptions of works based on what they teach and how and may potentially influence what kind of writers the community gets. In response to the concerns presented in the project, teachers can look into what they teach and prescribe to their students, analyzing what they consider great literature worth teaching to the next generation and why, which in turn allows their students to be more well read in areas other than the “white male canon” and nurture underrepresented students identities by providing them with the representation they need, directly influencing the interests of future readers or authors.

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These stakeholders mostly function within similar discourse communities, particularly literature communities, and have some form of communication with each other as well as influence over one another. Other discourse communities include authors’ discourse communities and educators’ discourse communities. The issue the project seeks to address is relevant to these discourse communities as it focuses greatly on education and entertainment, the primary goals of these communities. Publishing Groups and authors serve as the “producers” where both are dependent on each other, and the “consumers,” the teachers. Authors communicate with publishing groups to have their works distributed to their audience, while their audience determines their success. Authors also communicate with their audiences via platforms and blogs and have some influence over the consumers once they gain popularity.