I don’t have the same readership as other authors who write exactly the same sort of book in the same genre. What’s special about my readers is that they are intensely loyal and caring. They’ll go the extra mile to spend their hard-earned dollars buying my books and the books of other authors like me.
My readers hear the promo all other readers do and tend to buy the books as the other readers do too. But these readers also support the careers of authors like me single-handedly.
How can authors like me not love and adore our readers? They’re incredible.
Authors like me are marketed only to these readers, and not the greater genre market. Most of us don’t have a choice, unless we have been deemed universal by the Powers That Be. They put the words on our contracts that stipulate we can only write books specifically for our readers, who are also like us. If I wrote a book with characters that weren’t like me, it wouldn’t be accepted.
People like me, as do all people in most things, have several options.
The first option is to quit, give up, and walk away.
The second option is to take the route women’s fiction author Millenia Black is taking.
Some background: Millenia is that rare, rare self published author who lands a major agent and a multi-book contract with a major traditional NYC publisher. But Millenia is taking Penguin/NAL to court. She filed a complaint in Southern District Court of New York the first week of October.
Millenia stated on my blog that she took care her book would be considered in the same as any other woman’s fiction book, and it didn’t stipulate that the characters be like her in her contract. But apparently her publisher stood by the collective imperative shared by the publishing industry that authors like us, unless deemed universal by the PTB, must be niched. They did so over Millenia’s protests.
So she wrote her second contracted book with characters that didn’t look like her. She said her publisher accepted the outline (I wonder if they assumed the characters in the outline were like Millenia—because after all, our books have little difference in content), but it refused to accept the final book unless Millenia changed her characters and made them like her.
Millenia stands by her right to be treated as any other author of like work and is willing to put her career and probably thousands and thousands of dollars on the line. She’s willing to endure abuse and rage from all sides for 1) taking a stand that’s taboo in this society for people like us to do, and 2) for criticizing the niche that benefits many authors like us and many of our readers prefer also.
Talk about a tortuous narrow and crooked road with rocks hurled along the way.
I can’t take her road, but I support her efforts because of the principle. I don’t want to be treated differently from others because of my skin, hair, background or any other external quality even if it benefits me. Treating people differently based on their exterior is wrong, whomever it benefits. I will happily take the consequences of being treated the same as other authors of like work, if it ever comes to that.
Some people choose the first option for authors like me, and simply give up, defeated. Some have taken the second and changed the course of history and the lives of millions for the better. Most don’t have the resources to take that option.
There is one other option for authors like me, and it’s the one that I’m choosing to take. We can work within our circumstances and situation making the best use of whatever gifts and talent we have. All authors can choose this option no matter what their particular hurdles.
We can take 1) a hard look at the system, 2) figure out how we can work it to get what we want, 3) go for it and do our best.
The hard look: Only a very few authors like me are chosen to be deemed universal, worthy enough for the other readers to read, and the ones most often deemed so are literary authors, though a few authors such as Walter Mosley have crossed that line.
Commercial fiction authors like me also make the big lists. Altogether around ten authors like me make the NYT every year, rain or shine, bust or boom. There’s not a lot of fluctuation.
We have caring, loyal readers who will go to great ends to support us if we give them a good read.
Getting what we all want: The best thing for an author like me to do is to serve the accessible readers. Write them a better book, a stronger book, something fresh that will excite them.
There’s an entire supportive literary community for authors like me. We have different bookstores, different literary conferences, different literary organizations and different book clubs. When we can’t completely be a part of the structures and organizations of the ones who aren’t like us, we have always made our own different structures and organizations. An author like me needs to take advantage of these opportunities, network and be visible to our readers.
Cultivate Balance: It’s a waste of time running around to bookstores where the clientèle they serve is not like us and they carry few books of authors who are like us. It’s impractical to spend time and money begging the other readers to read our work when it’s inaccessible to them for a myriad of reasons, both practical and societal.
The balancing act is in maintaining a presence and network in the other publishing community while concentrating the bulk of resources on the ones who actually buy our books. Authors like me should show up at our major genre and other industry conferences, within reason, to network and show our faces. Recently a couple of authors like me made the NYT list by being bundled with authors who were different than them in anthologies. They needed to be invited to participate in these anthologies. Smart networking and positioning to the majority publishing community paid off.
Grow your following within the niche: There’s a tipping point, a point where your sales gets the publisher attention and backing and, Voila! You’re pulled out and deemed universal. With the increased exposure and improved positioning, you will attract the other readers who ignored you before and your readership and sales might take off. Eric Jerome Dickey and a few others have done it and are regularly one of the ten authors like me who crack the big list yearly. That tipping point hasn’t been reached by anybody in romance yet, but one day it may.
Nothing in publishing is easy for anybody, no matter what they’re like. Different types of authors have different challenges. For any author, it’s a matter of figuring out what your particular boulders in the road are, and figuring out to get around them.
But the bottom line is always this: Write a book that’s good enough to make your readers eager to buy your next one.
I’m wishing good fortune to all of us, no matter our differences. We’ll need it.
No related posts.
Kensington had a Latina romance line in the mid-nineties but it failed.
Pubs do look for ethnic stuff, East Indian was hot (although I’m less sure if it is now after acquiring that child who did the plagiarism bit). Other ethnicities aren’t niched into ethnic category just for that ethnicity to read, like blacks are. Their books are offered to all readers.
The Hispanic woman’s fiction writers are treated no differently than other authors and certainly not ONLY marketed to Hispanics, although I’d personally use it as a marketing point in addition.
Aren’t there also Latino/Hispanic/Latina lines? I know many houses have editors that specifically request books in this “subgenreâ€. I’m not sure if they have their own imprint, though (as some AA lines do).
Kensington had ‘Encanto’ but I can’t seem to find it on their website at the moment, so maybe they discontinued it?
Harlequin have Bianca and Deseo, but they’re translations into Spanish.
Discussing this topic at work. Friend of mine writes a series of novels about a black private detective in the 1960s as “Kris Nelscott.” Turns out a fellow case manager her — who is black — is a big fan of Smokey Dalton and was very impressed I knew Kris. Until — and I knew this was coming because it’s happened before and I recognized the signs — I revealed “Kris Nelscott” is Kristine Kathryn Rush . Now she is very angry about exploitive writers.
Does this bear on the issue?
Scanning back over your responses: I’m not talking about prying you or anyone else out of a niche they enjoy. What I have heard are very valid complaints on how niche-only marketing can limit income. My thinking was niche-plus-main-aisle-in-big-box-bookstores would maximize sales.
KeVin.
That’s why nonblack authors aren’t allowed in the niche. I will keep my feelings to myself about this with effort because of the increased need to be politic with my own demographics. But guess what I would say if the situation was reversed and a white person said this about a black author who she discovered wrote a white protag? I don’t think people should be regarded differently because of race.
Yes, it bears on the issue and is the reason why I might come off as defensive about the niche and why so few black authors have anything to say.
Our readers. Disloyalty to the niche is perceived as disloyalty to the readers who shell out their dollars to support us and our work. How can we diss them?
We can’t. We just can’t. We wouldn’t be writing and publishing if it weren’t for these people’s support.
I love my readers. But my voicing the desire to step outside the box is perceived as disloyalty.
It’s a conundrum, a perfect Catch-22.
It ends up like this: I need my readers more than they need me.
Monica,
Thank you for the amazing post. There are just so many issues here that I want to write for ages and ages. We all set so many barriers for others to protect our group, whoever we decide our group to be. Like all barriers, they have good and bad reasons for their existence. So that I don’t write forever, I will let it all go.
However, since this is Romancing the Blog, I was wondering why the romance genre is so different from the literary genre, as you explain it. Are romance readers more “conservative” if that’s even the right word, than lit readers? Maybe, maybe not.
Is it something about love that makes people not read out of category? Maybe. One piece of evidence from my own life along these lines is that I recently wrote a story of a married couple where the protagonist’s husband was a Japanese-American super hottie. As a straight male, I decided I needed some help checking out hot Japanese guys to get a clearer image in my head of my hero. So I asked a female friend to look at pictures of Japanese actors and help me choose some of the sexier guys. But in the end she had to confess that Japanese guys just didn’t do anything for her. I had to think, “the whole ethnic group? not a one?” So, are there lots of people who just can’t get excited about a hero who doesn’t look like them? But on the other hand, love is perhaps THE universal emotion that we all understand. If anything could break down barriers between races or backgrounds, it should be love. So why isn’t Romance on the forefront of all this? It’s all so complicated.
None of them? Not Ken Watanabe? Not Takeshi Kaneshiro? Not Sorimachi Takashi or a young Toshiro Mifune?
My god? Is she dead?
Monica, this is one of my favorite posts from you. It really brings it home. We’ve discussed this issue many times and although a solution won’t happen overnight, I think open, honest, and respectful communication is a great way to get the ball rolling.
I’m one of those black authors who writes black characters. My contract did not specify AA, but it was implicit that I would write about AA. I don’t consider this a burden because I’ll tell everyone about my book. If they won’t buy it based on the race of my characters or my race, that’s their problem, not mine.
As for AA writers as a whole, there are so many things we can do to better our position in the publishing world. Our presence in that world (commercial-wise) is still in it’s infancy (15 years or so) and publishers still have a lot to learn. Hopefully, with a collective effort of writers across the spectrum, AA writers will begin to have more freedom to write the books they want to write.
I seem to always be wading into everything late, but this is a fascinating discussion. Not sure I have tons to add, but want to participate in the dialogue anyway. A few thoughts here:
–I’m surprised, and then not all that surprised, to discover that contracts would specify AA romance. The long time writer in me says, huh, the more specific the better. I see that it’s not being used that way in these contracts. It is a smart thing for both writers and publishers to specify what they’re getting, and this is a fight agents and authors should be taking up.
—I hate the divisions. All of them—chick lit, women’s fiction, romance, African American literature, lit fic. Jeez. They’re exclusive and annoying.
—In Colorado, AA books are not slotted together as a specific section. They’re all mixed in together. Just saying.
–I’m bothered that we don’t see more AA books in the RITAs. I’ve thought about it a lot. No answers, but I’d like more discussion.
–I am a writer, long term, and I have lots of connections to several different ethnic communities (including AA), but I’m also a reviewer for BookPage. I get TONS of books every month, and maybe one AA romance. Not sure why, but that needs to change. I’m not going to postively review a book I don’t wholeheartedly love, and I need lots of books to choose from if I’m going to review one every month.
–I started in RWA 15 (or wait…oh, god is it 20??) years ago and there were no AA romances at all. There are a lot now. That’s progress. It’s not ideal, but it’s huge movement.
As you see, no conclusions, but the dialogue is good, important. I wanted to talk.
Barbara
I think the romance genre is profoundly different from the literary genre. I love the literary genre when it’s about the story as much as the character and sometimes it is.
I like some of this sort of literary fiction more than romance.
But I don’t care for their constraints of literary genre, the overdone, self conscious prose, the lack of narrative drive and story, the frickin’ depressing characters and endings. But people read literary fiction to stretch and experience, not to be comforted or to fantasize.
Many romance readers crave comfort, fantasy, sympathetic characters they can empathize with, and a predictable story. There is really nothing that comfortable or a lot of grist for fantasy about black people, as far as many romance readers are concerned.
Think about movies. Now black men get to be leading men, but they rarely get to do the nasty on screen, especially if the leading lady isn’t black. A chaste kiss is the limit and often there’s not even that. In the meantime white leading men are tearing up the sheets.
America, black people and sex have not arrived anywhere together yet. Hangups are immense all around.
So the segregation in the romance genre in profound as far as blacks. Frankly, I don’t see it changing soon.
I don’t understand how she couldn’t fine anybody fine either in Japanese flavor. I can find a fine man whatever the race if given enough choice. But maybe that’s just me.
Thanks for all the comments, folks. I hope you have plenty of grist for thought.
–Monica
Aw gee, I see the other posts after I close.
Barbara, thanks for your input. You’ve one of the authors who’ve written a variety of characters with good reception. So I don’t think it’s true that majority readers will refuse to read black characters out of hand. I think the presentation, buzz, positioning, all the things that go into why people choose any book has a lot to do with it. There’s hope.
Dakota,
I like that we’re getting to write more variety, (thank you, Lawd, I really couldn’t take any more soap opera drama, but that’s just me), like your thrillers and urban fantasy.
But what if you got widespread distribution and everybody got exposed to your book say the same as, um, those Code Name books by Christina Skye? I’ve never read one, but they seem quite popular and they’re everywhere (since I use them as an example, I’ll note I’ve seen several people happily reading them).
Folks at Wal-marts in Kansas, Idaho and Utah buy them up. As it is, your books will only be carried in stores with heavy black demographics. Forget the above states and many more. Forget tons of stores that will carry the Code Name books. Your book will barely be available in my entire state outside of limited urban areas. I’ll have to order it online if I want to read it.
No way will your work have the opportunity for comparable print runs, sales or potential as any similar nonblack book, no matter the comparable quality or content. You could write the Da Vinci Code. Won’t make a lick of difference as far as the greater literary community because they aren’t ever going to hear about it, no matter how many e-mails your readers write you.
Your niche readers will love you for serving them with great books though and you might get another grand or two in your next advance. If you’re lucky. Same print run because there’s not much of anywhere to grow. Maybe after ten or twenty books you’ll see some momentum and maybe the Essence list (after you’ve moved into mainstream). But nope, nowhere near those other authors at the same career point and popularity. Forget that. And your day job? Yeah, you still have it despite all your popularity and love from your readers.
But don’t worry, after ten years or so, you get quite used to it.
(Don’t mean to be negative, just thinking about the long haul so many of us have rode and are still traveling. Plus, I’m sleepy. You will probably be one of the ten to break the big list!
I’ve been following this issue and I’m still working on my thoughts too. Definitely don’t think any author should be forced to write particular character types or within particular genres. Not sure how I feel about the bookselling segregation because there is some benefit in terms of marketing. But does it outweigh the negatives? I applaud Millenia’s stance.
It’s all about the dollar. So how do we impact the dollar to make the point? Getting the word out there and uniting with non-AA authors to start grassroots change. Pressure on booksellers, maybe through organizations like RWA? Making a point of including AA authors in book signings, anthologies, book review sites, and other promotional activities? (I wondered about Barbara’s comment re: getting only 1 AA book a month. Why isn’t she getting more? Who should be sending them, the author or the publisher?)
How about readers and writers joining the movement? Starting a blogroll to blog about this particular issue one day for a whole month (or however long we can keep it going. The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted over a year). Readers committing to consciously change their purchasing habits to add (or subsitute one) AA or other minority-authored book purchase each month. Need a way for publishers to know that this is a movement. Maybe it’s agreeing to all buy the same book each month, thereby causing a spike in sales that will get some attention. (okay I realize choosing which book might start a war and I’m a peaceful person).
Just thinking out loud…
That just sounds wrong on all counts.
But I will ask–would they have let her publish that story under a pen name? I ask because I have a white friend who wrote black characters in her romance and she had to use a pen name.
Monica wrote:
>>Barbara, thanks for your input. You’ve one of the authors who’ve written a variety of characters with good reception. So I don’t think it’s true that majority readers will refuse to read black characters out of hand.
Patricia,
I agree with what you’re saying.
But compare the response on this post about this issue facing black authors to one I might have written concerning some controversial stance in, say, erotic romance.
What if an erotic romance author was suing Penguin/NAL for not allowing her to include any submission, domination, threeways, homosexual or anal sex in her erotic romance novels?
There would be 500 comments here, and dozens of blogs would link. The erotic romance authors would be out in force, seething with outrage. Major romance industry mags and the RWR would come out with articles on the topic. It would be a major whoopdedoo.
Now, that would be grist for a movement.
The brouhaha when the RWA tried to diss gays in romance and when some silly woman wrote a letter to the RWR complaining about all the nasty sex in romance got more attention then any inequity toward an entire race of authors within the genre. I suspect many feel this is nuthin’ but more bitchin’ on the race card.
But then again, the issue doesn’t directly affect them anyway.
The kicker is we don’t even support each other. Compare our presence here to the erotic romance authors on any post with slightest whisper of controversy. There’s no comparison.
You’d think on a list of black women’s fiction authors, Millenia’s case would be a topic, right? It hasn’t been raised.
And it’s far easier for me to raise it here or on my own blog than to be slapped down in a smaller group of my peers.
A movement? I wish. How can we have a movement where we expect others to participate, if the ones being affected aren’t about to stand together or whisper a word?
Monica -
your last two paragraphs touched my very heart, I have participated in those women author forums that have me petrified to open my mouth unless it’s in agreement with the majority otherwise you become a non-entity. Now what the heck is that about?
angelia
Another thought, and this one is doable without having to single out any particular authors…
How about if readers and writers designated one day, say the 1st Saturday of the month, to only purchase AA books? We could blog about this and generate some buzz, then show our support via our wallets.
You’re right, Monica because I’ve seen little to no dialogue in the AA writer loops that I participate in. I first read about it on your blog and then again on Blogging in Black.
Why? Definitely fear. Some uncertainty with regard to personal position. Some concern re: timing. Lots of wait and see. Personally, I find it difficult not to dialogue about this very important issue. I guess I have much to lose since I’ve yet to crack the traditional publishing nut, a much desired personal goal. Yet, I feel compelled to at least engage in discussion. I’d like to hear what more published AA authors think.
You’d have to wonder what would be the response if the situations were reverse; if black women who buy mainstream romance books were to stop for a period of time – let’s say a month – would that have an adverse effect on someone’s bottom line – publisher/writer? I read somewhere that with the proliferation of black romances, writers like Jackie Collins took a hit to their pockets in sales.
I don’t believe many mainstream writers know how much of an economic bolster they get from all readers, not just white, but black, Asian, Hispanic – and take some of these markets for granted.
Sometimes, words aren’t enough. Even MLK knew that with the bus strikes. Sometimes, a deflated pocket will scream louder.
Sharon,
Are you saying a boycott of nonblack authored books? That might work.
A boycott of the niche would work instantaneously, but we’d never pull together on any sort of boycott and they know it.
We’ve had generations of conditioning by the slave master not to stick together and you can really see it. It was the slave master’s biggest fear.
The Civil rights movement took strong leadership, the Zeitgeist of the times (countries everywhere were standing up for liberation from colonialism) and the black church behind it to get us to finally muster the courage take a stand.
We’ve seen nothing close since.
And what’s happening us in publishing is right out of pre-Civil Rights times with little concern among us about it.
Just think, with the right push, we could lose all sorts of civil rights without a whimper.
Robin,
Millenia could write white characters if she basically posed as a white author.
Did your friend pose as a black author?
When I first heard it said that publishers didn’t believe that black people read until the success of Terry McMillan I really had to laugh. I’m 46 now and have been reading romance since I was 13. Many of my friends were and are avid readers. I’ve spent literally tens of thousands of dollars on books by white authors. What makes me feel stupid now is that I supported an industry that had no interest in people like me at all. To this day I don’t get the sense that most white romance writers know or care that not all of their readers are white. I will say that Suzanne Brockman is a bit of a heroine among many of the readers I know.
I spend about 300.00 a month on books. It’s just a drop in the bucket but I think that money would be better spent on writers that need and appreciate my support.
Barbara B.,
You should add Barbara Samuels to that short list along with Brockmann too.
I’ve always believed Brockmann’s intentions and motivations were great.
But black author’s can’t get fraction of the distribution or positioning a white author can get no matter how well known we are, or frankly, how good the book is either.
When a white author writes black characters, is lauded by readers who’d never touch one of our books and then walks aways with a whole lotta Bestest Negro Book Ever awards, you better believe a lot of black authors are singing the If I Were A White Girl Blues.
Ah well. It is as it is.
Monica, I believe that economic strikes do sometimes trump apathy. For those publishers who use adverse racial marketing, limiting an author’s potential, or for those writers who spout off – “that’s yall’s problem” – then yeah, why should we support them with our money? They take our market for granted. I’m just saying that could be a mistake on their part.
I’m sorry, maybe I’m clueless, but I’m not getting what a boycott would accomplish? What’s the purpose?
To bring attention to which of these issues? To get whose attention?
Barbara, by principal, one shouldn’t support companies that implement adverse discriminatory practices. This is something we’ve learned throughout history. The bus movement in the 60s cost the companies money; they felt it in their pockets. And it’s not just a racial thing. Several young girls took on Abercrombie for their sexually insulting t-shirts and actually got them to take the shirts off the market.
Yes, boycotts get attention, in this case publishers and certain writers who have said on their blogs that black writers should just shut up and be grateful.
It’s not common sensical to support those who don’t support you, who basically take it for granted that they already have your money in their pockets.
Which authors have said on their blogs that we should shut up and be grateful?
I know quite a few bloggers in general have said it. It’s not an unusual nonblack reaction when anybody black says anything about racism or discrimination. They prefer to believe racism doesn’t exist and any difficulties we have is because they believe we’re naturally inferior.
But authors are generally more careful, know to be politically correct and keep their feelings to themselves.
So who screwed up that badly? (If you don’t feel free to say here, IMO, you could blog about it on your own space).
I try not to support companies that indicate to me that they don’t want my money. When I notice that certain companies never have blacks in their ads it lets me know that their products are not meant for me. What else could it mean? I in turn follow their tacit signals and don’t buy their products. I’ve really missed the boat with the books, though. Maybe because it’s a 30+ year addiction.
I was particularly referring to The Publishing Contrarian who describes herself as a writer in addition to publisher whose link I found on your blog. I didn’t think someone in the writing business would be so blatant with her assumptions about black writers.
There have been commentors on other postings on race in publishing that have surprised me as well who seem to hold the same sentiment.
Oh, her. Pathetic.
Or they stay anonymous.
Romance authors generally manage to keep a lid on their bitter acrimony.
A boycott might be the way to go. It got companies to divest in South Africa… we might be on to something…
I think a boycott would work very well in several instances of injustice (please visit my blog for the latest outrage), if we can get enough folks to participate.
If there is a place to take this discussion so it can be on-going, let me know. I threw all this discussion into a pot on the back of my brain and let it stew all day, and now have some thoughts:
First of all, I DEEPLY oppose a boycott of books. That punishes authors, not publishers, and writers need to bond together with each other as much as possible to make a better life for all of us. The mess with Genesis is publisher vs writer, not publisher against black writers.
Every writer I know is struggling to stay afloat, diversifying in whatever ways she can to just stay in the game. Publishing is in trouble. Books will not disappear by any means, but we are, right now, in the midst of a sea change. The model is changing, the power decentralizing, and the more we try to envision and bring abou the world we *want* to see through positive action, the better publishing reality we’re going to create for readers and writers of all colors.
Romance writers in general are stimatized. Let’s not divide up more and cut each other up. I hate that! Truly, a boycott will only divide and cause serious rifts in our community. If nothing else works, if there’s no other way to take political action and create a positive change, then maybe there is no other answer.
But seriously, women against women? Bad idea. Writer against writer? Even worse. Woman writer against woman writer? That would be freaking insane.
Great point, Barbara.
Boycotting white authors because they’re nonblack is quite problematic.
But if Penguin/NAL presses their right to discriminate against black authors regardless (this is NOT against the niche, but for the right of the INDIVIDUAL black author to move into the nonblack book neighbood if he qualifies and wishes to do so), what are our other options for getting mega-corporations to comply with justice than to hit them via the only thing they really care about: $$$ ?
The white romance writers need to stand up and beside the black ones on the issue of forced racial segregation.
Again, this isn’t about trying to banish the AA romance niche. Some readers and authors love it. But if an author chooses, our books should be able to compete with nonblack authors on the same basis.
In other words, I should be allowed in your neighborhood if I choose to live there and can afford the homes, regardless of my race.
THAT’S the big issue, NOT the existence of the niche.
This issue is ignored as if it doesn’t exist.
Black tokens are given leadership positions, true, but they can’t bring up our issues either significantly if they want to maintain popularity since race is such a huge bomb. But our issue is a romance issue because we are romance writers.
The Genesis issue is different from the forced racial segregation in romance issue. It isn’t a racial issue at all. RWA is standing by us on this one. They are paying for an audit of GP for one author.
I think we ALL need to boycott GP because of their mistreatment of authors (both white and black). One of the authors named in one of the revenge suits is a white owner of bookstore. The fact GP is seeking to sue Kayla and others just for speaking out about the FACT that they failed to honor their contracts is outrageous and white authors need to stand up beside us on this issue too.
I will say publicly Genesis Press failed to honor the one novella contract they made with me also.
As far as continued dialog, you can speak out where we’re talking about it. Every once in a while I pipe up (heh, my soap box has been up for over ten years).
Donna Hill has a post on Blogging in Black today about this issue. Lynn Emery, another veteran black author, gives her cogent two cents on my blog.
Lynn doesn’t necessarily agree, but that’s fine. I respect her views. We’re hammering this out among ourselves too, just starting to speak up. We’re not monolithic, but have diverse opinions.
Added: I’ve noticed we tend to prefer to speak out on our own venues, vs ones such as this one. I conject because maybe we feel safer discussing racial issues among our own?
The more response, the more involvement, the more momentum this issue will get and the likelihood of something being done.
Speaking aloud to power is only the first step, but it’s a necessary one.
“I hate the divisions. All of them—chick lit, women’s fiction, romance, African American literature, lit fic. Jeez. They’re exclusive and annoying.”
–Me too.
Here’s an idea that isn’t a total boycott and might not affect overall sales, which might hurt writers too much, but just may cause a “shift” in where books are bought. It’s something to consider: taking the issue to bookstores directly.
Publishers can categorize their books in whatever way they want; that doesn’t necessarily mean bookstores must comply. Each store can shelve books in different ways. And they probably have individual policies about discrimination.
The small independent bookstore here doesn’t have an African American section. All the fiction, except for mysteries and science fiction, is together in a general fiction section. I’ve seen books by black authors in that general section.
Small bookstores often don’t have the space to separate everything out. Maybe if people patronized more of those and said to the management there, “I like how you don’t segregate books by the authors’ races,” and accordingly went into the ones that DO segregate and said, “I don’t like how you segregate books by the authors’ races,” the bookstores would learn something, and if enough people complained, at least a few stores might change their shelving policies.
Assuming people have a choice of bookstores to shop in (some may not, I guess), they should only patronize the we-don’t segregate stores and let those stores know WHY they’re patronizing them, and let the we-segregate stores know why they’re NOT patronizing them. And it isn’t enough if some black people do this; other people must do this too.
Next time I’m in a bookstore that segregates, I’m gonna complain, and loud enough for other customers to hear (though I won’t shout–that probably won’t help matters). And, believe me, when I complain, people tend to listen.
Hi Monica,
I’m going to admit right now that I have not read all the posts so forgive me if I repeat something someone else has said. Beware, this is a long post, too.
To some degree what we have now is an example of be careful what you wish for. I published my first book in 1999 when the only black commercial fiction really making it was romance. There were a few writers publishing relationship or sistah girl fiction, but not many. In recent years, black commercial fiction touches every genre.
I remember when publishing companies started hiring black editors to head black lines to feature black genre or mainstream titles. Nobody thought that was a bad thing. Even when black sections in book stores started popping up, it was perceived as publishers and book stores acknowledging that it was to their economic interest to accomodate black readers.
However, all these things quickly became traps for both readers and writers. The majority of black writers are funnelled into black imprints that require black characters as the main focus. Black readers are directed to one section of the book store as if black titles are the only ones that would interest them. For non-white readers the African American Interest or whatever sign on this section may as well say Keep Out.
There are some black readers and writers who still see this as a good thing, but I do not. I remember being part of the wave of elementary students to desegregate my local school (yes, I am dating myself and no I’m not talking about the South but NYC). I have never been for segregation and I can’t change now.
That being said, I know most of my readers are black men and women. I love these readers and if even more black men and women want to read my books i welcome them and bless them. But I have signed books for all manner of reader from all ethnic groups. In fact my most memorable customers were a pair of older white ladies who came up to my table in the local Waldenbooks where I was signing Each had a stack of romances–their reading supply for the month. We chatted about romance while they figured out what white romances they were going to put back so they could buy all of mine. They explained they just liked a good story and my books seemed to fit the bill.
Isn’t that what its supposed to be about, the story? I could see if someone is writing for a particular line that they conform to what the line publishes or look elsewhere. In Millenia’s case, her work is mainstream, so what difference should it make to her publisher what race her characters are?
So what do we do about the situation we’re in? As others have said, all like minded people must continue to speak out and reach out to each other. Black writers should feel more confident in reaching out to non-black audiences (to whit, Barbara I’d love for you to review my latest, Body of Lies, due out any day now). White readers can patronize black authors more, both at the cash register and more importantly in all those readers forums where buzz for books is built. We can’t expect the rest of the world to view black romance or black books in general as equal if even conscientious people act as if they aren’t.
Just realized that one of my posts above didn’t go out past the first, copied paragraph. Oh well.
Anyway–right, any writer should have a right to write the kind of books she wants to write. No problem there.
Consider, however, that in romance publishing in general writers are slotted. A writer who makes a big hit as a vampire romance writer is not going to meet with excitement if she wants to do something else. She’ll probably take another name. This is commercial fiction. Writers slant what they write to what they think will sell. My contracts are very, very specific, and I want them to be so. If a writer has signed a contract to write romances featuring African American romances, then that’s what she has to do–FOR THIS CONTRACT. If she wants to expand out of vampire romance or Highland Scotland or black romances, then she writes a new book, takes it up with agent and publisher, and sells the book elsewhere.
There are AA writers who write about white characters, so it’s not impossible. I will say that publishing likes ethnic fiction in any form at the moment and they’re slurping it up, so it must be making money for them, and I’d guess that a lot of that pressure to keep writing in that neighborhood has a lot more to do with that than anything racist.
Which isn’t to dismiss the idea of racism in publishing. Of course it exists, often in subtle and sly ways.
Barbara,
It is ultimately about the money, and I agree it’s hard for any writer to break out of whatever niche they’ve carved.
It’s difficult for AA writers to write white main characters, though I know a few that do, not because we can’t, but for the reason Tess Garritsen got heat from her Asian audiences for writing white characters. The whole race loyalty thing is even worse for us.
Can you imagine the heat generated if somebody of Terry McMillan’s or Eric Jerome Dickey’s stature started writing only white protagonists? What if Tyler Perry turned Madea white and had her cracking redneck jokes?
Oh dear.
Maybe the AA fiction niche only a money bandwagon, such as horror was in the seventies, then publishing flooded that market out with any and every book they could publish. While horror never went away, it died considerably in popularity.
We do have the loyalty thing going on, and the niche will survive, but I bet eventual self-correction of the AA market is inevitable too.
In the mean time, it’s simply beyond frustrating to HAVE to write in a racial niche because we’re black and not get the same opportunities, marketing and distribution white writers do. And a racial niche for fiction is really a stupid construct if you think about it for more than two minutes.
But for now, that looks like that’s the way it is, unless it’s challenged in the courts or by some huge wind of popular opinion. And if we win that battle, as Lynn Emery said on my blog, maybe we should beware what we wish for, because Lawd knows what godawful threads might come trailing out of that victory.
“Millenia could write white characters if she basically posed as a white author.
Did your friend pose as a black author?”
Well, if by taking a more “ethnic” name as a pen-name was posing, then yes, that’s what the pub made her do. Which was ridiculous. Why can’t anyone write whatever they want under their own name?? Don’t we have enough imagination???
Passing as black could be problematic for white authors, because they might be perceived as greedily wanting to get over on blacks and get the crumbs from our table in addition to the goodies they’re given for free already.
KeVin mentioned the anger of his co-worker when she found out the detective novels she loved with a black protag were actually by a white woman.
However if a black author passes, it might be perceived as a wily way to get around racism and get the goodies from the white table. OR at least one could say so.
Hi, all.
Sorry, but I don’t have a lot of sympathy for writers who sign a contract to write a certain type of book then insist on offering something different to the publisher. Whether written in the contract of not, there is an implied agreement that the publisher is buying your work to fit a very specific target audience. Defining that audience includes many demographics, one of which, like it or not, is racial and ethnic. Publishers assume — and sales no doubt bear this out — that specific groups of people most likely to buy a book about a INSERT RACE, ETHNIC GROUP, GENDER, TYPE OF JOB, SOCIO-ECONOMIC CLASS, ETC. Most romance readers are women. Most action-adventure readers are men. Women’s magazines are bought by women. “Guns America” Magazine is bought mostly by men in tractor caps. Etc. In today’s extremely crowded and competitive marketplace a publisher would be foolish to NOT pigeon-hole an author’s work, and in fact virtually all pop fiction is tightly marketed to specific groups. The author is question sold herself as an African-American author writing about the African-American experience. Just as if she’d sold herself as a romance author who specializes in, say, historicals about Vikings. If that historical author then decided to turn in a second book set in modern Manhattan, with nary a Viking in sight, the publisher would be justified in rejecting it.
Is it fair to expect black authors to write only about black characters? Nope. But it is fair to expect authors of ANY color to fulfill the expectations of their contract. Black authors can’t have it both ways — first insisting that their books be treated as mainstream novels with broad appeal to all audiences, but then marketing themselves exclusively as arbiters of the black experience and who — no doubt — would be furious if white authors began trespassing on their territory. I have listened to black authors say without irony, “We write about different subjects that you white girls do. Our readers are concerned about different problems.” Uh, okay, if you say so.
I’m sorry, but the author in this case is carping about a simple fact of publishing life — publishers want writers to create the same type of story over and over, however that story is defined (and I’m assuming the race of the author’s characters was only one element that attraced the publisher to her voice.)
Also, at the risk of being flamed even more than I probably will be already, quite frankly, if the author had turned in a wonderful, publishable, sellable second book — about people of any color — the publisher would have been delighted to have it. Methinks it wasn’t just the change in race that prompted the rejection — especially since the publisher approved the initial proposal with no qualms. The finished book may have not lived up to the concept. Frustrating for the author? Hell, yes? But racism? Nope. Just the brutal realities of the publishing biz.
Millenia states she took care that her contract did NOT specify black characters and her first book wasn’t race specific although the publisher marketed it as such.
She states her complaint is since she and her agent insisted this clause was specifically not included in her contract, but yet her publisher forced her into the niche anyway because of her race.
She also states the publisher accepted the book on outline. It’s possible that the book didn’t live up to expectations, but I suspect it’s far more likely since race doesn’t make book content that different if it isn’t the theme, that the editor simply assumed the characters would be black since she never explicitly stated race.
I have frequently written black characters as simply people like anybody else and forgot to write in the all important racial markers and had to go back and fill them in.
So if she did take care that the racial designation was excluded from her contract as she states, her situation is different from mine and many other black authors who choose to sign contracts within the niche.
If there was no race contract clause and the pubs get away with forcing Millenia to write protags that match her race, I like to see them force a few of the plumper authors to write plump heroines! They can use the excuse that since the authors are fat, they can only write fat heroines. [chortle!] I think we need more body size diversity in woman’s fiction and romance anyway.
Not flaming, just responding.
Don’t you just love it when people opine on a subject as if they have their facts straight when in reality, they couldn’t be more wrong? Where did this Deborah Smith get this information that Millenia Black “sold herself as an African-American author writing about the African-American experience”? When it’s been made blatantly clear that the complete opposite is true?
No matter how you slice it, a publisher’s $$ doesn’t buy them the right to treat one author’s work one way because their white, and another author another way because they are black. Site all the business/market research you want, if you wrote a book about apples, it shouldn’t be genred as carrots because you happen to be a rabbit….especially if you didn’t sign a contract for a book about carrots.
All I hear from Deborah Smith is justification for racial discrimination….and I’m sure there was plenty of that same kind of talk back in the days of racial segregation.
–Pam