by Ciar Cullen
Race. A four-letter word in romance publishing. Okay, it’s a four-letter word. It’s a loaded one, and I’ve struggled with whether or not we can discuss it without causing a commotion. Can we?
I’ve seen discussions about the African-American romance sections of bookstores. I don’t much like these sections. I think they do more harm than good. Of course, there are whole lines of books devoted to different ethnicities. Why isn’t this true of any other genre (that I know of)? There’s no African-American fantasy section.
What I haven’t seen are open discussions about whether it’s acceptable for someone of one race to craft characters of another. “Sure it is,” you say. “I have an interracial couple in my book.” “I have Black secondary characters in mine.” I’ve written Black secondary characters into my books, too–my fantasies, in which I’ve created luxurious worlds in which race isn’t an issue. It feels like a cop-out.
People are people, you might respond. That would mean that straight people couldn’t write convincingly about gays, or manlove. Perhaps you’ll bring up vampires and were-creatures. But you needn’t worry about a vampire reading your book and telling you that you got it all wrong. If we’re all the same, how can you get it wrong?
I’ve reviewed African-American romances and there can be a subtle (and often not-so-subtle) cultural difference in the writing. African-American writers (Asian writers, Latino writers) draw on their own experiences and rich heritages. This background necessarily infuses the story and the characters with qualities I can’t hope to copy.
Where does this leave us? I don’t want to suggest that we water down our cultural diversity so that we can bridge the romance publishing racial divide, if there is one. I’d just like for the books in Borders written by African-American writers to be next to mine. I want to try these writers. I want their readers to try my books.
I believe most Caucasian writers are afraid to “take the plunge,” in fear of getting it wrong, falling into a stereotype, offending someone. I’d love to hear about books that cross this divide.
One footnote: one of the most memorable books of science fiction I ever read was by Isaac Asimov. I don’t remember the title. Why was it memorable? Because the clever Dr. Asimov wasn’t much into description. But he cleverly, near the very end of the book, made it clear that the heroine was Black. He did it intentionally, and people noticed their own reactions to it. Have we come much further than those golden days of SciFi?
*For information on how you can submit to Open Blog Night, click here.
James Patterson’s Alex character was black, James is very white. Other than that I don’t remeber another character that crosses that divide, but I also don’t go searching for author’s pictures to see what race they are.
by Sara Thacker July 1st, 2007 at 7:01 amHere in the UK your lucky to find a romance section in some shops never mind splitting it down still further into sub groups so perhaps this is why I’ve never quite understood why its an issue. Of course the books should be shelved together. I can’t think of a valid reason why they wouldn’t be. as for having to be a certain color or race to write a charcter convincingly thats just crazy to me. It’s like saying you have to be a murderer to write about crime. Or a millionaire to write convincingly about the lifestyle of the super rich.
by Nell Dixon July 1st, 2007 at 8:07 am:smile:I kinda think we’re at a half-way point in societal evolution on this issue. We can write interracial casts of characters for a variety of genres and sub-genres, especially Fantasy and Science Fiction. I still don’t see African American partners in Romance as a whole, except for Erotica and lines set aside specifically for that race. A white woman can love a werewolf, vampire, or a white man dressed up like a Native American, but not an African American man. Or, so it seems. But, I do think we’re getting there. The more we cross the lines of literary segregation the more publishers will respond. All my novels are interracial, probably because that’s what I see around me in Real Life and because I grew up on Star Trek. Up until now, the novels I’ve been polishing for submission have had non-white characters in secondary roles. However, the next one MANIC KNIGHT, has an African American heroine. And I do have one based on an African folktale with an all-black cast of characters. It’s paranormal and set in Africa’s past, but I am blurring the lines I hope. Like I’ve said before, I’m white as a bleached sheet.:wink:
:idea:Ever wonder why we want to blur the lines? It came to me the other day why it’s important to me. My husband and I have been considering transracial adoption for years.:grin:
by Kimber An July 1st, 2007 at 8:44 amI agree. I don’t like the idea of separating books based on the characters’ race. It smacks of segregation to me.
I guess the idea was implemented to spotlight books with characters of a different race so that they are easier to find by the readers they were targeting, because in the past nearly all romance stories were of caucasion characters. It’s an idea that has good intentions, but I wonder if it’s really necessary, or truly even a good idea now that we see what it looks like on the shelf. Does it not build division as opposed to erasing that dividing line?
I like the idea of one big romance section in book stores, not one that’s divided by race or ethnicity.
by Lisa July 1st, 2007 at 8:47 amWhen I go into a bookstore, I expect to find genre fiction in that genre’s section and who knows how many books I’ve missed because they were shelved elsewhere?
Ursula LeGuin springs to mind as a white writer who writes non-white characters very convincingly. The Lathe of Heaven features a black heroine, and when the rules of reality changed she became gray, in a world with no race. Her snappiness went away, she lost something uniquely her. The gray world was pretty horrible. It’s a book with lots of subtle and smart things to say about diversity.
by Charlene Teglia July 1st, 2007 at 8:56 amI want GLBT erotic romance shelved next to het, too. I just don’t see it happening.
As far as other-than-self accuracy goes, there’s always gonna be someone (except perhaps that vampire) who disagrees with your portrayal. As long as you’re not being promoted as an authority on the subject, *shrug* I don’t see the problem. It’s fiction. At some point, our research has to end or we’d never get anything published.
by Alessia Brio July 1st, 2007 at 9:17 am[...] Ciar Cullen has an article about race on Romancing the Blog. White romance folks don’t seem to take much to posts about race, but they take them better from not obviously black folk. [...]
by the way there » Blog Archive » Linkage and a bloggish promo tip July 1st, 2007 at 11:18 amThe only thing I don’t like about authors of other races writing about blacks is that they aren’t segregated and marketed only to blacks like we are when we write about blacks. It’s simply not fair. But will it get readers of other races used to reading more about black characters? Maybe. But I still think those nonblack authors should spare a thought about the segregated and denigrated black authors writing the same damn thing without their privilege if they choose to write about black characters. Just my opinion. And an idea–don’t accept any awards for the bestest of the best ever black book of the year when you know hundreds of books by black authors went unread by those award givers because they’re black and you got read mainly because you’re not black. Think activism people, if you jump into the AA pond. Just a thought.
by Monica J July 1st, 2007 at 11:36 amAs an avid reader and reviewer I would like to see all books by different authors in the genres that they belong in. It shouldn’t matter what race the author is.
by Tonni July 1st, 2007 at 1:28 pmAs I read some blogs by black writers, I’m starting to see I really missed their perspective, which is partly what I’m looking for as well. Does it benefit black writers to be segregated (or highlighted, depending upon your PC preference) in the bookstores? It’s certainly a developing marketing trend. But if I wrote a book with all black characters (I think there’s a marked difference between interracial romances and black romances), would it go on that shelf? Certainly not, is my thought. If a black writer wrote all white characters, where would that go? Would a black writer even be motivated to do that? I think Kimber An has it right–that we’re at some mid-point in societal evolution. I hope we’re moving in the right direction, but I have concerns about it. Or maybe I just think too much.
by Ciar Cullen July 1st, 2007 at 3:12 pmI think niche marketing is a good thing. . . to a point. When you go into a book store looking for books for dog lovers, you might get annoyed when all you find is “how-to care for your parrot”. Or if you are looking for history, you don’t want to have to ferret (pun intended) through historical fiction. But to me, romance, mystery, etc. are enough of a distinction.
OR….if the AA niche marketing is working, great.
But do bookstore patrons a favor, shelve one copy of each of those books in with the main romance, mystery, western sections.
by Ericka Scott July 1st, 2007 at 3:18 pm:idea:I think Monica has a good idea. Those of us who do manage to blur the lines of segregation should be reaching across that line in the hope of collapsing it altogether. I’ll keep that in mind should I ever have mine published.:wink: I think those of us who review novels on our blogs can make an extra effort to promote authors from both sides to both readerships at once.:grin:
by Kimber An July 1st, 2007 at 3:30 pmI’ve noticed that whenever the ‘Race’ is mentioned on here, people seem to go noticeably quiet.
I guess nobody has much of an opinion either way huh? Either that, or they’re too scared of offending somebody.
You may have been better writing a column on reviewing Ciar, you’d have had 100 comments by now.
Just sayin.
by Karen Scott July 1st, 2007 at 4:43 pmLOL Karen. I guess that was part of my point. Oh well, I have a genuine interest/concern over the topic. Next time I’ll be sure to blog about my experiences at Triskelion, my opinions on snarky reviews, list all my issues with editors by name, and pitch a fit about RWA. Oh, and if I have any dirt on publishers…
Kidding, folks, kidding. Methinks Karen was not, however. Thanks for commenting guys. It’s not easy to feel free to talk about some topics, because we’re all under a microscope. I understand the reticence.
by Ciar Cullen July 1st, 2007 at 5:48 pm:cool:Ah, give people a little credit.:wink: They’re probably just thinking.
Besides, weekends are usualy quiet in the summer. Did you see how many comments there were for yesterday’s column on the RWA?:shock:
by Kimber An July 1st, 2007 at 6:42 pmSince you wanted more comments…!
One Waterstones bookstore here in the UK that I go to frequently has both a Romance section (and one subsection devoted to romances ‘with a bite’ which had JR Ward included! I love seeing romance somewhere acknowledged especially ’round ‘ere) and a ‘Black fiction’ section. They’re fairly close together geographically speaking.
Putting them together makes sense in that it’s what some readers could consider unusual and what other readers might specifically would want to read. On the other hand, it also makes sense to put a few copies in the genre they belong to as well, which bookstores don’t seem to be inclined to do over at The States.
It’s difficult to add something new to the discussion.
by B July 1st, 2007 at 9:16 pmOr maybe because it’s Sunday, Karen.
Personally, I’ve never seen an “AA romance” section. I’ve seen an AA section. where they lump together books of any genre, non-fiction. the whole shebang. Or I’ve seen a dump of AA romance by one publisher (like Kensington’s or Hq’s AA lines) much as I’ve seen a Downtown Press dump or similar.
Now, back to the subject of the actual blog. I don’t know if authors are afraid of writing it as much as publishers don’t know how to market it in the current “death of midlist” climate. Most times, when they launch new authors, they need to have a hook behind them, and many people think it’s harder to hook something ethnic on an author who isn’t.
James Patterson doesn’t count. He’s James Patterson, whose booksales eclipse that of entire publishing companies. Lathe of Heaven was 1971 and spec fic to boot, and written by an author known to explore race and sexuality within her books as part of her writerly theme. I don’t think that’s the same thing as writing mainstream romance where the characters just happen to be another race. I wrote a book with a Latina heroine, and was told it would be a tough sell since I wasn’t latina. Other authors have told me that the first thing their agents were asked upon submissions was if the authors were that ethnicity, and we just had a post on this blog the other day about how a Cuban American author was asked to change her name to “sound” more Cuban for her Latina lit.
Do you think this might be a side effect of branding — someone is an author of latina fiction or AA fiction or whatnot. Everyone has to write something very very very specific, and BRAND themselves that way.
by Diana July 1st, 2007 at 9:47 pmGood points Diana. Branding and marketing are first, and after all, it’s a business.
by Ciar Cullen July 1st, 2007 at 10:23 pmJust got back from Baltimore (took our youngest to the Johns Hopkins 5-week pre-college). We stayed at the BWI Embassy Suites and because I’m too cheap to pay $10 a day for internet, I used the free computer access in the business center. I mention that because “Romancing the Blog” is blocked by their filter for “potentially offensive content.” Which is why I’m not jumping in on one of my soapbox issues until so late in the discussion.
I am a white writer who writes many black characters in my science fiction (which sells) and my mysteries and romance (which haven’t sold yet). As a partner in an interracial marriage for the last 26-and-counting years, cultural reality is such that most of the people I interact with daily are black. Sometimes my characters are black without my thinking about it — sometimes they’re deliberately black. So far no one has said I’m doing black wrong — but when I write black on purpose, it’s because I’m trying to get folks who would not normally do so to pay attention.
I can say — as a partially reformed white person — that nine out of ten white folk are totally flabbergasted by any insinuation that they benefit from some sort of “white privilege” for much the same reason fish would be at a loss to recognize water.
I understand niche marketing. I understand black readers wanting to support black writers. I even understand the anger some black readers have at white writers depicting black lives. (I had the experience of having a black supervisor on my day job be absolutely furious when I mentioned the author of her favorite historical mystery series — featuring a black private eye in the sixties — was a friend of mine and happens to be a four-foot-ten white lady.) But I think the books should be presented side by side, and I think promotional dollars should be spent equally. And don’t get me started on access to publishers to begin with. (I just spent ten minutes trying to find the The Angry Black Woman ’s essay on that issue and realized her whole blog in the month since I visited last is worth reading. I’m going over there after this.)
At any rate, within the limits of my dermis, I’m doing what I can. I think the least we white folk can do is speak up on the issue at every opportunity. And while you’re speaking — or maybe while catching your breath between sentences — go over to the AA aisle and buy something.
by KeVin Killiany July 1st, 2007 at 11:09 pmThis is an interesting topic, and one I’ve wrestled with for years as an African-American (aspiring-to-be-published) author. My books are multi-cultural as is reflective of my personal history and current environment. I’ve never lived in a homogeneous city or town. In fact, I have been one of a few minorities, which gave me a lot of time to explore how other people think and are motivated to action.
As an author, my goal is to tell a story. I don’t highlight my characters’ race unless that is an integral part of the story. And sometimes, it is important. Unless an author has experienced an outside perspective, and by experienced in this case I mean intimately participated in a culture apart from their own, they should leave the topic of race alone. There is nothing more insulting than for me to see some aspect of myself done as a cheap caricature.
Yes, this is fiction, and no one is positioning themselves as an expert by crafting a novel with a multi-cultural cast. True. There’s no way to be an expert on something like race in my mind because regardless of whichever group each of us belongs, we will have a personal perspective that will be colored by our local communities and ripple outward. I know my experience as a black woman in America is different from my peers, but at the same time, we share bits of culture that seem as ingrained as the genetic imprint that makes me black.
In an ideal world, my books would be shelved with others in my genre. The reality at this time, though, indicates that if and when I join the ranks of published authors, I will fight for shelf space on the African-American jumble I see when I go into the store. The only time I can honestly recollect seeing black authors positioned with non-black authors is when I’ve perused the remainders shelf.
Seeing as I’ve veered from the actual topic at hand, I’ll answer the question. The book that comes to mind for crossing/blurring lines is Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees.
by Dawna July 1st, 2007 at 11:50 pmThis really resonates with me. I think Dawna put that exceptionally well, and has articulated many of my own thoughts.
As to the matter of “people get quiet when this is brought up”, well, here’s a question. How many times can we say, “This is wrong.”
There’s nothing to discuss. There’s nothing to debate. It is wrong. Ciar didn’t ask any hard questions with this article. She asked a general question at the end: “Have we come much further than those golden days of SciFi?”
Obviously, the answer is no. We haven’t come far enough, or authors wouldn’t be treated differently / marketed differently because of their skin tone. The real issue is, “What can we do about it?”
That’s another article right there, and when I have time, maybe I’ll write it. Right now, I’m tired, and I don’t have a solution off the top of my head. But that’s the question that needs to be asked. Would complaining to bookstores help? A letter writing campaign? What can the average person do to make a difference?
If people are silent on this aspect of the issue, well, then it’s because they don’t give a shit, which is sad, but certainly not criminal. There’s a hell of a lot of hurt and hardship in the world today, so people have to pick the causes they’re passionate about. Or maybe they don’t care about anything, which is the saddest thing of all.
by Ann(ie) July 2nd, 2007 at 2:03 amThat may be true Annie, but it certainly hasn’t stopped anti-reviewer blog posts, posts about getting respect for the genre from outsiders, the topic of gay and erotic romance, gossiping about certain publisher’s personal business, etc, etc from catching like wildfire in the romance blogosphere. If you don’t care, I can deal with that, but for the readers and writers and reviewers of this genre to constantly bicker over the same topics again and again and never tire of them, but frequently say topics about racism and segregation in the romance genre need to be put to rest because “what can we do about it?” or “we need to pick our battles” is HYPOCRITICAL to say the least. :evil::evil::evil:
by Angela July 2nd, 2007 at 4:11 amErm… what Angela said…
And Diana, you know as well as I do that had this been a reviewing post, it still would have garnered more commentary, Sunday or not.
Nobody wants to admit it, but there is a certain apathy towards columns that raise the contentious issue of racial discrimination in publishing, which is kinda sad isn’t it?
The obligatory hand-wringing and commiserating platitudes, don’t really mean anything, and certainly do nothing to help to move things forward. You may all congratulate yourself for at least commenting on this subject, but I’m betting that the majority of you simply moved onto to another more interesting blog, once you’d posted, didn’t you?
I look at all the names of writers and industry professionals on the sidebars, and wonder why these people can’t do more to help change the status quo. There are an awful lot of you out there, and if you really gave a crap, you’d be blogging about it, or raising the issues with your readers.
What a perfectly stupendous idea. Why don’t all of you guys write at least one post on your respective blogs, about the issues that plague AA writers, the issues that seem to keep the playing field uneven for them, the issues that keep the majority of white romance readers from picking up a book by an AA author, or a book with black characters on the front cover?
I suspect many of you wont, because you simply don’t care enough. It makes me very sad, and at the same time, glad that I’m not a romance writer, trying to gain acceptance from white readers, or white authors come to think of it.
OK, my work here is done, I’ll leave you before you guys get all defensive and twitchy, as some of you tend to do, when this very important issue is raised.
by Karen Scott July 2nd, 2007 at 5:22 amWill whichever of you guys dropped by my Live Journal anonymously and made the nice comment on this topic please come back and identify yourself?
by KeVin Killiany July 2nd, 2007 at 7:29 amWhat I find amazing is when I read current books and it’s a completely white world. It’s like the jokes about Woody Allen’s movies. Everybody is white. That’s just astonishing to me. Maybe they exist, but I’ve never once read a book set in America where although most of the characters aren’t white, white people don’t exist at all. Are there many cities and towns in the U.S. where everyone is white? I live in a city where there are people of all ethnicities so I tend to view the rest of the U.S. that way as well. Maybe I’m wrong.
When I read books where no one exists who isn’t white I wonder if the authors or the white readers even notice. I doubt it. Until this shelving segregation issue was brought to their attention, most white online romance readers never noticed that there weren’t black romances on the romance shelves. I’m pretty sure that most white romance readers are still oblivious. Not having to notice these things is just one of the many manifestations of being part of a dominant culture.
I’m not a black romance writer, just a reader. I’m opposed to the book segregation. However, I have no illusions that a significant number of white readers will suddently become interested in people they never even noticed were missing from Romanceland. That’s just not realistic. I still think these discussions are useful though. Very interesting, too.
by Barbara B. July 2nd, 2007 at 9:13 amBarbara B., Friends and Seinfeld, two of the most popular tv shows ever were set in NYC which I understand is a majority minority city and there were no black people until the last few seasons when they’d already jumped the shark. One of the most intriguing comments I’ve heard about Grey’s Anatomy is that the cast is so ‘diverse.’ I think its incredibly sad that its even an issue. Aren’t most workplaces in this country ‘diverse?’
So no, I’m not surprised people don’t give a damn about book segregation. Many people in this country work diligently to maintain actual segregation. Many studies have shown that when a previously all-white neighborhood becomes 15% minority white flight occurs. Obviously quite a few people prefer their entertainment, like their neighborhoods as white as possible.
by Roslyn July 2nd, 2007 at 10:10 amI think you misunderstood my point.
Coming at it from this angle isn’t getting anything done. You note people because aren’t talking about it, but from my perspective while talking may “raise awareness”, it doesn’t actually accomplish anything. I don’t think the endless chewing of other topics accomplishes anything either. I thought you wanted change, not “obligatory hand-wringing and commiserating platitudes.”
I’m saying there need to be more posts that are calls to action. Tell people what they can do to make a difference. Or open a discussion on that, if you don’t know either.
I went to bed actually. And finally, I don’t understand how you extrapolated “hypocritical” out of what I said. I was honest. I said there are people who won’t care and won’t do anything about it, even once solutions have been proposed.
I also said people have to pick their causes. That’s also true. With atrocities in the middle east, human rights violations, global warming, the need for gun control, growing violence in schools, grievous crimes against women… how could anyone have enough mental energy to be passionate about every single injustice in the world? Are you passionate about the mistreatment of Mexican migrant workers? What are you doing about it?
I did not say people shouldn’t talk about this issue, but I think it needs to come from a different angle with solutions proposed and “this is what you can do” outlined for people. I don’t think blogging is enough. It needs to be accompanied by action.
Please find where in my previous post that I said the needs to be “put to bed” because I’m not seeing it.
by Ann(ie) July 2nd, 2007 at 10:22 am[...] I wonder this same thing when racism and segregation in the romance industry is brought up again, and again and again with nary the same outrage or interest shown when the topics of defending the romance genre, erotic romance, gay romance; the war between reviewers vs authors; or gossiping about authors or publishing houses and whatnot. Dialogue has been consistently opened over the past year, and we have not overcome, and in fact, we tend to digress because the majority of people within the industry simply don’t care. It doesn’t affect them personally, so why bother even thinking about it, much less entering a discussion with the hope of making a difference or at least opening your mind to something you’ve never really thought about. [...]
by Where were You? « Reading While Black July 2nd, 2007 at 1:12 pmAction? Most black folks don’t even talk about it, much less do anything about it. Everybody is just trying to make it and are afraid of upsetting somebody who might harm their hopes and dreams.
Why should nonblack authors invest? It doesn’t affect them.
I’m thinking it will be this way until the cycle turns and things change which probably won’t be in my lifetime.
by Monica J July 2nd, 2007 at 1:23 pm[...]As most of you know, there’s discrimination in romance. People are not treated equally. Black authors have their books segregated according to their skin color, not their genre. And that’s wrong; that’s not up for debate or discussion.
What about AA marketed lines like Kimani? That seems like it encourages segregation as well. The publishers will say they’re targeting AA readers, and it works, so that’s why they do it. But it limits a black author’s audience from the jump, which doesn’t seem like a good thing.
But I don’t think Ciar addressed the most important point. The real question is, what can we do about it?[...]
by What can we do? July 2nd, 2007 at 1:32 pmAnd Diana, you know as well as I do that had this been a reviewing post, it still would have garnered more commentary, Sunday or not.
No, Karen, actually, I don’t. They rarely even post columns on Sundays (and they moved all the regular columnists out of the Sunday spot) because the readership is way down. Maybe the real problem is that this column was posted on a weekend.
I think your anger is misplaced, here. Every time I see this topic come up on writer boards and blogs, everyone is interested in learning more, in trying to find the root cause, to see how to make things change. I see the same arguments for an against, and the same explanations, for and against. Two years ago it was “wow, I never knew that happened!” and then a year ago it was “what are we going to do about it?” As far as I can see, it’s still at that stage. Has anyone come up with a next step?
This particular post is about writers, though, not about publishers. Do I think that writers have a responsibility to write about a particular ethnic group? Do I have a responsibility to write about vampires, or more to the point, to not do so, because there are so many vampires already on the marketplace and I should write about something else? I don’t think I do.
I’ve written about characters of various ethnicities, and I continue to do so. I never thought anything of the fact that I made a heroine Latina, and, thankfully, no rejection letter I got stated that as a problem. (Maybe we would have heard more about it if I’d gotten and agent and we’d tried to sell to a publisher.) But I’m not writing romance now, so I’m not hearing much about the fact that my heroine’s love interest is Asian-American. And now I’m writing YA, where, from what I can see, race matters even less. But in YA books, all of the things that seem to matter SO MUCH to romance readers, who will read Regency but not Victorian, or contemporary but not paranormal, or vampires but not werewolves, or white but not black — doesn’t seem to matter either. So maybe the fact that romance is so segregated racially is just a further symptom about the way romance is so completely segregated in every aspect of subgenre.
by Diana July 2nd, 2007 at 1:52 pmActually, I just wrote that I wondered if white writers were comfortable writing outside their own ethnicity. It’s part of a larger issue, as some of you have pointed out. I’m not the best qualified to comment on the larger question of racism in romance publishing, and I acknowledge that.
I also don’t think one can equate the number or intensity of responses to an interest or lack thereof in the topic of racism. I asked a fairly specific question and those who had something to say responded.
by Ciar Cullen July 2nd, 2007 at 2:25 pmCiar’s post seemed to be mainly directed at authors, which was why I didn’t respond earlier.
Ciar mentioned that she’s ‘reviewed African-American romances’ and it seems to me that one of the things which would be most effective in challenging the segregation of AA romances would be for there to be more reviews of these romances on all the romance review blogs and sites. That would give the books publicity and bring them to the attention of readers who might not find them because they either don’t look in the AA section of the bookshop or because AA romances aren’t sold in their local bookshop.
At the moment, it looks as though reviewing is almost as segregated as the shelving. Of course, there may well be other factors at work, such as the number of AA romances which are category romance (which is another type of romance which gets fewer reviews relative to the volume of books than are published) and perhaps more AA romances are contemporaries and, that’s not the most fashionable of sub-genres at the moment, but whatever the reason, if non-AA readers aren’t exposed to reviews of AA romances, they’re not so likely to find and read them.
I think there’s been a little bit of movement on this as a result of the issue being raised, but there are still specific sites which review AA romances, and then few other places which regularly review them (other than Romantic Times, I think), and that needs to change if AA romances are to take their place alongside all the other romances rather than shunted off into a separate section.
by Laura Vivanco July 2nd, 2007 at 3:05 pmCan I just add that I think this is a gradual inevitable shift. If I just have a quick look at the Disney Channel or any new television series such as Heroes/Grey’s Anatomy, you’ve got plenty of diveristy.
Racial non-segregation… surely it’s nearer than we think it is. Booksellers and publishers are just 10 years behind as they tend to be on current issues e.g. The Internet.
by B July 2nd, 2007 at 3:41 pmI think too much meaning is attached to this attempt to maximize sales via market segmentation. Booksellers are just trying to sell as many books as possible. That’s all. Prove that one way moves more titles than the other way, and they will change their practices–unless their local customers demand a nod to a specific group via segmentation.
A lot of people may be too young to know this, but books often used to be racked by their publishers. So if an author had one book published by Fawcett Crest and another by Harper Perennial, they’d be half a store apart. Talk about messed up marketing!
The bottom line is the bottom line.
by Poison Ivy July 2nd, 2007 at 4:58 pmAnn(ie)…isn’t the most effective way to “help” this situation to go buy a book? That seems to be the solution whenever people say they are tired of this and want more of that. I’m sorry if what I said rubbed you wrong, but it sounded, between the lines, like another form of shutting the conversation down because it’s uncomfortable.
And Diana, even when this sort of topic is posted during the weekday, it will never garner as many comments on such “heated” subjects like the ones Karen mentioned. Be honest. As for this blog being aimed at authors and your experience writing non-white characters…readers still jump into a few authorial topics, and you have the privilege of “writing colored” because you’re white. The other issue is that a white author can write non-white characters and still be shelved in their designated genre, but a black author will still be shoved in the ghetto of the “African-American Fiction” section with a MUCH smaller print run and even less of a chance for publicity and readership. And worse, that white author will receive tons of “that book was so daring because it was inter- ethnic” or even worse: “I’m not racist/prejudice…[Very Popular Author] wrote a book with two black[or other minority] leads and I loved it!”.
by Angela July 2nd, 2007 at 4:59 pmthink your anger is misplaced, here
Did I sound angry Diana? Well I wasn’t. Sad maybe, but certainly not angry. If I was an AA writer trying to earn a living, then maybe I’d be angry, but I’m not. I thought my post was much more matter-of-fact than anything else.
Waddaya know, 36 comments, nothing like making people feel defensive to get them talking huh?
Just kidding of course.
by Karen Scott July 2nd, 2007 at 5:13 pmWe all have the privelege of writing whatever characters we want, don’t we? I have a black colleague (well, she moved on to bigger and better things) who started her career as an epubbed writer and now is contracted by a rather large NY publisher. She happens to write paranormals and fantasies a good bit, so I imagine that has determined where she’ll be shelved, as someone else pointed out. I wouldn’t assume to tell her what color characters she could write (she’d bite your head off, first of all), and I can’t imagine that she wouldn’t be supportive of my efforts. Perhaps one outstanding difference is genre. Dunno. I’ll log off now because I don’t guess I’m adding much at this point, except to learn with a little sadness that I’m less informed than I thought.
by Ciar Cullen July 2nd, 2007 at 6:32 pmOkay. I’m a white romance author who’s always written characters of different ethnicities, races and religious beliefs than my own, because I prefer my fictional worlds to reflect the diversity of my reality — if I set a story in NYC or Albuquerque, you betcha you’re gonna see that cultural/racial diversity reflected in my stories. But I’m hearing some conflicting messages here: On the one hand, there’s a subtle chastisement for authors writing “outside” of who they are (which in my case, trust me, would make for some reeeeally boring characters), as though doing so might somehow steal something from writers of those various backgrounds/races/whatever. On the other, there’s the complaint about white authors creating lily-white worlds (which many do. Although, to be fair, I’ve read books by black authors with all black casts, too.).
Obviously, no matter what we do, we’re gonna piss somebody off.
I’ve stated over and over again that I think the segregate-books-by-color thing is asinine. However, there are black authors who don’t necessarily agree, who feel that they DO have a niche audience and they don’t want to risk losing readers who might not be able to find them if their books were shelved by genre alone. So as Monica pointed out, if even the authors affected don’t agree on what to do about the problem (or even if there’s a problem at all), then what are the rest of us supposed to do?
But as for Ciar’s point about whether writers should write characters radically different from who they are — that’s an individual decision for each author, depending on their experience and comfort level. I’ve written Hispanic and Asian American lead characters (as in, from those viewpoints), but not black, even though, ironically, I’ve been far closer to a lot more blacks than I have Asians or Hispanics. Why? Because I’m frankly concerned about getting flak from black readers for not “getting it right,” never mind that there are (pardon the pun) a thousand shades of “right.”
And God knows I don’t need the cloud hanging over my head of having invoked some white chick privilege of writing black characters that won’t get stuck in the bookstore ghetto.
But the thing is, there’s a lot that’s “not fair” about this business. In fact, being a white mutt — with no obvious ethnic card to play, such as being Jewish or Catholic or Irish or Italian — actually works against me. Publishers these days want an author they can hawk as loudly as their books; they want authentic voices, they want niche. When I pitched my half-Hispanic YA to my agent, in fact, her first reaction was that publishers are leery of non-Hispanic authors writing Hispanic characters (guess Ann Brashares didn’t get that memo, huh?). Since it’s not like this chick exactly wears a Carmen Miranda fruit basket on her head or sounds like Charo (am I dating myself? :shock:), I held my ground. But it will be interesting to hear editors’ reactions to a writer named Templeton with a character named Gonzales.:roll:
The thing is, while I don’t mean to trivialize the bookshelf segregation issue at all, it seems that no matter what path an author chooses in regards to the racial or ethnic makeup of her characters, no matter what her own race or ethnic background might be, she’s likely to run into resistance from one source or another — either the industry pros themselves (over whom we have noooo control), or the readers (over whom we have even less).
And now that I’ve ended this post with the world’s longest sentence, I need to put on my Mom hat and go make dinner.
by Karen Templeton July 2nd, 2007 at 8:31 pmLook, if a non-white author chooses to write books that reflect the diverse nation we live in, more power to them, but when I complain about white authors never being stuck in the AA fiction ghetto because they are white, I only look sharply at authors who have taken advantage of this and DON’T SAY ANYTHING.
Where’s Suzanne Brockmann addressing the fact that she can write Harvard&#