Black writers tend to have their own imprints and editors for that imprint. I’ve heard stories of not only readers returning books with AA characters when the cover was race-neutral and that AA books entered into writing contests (like the RITA) have historically been ignored and shut out.

Terry McMillan is a whole ‘nother ballgame because while she showed that black women do read (as if they never do before!), it also pigeon-holed black writers regarding subject matter. Plus, can McMillan be held up as someone to aspire to when she is one of a few black writers who have attained mainstream success? It’s been almost fifteen years since Waiting to Exhale and in that interim, only one black romance writer has hit the NYT best-seller list (Brenda Jackson)–this year!

But that’s merely the tip of the iceberg…

I’ve heard from some black writers who prefer to have all AA books (even if it’s never quite all; some genres inter-mingle better than romance does) in one section of the store so their core audience can find them, and from other black writers who are outraged at the ghettoization. And correspondingly, I’ve seen some black readers arguing that they’re offended by the separation of AA books, and others arguing that they want to be able to find all their favorite authors in one place; the latter group often doesn’t look in any other part of the bookstore, from what people have posted in comments in blog discussions I’ve found.

I can see both sides of the argument, and although my own gut-level response is that the ghetto shelves are a horrible solution and prevent a lot of black writers from finding a larger audience, I’m not going to tell all those other black writers that they should gamble what financial security they have by agitating to be shelved with the white romances, and just hope that they pick up enough new white readers to make up for the black readers who won’t find them there. :/

Angie

It’s about infusing the romance with the context and mores of the African-American community. It’s about taking character and plot and examining them through the lenses of a many-sided AA prism.

Much easier said than done. Just because an AA author writes an AA romance does not make it a good AA romance, as is true for authors of any other romances or within any other genre.

I understand those who would like to see AA romances get some facetime, so to speak, in contests and within writers’ organizations like RWA. AA authors who excel at this sub-genre should get their due, no differently than good paranormal, inspirational, or contemporary romance authors. Do contest judges understand and recognize the nuances, or do they rate based on their usual standard and therefore, possibly underrate these stories? I don’t know.

At the same time, I get that “love is colorblind”, or at least many would like it to be. However, if that were true, AA authors would not have to fight so hard to gain readership outside the African-American community. Lovers of romance of all ethnicities would buy and read any and all good romances. Sales statistics tell us time and time again that that’s not the case.

No solutions. Just a lot of thoughts. As with all things race, the matter is complicated.

I guess it would make sense to have separate projects that encourage black writers (or muslim writers or such of any other minority/non mainstream group) to write for the mass market without feeling the need to hide their cultural heritage.

But what about authors like Terry McMillan, she seems to do pretty well in the mainstream market?