Romance author Gwyneth Bolton penned an excellent article for Romance: B(u)y the Book about the evolution of African American romance and it’s impact on her. She mentions how, while she read mainstream romance (romance featuring white heroes and heroines), she often longed to read about characters that were like her.
Many black women romance readers, like myself, read romance novels long before the first African American imprints appeared in the early 90s. Many still read a wide variety of romance and don’t limit their reading based on the race of the author or the race of the characters in the book. Some only started reading romance novels when the black romances were published and never will read a romance with white leads. Some have read white authors in the past when they couldn’t find black authors and will never read another white romance again now that they can find black romances. However, most black readers will tell you that they read black romances because they want to be able to relate to the book. They want heroines that look like them.
When I first started reading romance, AA romance was non existent– meaning even if there were a few of them out there, they were not getting the publicity and attention the mainstream romances were. Until the early to mid 90′s, I’d never heard of, or seen, any romances, either in the library or on book shelves, featuring any minority leads. But as a lover of romance, I could (and still do) appreciate any good story, regardless of the race (or species in the case of paranormal) of the hero and/or heroine.
Over the last few years, as I’ve gotten closer to the industry as both a reviewer and an author, I’ve noticed that not all people feel that way. And some are, for whatever reason, very closed-minded about what they will or want read. Of the AA romance readers and authors I’ve spoken to, about 90%, of them still read across the many subgenres of romance, regardless of the lead character(s) race. Yet, when I polled my non AA friends and writers, only about 5% of them have ever read, or plan to read, an AA romance– or any story featuring minority leads.
I’ve often wondered why this is so and if this discrepancy will ever cease to be a main factor. The optimist in me hopes it does, a good story is a good story, regardless.
In the case of the African American readers and writers I’ve spoken too, most, if not all, are open to reading culturally diverse novels because of the lack of AA romance novels that were available at the time of their introduction to the genre. So as times progressed and more AA romance became available, they began to read them more, but never totally abandoned the mainstream romance stories.
On the other hand, I know of an AA romance reader that refuses to read anything but AA romance. I’ve asked why, but after not getting a straight answer, I decided to not push it so I left it alone. However, I think I will gift her with one or two non-AA romance titles just to see if she likes them. Maybe then I we can have an open dialog about her stance. And she’s not alone in her preference, I attended a conference last year where quite a few readers spoke about their preference and intent to read only AA romance.
In the case of the non-African American romance readers and writers I’ve asked, I’ve never gotten an answer that wasn’t some variant of “Hmm…I don’t know.” So my response is usually “Since you don’t have a solid reason, do you plan on trying one out? ” I then proceed to recommend some of my favorite authors and titles in hopes of exposing them to some great stories that they otherwise would never have read.
Has anyone even taken me up on my challenge?? I don’t know, but I would like to think they have.
Another interesting thing I’ve noticed is that it’s mostly the older readers and writers I’ve spoken too (regardless of race) that are more firmly rooted in their preference to either read or not read books by or featuring African Americans; while the younger readers and writers have more of an open mind about it. The same can be said of readers of paranormal and urban fantasy. I’ve noticed that readers of these sub genres tend to be more open when it comes to the cultural diversity of the books they read as well.
Reading this article made me to realize how much I’ve been thinking about this particular topic over the last 5 years, or so. As both an African American author aspiring to become published one day, and as a professional Marketing Analyst, I’m very interested in the climate of the current market, consumer demographics, and the future trends and shifts in the market and consumer behavior. I believe these indicators influences an editor’s purchasing decisions, and possible influeces agents and authors as they are putting together marketing and PR plans.
I’m interested in your opinion. What type of fiction do you read? Are you open and willing to about characters of different cultural & ethnic backgrounds than you? Or do you prefer one over the other?
To check out Mrs. Bolton’s article in full, click here.
A fairly common trope in the romance genre is that of “love at first sight”. Within the context of fiction, this concept is readily acceptable as long as it’s well written and executed. One of the joys of reading romance, according to informal polls I’ve read and taken, is that is allows the reader the opportunity to escape their lives, if only for a bit of time, and allows them access to fantasies that may be missing from their lives either at the moment or altogether.
) exactly how many of us (romance readers & writers and people in general) believe “love at first sight” truly exists?
