I think the same percentage of blacks read different genres such as paranormal romance, mystery, thrillers, horror and SFF as whites do, but they read the same authors whites do–the ones who get the buzz.
Those authors have the browsing power when blacks go to browse for those genres. Who’s going to look for those genres in the black book section when so few authors write those sort of books? I think the different genres within black fiction can grow only as more variety appears in the niche.
But will variety ever appear? Who’s making the decisions on what will be published and pushed? The book corporations are owned and run by whites. While they’ll hire black editors to deal with the black authors, no one black editor can influence the industry heavily. If the publishers see street lit, romance and soap opera type novels are selling, they are going to publish and push more of those types of books. And then that’s what out there and what gets the buzz.
It’s as if a snake were eating it’s own tail–how it is going to find other prey as long as it’s doing so? Variety needs to get out there and be pushed to move, and that entails risk that some publisher don’t want to take with black books.
There are some genres we’re never going to get and some where black books would take off.
First, novels with religious overtones that’s still gritty and real (unlike most of the CBA pap). I mean novels such as the Madea movies that Perry Tyler makes. It’s inevitable that those would take off. If I were an editor and found one of these that was funny and well written, I’d stroke out in ectasy.
Mystery and suspense thrillers would do okay. They wouldn’t have to be “street” either.
I doubt blacks will get into vampires and paranormal romance the way white folks have. I think the deal is black women like their men alive and human. Also we aren’t the type to go in the basement when we hear a strange noise or creepin’ around at night investigating spooky shit so we don’t relate to the heroines. I think these books could move consistently if the effort is made to attract black readers who read white variations of these books (there are plenty), but the niche shouldn’t be flooded with them as the white books are presently.
Erotic romance in black would fly off the shelves. The problem is if there is little effort put into the quality. Sometimes the fact that the book is the sub-genre that is being sought is enough for the buy. But black readers are as savvy as any other. They pick up erotica and it’s a crappy read. They may try another, but soon they are simply going to stop reading those types of book and move to another where the quality is higher and more consistent.
This is the reason that romance writers hear when they speak to black romance readers who won’t read black romance. There was too much where the quality was too spotty. There’s less competition and numbers of authors vying to be published within black romance than white romance. There’s a lot of books being published though. A reader of any race isn’t going to want to waste their book dollar. Anytime they glut the market following some trend, readership falls off as the book quality falls off.
Historical romance and other historical books to be read for entertainment purposes will never work. Neither will time-travels. Think about it. Historical romance writer Beverly Jenkins usually deals with the west, where at least there was enough land so the couple don’t have to live anywhere near white folks at the happy ever after ending. Before that there was slavery where the average life expectancy was 23 years and ones loved ones could be sold away at any moment, or you could be raped, killed or whipped on a whim. The reason these sub-genres are never going to catch on with black folks because it would be extremely hard to imagine indulging in some adventure or hot and heavy affair with some hunk rather than. . . just killing oneself.
Soap opera books will continue to do well, but personally I’m praying for more variety within the black commercial fiction niche.
I’m praying hard. I want to find what I like and want to read in black also.
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