Writing in Color Redux, the Zane edition
Posted in Being An Author, Blog
Zane is all for AA book segregation for one very simple reason–the fact is it makes money, and as a publisher she’s clear that’s what she cares about. “They sell better. That’s been documented. There’s no question about that. When someone goes into a bookstore and they’re looking for African-American books, they’re going to look for the African-American section. “
Money is the trump card in this day and age. With the success of Terri McMillan’s Waiting to Exhale in the early nineties, publishers drew in a breath as they saw a fresh and untapped niche with a seemingly insatiable hunger for books that had characters that looked and identified as the readers did. Many black women buy books based on the race of the character and author. They are wonderfully loyal and voracious readers, similar to romance readers. Writers made and are making careers writing for these readers. Separate publisher imprints were established, with editors and other personnel hired for this niche. Obviously, those publishers and writers want those readers to easily find their books. Those readers want to walk into a bookstore (or click into one) and easily find the books they want written by black women about black women.
Without the niche, AA niche readers wouldn’t get the types of books they prefer, authors would lose their careers, and publishers would lose revenue. Seems simple and straightforward, right?
Other black authors writing within and dependent on the niche were asked for their opinion of it in the article. It’s interesting that articles by the mainstream about the niche only asks those black authors writing within the niche, not those black authors such or readers such as Oprah who write and read outside of it. The replies by those within and dependent on the niche for their careers must be carefully worded, because who is going to shoot themselves in the foot about a niche one depends on and possibly piss off your readers or your publishers? It’s as if the media asked a vampire romance author to critique her genre niche. She’s going to be very careful not to anger vampire romance readers or those who acquire her books, no matter if her opinion that the market is over-saturated, limiting, derivative, and publishing needs to move on.
Noire stays on point–like Zane, she’s about the money. “…it’s more important to place our books in an area where our proven target audiences actually shop. People basically know what they’re looking for when they walk into a bookstore, and we have to make it easy for them to find it.”
Bernice McFadden would like to write books that are accessible to everybody. The niche limits black commercial fiction authors in a way authors of other races aren’t limited. ”White people and others avoid the AA book section like the plague. They believe that the stories housed in that section were written exclusively for black people. They believe that there is nothing in our stories that they will be able to relate too – which of course is untrue.”
Tanisha Christie is practical. If you move the AA books into genre, readers are pissed, authors and publishers lose money and careers. She knows there is no easy solution (other than giving up the money, which is not an option for most). She mentions a multicultural section (opposed to an AA section), “…which is probably the ‘safest’ place to put authors of color but this comes with a price, that Zane speaks of, authors might get lost and Terri Woods will get shelved near Alice Walker.”
The big picture is never gazed upon, because that would mean that one would have to look away from the money that buys the bread and pays the rent.
Here is the question that matters, the one that the mainstream won’t ask and those within the niche can’t voice.
Why are AA women the only ones with our own special racial book niche? (Most AA niche books are women’s fiction). Why don’t Asian women want a niche? There’s lots of Asian women readers who could financially support a racial niche. Why not Hispanic women? Their numbers are growing by the moment. They read. (Oh, Kensington tried that with the Encanto imprint, a dismal failure). What about Jewish women? They aren’t a race, but they are a homogeneous group with shared culture and history, along with a history of oppression and exclusion. Why don’t they want to solely read books by and about other Jewish women? With the numbers in publishing, that niche could cordon off half the bookstore shelves.
Why don’t other races or discrete groups of people clamor for books that reflect themselves instead of reading the same books the majority does?
We know the answer. Other groups of people trying to make in the USA don’t tolerate segregation the way we do. I think most people know bone deep that nothing good comes from being separated from the mainstream. They want to be a part of the mainstream, not niched away from it.
So, why do American blacks tolerate it, and in the case of the book niche, prefer it? I say continue because blacks have been formally segregated in this country in ways other races haven’t experienced, for a far longer time. We’re used to it and conditioned to it. For a long, long time the chitlin’ circuit was our only option for nonhostile, inclusive entertainment.
Bottom-line, the niche exists because it’s what readers want, so it makes money. Money is our true god, so it’s not going to change as long as money continues to be made. There are no solutions to the niche. It does exist and it will exist.
What if a black author wants their books accessible to all races and not just niche black readers? They can write literary fiction, this works sometimes. They can not be American, but rather be Caribbean, British, African or whatever. This seems to work for some. They can write outside the niche. This only works if we both downplay our race and write diverse protagonists from the jump. This is what most minority (other races than black) genre and commercial fiction authors do, talented ones such as Tess Garritsen, Nalini Singh, and Majorie Liu. I love those authors. They have no niche, and I doubt if Asian readers of their fiction would tolerate and/or support one. Would I be less able to relate to them if they write works populated by characters of their own race? I don’t think so, but they would certainly make less money. Their mainstreaming route is highly uncomfortable to most of us, and thus not an option for many black authors, (which is a whole ‘nuther conversation).
As black commercial fiction authors, we are in a box we helped construct. Some find it nice and comfy and there is money to be made in it. Some feel limited and constrained, but that’s the way of the world. We’d best figure out how to deal with the status quo, because it isn’t going anywhere.
