What I’m going to be doing at RWA’s Literacy Signing
Posted by CM under Racism in Romance on Thu 5 Jul 2007
‘m gearing up for Nationals this next week, and boy am I excited! I’m polishing my professional yet comfortable shoes; I’m trying to figure out where I hid my business cards. I’m frantically reading all the advice that people have offered about how to prepare for Nationals, and thinking about how best to talk about the book I’m writing (I’m not officially pitching, since nothing’s done–but I wouldn’t mind letting people know what I’m working on!).
But amidst all this advice and hubbub, there’s something that I’m planning to do at the RWA Literacy signing this year, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since I started reading Karen’s blog.
I don’t know how many of you are aware of this, but many multiracial authors of romance aren’t shelved in the “Romance” section. They’re shelved in African American fiction, or the Hispanic section. They’re segregated away from the bulk of romance readers. Until I heard this, I had no idea. Since I’ve found out, I’ve tried to make it a point to search out romance books in other parts of the store. And I’ve found some wonderful authors who tell great stories. Some of them write about black people. Or Hispanic people. Or Asians. Or white people. All of them write about people, and since I read romances in part because I like reading about all the different paths to love, I’m glad I found them. I’ve liked (most) of the ones I’ve read–about in the same proportions that I’ve liked the romances shelved in the romance section. And I shamefacedly admit that I don’t read nearly as much as I can–because when I run into the bookstore in a hurry, looking to grab a quick read, it’s the romance section I head to first.
I don’t know about you, but I think it’s horrific that these authors are segregated from the so-called “mainstream” romance readers. It pisses me off that the powers that be think they know what I do and don’t want to see. And we can’t blame it all on the powers that be, because I hear stories about the Romantic Times convention, where readers didn’t approach African American romance authors.
Romance is about love and relationships and the building of community. We’re better than this, or at least we should be. Some higher-ups out there have decided that we need to be shielded from romance that’s “different.” We shouldn’t let them have the satisfaction of being right.
And so I have a pledge: At RWA’s literacy signing event, for every author I approach who I already know because I found her on the shelves of the mainstream romance section, I will buy a book from one author who I don’t know because she doesn’t get shelved with regular romance. I’m planning on buying a lot of books, and I’ll blog about every one.
Who’s with me? Link to this post and spread the word!
July 5th, 2007 at 10:09 am
I’m with you (as I should be being a black writer). I buy some books just because the writer is black and can never make it through the book). It’s all about showing support to my fellow black authors, even though I read predominantly historical romance novels. Brenda Jackson I also buy. I like her stories because they are not stereotypical. You could literally put any race on her characters and get the same read from the book. When I read romances, it’s all about taking me away from every day life. I find a lot of multi-cultural books are a little too close to real life and stuff you hear in the news. But I still do my best to spend my money supporting ALL multi-cultural writers.
My last historical has a truly mult-cultural heroine (who debuted in the first book).
But I’m definitely with you CM, I’ll be there helping you support them too!!!
July 5th, 2007 at 10:16 am
Yay, Bev! And I’m SO looking forward to reading your multicultural historical when it’s published–if you don’t let me have an ARC first.
July 5th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Hey CM, what a great plan, and kudos on being prepared to put your money where your mouth is!
July 5th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
I understand niche marketing….I liken it to going into the bookstore looking for a dog book. . . and finding a whole section on dogs…no, make that authors who own dogs (historical fiction, mystery, romance, nonfiction, etc) shelved together… it exposes a whole niche to books they might normall NOT look at….but it also segregates them from books they might be interested in by authors who own cats, parrots, or (as in my case) SEA MONKEYS!
July 5th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
I think this is an awesome idea, CM!
You’re gonna come home with four suitcases full of books!
July 5th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Thanks for doing this, Courtney! I won’t be there this year, but if I were, I’d shake your hand or give you a hug or buy you something chocolatey!
July 5th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Karen, Seressia, and Lynne–glad you think it’s a good idea! Ericka–I understand niche marketing, too. But sometimes niche marketing gives me the heeby-jeebies in real life, too.
Like I was reading this article about how–since you can’t officially discriminate in housing–there are gated communities that arise that try to signal their non-friendliness in other ways, such as by naming the community things like “Magnolia Plantations” or something equally uncool. Sure, it’s marketing–they’re telling people that it’s something for the old boys. But it’s also kind of messed up. And that’s how this feels!
July 5th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
First, I think this is a great idea. I wish I was going to be there, but I’d buy you a really good martini. -lol-
And I’ve had several ‘plantation’ encounters around here. I’ve been househunting, and my realtor almost turned purple when I mentioned the obviously exclusionary practice of naming a subdivision ‘plantation.’ Especially in Alabama!
July 6th, 2007 at 8:33 am
I won’t be at the convention, but now I’ll make more of an effort to check out the rest of the bookstore.
Alice
July 6th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
I was saying on someone else’s blog that I did this last year at the publisher parties. There were tons of AA authors sitting there quietly and I made sure to get all their books. This is how I got to meet the lovely Kayla Perrin! I now have a pretty big collection of AA books, which I shelve–yes, you guessed it–with THE OTHER BOOKS. God.
I’ve wondered about this in pitching my books, too, of course. I don’t want to be shelved in a little niche corner in the back of the store. I write books for all people, and my goal is to bring a taste of the exotic to the more traditional historical market. I write interracial romance specifically because it bothered me that there are so few crossover books. Great post–I’ll definitely be linking to it next week!
July 6th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
And I will, of course, be doing it again this year. Free books rock!
July 7th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Thanks for bringing this up! I’ll be checking out the other sections of my local bookstore now! And I’ll certainly be buying from the minority authors as well as some of the other unsung authors at the literacy signing. Sometimes we get a bit star struck at these things and forget what other wonderful treasures are out there.
BTW, I hear your birthday is coming up!
July 8th, 2007 at 10:39 am
CM,
That is such an awesome idea and what a wonderful way to support those writers.
July 8th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Yay for diversity! I’m so going to laugh when my books get shelved in the “Latino” section one day. Well, I guess they won’t since I use a pseudonym. But still.
A romance is a romance!
July 8th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
As a librarian, I noticed that people came into our library asking where the African American section was before we had one. In an ideal world, with ample room and money for lots of copies and lots of books, then books that could fit in various niches should have a few copies in each of them. In the real world, we can’t do this for everything, but we do when we can. Beloved comes to mind, with copies in AA, classics, and general fiction.
July 11th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Happy Birthday Courtney!
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:21 am
As a former bookstore manager and an avid reader, I would like to suggest that it is African-American readers who prefer to have all of the AA books together, so that they can select books that are written by “their own” authors. When you have good management, then the books should be cross-filed, and if you have enough copies - put them in BOTH places… and some bigger stores do this. But you should not assume that it is industry standards for segregation. It is driven by the consumers, and that is how the AA customers prefer to find their own books. my 2 cents.