Does Black Romance Sell?

As a Black urban fiction author, I spend most of my creative energy crafting Black romance. Similarly, many Black authors expend their energy writing interracial romance. This is not a blog post that posits one is better than the other. Instead, in light of current conversations like those surrounding Robinne Lee and her book/film The Idea of You, this post looks at how outside factors (like publishing houses and perceptions of consumer demand) shape what Black authors write.

I will start by saying that, as an author who started her career under a small, Black  publishing company, I did not have as many “restrictions” as authors who are backed by major publishing houses. Big publishing houses (and film studios) have their fingers on the pulses of consumers and are convinced they know what will sell.  Undoubtedly, they are sometimes right. But the systemic racism that causes Black people to be overlooked and excluded in so many areas also infects major publishers. They do not know what black readers read or want because they continue to center white readers and their interests. They are so convinced that the public at large will reject an “all black” anything that they pressure authors to pen works that feature protagonists that are involved in interracial relationships or even that are solely of the majority group. At the very least, the companies that produce the books and films that we consume often insist there be a token white person. Think of the movie Black Panther, for instance. It is a movie about black superheroes in a black country, and then WHAM white man. 🙄

Now, let me insert my trademark caveat. I am in no way asserting that Black authors only write about protagonists of other races because of publishing house pressure. Looking specifically at the case of romantic fiction with Black FMCs written primarily by Black women, I would argue that there are a number of reasons Black women choose to write interracial romance. For one, it might reflect their personal relationship experiences. Or they might see it as a way of broadening their repertoire—showing they can research and write an array of characters.

There might also be a pricklier issue at play, but y’all know this blog does not avoid the problematic. Black women face an enormous amount of negativity every day with regard to ideas about beauty and desirability. Words like “manly,” “aggressive,” “attitudinal,” “un-feminine” and “argumentative” are thrown at us at the same time our darker skin and sometimes kinkier hair is disparaged. Quite often, such commentary comes from Black men or their non-Black partners (one of whom recently pointed out how her husband told her he couldn’t even stand to be in the room with dark skinned Black women). Twice as many young Black men (24 percent) marry interracially when compared to young Black women.* While interracial marriage should not be painted as simply a rejection of potential same race mates, the fact is that sometimes it is and people are loud and proud about that. In the face of this, it is no wonder that Black women and the women who write about them explore interracial relationships.

But the practice of major publishing and film companies rejecting all Black works is well-documented and discussed. For Black writers, this has a long history. Black writers at the turn of the 20th century wrote about how their fiction stories about black life and culture were rejected. The papers of noted civil rights activist Mary Church Terrell are full of rejected short stories. One author who wrote about her claims Terrell kept sending her works in so there would be documented evidence of publishing companies’ racism and absolute ignorance about the existence and interests of black readers. **

In the case of Black fiction, publishers “worry” that audiences cannot relate to Black characters. And honestly, some readers do parrot this idea. Now, this statement is bizarre for a number of reasons. The first reason is that these same people can read books about vampires, werewolves, wizards, aliens, you name it, and be completely invested. That imaginary creatures are more relatable and sympathetic than Black characters is a concept that I cannot, for the life of me, wrap my mind around. Another reason this statement is bizarre is that they are a lot of tropes and scenarios in books that we know we would not tolerate and damn sure cannot relate to, but love reading about. That is the allure of fiction. I am not saying that I do not understand wanting to read a book that you relate to, but the fact that people and publishers cast urban fiction, Black romance or even just books by Black authors as “unrelatable” is troubling and makes me profoundly sad.

The push to change primarily or all Black casts of characters is often painted as benign. The reasoning supposedly lies in marketing and ultimate profitability. Black stories, they theorize, will not appeal to all readers. To increase book sales, some Black authors consider changing the racial makeup of already penned stories or writing stories with mixed race or all white protagonists. But the pressure from publishers to change is also rooted in a sort of racist laziness: they know how to market to white audiences and where those audiences are. They often do not know how to market to black readers, where we are, or what we’re reading and they do not want to do the work to reach us. Instead, providers of popular culture like publishing and film companies dismiss us as inconsequential. Then they’re surprised by how we show up for stories for, by, and about us (Think of the industry shock over the success of Tyler Perry’s early movies).

As I have been putting together this post and researching, I came across a video about Robinne Lee's book The Idea of You. The video references an article*** in which she discusses many things related to being a black author and the types of stories she writes and why. I rolled my eyes when the author of the article asserted that readers would not have guessed that a Black woman was behind the "buzziest" and very white movie of the year. Like hello, have you not heard of Shonda Rhimes? Anyway what stuck out to me was Lee saying that before she wrote The Idea of You, she had written an interracial romance and was told by her publishing company that they already released a interracial romance that year. This leads me to wonder what quotas are at certain publishing companies for certain types of stories. When I heard this, all I could think was, do we really need more romances about white folk? I feel like every time I see a trailer for a movie it’s very see through and lacking in color. Do black people not fall in love, are we not funny, do we not deserve to see ourselves on the big screen? It is somewhat disheartening that Lee felt she had to write for an alternate audience to have her words published. When asked would I do the same, I was hesitant to answer for fear of seeming like I am judging her. I would not make the same choice, but I have never depended on fiction writing as my primary source of income.

Well, let me stop before this becomes a book. If you are new here, welcome!! I received a lot of new subscribers after announcing I would be releasing a snippet in my End of Month Newsletter. When I tell y'all,  y’all came in droves! I had to turn the notifications off on my phone at one point. 😁 I am so grateful to you all for your continued support. I never thought that my stories would have such an impact on people to the point that Demon's Dream is still in the top 5 on the urban fiction list after having been released over a year ago! I absolutely love seeing all your reaction videos and graphics that y’all create for the characters. I have been getting asked quite a bit if there will be a part two for Demon’s Dream and if it will be available as an audiobook. First, there will not be a part two featuring either of the main couples. I have started spin-offs for Kam and Topaz. Second, I have to make making an audiobook make financial sense. Here is a moment of transparency: Audible will take a sizable chunk of any profits. Then my readers insist that the book should have big name narrators—you cannot imagine the cost of two big name narrators reading a book that ended up being around 206,000 words! I just ask that you all bear with me and once I have figured out how to do this, you all will be the first to know!

Before I go, I would love to know your thoughts on this blog post and any issues it raised in the comments below; that  really is the whole purpose: to start a conversation. So, please let me know what you think and as always

Blissful Reading!

*https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/05/18/intermarriage-in-the-u-s-50-years-after-loving-v-virginia/

** Elizabeth McHenry, To Make Negro Literature: Writing, Literary Practice, and African American Authorship (Duke University Press, 2021).

***https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2024/05/11714113/the-idea-of-you-movie-robinne-lee-author-interview