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Bkindustryprof
First Time Poster
Username: Bkindustryprof
Post Number: 1
Registered: 10-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 03:38 pm: | 
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Below is an article describing how some retailers seperate products by race. I.E. the African American Literature section in Borders and Waldenbooks. What do you think? For those that shop these stores, do you prefer this? or do you think it's marginalizing the success of the book? For those who vehemently disagree with this marketing practice, would it make if a difference if it was proven that most of these authors sell 3 times the amount of books that the competitors that don't seperate their African American Literature section?
Dividing Lines
Why Book Industry
Sees the World
Split Still by Race
In Many Stores, Black Authors
Are Shelved Separately;
Convenience or Disservice?
Mr. Massey, an Invisible Man
By JEFFREY A. TRACHTENBERG
December 6, 2006; Page A1
Brandon Massey's readers tell him they know just where to find his horror novels -- in the African-American section of bookstores. He's torn about whether or not this is a good thing.
"You face a double-edged sword," says Mr. Massey, 33 years old. "I'm black and I'm published by a black imprint, so I'm automatically slotted in African-American fiction." That helps black readers to find his books easily and has underpinned his career. At the same time, he says, the placement "limits my sales."
Should fiction written by black authors be shelved in African-American departments, a move that often helps nurture writers? Or should it be presented alongside other categories, such as general literature, allowing books written by black authors to take their place in publishing's mainstream?
The issue -- stirring up a broader debate between assimilation and maintaining a distinct identity -- has come to the fore because of a recent explosion in black fiction at a time when book sales as a whole are in decline. For the first nine months of 2006, bookstore sales fell 1.6% to $12.1 billion, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Census Bureau. By comparison, major New York publishers say black authors are flourishing. "It's a hot area, and everyone is rushing in," says Judith Curr, publisher of CBS Corp.'s Atria imprint, where African-American authors contribute about 25% of the titles published annually.
African-American sections are the rule at Borders and Waldenbooks, chains both owned by Borders Group Inc., as well as many airports and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. outlets. Amazon.com Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc., the country's largest book retailer, don't follow the practice. There, Mr. Massey's books, which include "Thunderland" and "Dark Corner," are found in the horror section or in general fiction.
Organizing literature by race is one of the few open demarcations between white and black apparent in the nation's malls and shopping centers. For other consumer goods, the matter is less clear cut.
Health and beauty products specifically designed to address the needs of African-Americans are sometimes grouped together. A Duane Reade store in Mamaroneck, N.Y., for example, has an "Ethnic Shampoo" section. In the music business, by contrast, some categories such as rhythm and blues and rap are dominated by black performers. But retailers don't market these artists under a separate "African-American" sign.
Black consumers spent more than $300 million on books last year, according to Ken Smikle, publisher of Black Issues Book Review, a unit of Chicago-based Target Market News Inc. That's more than twice as much as they spent in the early 1990s.
Bookspan, the book-club company owned by Bertelsmann AG and Time Warner Inc., says its Black Expressions Book Club boasts 460,000 members, compared with 345,000 for its famed Book of the Month Club. Black Expressions is expected to generate double-digit growth in both its sales and membership through the next few years, estimates Markus Wilhelm, Bookspan's CEO. "The growth has been stunning," he says.
Craig Werner, chairman of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, attributes the current interest in black authors to an expanding black middle class that has both money and leisure time. "As every scholar of the novel has concluded, the novel is a middle-class genre," he says.
For years, classics of black literature -- Richard Wright's "Native Son" (1940), Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" (1952), James Baldwin's "Go Tell It On the Mountain" (1953) -- appeared on bookstores shelves side by side with books by white authors.
African-American sections date to the late 1960s and early 1970s, when black culture and identity was generating regular headlines. Writers and activists such as Eldridge Cleaver, Stokely Carmichael and Bobby Seale were redefining the black experience, and booksellers rushed to group them together.
When Borders opened its first new book store in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1973, it included an African-American section. "In the historical context of the Civil Rights movement, when African-Americans were no longer being defined in terms of white culture, it made complete sense to have a separate department," says Joe Gable, a longtime Borders executive who for many years managed that store. "It still makes sense because race continues to be a defining issue."
The division is perpetuated up and down the publishing food chain. Romantic Times Book Reviews, bible of the huge romance industry, divides its influential "Top Picks" page into as many as 10 categories, ranging from inspirational to paranormal. Getting chosen is a huge boon because libraries and stores will likely buy the book in large numbers, says Gwynne Forster, the author of 26 novels, including the recently published "When You Dance with the Devil." But the magazine lumps black writers of all genres into one African-American category.
Carol Stacy, the magazine's publisher, says the African-American label makes it easier for readers to find those books. "We know we're walking a fine line, but the reader wants to know if a book has African-American characters," she says. Publishers deliberately market books to black readers that way, she adds.
Marva Allen, one of the owners of the Hue-Man Bookstore & Café in Harlem, says that the term African-American refers to a culture, not a skin color, and therefore has a special sensibility. "A lot of African-American writers don't write for the crossover market, they write from a cultural identity," says Ms. Allen.
Moreover, she asks, how many white readers will browse through a book when the front cover depicts black characters and the author is black?
Bennett J. Johnson, vice president of Chicago's Third World Press and a longtime publisher of black authors, says the practice appeals to a universal proclivity to think in terms of race. In that sense, publishing is merely a reflection of how the world works, he says. What publishers don't understand, Mr. Johnson suggests, is that the practice reinforces the notion that the U.S. remains a nation of "two separate societies."
Before the 1990s, many black writers who wrote about black characters produced ambitious epic stories in the manner of Toni Morrison's "Song of Solomon." There was little room for black authors who wanted to write popular genre fiction such as romance novels, horror stories or erotica.
Leticia Peoples says she found the attitude of white publishers so frustrating that in the late 1980s she decided to publish her own line of black romance novels. "I called a couple of romance companies to find out why they weren't accepting black manuscripts and I heard things like, 'We don't have to do it because black women will read what's on the market' or 'Black women can't write, so where would we get our writers?' " says Ms. Peoples. She launched her own line in 1989 called Odyssey Books.
Three years later came a landmark: the publication of Terry McMillan's third book, "Waiting to Exhale," which ignited the market for books aimed at black audiences. The novel, a breezy look at the daily lives of four black women, perched on The Wall Street Journal's best-seller list for 36 weeks.
Says Ms. McMillan: "It was contemporary -- which was important -- and it was written in a voice that a lot of black women could identify with." The author says she doesn't tailor her novels for any audience and opposes putting books in black sections -- where hers are found -- a practice she calls a "disservice" and "racist." At the same time, Ms. McMillan says she understands the sales incentive for booksellers. Her solution: Put books by African-Americans in both places.
As a practical matter, segregating books by race and culture makes it less likely that black writers will hit the national best-seller lists -- whites make up a majority of book buyers -- limiting their chances of earning bigger paychecks. Nadine Aldred, who writes as Millenia Black, says that writer Jennifer Weiner might not have become a best-selling author if her books had been sold exclusively in a Jewish-American section. Ms. Weiner, whose books include "Good in Bed" and "Little Earthquakes," agrees. "If my books were perceived as Jewish 'chick lit,' there would be a narrower appeal," she says.
In October, Ms. Aldred filed a lawsuit against her publisher, the American arm of Pearson PLC's Penguin Group, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In the suit, she alleges that her editor asked her to change the characters in her newly published second novel, "The Great Betrayal," from white to black or race-neutral. In an attempt to lure black readers, the proposed cover art featured an African-American couple, the suit adds.
Ms. Aldred says she objected because she thought the suggestions would deprive her of the opportunity to attract white readers. In her filing, Ms. Aldred says the publisher eventually backed down -- the final cover features an unmade bed -- but she still sued, alleging racial discrimination.
"In commercial fiction I'm finding that there is a huge expectation that because you are black, you should know the climate and the boundaries, and adhere to them," says Ms. Aldred.
Penguin says it is contesting the allegations, saying in a written statement that "our commitment to writers from all backgrounds is evident in the quality and diversity of our [publishing] list." The company declines to make further comment.
Barnes & Noble is bucking the rest of the industry. The chain offers an African-American studies department, but its black fiction is shelved alphabetically by author within various genres.
Mary Ellen Keating, a spokeswoman for the retailer, says it wants to expose "all titles to all customers." The only exceptions are stores in Atlanta and Oakland, which offer stand-alone displays of African-American authors because of the substantial black populations in those cities.
At Borders, whose superstores carry an average of 90,000 titles, executives say the African-American sections are a convenience for readers. Merchants and publishers say such sections also brighten the chances for new, undiscovered writers. There are no publicly available sales numbers to determine which approach works best.
Tananarive Due, who writes supernatural suspense tales, says that when she started out in 1995, she was embraced by black booksellers. Her book tour was almost exclusively in black stores. "There is nothing worse than the release of a book without an audience," she says. "Frankly I'm glad my books were launched as they were. The African-American readership has been my rock and given me the opportunity to expand."
That support has been crucial for writers such as the recently married Mr. Massey, who lives in Union City, Ga., a 25-minute drive south of downtown Atlanta. From writing books "I made close to six figures in 2005, which was my best year so far," he says. This year he expects to generate roughly the same amount. He has sold the film rights to his second novel to a film unit affiliated with his publisher, Kensington Publishing Corp. in New York.
Mr. Massey nonetheless worries he's being shortchanged by being shelved in African-American departments. "Most nonblack readers aren't going to the African-American section," he says. His goal, he says, is to compete with Dean Koontz and Stephen King
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5937
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, December 07, 2006 - 08:40 pm: |
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Considering that fiction utilizes a predictable formula of 6 basic plot lines, the plethora of new black books on the market are really just black interpretations of stories that whites have always put out. The only thing unique about black books are that the characters are black. If white readers really want to read black versions of the various genres, all they have to do is go over into the African American section of a book store and browse. To me, it's wishful thinking to believe that having a black book in the general pool will drastically increase its sales. I can, however, see how non fiction books by or about blacks could benefit from being along side white ones. |
Emanuel
Regular Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 256
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, December 08, 2006 - 10:16 am: |
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As black authors, I believe we are sometimes better off because we have avenues others don't like this site, black-owned bookstores, and even the black section of mainstream stores. For one of all the authors who complain about what section of the bookstore they are in, there are about 500 who wish bookstores would shelf their books ANYWHERE in the store.
Do the authors have a valid complaint? Sure they do. Perhaps placing the books with other books in their genre AND within the black sections of bookstore may be the answer.
Will it necessarily affect sales? Who knows? I imagine it's pretty hard to track the race of the buying audience no matter where the book is placed. |
Zane
Newbie Poster
Username: Zane
Post Number: 22
Registered: 11-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, December 09, 2006 - 12:14 am: |
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Bookstores will not place books in two sections, unless they put them on end caps or front tables and 99.9% of the time the publisher has to pay coop fees to get them there.
As a publisher, I do know that AA books sell better when they are in a separate section. One chain is experimenting with it now and their AA sales have jumped 60%. Consistently stores that have AA sections purchase larger amounts of AA titles. |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 3071
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, December 09, 2006 - 10:35 am: |
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Zane:
Whoop dere it is!
This discussion is taking place on other lists. Can I repost your above post there? |
Tuliploverly
First Time Poster
Username: Tuliploverly
Post Number: 4
Registered: 12-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 4 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 10:44 am: |
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If the author's target market is AA, then the black section works well for them. But if the author's target market is NOT AA....well let's just say good luck getting too many folks of other races to seek you out in a SEPARATE section of the store that practically screams, "NOT FOR YOU!"
I say we stick to shelving by content, not race. Racist shelving may yield some nice profits, but so did slavery and Jim Crow. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 6868
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 11:01 am: |
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Tuliploverly,
If an author wants to control how and to whom his-her book is marketed, he-she should probably self-publish. |
Tuliploverly
First Time Poster
Username: Tuliploverly
Post Number: 5
Registered: 12-2006
Rating:
Votes: 4 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 11:52 am: |
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Abm,
So does that mean if a restaurant patron wants to get the same level of service he-she would get if he-she were white, but does not, he-she should just go open his-her own restaurant?
Or if an employee in a company wants to be entitled to the same handling as his-her white counterparts, but is not, he-she should just go start his-her own company?
Think about the implications of your position. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 2267
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 12:01 pm: |
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Tuliploverly - May I ask if you're Black? And if so, do you feel that you receive the same level of service and entitlements as white people? Anywhere? Does society as a whole treat you as an equal to a white person? And if not, then what should be your (our) response? |
Tuliploverly
First Time Poster
Username: Tuliploverly
Post Number: 6
Registered: 12-2006
Rating:
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 12:57 pm: |
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Mzuri,
Yes I am a black person. So because racism in American still exists we should stop fighting for equal treatment? Equal freedom? If that's the case, our flesh should still be on the auction blocks. We should still be at the back doors and we should still be at the back of the public transportation buses, and we should still be banned from voting.
It was because of the brave souls that didn't think like you are now that got us out from under those particular oppressions. I think we shouldn't forget that, and we should be able to recognize when similar brave souls emerge again, willing to risk everything to push the bar even closer to equal freedom, instead of giving up and trying to make due on the plantation.
J. Hanks |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5977
Registered: 01-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 01:28 pm: |
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A very dramatic riff, Tuliploverly, but at some point the question needs to be asked if this case isn't more a plea for white validation rather than a demand for racial equality. The publishing world isn't a public vehicle that relegates people to the back of the bus. It's a private industry geared toward making a profit. Maybe this "crusade" should target public libraries who have also started to have "black-books-only" sections. |
Tuliploverly
First Time Poster
Username: Tuliploverly
Post Number: 8
Registered: 12-2006
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 01:36 pm: |
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Cynique,
Restaurants, businesses and corporations in the private sector are also not "public vehicles that relegates people to the back of the bus." They too are private establishments. But we are entitled to equal treatment from them are we not?
Again, if you've read what Millenia Black expressed in the Wall Street Journal article and elsewhere, her "case" is not objecting to the "black-book-only" sections. I have yet to hear her object even once to the existence of those sections. I read on her blog where she spoke in defense of them and said they should be left alone. If she has said something to the contrary elsewhere, feel free to point me to it, I'd love to check it out.
J. Hanks |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 2269
Registered: 01-2006
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 01:41 pm: |
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quote: Tuliploverly wrote:
Yes I am a black person. So because racism in American still exists we should stop fighting for equal treatment? Equal freedom? If that's the case, our flesh should still be on the auction blocks. We should still be at the back doors and we should still be at the back of the public transportation buses, and we should still be banned from voting.
It was because of the brave souls that didn't think like you are now that got us out from under those particular oppressions. I think we shouldn't forget that, and we should be able to recognize when similar brave souls emerge again, willing to risk everything to push the bar even closer to equal freedom, instead of giving up and trying to make due on the plantation.
I am a Black person as well and I thank you for the civil rights lecture but I haven't given up any of my freedoms nor have I stated my position about anything here in this thread. I asked you a couple of very simple questions. I basically asked if you feel that you are receiving equal treatment under the law? And if you do not - then what would be your solution? To continue begging the white man to give us equality? To keep groveling for crumbs? Or to take control of our own destiny? |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5978
Registered: 01-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 02:07 pm: |
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Venues like restaurants throw open their doors to the public,Tuliploverly. The publishing industry, however, only allows those who have talent into an inner circle which includes book stores. Book stores have chosen to classify black books as a certain genre, possibly thinking of this as a convenience for its customers. Catering to their customers is good business. Indulging ego-tripping authors is not. |
Tuliploverly
First Time Poster
Username: Tuliploverly
Post Number: 10
Registered: 12-2006
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 02:29 pm: |
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Mzuri,
You've stated plenty by the questions you've asked. I did answer your questions. I'm black. I live in America. Self-explanatory.
Begging for scraps? Boy what an insult to those brave souls of the past I spoke about earlier. The freedoms you speak about, who made that possible? They surely didn't think like you. And they certainly weren't begging for scraps. Just demanding equal freedom for themselves, and for YOU.
You haven't given up any of your freedoms, huh? Have you tested all of them out though? Because if you did, you'd likely find yourself in a position similar to the pioneers of the past who made sacrifices so you could have them.
J. Hanks |
Tuliploverly
Newbie Poster
Username: Tuliploverly
Post Number: 11
Registered: 12-2006
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 02:39 pm: |
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Cynique,
So you're saying the publishing industry (and businesses therein) don't have to conduct themselves lawfully just as "venues like restaurants" do?
And, once again, this lawsuit is not about bookstores. Why do we keep having to make it seem like it is? Where has the "ego-tripping" Millenia Black said it was about how bookstores cater to their customers?
So let me get this straight......An author thinks her book should not have been stamped black because it isn't...and THAT makes her an "ego-tripping author"??
J. Hanks |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 2271
Registered: 01-2006
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 03:04 pm: |
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Tuliploverly - Actually, you haven't answered me at all. I asked if you felt you are receiving equal treatment under the law. I'll take your unresponsiveness as a "no."
I know what I meant by my questions, how you perceive or interpret them is on you. The questions were mostly rhetorical in an effort to make a point. I'm not a yes-mammy-let-me-hurry-up-and-go-fetch-it-negro. Trust me.
I haven't insulted anyone of my past. And since you probably don't know my past, please don't make assumptions about how far back in the past who did what for whom, what I'm grateful for or why. Please.
Here we are damn near in 2007 and we're still looking to the white man to give us our due. To treat us as he would treat another white man. It could be 500 years from now and that's still not going to happen.
We need to empower ourselves, make our own movies, publish our own books, build our own universities, restaurants, dry cleaners, car dealerships and everything else. Because equal treatment from the white man ain't happening. Ever! |
Tuliploverly
Newbie Poster
Username: Tuliploverly
Post Number: 13
Registered: 12-2006
Rating:
Votes: 4 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 03:30 pm: |
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Mzuri,
Calm yourself. No one's arguing here. It's just a discussion dear. Calm yourself.
Logic is clear here. You've stopped making sense as you are now inventing points (i.e. making reference to your personal past when nobody even went there) upon which you can advocate dealing with inferiority by making "our" own movies, books, universites, restaurants, etc. If that's the case, why don't we just drag our defeated butts back across the Atlantic and do all that in Africa? Why stay in the US where we'll never be afforded equal freedom? Your tongue smacks with plantation conditioning, but of course, you'll be in denial about that as most who reason like you are.
No matter what else you may say, I've said all I need to here. Can't convince the oppressed to fight for their rights if they've resigned themselves to DEALING with the oppression forever and ever, and not only that, they'll bitterly shoot down the rights of those who aren't resigned to being racially oppressed.
J. Hanks |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 2274
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 4 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 04:19 pm: |
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Tuliploverly - Look, ever since ABM stated that the author should self-publish to retain control, you've gotten your panties in a bunch. I asked you a couple of simple rhetorical questions which you refuse to answer, and it is you who brought up all the irrelevant topics such as the restaurants, the slave auctions, the back of the bus and the right to vote. I haven't said word one about my past. I've fought plenty, but how much longer are we going to fight, beg, and plead with the white man to recognize us as his equal? I'm damn near fifty years old and I still have plenty of fight left in me, but at some point in time we have got to take control of our own sh!t. Maybe even have the white man begging us. What's so oppressed about that? |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5979
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: 
Votes: 4 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 04:42 pm: |
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Actually, I don't really care one way or another about this issue because if I had ever distributed my self-published book I would've been perfectly content for it to be in the black section of a book store since my target audience was black readers. I jumped into the mix because I just wanted to have an exchange with somebody who calls herself "Tuliplover". |
Bkindustryprof
First Time Poster
Username: Bkindustryprof
Post Number: 3
Registered: 10-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 10:32 pm: |
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while, all of the points are valid, I still wonder if this seperate but equal philosophy has aplace in our world today. the says of girlfriends and friends have morphed into greys anatomy and lost. muticultural marketing that speaks to everyone. I am tornon this. Many people cringe @ the sight of Toni Morrison being shelved in Af Am sections and not in the literature section. I the retailers are seeing a financial gain from this marketing practice but .... what does that do for us in the long run. Now by no means am I concerned about the validation of the majority. I am however concerned about the exclusion of such great literary works from reaching a sustantial and necessary part of all the American culture. Can this practice, hurt or prolong the advancement of Af Am lit...??? |
Jmho
Regular Poster
Username: Jmho
Post Number: 165
Registered: 03-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 - 11:43 pm: |
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I wonder when women will start complaining about sexism because of the 'women interest' sections in bookstores. Maybe it's just a matter of time. |
Chrishayden
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 3077
Registered: 03-2004
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 10:39 am: |
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Blackindustryprof:
All them sixties ideas about one big happy family singing kumbaya are dead in the water. Nobody wants them.
It's tribe time.
Jmho:
They might start complaining, until their book sales start to slip.
They better keep quiet. |
Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 6877
Registered: 04-2004
Rating:
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, December 11, 2006 - 05:43 pm: |
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Tuliploverly: "if you've read what Millenia Black expressed in the Wall Street Journal article and elsewhere, her "case" is not objecting to the "black-book-only" sections. I have yet to hear her object even once to the existence of those sections. I read on her blog where she spoke in defense of them and said they should be left alone."
So Millenia's FOR seperate but equal...so long as SHE'S not effected by such.
Hmmmmmmm?
How graciously contradictory of her. |
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