Thoughts on how to open some of the gates that keep authors of color from being published in the romance industry:

Thoughts on how to open some of the gates that keep authors of color from being published in the romance industry:

What you can do as a romance reader: Look critically at your bookshelf. Are authors of color represented there, if not, why? Is it because authors of color are severely underrepresented in the industry, and thus, you don’t know any authors of color? (Likely, this is a reason.) Is it because you are used to reading your faves and don’t often deviate or look for new authors? (Possibly, because this is an industry made up of prolific writers, so it’s very easy to choose four or five and never deviate.) Is it because in our world where we are socialized to equate Whiteness with the norm, it can be challenging to make space and normalize other tropes and themes from different cultures? If the last two apply, challenge yourself to lead with curiosity into new niches of our genre. Reading can be an incredible way to become acquainted with worlds that are not our own and therefore can help us understand lives that are different than the ones we lead. Challenge yourself to get lost in a world that is (seemingly) different from your own. 

If you are a White reader and you find yourself turning away from books starring/written by people of color because you don’t identify with the characters, ask yourself what it might be like to be a reader of color who has read majority White romances. I don’t mean this in a tit-for-tat way, or to make you feel bad. I mean to say that reading is a skill and pushing yourself to step into the unknown is a muscle that can introduce you to some of the very greatest this genre has to offer. (Beverly Jenkins, Alyssa Cole, Theodora Taylor, Pepper Pace just to name a very few) 

What else can you do as a romance reader?  You can tweet, Instagram, review, and comment on stories that you like! The publishing world is complicated, sure, but in a nutshell, they publish what they think readers will buy. If you are buying books by authors of color, let the world know! Tweet at or tag your favorite publishers on your posts regardless of whether or not they had anything to do with that particular book. It will hopefully cause the people behind the scenes to realize what readers are interested in reading. 

If you are a romance author: Get in contact with your publisher and ask them about their action plan for opening the gates to authors of color. Ask to see their numbers on how many authors of color they work with and how many own voices stories they worked to publish and promote in the last year. Ask them about their hiring policies and if they have any diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring initiatives. Have they ever taken part in any sort of DEI trainings or workshops? If they can’t or won’t answer any of these questions, or their answers are not satisfactory to you, recommend they get in contact with organizations like the NYU Metro Center, the Human Root, the CARLE Institute, Dialogue Arts Project, or centerracialjustice.org. who can design and implement a series of workshops that can help them navigate conversations around DEI in the workplace. Additionally, make sure you know where your publisher stood on this past year’s RWA racist handling of… everything. Did they make a strong statement regarding their position that outlined action steps or was it simply a blanket statement? Did they stay quiet completely? Did they pull out of RWA 2020? Did the conversation in the romance community regarding racism in the industry spark a conversation at your publisher? As an author, were you looped in on that conversation? Were all authors equally looped in with consistency? 

Ask your agent the same questions. How many authors of color do they work with?How many own voices stories did they accept in the last year. Ask about any DEI hiring initiatives they may have at their agency. Ask them how they cull their slush pile of submitted manuscripts. Are there interns or junior agents who do that? Who are they? What are their credentials? Are they exclusively White? Ask them if they have ruminated on whether or not implicit bias could be factoring in to their selection process. Additionally, make sure you know where your agent stood on this past year’s RWA racist handling of… everything. Did they make a strong statement regarding their position that outlined action steps or a purely blanket statement? Did they stay quiet? Did they pull out of RWA 2020? Did the conversation in the romance community regarding industry-wide racism spark a conversation at your agency? As an author, were you looped in on that conversation? Were all authors equally looped in with consistency? 

It will take a lot of work to make real, systemic change in the publishing industry.You as an author who cares, will have to shoulder a lot of that work in order to hold your publisher/agent accountable. Power dynamics are tricky in this industry. As you have likely signed contracts with your publisher and agent, you may feel powerless or at the whim of whomever also signed that contract. If so, you can contact other authors at your agency or publisher and draft a letter outlining the changes you want (read: demand) to see. You can mobilize collectively. You can mobilize your readers. Ask them to tweet at or tag your publisher regarding the changes they would like to see. 

You can also show your publisher or agent this document and try to answer these questions together. Remember that you are not powerless in this process and that if we action, we can disrupt the processes of this biased and racist system. Check out this visual that explains exactly how (and which kind of) actions can break the Cycle of Socialization that we are all a part of. You (we) are likely not blameless, but being paralyzed by guilt only further fortifies our racist system.

If you are a reader in this industry, you have power as a consumer, a reviewer, a community member, and a trendmaker. If you are an author, you have power as a creator of material, a voice that will not be silenced or compliant in the face of unfair and biased cycles and systems, and as someone who (likely) personally knows many of the people in this industry who hold the keys to the gates that are keeping Black voices out.