Is Black Romance & White Romance alike? *PLEASE READ*

Love and Romance is not about race...

I would buy a romance novel no matter what the race of the MC. But that is me....my point of view.

Vedren said:

Now here is where I'll be forward. (Please don't take the wrong way). As a black woman, I have never read white romance novels as I imagine whites don't read much of ours ROFL! What do they care about two black couples?
I don't know... this is just what I'm assuming.
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Not sure if I'd say that . . .

I think there are quite a few authors on here who write for the black romance market so they should be able to help you out. Personally I don't really care about the race of the mc's, it's the story that interests me. I don't think the stories differ much in black & white romance (but I could be wrong). It seems like more of a marketing strategy because a lot of people like to read about mc's they can relate to and they go by the images on the cover. There are so many different types of books out there that it's hard to generalize and say black romances tend to be more true to life etc

I've actually just finished writing a novella where one of the characters is an American Indian.... and I'm Australian! She isn't a main character in this book but i plan to write another one in the series that centres on her.

A variation of this was a topic on PoC very recently: this discussion included not just opinions but some marketing experiences... might have some useful information for you. And welcome!

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233759

I don't mean to be trashing the big publishers here, but I wonder if they might be keeping readers more segregated than they otherwise would be by having a specific line for black characters. I mean, we can tell from the covers who the stories are about. No one has to read about people they're not interested in.

I love to read about all different cultures. (I'm white). Amy Tan is one of my all time favorite authors and her characters are always Asian American. Or purely Asian since she tends to do cross-generational stuff (Mom's life in China, daughter's life in the States). I just finished The Dirty Girls Social Club, which featured six Latinas. But neither that one nor Amy Tan's books were marketed as Latina or Asian American - they were just marketed as chick lit and lit, respectively.

Interesting topic. Anyway, count me as someone who would be delighted to read a good romance featuring two black characters. I haven't yet but that's because the romance I read by the big guys (okay HM&B) is under the RIVA line because that's what I like - fun, flirty, sassy, fast-paced, different. Do these RIVA characters all have to be white? I shouldn't think so. And yet they are (to the best of my knowledge). The romance book biz is so fascinating... Anyway.... I'll stop rambling.

Lets see. I've read an amish romance, and also a mennonite one, and a native american one, and a vampire one, and a werewolf one, and a regency one, and a scottish one, and a caveman one, and a futuristic one involving an alien... yeah, they really are all fundamentally the same.

Romance as a genre has all sorts of conventions I'm not familiar with, as I don't read romance (the genre). I get the impression that romance readers really like to identify with the MC, so there may be more of a race line there than in genres where 'being' the MC is not part of the allure.

I totally read books by and about PoC, however. Toni Morrison's Tar Baby is a romance in very large part. It's not a light, escapist read, though. It's very much about racism of many sorts.

As a black woman, I have never read white romance novels as I imagine whites don't read much of ours ROFL! What do they care about two black couples?
I don't know... this is just what I'm assuming.

When I thought of white romance novels, I always thought of some fantasy stuff... things that I couldn't relate to.

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To quote you on one of your other threads:

I think we should give each other a chance and stop being so closed minded when it comes to art. Art is beautiful and expressed in so many different ways.

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Perhaps you need to give other writers a chance and read a white romance novel or two. Then you'll have a better grip on the similarities between what you and they write, and whether or not they can be marketed the same way.

The easiest way to answer than would be to read quite a few of each type. As a person who (despite your assertions) has read a great many of each type, I will skip to the answer: yes. The context may differ, the romance is the same (to the extent that the characters' unique experience occurs within the same basic parameters).

Most of the romance novels I've read over the course of my 42 years on this earth have been what you deem to be "white" romance novels. Although to me personally, I don't think of them as white romance novels just romance novels. In my neck of the woods, "black romance" novels haven't been readily accessible, especially in the days before the Internet. Nowadays, my romance novel library includes books published by Kimani Romance and host of others.

Primarily, however, when I set out to purchase a book, I don't base it on the color of the characters, but rather the blurb on the back of the book and the story itself.

My upcoming novel features a black hero and heroine, but I'd like to think just as many white readers would be interested in the story as black readers, or readers from any other race, frankly. I just want to tell stories that appeal to everyone and not sell myself short by targeting one segment of society.

Creative_Solitude said:

My upcoming novel features a black hero and heroine, but I'd like to think just as many white readers would be interested in the story as black readers, or readers from any other race, frankly. I just want to tell stories that appeal to everyone and not sell myself short by targeting one segment of society.

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I agree. I pick up a book because of the premise, and if the cover catches my eye, so much the better.

Example: Your cover is beautiful. I'm definitely keeping my eye out for your book when it's released.

firedrake said:

I agree. I pick up a book because of the premise, and if the cover catches my eye, so much the better.

Example: Your cover is beautiful. I'm definitely keeping my eye out for your book when it's released.

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Way cool compliment. Thank you!

firedrake said:

I agree. I pick up a book because of the premise

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Me three. So disappointing to find a book with an interesting premise which is done "wrong" though.

Seeing as how the OP has been banned for being a vicious little troll, I'm going to go ahead and lock this thread. (BTW, thanks for not rising to her bait, everyone.)

If anyone wants to discuss interracial romance in general, feel free to start a new one.