Podcast, Uncategorized

Black Women and the Romance Economy
Posted by Autumn Stone
Spread the love

The last time I recorded an episode of Let’s Talk Romance with Autumn Stone it was September of 2023. We were finally emerging out of the COVID pandemic and life felt like it was finally stabilizing. It wasn’t. A lot has happened in past couple of years. So much that it makes my head spin. And those wild world events have an impact on the world of romance. But as a writer of romance that centers Black women being loved. I knew that it was time to revisit this project. And, to be honest, I’m excited to write books again. It has been awhile so let me reintroduce myself. My name is Autumn Stone and I write romances that always center a Black woman as the female main character. I am also a whale reader of books. I love reading. How does this influence my romance reading? I read different types of genres and tropes. I also happen to read daily if possible. As a writer I write both Interracial and African-American romances. And I also respect if you prefer one niche over the other. My goal with Let’s Talk Romance with Autumn Stone is to uplift the work of other Black authors, stories featuring a Black woman being loved and in love. I want to help other authors sell their books. This mission is purely selfish because I want more books to read and in order for that to happen-authors need eyes on their works.

Welcome to Let’s Talk Romance with Autumn Stone, I’m your host Autumn Stone and I love reading and writing romance with Black female main characters. As a whale reader of romance I’ve read them all: Sweet romance, Dark Romance, Paranormal,Westerns and more. Throw in some Reverse harem, MC and Reverse Age Gap-I’m a sucker for them all. Are you looking for a quick, fun read? Love an MC Romance with an unexpected club princess? Get your copy of Blaze: Sons of Vengeance and Fury MC today. I’ve included a link to the book in the episode show notes.

*In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog. Please read my disclosure here.*

Listen to the Episode

Show Notes

While many people don’t take romance seriously, it’s clear that romance is big business. With the rise of Romance conferences, Creator Book Critics, BookTok and podcasts like this one-romance has become an even bigger industry than before. But, there are some unexpected headwinds that are beginning to show the hidden cracks in the industry.

  • Politics-There is a very real threat to the industry as right wing politicians look to introduce legislation that has the potential to restrict access to romance. Keep an eye on this in upcoming years.

  • The systematic dismantling of DEI initiatives-Bookstores and other bookish spaces are no longer as invested in sharing books that are written by writers of color. And organizations such as the National Association of Black Bookstores have been created to better advocate on behalf of Black bookstores, authors and Black representation within the industry. Individuals can sign up as members for $100 for the year.

  • Romance communities-Not everyone wants to be in community with the readers of my books, the authors I support or me as a Black author. that division in the United States, in particular, is becoming even more evident as open and not so open racism is impacting where and how authors and the book industry is showing up.

None of this is new to Black authors but I definitely want to be a part of sharing a solution to the problem. In preparing for this episode I spent some time researching romance industry statistics. I have some thoughts. I also want to share that the statistics referenced in the next part of the episode were published in a post on the Sweet Savage Flame website with 40+ Romance Novel Sales Statistics.

  • 12% was the percentage of African American women who are reading romance. I would like to push back at this number for a couple of reasons. I want to see data on the growth of Black romance as a result of self-publishing and technology that allows authors to sell direct to audience. I would also argue that Black women are reading more romance because there’s more romance for us to read. I think this number is directly connected to books that were available to us vs. Black women not being interested in reading romance.

  • 70% of romance readers connect with the genre as pre-teens. For GenX this a particularly troubling stat-remember V.C. Andrews? Yikes.

  • Romance is the most profitable fiction genre

  • The two authors who make up the most marketshare in romance: Colleen Hoover and Emily Henry-I’ve never read any of their books.

Why I am I sharing all of this? Because there’s a huge opportunity in the romance space for Black readers and authors. It’s also clear that we’re going to have to approach growing our share of the business of romance differently. Here are some cool things that are happening that I’m loving so far this summer.

  • All of the energy and success behind Kennedy Ryan’s third book of her Skyland series (Can’t Get Enough)

  • August Lane by Regina Black-I’m so excited to read this book.

  • Smaller regional experiences

  • Black BookTok and the many amazing voices on there such as Talia Cadet

  • The covers have gotten so freaking good

  • Pop culture and romance-What’s a conversation about romance without sharing real world love connections.

It’s clear to me that we’re at the beginning stages of a Black romance renaissance and the growing of a significant romance eco-system that makes these books available to readers who are passionate about these stories. I’m so excited to have available to readers like myself a wide variety of romance genres to experience.

  • MC romance
  • Shifters
  • Contemporary
  • Romantasy
  • Reverse Harem
  • Sweet Romance
  • Steampunk
  • Dystopian romance

There are so many other genres that I’m excited to read. Then there’s all of the different tropes:

And there are so many other tropes that I enjoy reading and FINALLY there are so many books to choose from that feature women who look like me as the main character. I’m so excited to bring you along the ride with me. If you have stories that you think I should read and enjoy let me know! I do want to also mention that I will be sharing romance in pop culture, movies and other spaces as well. One last thing, as always Black women and what we’re interested in and care about are often ignored. The financial impact to the romance economy and the benefit to Black authors, bookstores and experiences will be hard to ignore in the future.

Related Post

Leave A Comment