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2017 RART Retreat: Diversity and the Romance Genre

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Katie Polley

Presentation from the MN Library Association RART (Reader's Advisory Round Table) 2017 Retreat. This year our topic was ROMANCE! Katie Polley and Carol Jackson co-presented on diversity within the romance genre.

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Embracing Romance 2017 RART RETREAT
DIVERSITY AND THE ROMANCE GENRE Katie Polley, DCL & Carol Jackson, RCL
The quantifiable reality is that writers are now catering to a more diverse audience. But within HR [historical romance], the characters remain steadfastly and almost exclusively White, even though the population of that time period was not. Lets make this quantifiable (I refrained from using sources that would be behind a paywall like academic journals or books, but some of these sources have links to them). Here is the minority population breakdown based on Englands migration data in the 1800s (note that census at the time is considered unreliable for migration data): Americans in Britain (1881-1889): 16,000 19,000 Africans in Britain (~1800): 14,000 20,000 Indians in Britain (~1850): 40,000 BUT FIRST, SOME STATISTICS
So, Indian immigrants outnumbered American immigrants by more than a 2:1 margin, while Africans immigrants have comparable numbers to Americans. And yet, if HRs were truly historically accurate, why do we have proportionately more stories with Americans characters (usually heiresses), but not Indians? Not only have Indians historically served as seamen, diplomats, businessmen, and officials (the first non-White MP was elected in 1892), but they are also better represented in the population. In other words, its disingenuous and deceitful to defend a character who is racist or sexist as historically accurate, while at the same time defending stories populated entirely by White people as accurate as well. From Guest Post: The Diversity Thorn Ethnic Identity, History, and Historical Romance published on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books 03/13/2017 BUT FIRST, SOME STATISTICS
Black and British: A Forgotten History Black and British is a season of programming celebrating the achievements of black people in the UK and exploring the rich culture and history of black Britain. []with programming across BBC television, radio and online, the Black and British season showcases bold, vibrant and provocative stories, overturning preconceptions and challenging prejudices. The season will also cast a fresh light on our history, examining the contribution and impact of black people in the UK, as well as exploring just what it means to be black and British today. Join in the conversation using the hashtag #BlackandBritish IF YOU CAN FIND THIS, CHECK IT OUT!
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
ZEN CHO
PIPER HUGULEY
BEVERLY JENKINS
JADE LEE
JEANNIE LIN
SUSANNE LORD
COURTNEY MILAN
VANESSA RILEY
SHERRY THOMAS
YOLANDA WALLACE
WHY WE NEED DIVERSE ROMANCE Plus how to find it and promote it
Diversity in Romance: 2015 Survey posted by Audra North, summarized here Quick and dirty summary of the findings: The most frequently cited obstacle to reading more romances featuring POC characters was: knowing about existing or upcoming content. The most frequently cited method for finding out about new or existing reads (not POC-specific): recommendation from a friend. Black or African-American respondents were significantly less likely than any other race/ethnicity to explicitly state that race is not a factor when choosing their next romance read. Black or African-American respondents were significantly more likely than any other race/ethnicity to explicitly state that there is not enough diverse content available in the romance genre. MORE STATS, JUST FOR FUN
What motivates readers?
And the recommendations based on those findings: Booksellers and publishers can help by working together to increase quantity and visibility of diverse romance in brick-and-mortar shops. Publishers (trad and self, alike) can help by focusing on changes to the metadata of diverse e-book romances: dont simply relegate these to the multicultural shelfvirtual or otherwise. More content, especially in contemporary and historical romances. Talk about the diverse books you read! Buy them, but more importantly: read and recommend them! Recommendations from friends was the most frequently cited method for finding a new book and/or author. Conduct more in-depth look specifically at how romances by and about Black or African-American POC are categorized and marketed. From Report on Diversity in Romance, published on Scandalicious 08/10/2015 WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR LIBRARIANS?
A FEW SOURCES TO CHECK OUT just in case you want to know more
#wocinromance tumblr website We Need Diverse Books Where to Find Diverse Books A bit outdated, but: All About Romance Special Title Listings Floating Lush: Adult Genre Authors of Color Lists Romance review sites: Romance Novels in Color Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Dear Author CHECK THESE OUT!
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE POC, LGBTQ, Disability, and more
DANIELLE ALLEN
T.J. BENNETT
MELISSA BLUE
K.L. BRADY
ALYSSA COLE
SHARON CULLARS
REGINA HART
K.M. JACKSON
INES JOHNSON
AYISHA MALIK
NANA MALONE
SHOMA NARAYANAN
NINA PEREZ
ALISHA RAI
YAHRAH ST JOHN
MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN BETA
PARANORMAL, SCI-FI, STEAMPUNK, URBAN FANTASY, ETC aka all the weird & wonderful other stuff
SYLVIA DAY
RHYS FORD
MINA KHAN
MARJORIE LIU
SHAWNTELLE MADISON
REBEL MILLER
L. PENELOPE
PJ SCHNYDER
NALINI SINGH
MILLY TAIDEN
QUESTIONS? Comments?
THANK YOU!

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2017 RART Retreat: Diversity and the Romance Genre

  • 2. DIVERSITY AND THE ROMANCE GENRE Katie Polley, DCL & Carol Jackson, RCL
  • 3. The quantifiable reality is that writers are now catering to a more diverse audience. But within HR [historical romance], the characters remain steadfastly and almost exclusively White, even though the population of that time period was not. Lets make this quantifiable (I refrained from using sources that would be behind a paywall like academic journals or books, but some of these sources have links to them). Here is the minority population breakdown based on Englands migration data in the 1800s (note that census at the time is considered unreliable for migration data): Americans in Britain (1881-1889): 16,000 19,000 Africans in Britain (~1800): 14,000 20,000 Indians in Britain (~1850): 40,000 BUT FIRST, SOME STATISTICS
  • 4. So, Indian immigrants outnumbered American immigrants by more than a 2:1 margin, while Africans immigrants have comparable numbers to Americans. And yet, if HRs were truly historically accurate, why do we have proportionately more stories with Americans characters (usually heiresses), but not Indians? Not only have Indians historically served as seamen, diplomats, businessmen, and officials (the first non-White MP was elected in 1892), but they are also better represented in the population. In other words, its disingenuous and deceitful to defend a character who is racist or sexist as historically accurate, while at the same time defending stories populated entirely by White people as accurate as well. From Guest Post: The Diversity Thorn Ethnic Identity, History, and Historical Romance published on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books 03/13/2017 BUT FIRST, SOME STATISTICS
  • 5. Black and British: A Forgotten History Black and British is a season of programming celebrating the achievements of black people in the UK and exploring the rich culture and history of black Britain. []with programming across BBC television, radio and online, the Black and British season showcases bold, vibrant and provocative stories, overturning preconceptions and challenging prejudices. The season will also cast a fresh light on our history, examining the contribution and impact of black people in the UK, as well as exploring just what it means to be black and British today. Join in the conversation using the hashtag #BlackandBritish IF YOU CAN FIND THIS, CHECK IT OUT!
  • 17. WHY WE NEED DIVERSE ROMANCE Plus how to find it and promote it
  • 18. Diversity in Romance: 2015 Survey posted by Audra North, summarized here Quick and dirty summary of the findings: The most frequently cited obstacle to reading more romances featuring POC characters was: knowing about existing or upcoming content. The most frequently cited method for finding out about new or existing reads (not POC-specific): recommendation from a friend. Black or African-American respondents were significantly less likely than any other race/ethnicity to explicitly state that race is not a factor when choosing their next romance read. Black or African-American respondents were significantly more likely than any other race/ethnicity to explicitly state that there is not enough diverse content available in the romance genre. MORE STATS, JUST FOR FUN
  • 20. And the recommendations based on those findings: Booksellers and publishers can help by working together to increase quantity and visibility of diverse romance in brick-and-mortar shops. Publishers (trad and self, alike) can help by focusing on changes to the metadata of diverse e-book romances: dont simply relegate these to the multicultural shelfvirtual or otherwise. More content, especially in contemporary and historical romances. Talk about the diverse books you read! Buy them, but more importantly: read and recommend them! Recommendations from friends was the most frequently cited method for finding a new book and/or author. Conduct more in-depth look specifically at how romances by and about Black or African-American POC are categorized and marketed. From Report on Diversity in Romance, published on Scandalicious 08/10/2015 WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR LIBRARIANS?
  • 21. A FEW SOURCES TO CHECK OUT just in case you want to know more
  • 22. #wocinromance tumblr website We Need Diverse Books Where to Find Diverse Books A bit outdated, but: All About Romance Special Title Listings Floating Lush: Adult Genre Authors of Color Lists Romance review sites: Romance Novels in Color Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Dear Author CHECK THESE OUT!
  • 23. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE POC, LGBTQ, Disability, and more
  • 40. PARANORMAL, SCI-FI, STEAMPUNK, URBAN FANTASY, ETC aka all the weird & wonderful other stuff