To recap: At a book signing last Saturday with author Bettye Griffin, a young man asked for writing advice. His statement to us, “I don’t want to be known as an African American writer,” had us laughing out loud. Bettye responded, “We’re laughing because we know what the real deal is.”
Bettye began to explain to the young man that the deal is once your work is bought by the publisher, you have no control on cover design, how it’s marketed and where it’s placed (if at all) in bookstores. Borders segregates because of customer feedback. And if you sign up with a AA imprint, if the bookstore buys your book, they will put you in the same category as all AA literature, fiction and non-fiction.
I also explained to the young man that while what he may see on the surface in the AA section is so much – I’ll use the word nonsense, there’s a great deal to be read in that section. Because it’s all lumped together by the color of the author’s skin, he wasn’t aware that there was more than just urban lit and erotica. Thrown in were mysteries, horror, Christian/inspirational, literary, historical, romance, women’s fiction and mainstream just to name a few. But because the stuff that was turned out featured – I’ll say again, nonsense covers (this side of porn), he just assumed that all that was there was of lesser quality. (I didn’t even get into a discussion of the quality of the writing in street/urban lit and erotica, as I’ve never read them and have no basis to make a judgment, though I am really disgusted by those covers.)
The young man rightfully said that by dumping the works of AA writers into one section you can potentially limit your revenue stream. We agreed on that point, but also said that it was up to the author to promote and market the book to a broader audience.
I explained to the young man that as a fledgling screenwriter/novelist, it was next to impossible to control who gets your work and what they do with it. However, I pointed out to him that he should look at Tyler Perry as a role model. Perry, who was homeless before his first play took off, now has his own studio in Atlanta. Everything he does – from writing to directing, casting, marketing, etc. – is controlled by him. And as everyone knows, he’s frustrating the heck out of Hollywood. They have seen Perry’s success and they want their piece of it. Unfortunately for them, Lionsgate was the only studio that was willing to take a chance on him and they are riding high on Perry’s box office and television successes.
By the time he left, I think he had a little more understanding about what was ahead of him. He still has a lot to learn and I hope he doesn’t give up.
As I’m new to the publishing industry, I know I still have so much to learn. But learn I will. And I won’t stop until I get to the top.
donnad69
