Diversity in Romance
Representation in the romance genre is increasing to better include the general population, but there is room for improvement.
Like everything in the United States, the publishing industry is built on the foundations of White supremacy. This reality is no different for the romance genre. Unfortunately, the pivotal organization for the genre, the Romance Writers of America, has a dismal track record regarding exclusionary racist behavior.
In “Fifty Shades of White: The Long Fight Against Racism in Romance Novels,” Lois Beckett details the many trials and tribulations of diversity in the genre. She interviews a number of BIPOC authors and covers the RWA saga in depth.
The following mentality best exemplifies the root issue: a group of White romance writers who have always had 90% of the market has been pushed back. Now all of a sudden, they have 80% of the space. Instead of saying: “Ooh, look, I still have 80%,” they say: “Oh, I lost 10%! Who do I blame for losing 10?”
The article goes on to reference Black author Beverly Jenkins’s experience at book fairs, where she saw firsthand how her romance books were seen as unrelatable to White audiences: “You can relate to shapeshifters, you can relate to vampires, you can relate to werewolves, but you can’t relate to a story written by and about black Americans?”
The article wraps up with Kianna Alexander, a Black author who transitioned away from Kimani, Harlequin’s Black romance imprint. It paints a vivid picture with the simple line: “For the first time, Alexander saw an ad for a black Harlequin author in one of the women’s magazines sold at grocery store checkout lines. The magazine wasn’t Essence or Ebony: it was a black Harlequin author being marketed to everyone.”³⁶
That is what diverse readers and authors want, to be marketed to everyone. Now onto the charts!
Chart 32: How Diverse Is Your Romance Reading?
Main Insight: On a scale from not diverse to very diverse, a majority (47.7%) of participants ranked as three on the diversity scale with opportunities for improvement.
Quote on Diversity Lacking in the Algorithm
It appears that it’s often a matter of convenience. Some people just read what is pushed on them, which is typically not diverse romance.
This response prompted me to wonder, how difficult is it to get diverse romance book recommendations?
Chart 33: How Hard Is It To Find Diverse Recommendations?
Main Insight: This range resembles the last chart, with 41.8% of participants finding diverse romance as a three on the difficulty scale. Those answering three for both questions are making an effort but understand their shortcomings.
Quote on Periods of Reading Less Diversely
Chart 34: Sources of Diverse Recommendations
Main Insight: Influencers are overwhelmingly the most used way to learn about diverse romance reads.
Note: Social Media is a separate section referring to publishers/industry accounts, not individual content creators.
Chart 35: What Representation Readers Are Looking For
Main Insight: There was a nearly three-way tie for more BIPOC (75%), Disability (75%), & Plus Size (73%) diversity representation in the genre.
Quotes on Finding Diverse Reads
To find books, the Internet is a vital way to access these titles.
Chart 36: Which Imprint Is Doing The Best With Diversity
Main Insight: No Frontwinner is the biggest group with 36% of participants stating no one imprint is doing better at diversity. The imprint that scored best is Berkley with 19%.
Quotes on Diversity at Imprints
Carina Press (HarperCollins)
Berkley Books (Penguin Random House)
Forever Books (Hachette Book Group)
Chart 37: Diversity in Self-Publishing vs Traditional Publishing
Main Insight: 62% of respondents believe that Self-Publishing is better at producing diverse romance.
Quote on Diversity in Self-Publishing
In my opinion, self-publishing surpasses traditional publishing in terms of diversity because the latter has a more significant divide between readers and writers. While traditional publishing is making strides in representation, indie publishing has an advantage in being more connected to their audience. They are “on the ground” reporters, able to shorten the timeline of getting books out to the public. This allows for feedback from diverse beta readers that traditional publishers are often afraid to hear. It’s time for the traditional publishing industry to take risks to compete with the innovative self-publishers.
Citation for this Section
Source 36:
Beckett, L. (2019, April 4). Fifty shades of white: The long fight against racism in romance novels. The Guardian. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
