Breakaway

What kind of books do you read?

Do you judge it by it's cover?

How about the authors name or picture on the back?

Do you stay in one particular section of the bookstore?

Yes, I expect answers to these questions.

As an aspiring to be published author I'm faced with the dilemma of what type of audience I want to appeal to. I know, I know, I'm supposed to write for myself. And I do but at the same time I would like to appeal to somebody else. At least a few others anyway. The publishing industry is notorious for typecasting. Black authors write black literature, women write chick lit, men write dick lit, you get my point. There are always exceptions to this rule. Nicholas Sparks for instance, he writes romance or love stories better then a lot of women. That's why all of his novels turned movies end up on Lifetime at some point. Maybe that's why some writer's choose to use pen names or alias'. In most of the stories I write I don't describe my character's by their race. I just don't say one way or the other. I mean why should I? Is it really that important? If I'm talking about race relations in America today or the 1960's civil rights movement, maybe. If I'm just writing a feel good novel about a few people doing some shit and messing it up, falling in love, fighting, crying, making love on long layovers and flying around on jumbo jets, do I really need to tell you that my main character is Black or Mixed or Asian? Maybe I'm way off base and people really do need to know. Whether it's so they can relate better to the story or get a clear picture in their mind of what this person is supposed to look like. I'm sure their are many more reasons I've never thought of, that's why I'm asking you. Don't get me wrong, I do give some description of course and leave it more for the reader to decide exactly what they look like. Personally, with it being a book and all I would rather use my imagination and decide myself what he/she looks like. If I want the work done for me I can just watch T.V.

I've been told I don't sound how I look. My name, it's also no dead give-a-way to my ethnicity (At least not my married one). So if I were to write a book and publish it where would they put it? Would that change if (gasp) they knew I was a black girl? I think it would. This does not mean I'm ashamed of being black. I'm not. In no way shape or form. Nor do I suggest anyone else should be. I just don't want to be type casted into a certain category. I don't want to end up in "African American Literature", which at first glace looks more like 'hood fiction. You have to dig deep in some of these stores just to find true African American Literature. In most cases if it's really literature it's in the classics section or elsewhere. I do not write about hood love or ghetto romance. None of my main characters ever have gold teeth or has lived through a drive by shooting. I've read my fair share of Ghetto Romance (only because I will try almost anything once) and I've seen what most of the covers of those books look like. Some aren't even that bad, it's just not me. So, because my picture is on the book jacket I will get stuck between " Why won't my baby Daddy marry me?" and Keisha Cole's autobiography? What kind of sales will I generate? How many people will miss out on a great book because of it's location? If you are honest with yourself, how many Chinese authors have you read? How many Caucasians do you see searching through the black lit section for a good read? The same amount you probably saw sitting in the movie theater watching "This Christmas". We see this everyday in Hollywood it's not a shock or something new. Black people get type casted into roles on TV and in Movies. I'm sure that Gabrielle Union could have played Cameron Diaz's role in "The Holiday" just as well if not better. But then folks it would have been a "black" movie. Gabrielle can't change what people see when they look at her and she can't not disclose what she looks like. As an author though, I have the ability or opportunity to breakaway. You don't have to know what color I am or my characters' in order to enjoy my books. At least I don't think so.