As recently as 12 years ago, manuscripts were still being rejected by editors at major houses on the grounds that "blacks don't read." Now, the existence of so many books by African-American authors is a tangible breakthrough. But how effectively are publishers marketing and promoting the books they are publishing? To find out, PW took an informal survey of publicists, marketing executives and literary agents who specialize in books by black authors.
Many respondents noted that many publishers are just grasping the basics of publishing black authors, in terms of identifying the market for their books, effectively using African-American and mainstream media to reach readers, and supporting the books throughout their shelf life.
What's different about the sales trajectory of books by African-American authors? "You tend to see a longer, steadier sale, which reflects word of mouth steadily growing and working to increase demand," said Richard Rhorer, who handles marketing for Amistad, HarperCollin's African-American imprint. "It takes word of mouth on key titles almost a year to circulate, so it only makes sense to keep up the promotional efforts," added Earl Cox, Wiley's national accounts manager and African-American books sales manager.
Why is word of mouth among African-American readers so important? It may be because black readers had to rely on their own networks for years to find out about interesting books, said Julia Shaw, a freelance publicist for BET Book's Arabesque romance line who has worked for black books distributor Lushena Books and as an events coordinator for African American Women on Tour. "Before Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale, what major push was there to publicize most African-American books?" she asked.
Who Reads Black Authors?
There is a dominant perception among publishers that books by black authors appeal only to black audiences, said industry veterans. Black authors may draw readers who share similar social experiences, particularly when it comes to fiction, they said, but that shouldn't rule out a non-black readership. "African Americans read Amy Tan. We read John Grisham. Why shouldn't everyone else read about the African-American condition?" asked Julia Shaw.
To make her case, Shaw cites the marketing trajectory of bestselling inspirational author Iyanla Vanzant. "Her first book with Simon & Schuster, Acts of Faith, was marketed strictly to African-Americans. The subtitle was 'Daily Meditations for People of Color.' " Vanzant's appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show a few books later marked a turning point in the marketing plan for the books, which Simon & Schuster then began to aim at a mainstream readership. Shaw said, "I was there when Iyanla was signing books at the L.A. Book Fair after she had been on Oprah. And you had white women buying six or seven books, saying, 'hey, we didn't know about these.' They wanted everything she had written. If they'd known about her in the beginning, she might have had that readership all along."
Some might argue that it was appropriate for Simon & Schuster to target a black readership since that was Vanzant's market when she was self-publishing her books. But longtime industry observers said it can be a catch-22 to assume that black readers always represent the core audience for black authors. "Just because so many African-American authors have worked with African-American markets doesn't mean that's the only place they can work," said Shaw. "What about sending an African-American author out on tour with a white author? It just never seems to occur to anyone."
What Does it Take to Innovate?
More than gut instinct or canny demographic insights, innovative marketing requires support from senior publishing and sales executives, said observers. Yet there are barely enough black vice-presidents at the major houses to count on one hand.
"Publishers can't do everything," one veteran said, "but they could do a lot more. It's not so much about spending money as about being open to new ideas. A lot of the time, if you have enough energy to fight for a book, if you have the right contacts with opinion makers and the right reading clubs, you can make a book work. But for a lot of publishers, that's not an ongoing way of marketing to a specialized audience."
Publishers often underestimate readers when positioning books, said industry watchers. "You could have a black equivalent of [Nobel Laureate Czeslaw] Milosz, and the publisher will ask if you think Terry McMillan would give a quote. No distinction is made at all," said one publishing veteran. "Every once in a while a Zadie Smith or a Colson Whitehead comes along, and they become the literary standard-bearers. But why does an author have to mention having one white parent to get taken seriously? That came up with Zadie Smith, and it happens all too often."
Asked where they see innovation in the marketing and publicity for black books, Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambati, a former TV producer who runs a 10-year-old publicity firm specializing in African-American authors, said, "Unknown authors sending themselves on 25-city book tours, that's the innovation I see. Look at E. Lynn Harris and Omar Tyree, selling books out of their cars and in beauty salons. They recognize that you have to be willing to go to the consumer if you want to sell books in this climate."
"So many authors are coming into the industry having self-published their work," said Julia Shaw. "They aren't relying on publishers to get their name out there. They network with each other. They've watched and seen who's succeeded and who hasn't, and they're figuring out why."
The Media Mix
But even open-minded publishing executives and hardworking authors can push only so hard. After that, getting the word out widely is contingent on receptive media. "Black readers are drawn into bookstores by a combination of both mainstream and black media. While a mainstream outlet like The Today Show confirms the book's stature for the general audience, black shows like BET Tonight with Ed Gordon confirm its significance to the black community," said Amistad's publicity director, Tara Brown. Adds Shaw, "It's the repetition in different media that's the key."
Radio is very effective in reaching African-Americans, said Lloyd-Sgambati, articulating a point made by other publicists, who all cited the syndicated shows of Tom Joyner, Doug Banks, Russ Parr and Tom Pope as among the most influential. Radio has twice as much influence as print and TV combined, Lloyd-Sgambati said. "But your author has to have name recognition and know how to carry an interview. These days, you also have to pay to play. They want you to advertise on their airwaves or your author can't get in. And it's harder with fiction."There's a lot of strong African-American media that warrants touring an author, said Lloyd-Sgambati. When it comes to print, black publications "are more willing to cover fiction and authors who don't have a huge name. The Philadelphia Tribune, Dallas Weekly and Chicago Defender are three of strongest. They do a lot with books. If you can get one of the syndicated columnists to write about a book, 50 to 100 papers will pick it up." It's also important to take into account the advertising money publishers spend in African-American newspapers, cautioned Shaw. "The book coverage is definitely greater than the money spent there."
And what's the reception for black authors in mainstream TV and radio? "You don't see too many African-American authors on the Today show," said Lloyd-Sgambati. "With Black History Month, you'll see a few more. Don Imus might even have someone. But Terry Gross can get people across the board interested in reading something. NPR is really good that way."
When it comes to mainstream print, "there's limited space for books now. A good publicist will pitch the feature section first, the book review second," said Lloyd-Sgambati. But there needs to be more crossover, said Julia Shaw. "It's harder to get African-American titles mentioned in magazines, even places like Us magazine."
As space for books in other media shrinks, the Internet may become a more important tool. "It's a huge part of our promotional efforts, said Wiley's Cox. "We target hundreds of thousands of online customers using listserves, online retailers, online bookclubs and e-zines. Internet promotion is cheap and effective for us."
Some publishers, such as Ballantine's One World imprint, are even making promotional deals with African-American Web sites, such as the African American Literary Book Club (aalbc.com). Aalbc.com, which features reviews and profiles, book group reading lists and active chat areas, in addition to selling books, has doubled its traffic every year since it was founded in 1997 and logged more than 250,000 unique visitors in November alone. Regarding the deal with One World, site founder Troy Johnson explained, "If our review for one of their books turns out positive, we'll go all-out to promote the book on the site. But if a review is negative, then we just won't highlight the book. In any case, we promote lots of books without participation from the publishers, though increasingly we are telling them about what we're doing."
So what's the next step in the evolution of black books? "More success," says Julia Shaw. "Publishers learn the most from their successes, that's what really stands out. It's all about getting things to work and then saying, 'that was good. Let's make it happen again.' "
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