KYRA DAVIS

New York Times bestselling author of Just One Night

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Racial Segregation In The Literary World

When I toured for my first book, Sex, Murder And A Double Latte back in 2005 I was scheduled to be interviewed on a popular regional talk show in the Northwest.  Shortly before I was to step in front of the cameras and studio audience I was given the chance to chat with one of the hosts.  She was friendly and bubbly (as befit her persona) and  she seemed to have honestly enjoyed my book.  "It was funny, and the characters were so easy to relate too," she said. "And...well, you know what surprised me?"

"What?" I asked thinking we were going to talk about some plot point or twist in the murder mystery.

"I was surprised every time you mentioned Sophie's ethnicity," she said.  "I was constantly forgetting that she was biracial!  Reading the scenes where she sits around and talks to her friends...well it could easily have been me sitting around talking to all my other white girlfriends! There was no difference in speech or subject or anything!"

What struck me about this comment was not the How-can-she-be-black-when-she-speaks-English-so-well connotation but that this woman seemed completely oblivious to the fact that her remark might be in anyway construed as offensive.  But then my (and Sophie's) ethnicity came up a lot during that tour in all sorts of unexpected ways.  My very first review was printed in Z!nk Magazine.  They loved the book and said that "Davis explores and explodes racial stereotypes" by making the protagonist black AND Jewish. 

"Explores and explodes." That phrase ran through my mind a lot during the months to follow.  If giving Sophie a black father and an Eastern European Jewish mother was exploring and exploding racial stereotypes then obviously I was exploring and exploding racial stereotypes just by existing.  But somehow that didn't seem like an accurate description of my life to date.  Some people I have come across have expressed surprise or interest when I've told them exactly what my ethnic heritage is but as far as I know none of their heads have exploded while they attempted to digest the information nor has simply being introduced to me radically changed anyone's world view.  And yet by creating the character of Sophie I was supposedly exploring and exploding stereotypes. That was interesting.

And perhaps there was a small bit of truth to that.  When my publicist, Susan Schwartzman, set up a book signing event for me in a Bay Area, African American bookstore she was informed (after the owner of the store had a chance to actually read my novel) that my appearing there wouldn't be appropriate.  "There is only one black character in this book," the owner had said in an email, "and that character is Marcus." In other words Sophie, and by extension me, was not black enough to meet this woman's approval.  I was fully ready to let that one go.  I had several book signings set up in the area, if I didn't get into a local black bookstore it wouldn't be a big deal.  However Susan is a New Yorker through and through.  She doesn't know the meaning of the phrase, "let it go." In her emailed response which she cced to me Susan wrote (in all caps) "KYRA HAS BEEN REVIEWED IN SAVOY, BLACK ISSUES BOOK REVIEW AND EBONY MAGAZINE.  IF SHE'S BLACK ENOUGH FOR EBONY SHE'S BLACK ENOUGH FOR YOU!"  A friend of mine suggested I have that printed on my business card, "Kyra Davis, black enough for Ebony." Anyway, Susan's email was strong enough to make the bookstore owner relent and I did speak at her store (although she didn't stay to hear me). I filled the place up with friends who were Asian, Latina, Russian and Irish immigrants and even one white cop just for kicks and giggles.  But the whole affair gave substance to Z!nk's claims.  Sophie was shaking things up.  The very fact that the book was reviewed in both Ebony AND Cosmo was in and of itself rather revolutionary.  I think it's entirely possible that my books were the first to ever make it into both of those publications.  The vast majority of my readership is not black and yet I have managed to secure a lot of support within the African American community.  I'm incredibly proud of that crossover.  It's absurd to think that an ethnic protagonist can only be enjoyed by those who share that protagonist's particular ethnicity and if that was the case how small would my readership be?  Are there any numbers on how many black, Eastern European Jewish people out there enjoy chick lit murder mysteries?  I seriously doubt there are thousands of them. 

And yet there is a perception within the publishing industry that white readers will not read about black characters (whether they be Christian, Jewish or Buddhist) unless the book is specifically about that character's struggles with civil rights.  My publisher never actually sent an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) to Ebony or any of those other black publications for their review.  That was done by Susan who was working (and being paid by) me, not Red Dress Ink. My publisher was concerned that should my novels be mentioned within the pages of those magazines they would be categorized as "black books," and then tucked away in that dark little corner of most bookstores where they keep their "African American fiction" or what is sometimes euphemistically called "Urban Fiction."  It seems that bookstores are one of the few areas where segregation is accepted by the mainstream.  Frequently when I've asked my publisher to change this or that on the cover of one of my books they ignore me but when I mentioned that the ARC cover for Lust, Loathing And A Little Lip Gloss had Sophie looking much more ethnic than she had on previous covers the powers that be ordered that her skin tone be lightened by three degrees within an HOUR of my making that observation.  They didn't want to do anything that might cost me white readers.

I don't know if my publisher's fears are founded or not.  Like I said, I haven't had a problem with crossover appeal.  But the fact is there still isn't a television show on the air right now that is meant for predominately white audiences that stars a black protagonist.  There are lots of very strong black supporting characters but we haven't seen a black Meredith Grey and we certainly haven't seen a black Carrie Bradshaw.  Remember I Love You Man?  There's a reason why we were introduced to almost every member of Peter Klaven's character's family and yet the only person we met in Rashida Jones' character's family was her white cousin.  They cast Larry Wilmore as the officiant in that movie but there wasn't a single African American extra who was hired to play a guest at that couple's wedding.  There is a reason why Rashida Jones and the movie producers don't want her identified as a "black actress" and it has little to do with Rashida Jone's personal feelings about her ethnicity and everything to do with her (and her handlers) concerns about her commerciality.  Just because something shouldn't be true doesn't mean it isn't.  Of course there's a chicken-or-the-egg angle to all this.  Are studios not producing TV shows and whatnot starring black protagonists for white audiences because they know there are women like that talk show host who don't believe black women can speak English properly or do some women hold that opinion because they've never seen a television show that features a black female protagonist who does so? 

The whole thing is rather sad and yet Sophie's widespread appeal makes me hopeful. I'm not egotistical enough to think that Sophie can change the world but I'm glad that she's made her mark on it.  I'm proud of my ethnically diverse readership.  I'm proud to have had my books featured in both Cosmo AND Ebony.  I'm proud that in some people's mind Sophie has explored and exploded a stereotype. 

 Kyra Davis
Bestselling Author of:
The Sophie Katz Mystery Series
and
So Much For My Happy Ending
Order Vows, Vendettas & A Little Black Dress today! Vows, Vendettas and a Little Black Dress
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19 comments :

  1. HollyThursday, May 27, 2010 at 2:37:00 PM PDT

    There is a lot of controversy in the blogosphere about whitewashing of covers. It happens a lot in romance novels. Its not uncommon to pick up a book with two white people madly in love on the cover and then to open the book and find out that the characters aren't white at all. So the publishers assume we wont buy book unless there are only white people on the covers?

    I had no idea this was going on until about a year ago and I found it to be very surprising.

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  2. kyradavisThursday, May 27, 2010 at 2:53:00 PM PDT

    "So the publishers assume we wont buy book unless there are only white people on the covers?"


    That's exactly what's going on. There's some evidence that they're right but it's flimsy (market research is not something publisher's are very good at). To be honest, even when Cosmo published a two page excerpt of my second book, Passion, Betrayal And Killer Highlights they ran it alongside a photo featuring a white couple. The man in the photo could have been Anatoly but the white woman in the photo? That's Sophie? But Cosmo was actually trying to do me a favor. They didn't want people to decide not to buy the book just because my lead female character is ethnic.

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  3. bookmagicThursday, May 27, 2010 at 3:18:00 PM PDT

    I was unfamiliar with the whole whitewashing aspect of publishing until I started blogging. It blows my mind. I like great characters and I don't care about their ethnicity. I just want great writing and great characters. So thanks for giving us that!

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  4. kyradavisThursday, May 27, 2010 at 3:25:00 PM PDT

    I just want great writing and great characters. So thanks for giving us that!


    I can honestly say that has been my pleasure : )

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  5. KimberlyThursday, May 27, 2010 at 3:52:00 PM PDT

    Thank you for posting this blog. I came across your books on amazon because I'm a fan if interracial romance and they came up. It can be hard to find mysteries with a black female lead. But if you look you can find them. I'll be honest and say my favorite is Starletta Duvall from Judith Smith Levin who unfortunately passed away in December. There is also the Hobart Lindsey and Marvia Plum series by Richard Lopuff, Mitch Berger and Desiree Mitry by David Handler and soon I'll be reading the Silver Dagger series from Frankie Y. Bailey. The sad thing is that I don't find these books at the local Borders because everything is narrow and segregated. The African American section holds every book that has a black character or is written or edited by a black person. It doesn't matter that genre wise it belongs some place else. It is through sites like amazon and internet searches that you find these hidden gems because the stores carry only what is simple and easy. And there is nothing wrong with that. I'm always "discovering" the next big thing way past the actual time everyone else was discovering it. It's just discouraging because so many writers don't get the promotion they need because they can't be boxed for mainstream which seems to be only one ethnic group at a time. White or African American.

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  6. KimberlyThursday, May 27, 2010 at 4:07:00 PM PDT

    So I had to post again and put more of my business out on the net. The issues of white washing sadly is not new. But sometimes it's not even just white people who shy away from black people and their stories. As a fan of interracial romance I've read blogs and postings on the gap between interracial romances and African American romances. I like to read both but for a while I was highly focused on interracial romances. And I'll be honest the interracial was limited to black female and non-black and mostly white male with may some asian characters. Recently two of my favorite IR authors wrote a terrific book (Given by Lisa G. Riley and Roslyn Hardy Holcomb) that was an AA romance and not and IR romance and they noticed that the sales were not as good as previous IR books. I had to question myself about whether or not I was moving away from AA romance and fiction. Because during all this I was still reading what I'm going to call white books where all the characters or at least the leads are white. Maybe it's because I grew up as a mixed race black person in the 70's and 80's so there wasn't a big push for AA romances. When did Harlequinn finally start publishing AA romance? I'm a fan of Sandra Kitt and she was their first AA writer and her first books were about white characters. She eventually went on to do AA and IR romances. But growing up I didn't have all the choices that I do now. So at the time I didn't think oh I'm reading a book about white people. Now I sometimes think about these things. Because of the way the publishing industry is today with "trick" covers and fear of alinieting an audience before they've even created one. I guess for me I will continue to read stories that I enjoy. As long as I like the characters whether they are black or white or jewish or male or female or straight or gay it doesn't matter. If I like the characters and the story I will read the book. I won't be scared off because a publisher doesn't think I can handle something "different".

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  7. Melame JenkinsThursday, May 27, 2010 at 5:00:00 PM PDT

    I had no idea about the whitewashing. I;ve read books where I am sure that the main character is not white, but I look on the cover and they are lilly white. I've always just assumed that I was wrong.

    As a white woman, I don't read a lot of "black fiction" because the books that I have read in that genre are just depressing. I would gladly buy them if the story sounded interesting. I want to read something where the main character comes out on top in the end. I don't want her still married to the cheating creep, but accepting it. I asked my friend, who recommended the books to me, why she liked reading them. She said it was because they were "real." That's not what I'm interested in.

    I have noticed that it is hard to find interracial romance books on audio, too. I went to amazon and found a bunch that looked interesting and searched for them on Audible. They didn't even have one of them.

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  8. TammeeThursday, May 27, 2010 at 5:44:00 PM PDT

    I think the problem of getting books written by black authors in all hands, has to do with the perceptions of what black fiction is. It is romance, sci-fi, mystery, horror and a bunch of stuff I can't even name right now. "Black fiction" is not a genre.
    People such as the person above me who have read a few books by black authors and deemed that "black fiction" is the reason we have such a hard time. For every Waiting to Exhale there is a Intuitionist.

    I don't read a few books by another ethnicity and label it as "that ethnicity fiction" and I would hope white readers don't either.

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  9. kyradavisThursday, May 27, 2010 at 5:47:00 PM PDT

    Ooh, there's so much here and it's all so layered that it's hard to know how and what to respond to. Minority communities who have been forced into segregation by the majority will frequently continue to segregate themselves well after the oppression of the majority has been eased or lifted. It's one of those weird things that can accurately be described as both a self-destructive action and an effective survival strategy.

    Harlequin usually publishes their African American romances under their imprint Kimani Press. They do that for the same reason booksellers keep most of their African American fiction separated in one location: many African American's WANT it this way. They want to be able to easily find the books that feature people who look like them and who they can easily relate to. Knowing that their books are going to be read primarily by African Americans the authors of these works will try to gear the entire book towards that group's interests and experiences and since the specific segment of the African American community who shops that section of the bookstore tends to share fairly similar and in fact collective experiences the books are geared toward them. The specific collective experience that I'm referring to is very real but it also happens not to be my personal life experience. Most of those books aren't written with me in mind or Condi Rice or Rashida Jones or any other African American who has had an affluent highly assimilated or middle class (also highly assimilated) background. SOME of them are but the bookstores and publishers rarely take the time to distinguish between them so all the black books get put in the same section of the bookstore and the ones that would appeal to me (or perhaps you, Melame) get lost in the shuffle. So we all walk away with a heavily reinforced stereotype of what a "black book" is and then when we see a cover with an black woman on it we assume that this too is one of those books. I think we've created a self-fulfilling prophecy.

    I personally don't consider my books to be interracial romances (in fact I don't even consider them romances but that's another story). They feature characters that I like who happen to be ethnically diverse. And that's how I've written them and luckily for me my publishing house saw it that way and positioned it accordingly. I didn't get lost in that shuffle. Part of the reason for that is the way I write and the attitude of my characters and part of it is luck.

    Never underestimate the power of luck.

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  10. LeslieThursday, May 27, 2010 at 6:36:00 PM PDT

    Wow, this is such a loaded topic. I’m so glad you’re exploring it. Appreciate your post and everyone's point of view. Would love to hear more.

    The "black fiction" label is tough. I'm black and am definitely not in favor of segmenting books by race or ethnicity. I also realize that some people are. But I also don’t identify with many books that some would call "black fiction,” and I do think this label prevents many writers from finding diverse audiences. (Incidentally, I don’t believe in this labeling at all. You can’t lump people together because of skin color or religion, for example. And, what if I’d never read "Memoirs of a Geisha" because the main character didn’t look like me? What if I never read "White Oleander" because the main character was of a different class? What if I never read "Marley and Me" because it was about a white family and a rambunctious dog? Okay--wait--I’ll stop there ;) ) I’ve absolutely loved so many books in which the protagonists don’t look like me, or act like me, or aren’t of the same class as I am. People are people; good stories are good stories. Those in high places in the book world aren’t helping anyone by separating and dividing their lists.

    And, yes, it’s very annoying to hear that some people are still surprised that non-white characters can speak proper English and have “regular” jobs and “regular” lives. We need more diverse books, and films, and TV shows to reflect the real world. To reflect real people of all classes and backgrounds.

    Kyra, it's great that you were able to have your book positioned so well. Kudos to your team and your readers for appreciating the stories. Would be so wonderful if more books like yours were written and properly promoted. And it would be great if more people really recognized that you can't judge a book by its cover. You just can’t.

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  11. kyradavisThursday, May 27, 2010 at 7:21:00 PM PDT

    Well it's like...okay, remember when we all went to STORES to buy our music : P What if they decided that Alicia Keys should be put in the Rap section. If you argued that Alicia Keys isn't a rapper they'd say, "But 90% of rappers are black and Alicia Keys is black sooo? She must belong in the rap section!" Then people who had never heard Alicia Keys might get a glimpse of her CD in the rap section but they wouldn't pick it up unless they were fond of rap. Those who DID pick it up would be disappointed because they didn't get what they hoped for.

    In my opinion the African American Fiction section or the "Urban fiction section" is sort of like that. Most people who go to that section are looking for a book with a certain tone but the books that aren't in that tone never reach their target market.

    On the other hand I don't blame people for wanting to be able to easily find a certain kind of book. If you just want to listen to rap why would you want to go through an entire store to find the albums made for you? You'd want a section. But now it's up to the bookstores and the publishers to figure out what's a "rap book" and what's pop music and those decisions shouldn't just be based on the color of the protagonist or the color of the author.

    As far as the talk show host is concerned, yes, it is always disappointing to find out how many idiots there are in the world ; )

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  12. KimberlyThursday, May 27, 2010 at 9:06:00 PM PDT

    Kim again. This topic totally needs to be discussed. Some will say it's discussed too much but I think otherwise. I put your books with the mysteries I mentioned above. And I put them in the chick lit catagory which I'm still not understanding how chick lit is passe or whatever that word is. Are chick's not reading now or are we all cougars and no longer chicks? Or are we getting married and having kids so we no longer read chick lit? So what are we reading? As long as you are putting out stories I'll be reading them. Same goes for another fave chick lit writer Jane Green. I still want to read about people who are different from me or maybe a little like me. And I'm sorry but I don't like "urban fiction" that is "real", but that's just me. And what I don't like is how all AA fiction or black fiction is lumped together even if it's somthing that belongs with biographies or science fiction or just plain romance or mystery or any other genre. Yes, it does make things easier for people but it still is frustrating and insulting. A friend is very annoyed with the Detroit Institute of the Arts because when they reopened after remodeling they created in African American section. To him it's the same thing as the book store and the African American section that puts several different styles and time periods of art under one umbrella just to get black people to come see it. He finds this to be very lazy for both the museum and hte viewer as well. I think the same thing happens with marketing books. Publishers and booksellers just go with what is easy. Like was stated in other postings you can't really pin down what "black fiction is" and that is probably for the best because it helps authors and readers grow and change and learn about themselves and others outside of confined definitions.

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  13. kyradavisThursday, May 27, 2010 at 10:14:00 PM PDT

    Personally I've always found the
    AA book section to be a bit insulting but as I said, there are lots of African Americans who disagree with me and they have valid arguments. However I DO think that if you're going to have an "urban fiction" section then it needs to be just that. A certain TYPE of fiction that has a tendency to feature a lot of prominent ethnic characters. But don't put the pop-music in with the gangsta rap. Pop-music is pop-music regardless of what color the singer is and so it shouldn't be put in a different part of the record store based on the singer's race.

    But I think that the publishing industry frequently screws up when it comes to categorizing. For a long time (and to a degree this is still going on) ANY book that featured a female protagonist with a sense of humor was considered a chick-lit book regardless of whether or not there was a romance in the book or if the book had a happy ending or if deeper issues were explored. Female-character-cracking-a-few-jokes = chick lit. Of course that's not the case and a lot of great authors never reached the market they were writing for because they were burdened with a cutesy cover. Not that different from a mainstream book that WOULD have appeal to readers of ALL ethnicities being hidden in the Urban fiction section

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  14. That Gay Girl TamaraThursday, May 27, 2010 at 10:36:00 PM PDT

    Wow Kyra! Busy day. Thanks for this post. I have contended with this very issue while writing for a competition earlier this month. And it is something I have contemplated while outlining for other stories. I want my books to reach all audiences. I actually found your books under "mystery" but I must admit, if it didn't reference sex in the title-- I probably wouldn't have picked it up. :-)

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  15. kyradavisThursday, May 27, 2010 at 10:52:00 PM PDT

    Sex sells, and that's something that all races seem to agree on :P

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  16. Becky LeJeuneFriday, May 28, 2010 at 8:43:00 AM PDT

    I'm all for categorization in terms of finding things you like or are in the mood for, I think it can really help readers find something new. You want mystery, you go to mystery. You want horror, you go to horror.

    I'm not for categorization in terms of fake marketing and by that I mean that someone else has decided who the book will appeal to most and that's all their focus is. Like a book can only ever appeal to one specific audience. And the lines become very gray in some genres.

    I think the segregated fiction issue, and I was a bookseller who now works in publishing, is a double edged sword. As you mentioned, Kyra, some of the "African American" readers - people seeking out that section of the store - want that separation, and again if you know you like something and you know where to easily find similar product, that's fine. But I think because of this, the publishers are actually afraid of even contracting authors who want to write outside of the immediately acceptable box they're put in. I think this is really sad. I read fiction pretty much across the board I get so frustrated thinking that there are so many great things out there being kept from me because they don't fit into a nice, neat marketing scheme. But again, I understand it and I don't even know how you go about beginning to fix it. Get rid of author photos? Throw all fiction into one section? Then how would someone looking for a funny mystery pick out a Kyra Davis book?

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  17. kyradavisFriday, May 28, 2010 at 10:49:00 AM PDT

    You're right Becky, it's a frustrating problem and not easily solved. And it goes beyond the white/black issue. There are a lot of books that don't get published simply because publishers don't know how to categorize them. I know I wrote a proposal and three chapters for a new project a while back that I got great feedback on from the editors it was submitted to. But they ended up passing on it because they weren't sure what "section," it would fit into. It was a little too deep to be "chick lit" but the humor might be too pronounced to be woman's fiction so I lose.

    In the case of the African American books authors can often get published only to discover that they only have access to a small fraction of their intended audience. If there really is a strong demand for an African American section in the bookstores then, ideally, it would be nice if booksellers would stock those novels in TWO locations the AA section and the other department it fits into. But what bookseller has the funds to stock that many copies of each book in its inventory? Especially these days?

    Again, it's a problem and I'm still rooting for the end of book segregation but I know it's not a black & white issue (no pun intended) and it'll take a while to work out a solution that everyone is happy with. I just hope we get there sooner rather than later.

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  18. AnonymousSaturday, May 29, 2010 at 1:49:00 AM PDT

    Interesting. This whole post reminded me of the trials and tribulations of my friend who is black but who is from an eastern european country. She is European first and foremost and is horrified at how she is constantly pigeon holed into being "black". I once got her a Zane Chronicles ("black" erotica series) book as a joke. She didn't think it was funny, "how can I read zees, it is for zee blacks." The irony was lost on her.

    I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with the tv point, but you NEED to watch Dhani Jones Tackles The Globe on the travel channel. Um um um and educational. :)

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  19. AnonymousSaturday, June 12, 2010 at 11:38:00 PM PDT

    "I'm proud of my ethnically diverse readership."

    BTW, I was disappointed to not see your books listed here too:
    http://www.karnadya.com.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=246&Itemid=59 instead of just available in English and French and Dutch.

    "For every Waiting to Exhale there is a Intuitionist."

    and a Lion's Blood and an Aya of Yop City and a Tipping Point (OK that one's nonfiction but I still read it for fun) and a Nova and a Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad and a The New Moon's Arms and a Japanese by Spring and a Fledgling and...

    "And, what if I'd never read "Memoirs of a Geisha" because the main character didn't look like me? "

    You should also read Geisha by Mineko Iwasaki! :)

    "I've absolutely loved so many books in which the protagonists don't look like me, or act like me, or aren't of the same class as I am. People are people; good stories are good stories."

    I agree! :D

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ALSO BY KYRA DAVIS

Just One Night Trilogy

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Seven Swans A'Shooting

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So Much for My Happy Ending

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Lust, Loathing
and a Little Lip Gloss

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ABOUT KYRA DAVIS

I'm the internationally published author of the Sophie Katz mystery series, and So Much For My Happy Ending. My first Erotic Fiction Trilogy will be released in January 2013.

Aside from that, I'm a single mom; I'm addicted to coffee and True Blood (the show, not the drink). I'm happy with who I am yet I’m always striving to be better; I have more bad hair days than good ones, I love a challenge but I am not fearless, I’m….well…just me.