Publishing industry experts say Black authors are having a sort of “Renaissance” — a revival of writing and publishing — of their very own.
According to Frisco-based publishing consultant Rekesha Pittman, the social and political climate in the United States has ignited a fresh literary movement — and a greater demand for equity and inclusion in both children’s and adult books.
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“For a lot of African Americans, in the past, literacy was viewed as a challenge to keep our people suppressed and oppressed,” said Pittman, who earned a degree in English and creative writing at the University of Southern California. “And now, many Black authors want to tell their stories — and it’s not just biographies. Authors are writing about a variety of issues and topics, putting out all kinds of content that people can relate to,” she added.
Black literary consumers are also demonstrating an insatiable appetite for books written about African American experiences in America, said Monique Christian-Long, library manager for Dallas Public Library.
After the highly publicized deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other African Americans, the library’s staff saw increased inquiries from African American parents seeking book recommendations with characters who looked like their children, said Christian-Long.
“We got an influx of requests for books (for and by Black authors) due to the social climate and the Black Lives Matter movement,” she said. “Parents would come to us and say, ‘Help me find books with representation like them.’”
To meet such demand, Christian-Long and other librarians created the Dallas Public Library’s “Young Black Readers” newsletter. The bi-monthly publication includes books by an author or illustrator who is either African American or a member of the African diaspora.
Meanwhile, Pittman, who owns Get Write Publishing, says Black authors increasingly are choosing to self-publish to retain artistic freedom and minimize barriers to getting their stories told.
“It’s become easier than ever to create and produce content (as an author),” said Pittman, an author herself and a self-publishing consultant. “Self-publishing is helping to diversify the literary world and everyone is finding their voice.”
According to Bowker, a company that has collected data on publishing trends since 2011, self-publishing grew 40 percent to more than 1.6 million texts in 2018. Bowker included the data in its 2018 “Self-Publishing in the United States” report.
“The self-publishing landscape continues to improve, creating more and more opportunities for authors to manage their own path through the process,” said Beat Barblan, vice president of publishing and data services at Bowker and chairman of the board of the International ISBN Agency.
Self-publishing, however, can come with its own challenges.
Massachusetts author Sandra Hinds self-published I Love You Every Second, a book for young children in 2012, after being told “no” by too many publishing houses.
“I’d gotten rejection letters from big publishers, but I decided to say ‘yes’ to myself so I could accomplish my dream of seeing my work in print,” she said. “But because I self-published, I do the marketing on my own.”
While she envisions the book becoming available in schools and libraries around the world, for now, Hinds relies on social media and word of mouth to market the book.
“I’m not looking to make a lot of money. That would be nice. I just think I have a gem that I want to share with the world,” Hinds said. “I think every author wants that for themselves,” she said. “At some point, maybe I’ll hire someone (to help with publicity) but, financially, I can’t do that right now.”
Still, Barblan expects the benefits to supersede the risks.
“As more authors take advantage of the abundant tools now available to publish, distribute and market their own books, we expect that self-publishing will continue to grow at a steady pace,” said Barblan in a prepared media statement.
Shauntelle Modeste, mother of 11-year-old author Madelyn Modeste, also looks forward to a rise in young Black authors.
“When it comes to reading and our community, we need books that spark our interest and attention, stories that speak to family, love and faith,” said Shauntelle. “With things like the language and the graphics, the books Madelyn reads should reflect her lived experiences.”
