The romance novel industry, despite being a billion dollar industry, is still not an inclusive one.
About a year ago, Romance Writers of America, the organization behind the coveted RITA Award, admitted that no black authors had ever won the award in its 36 years of existence. Not only that, but black authors have made up less than half of one percent of books considered for the prize.
The mainstream romance novel industry is notorious for prominently featuring heterosexual, white couples and can be pretty blatant about keeping it that way. South Asian romance writer Alisha Rai talked about how publishers asked her to make her characters white before they could publish it.
Despite this depressing pattern, those in the book industry are working to change it.
Bawdy Bookworms is creating a database of diverse authors and romance novels to help them gain more publicity.
And Forever and Forever Yours publishing companies, part of the Hatchett Book Group, are teaming up to create the All Love, All Voices Contest, a romance novel contest for diverse romance novel authors. First prize includes phone consultations with their editors and the possibility of a publishing contract.
Everyone deserves a happily-ever-after and that’s why Forever invites you to enter the All Love, All Voices Contest. We believe in celebrating diverse views and inclusivity and are excited to receive your submissions sharing stories that have been traditionally underrepresented in the romance genre in your own voices.
All Love, All Voices Contest
Romance novelists have until April 15th to submit their entries for the contest. While it will take a lot of effort and changes to make the romance novel industry truly inclusive, it’s nice to know that publishing companies like Forever are already taking action to bring more diversity to the industry.