Elsie Washington, African American journalist (aka Rosalind Welles) was the first to publish a category romance with Black protagonists. Published in 1980 by Vivian Stephens with Dell Candlelight.

Vivian Stephens was determined to publish Black authors writing about Black characters in romance novels.

Every book Sandra wrote for Harlequin they bought and published.

Shirley Hailstock: The assumption from publishing was that readers would not understand Black hair! #RWA2020

Donna Hill: At the center of the book is this relationship. And relationships are universal.
She also often came up against the complaint that "the story wasn't Black enough" (as in, it wasn't about poor people on welfare). She asked them what kind of Black people do you know??

(This panel is wonderful. The combined talent and expertise of these three authors is immense.)

Donna Hill: Her first book had 10,000 copies sitting in the warehouse because bookstores claimed not to know where to shelve it. She was with a small publisher. So she did all the marketing herself. She made lists of Black bookstores and went to see them personally.

They actually took books on consignment from her because they had no idea if they'd sell. (I am in awe of the work and perseverance here.) It's like she was indie before there was indie.

Sandra Kitt actually did a watercolor painting and the publisher accepted it as the cover for her book LOVE EVERLASTING. (this is so cool!)

Arabesque by Kensington Publishing was a pioneer in publishing Black romance.

The Black people who had been reading romance all their lives said: Oh! Here's one about people who look like me! - Shirley Hailstock

Sandra Kitt: Also credit to Walter Zacharias, the publisher of @KensingtonBooks , which at the time was the largest independent publisher in the country. He saw the market for Black readers. He wanted to start a line with Black authors. He went all out with promo and marketing.

There was suddenly a place for Black writers to go. The line was successful right away.
Donna Hill: the success of Black authors across all genres is a result of the success of Black romance authors. Once publishers saw that success, they were more willing to buy Black authors.

Sandra Kitt: the publishers' willingness to buy us wasn't altruistic - it was business. Looking at the numbers, the books were selling. Libraries discovered them. Indie bookstores too. It all began with the romance writers.

Shirley Hailstock: she'd go in bookstores and the romance novels would be in the back of the store in the Black history section! They asked their friends to go in bookstores and demand that the books be shelved in romance.

Donna Hill: she'd go in bookstores and make them go look for them.
Shirley: they'd say "Oh, did you check in Black history?"
Sandra: This was part of the evolution. They had a grass roots movement to get everybody to go to the stores and put the books in the right place.

Sandra Kitt: she got questions about what is the value of romance? She said a teacher told her the value for her teen girls was to see relationships where they were treated with respect and love. We should be really proud of this.(this is still and always true!)

Donna Hill: Also an opportunity to showcase the wonder and goodness and decency of Black men, which we do not see enough in the media, etc. In romance, we do that extremely well.

Shirley: After a tragedy, people need hope. When she went in bookstores after 9/11, the romance sections were empty because everybody needed to see that the world could be a good place.

Shirley: We all want to be loved. We want somebody to give our joys and our sorrows to, and we want support.

Too many publishers have wanted Black authors to write about the Drama and the Trauma of being Black, instead of writing about Black joy.

Donna Hill: there is an underlying acceptance in publishing to showcase the dysfunction of Black people. And they highlight this book's about racism, or other trauma, and that made it difficult for them to understand/accept the idea of Black romance.

Sandra Kitt wrote a children's book and the publisher told her "this is nice but we're looking for something about the ghetto."
She says a lot of this is voyeuristic, that publishers think readers want to read about Black pain/slavery.

Shirley Hailstock: A reviewer wrote about another author's book: This isn't Black enough.
Shirley wrote to her and said How do you know? I read it and it's exactly Black enough.
Shirley feels like some in publishing get their idea of Black people from televsion.

(If you are registered for #RWA2020 you have access to these recordings. I highly recommend you watch this panel. Such an informative and enlightening look at our history)

Donna Hill: We had a real struggle with having Black people on the covers, because white people saw the cover and said 'this doesn't have anything to do with me.'

Sandra Kitt: we need to educate the readers.
Donna Hill: some publishers addressed this by making the characters lighter, showing them from the back, only from the neck down, etc. Then took people off the cover altogether.
(this is horrible)

Sandra Kitt: We're still here and we're thriving. You have to work like the devil to be heard and be seen.

Q: how have things changed since the beginning of your career?
Sandra Kitt: she takes more time to give her characters complex interior lives. Focuses on the emotional journey.
Donna Hill: celebrated 30 years published this June. She thinks hard about WHY to tell the story.

Shirley: she tells her own stories more than trying to fit into tropes or formulas. She's a plotter but sometimes ends up pantsing. The characters are more real to her now than at the beginning of her career. Her characters never get to eat, they don't have time. (LOL, me too!0

This has been such an amazing panel. Highly recommend.