To Whom It May Concern,
I wanted to send a note to express my thanks for your superior organizational skills. When subject headings are used exclusively for organization in bookstores personal bias can rear it's ugly head in a way that is not only condescending, but sometimes downright offensive. I am referring to the use of the "African-American Fiction" heading. I applaud you for not using this heading in your stores. It creates a literary ghetto where Noble Prize Winning Fiction such as Toni Morrison's Beloved is placed on the same shelf as the insipid Marry Your Baby's Daddy by Maryann Reid for no other reason than the fact that both author's happen to be black.
I appreciate your care in this matter and it makes the difference in my purchases. I will make the extra drive to a Barnes and Noble because I feel that as an African-American consumer I am respected.
Thank you,
Shanna Miles
Sunday, January 4, 2009
A Thanks to Barnes and Noble
If you're going to rain down criticism, you have to rain down praise. So, I've sent a Thank You note to Barnes and Noble.
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4 comments:
Wow. That's all I can say. Your letter is so brilliant and so correct! African American Fiction...let's group all the blacks together...It's those little earthquakes that split me down the middle.
I love your letter. Of course, I read that publishers like the ghetto type literary situation cause it helps with selling the book. They unfortuanately have a point. Dig, Michelle Singletary is awesome at planning budgets and financial planning but will she be mentioned or even sell next to Suzie Orman? Dig? The separation allows for her book to be noticed.
Marketing is all about product placement. I like Orman but Singletary may be better but Black books without the help could be lost in the shuffle.
Books like a Gangster's Wife will sell cause Jackie Collins type books will always sell. They appeal to the baser insticts. SEX!
Money! Gettin over!
Jaycee
Jaycee
Thanks, Jay.
MJ,
I think the opposite is true. If Michelle Singletary were next to Suze Orman on the shelf maybe a more diverse set of readers will view and ultimately purchase her book. Placing her in the literary ghetto only gives her visibility to a small section of the population, and frankly we're going to buy her book anyway.
I don't believe black books will be "lost in the shuffle" because they are great books. When you place great black literature next to the "nigglature" the assumption is that all the books are Jackie Collins-esque. The Color Purple is NOT Flyy Girl and vice versa. And to give some credit to the nigglature, a lot of it is no better than the romance novels from the other side of the aisle and wouldn't they be helped by a larger audience who may be looking for something different?
The literary ghetto of the bookstore only marginalizes the authors and limits their exposure.
Amen to that. I have used the leterary ghetto term and have caought a lot of ugliness over it, but it remains the truth.
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