Three Questions with Writer Jess Pryde
We talk about her new essay anthology, Black Love Matters
Jess Pryde is a professional booklover.
She’s a librarian in Arizona, the host of Book Riot’s popular romance podcast, When in Romance, a contributor to Book Riot’s website, and, now, the editor of Black Love Matters. It’s a new anthology essay collection featuring top Black romance writers on the history — and future — of diverse love stories.
It’s a timely conversation. According to the Pew Research Center, college educated Black women read more books than any other demographic group. Yet, books published by the leading editorial houses are overwhelmingly by white writers. A 2020 New York Times analysis found just 11% of all books published in 2018 were by people of color. In the same year, a report from romance bookstore Ripped Bodice concluded 7.7% of romance novels were authored by people of color.
Black Love Matters exposes these disparities and shines a light on why they matter. Jess was kind enough to speak with me about the book, her essay in it and more. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
How did the idea for Black Love Matters come to you?
I was reading Well-Read Black Girl by Glory Edim, which is a collection of essays by Black women about themselves. I identified plenty with it, but none of the contributors were openly readers of romance. What would this kind of book be like from that perspective? And I sat on that idea for a while. Eventually, I reached out to Tara Gelsomino, a literary agent I knew from Twitter, and asked if she thought this could be a book. She said, “Yes, absolutely.” From there, I had to find people who were interested in contributing.
I made a master list in my head about what kind of people I wanted. I originally thought the collection would just feature authors, but then I realized there were so many perspectives that might not be covered if it was only book writers. So, I added some people who are popular on the interwebs who I happen to know. From there, I reached out through contact forms, DMs and emails to publicists. I now have people’s emails who I never expected to have.
Can you preview your essay?
My essay is about interracial romance. Right now, interracial romance —in books, film and television — is the only “diverse” story that’s being heavily represented and marketed. If the trend continues, it’s going to become the go-to for people.
I love interracial romance — I’m in one — but I worry about the erasure of Black men and the erasure of love stories between Black people.
That’s the problem with interracial romance being so core to how traditional publishers think about diverse representation.
Do you think the genre is becoming more accepting or more welcoming of diverse love stories, particularly Black love stories?
Yes and no. I think definitely, gates are being opened, and the numbers have gone up. There were so few published and now there are double the number, but that’s still a small total number.
It’s great to see more people reading and searching for more diverse romance. I think that desire is spreading as more people pick up romance. During the pandemic, I met so many people who had never read a single romance before 2020 and now they’re solidly romance readers.
I think that’s helping people realize that if you write and publish diverse romance, people will read it.
Thanks to Jess for speaking with me! You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram and buy Black Love Matters. I’ll be back on Monday!
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