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/lit/ - Literature

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6743353 No.6743353 [Reply] [Original]

>At bookstore
>The romance section happens to be next to the chair I'm sitting at
>Look to it
>Literally every single picture is of one or two white people
I'm curious as to why this is. There isn't one book with a non-white person on it.

>> No.6743374

because it is written by white people so they gravitate towards what they're accustomed to. same reason why black romance novels have black people on the covers
>http://www.deneshadiamond.com/books/

>> No.6743375

i dont like to make "racial generalizations".. but that's probably their "target audience"

i agree though. too much focus on white people

>> No.6743384

>novel's characters are white
>cover portrays an asian man and a black, tri-gendered, poly-romantic with a 'body-positive' physique and self-harm scars

>> No.6743392

This thread is probably going to become a /pol/ shit fest but I don't think a black or other ethinic minority would like a white person writing them as a main character

>> No.6743405

>>6743384
>novels characters have unspecified or vague race
>revealed they're not white
>retards throw a shitstorm

>> No.6743410

>books written by white people for white people aren't allowed to have white characters

>> No.6743415

>>6743405
>unspecified or vague ethnicity
>despite having typical anglo surnames and given-names
>living in anglo-dominant areas
stop trying to /pol/ this up. OP asked a question with no subjective answer. it was answered simply.

>>6743410
this

>> No.6743429

>>6743353
>all the book covers are smothered in text
Are you based in England?

>> No.6743453

>>6743415
>being this much of a turd
whoops did I anglo that

>> No.6743455

>>6743374
>implying the author chooses covers

The ethnicity/race of the persons on book covers is determined by the publisher, for marketing reasons. If the book was written for a black audience, it'll have black people on the cover. If it's written for a general American audience, it'll have whites. Asians won't be found unless it's clearly set up as a fetish-y romance novel (with a title like Seduced by a Geisha, or something similar).

The reasoning behind this is to maximize profit, but it's one of those institutions that enforces racism by accepting it, imo.

>> No.6743467

I don't know, perhaps you are in a bookstore in a Western country? You know, the civilization founded by "white" people

>why isn't there any non-chinese people on tv in china?!

>> No.6743470

>>6743455
true to an extant. i know CD has creative rights when it comes to my novels but do know that this isn't the case for all publishers

>>6743467
this

>>6743453
>ad hominem

>> No.6743534

>>6743429
OP here. Los Angeles.

>> No.6743544

>>6743353
>There isn't one book with a non-white person on it.
Non-white people typically don't read.

>> No.6743555

>>6743353

black people can't read lol

>> No.6743586

>>6743353
Probably because you live in a predominantly white country with a predominantly white reading market.

Particularly with romance, the genre of middle-aged white women.

>> No.6743629
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6743629

Reading books is primarily a white middle-class hobby.

>> No.6743633

>>6743453
you mad?

>> No.6743643

>>6743353
Well anon, think about who the target audience is.

Lonely Middle-Aged White Women

>> No.6743694

Pretty stupid fucking question. Do you imagine a bunch of niggers somewhere blowin' Newports and sipping on orange soda complaining their local bookstore's romance section doesn't meet their reading needs? Phew. Just imagine the first line in a book for that market: "Leroy knew rape was wrong, but he needed this white bitch like he needed his welfare check..."

Grow up and ask a real question.

>> No.6743701

'Cause there ain't nothing like being white & in love

>> No.6743716

>>6743353
It is because non-white people are objectively less good looking. Every society ever has valued lighter skinned people. They just look better.

>> No.6743755

It's really not about target audience, or even what the book is about.
This happened with a case earlier this year or last, a novel had an asian main character and an asian on the cover, sold mediocre, they re-released it with a white girl on the cover and it sold really well and everybody was happy, but it drew attention when more people read it and caught that the main character was asian.
It's not the writer or publisher who decides to make them all white, it's the marketing department who looks at the figures and I'm quoting, 'the figures are just racist.

>> No.6743765

>>6743455
too bad institutional racism doesn't exist you fucking cuck

>> No.6743773

So this is what you guys on american /lit/ talk about?

>> No.6743778

>>6743353
The ones with black people go in Urban, not Romance.

hth.

>> No.6743855

>>6743392
Depends on the author, really.
Hemingway was a shit for women, but Dazai does his utmost to portray women realistically.

>> No.6743875

>>6743353
Because you are in a bookstore in a predominantly white country, whose demographic for romance novels is YA to middle-aged, middle-class white people. Go to a bookstore in South Korea and see if there are mainly white Americans on the covers. It's just marketing; putting two black people on the cover decreases it's selling potential.