Can A Black Author Ever Break Out? - Statistics
Back in August (wow does time pass quickly), I wrote a post asking whether a black author could ever break out in mainstream within the romance genre. To make a long story short, GMI, Global Market Insite, Inc, a provider of online panels, conducted an online poll last December of 1,285 African-Americans concerning their reading habits and their opinions of the publishing industry. One of the questions they asked pertained to the aforementioned topic. Their data “shows that most African-American readers have faith that African-American authors can write books, and that if given a chance, can have crossover appeal.” Below are the results of the poll:
GMI POLL: AFRICAN-AMERICAN CULTURE STUDY
African-American Literature
When asked why more African-American authors haven’t crossed over into the mainstream, less than a third of African-American respondents said mainstream readers are the problem because most actively avoid reading books written by African-American authors. 35% of respondents said the books are the problem: African-American authors just don’t appeal to most Americans. The largest number of respondents, nearly two-thirds, said African-American authors have seen very little crossover success because the books are only marketed and distributed to an African-American audience.
| Why haven’t more African-American authored books gained large mainstream readership? (Click all that apply) | |
|---|---|
| Mainstream audiences actively avoid reading African-American authored books | 32% |
| Most African-American authored books are only marketed and distributed to an African- American audience. |
62% |
| Most African-American authored books don’t appeal to a mainstream audience. | 35% |
68% of African-American respondents say they agree or somewhat agree that most African-American authors can attract readers from a mainstream audience. 67% agree or somewhat agree that African-American authored literature is too narrowly marketed to a primarily African-American audience.
Background/Methodology
This study was powered by GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.), a provider of global market intelligence solutions. Using its African-American specialty panel, which counts over 100,000 members nation-wide, GMI polled 1,285 African-Americans online in the U.S. in December 2007. GMI solutions include market research software, desktop analysis tools, 24×7x365 service
bureau, and one of the world’s largest, highly profiled, double opted-in managed panels, providing reach to millions of consumers in more than 200 countries and territories. Founded in 1999 with global headquarters in Seattle, Wash., GMI has operations on five
continents. In 2007, the company ranked #229 in Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 500, and #97 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 for North America.
Raw Data
| Please indicate the genre of the last book you read? (Select one of the following) | Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| Fiction | 29% |
| Literature | 2% |
| Biography | 6% |
| Non-fiction | 12% |
| Politics | 1% |
| Science | 2% |
| Self help | 6% |
| Motivational | 5% |
| Inspirational | 9% |
| Motivational/African-American literature | 4% |
| Inspirational/African-American literature | 3% |
| Gospel | 9% |
| Chicklit | 1% |
| Street life (Ghetto lit) | 3% |
| Other (Please specify) | 7% |
| What types of books do you want to read more of in future? (Select all that apply) | Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| Fiction | 48% |
| Literature | 19% |
| Biography | 34% |
| Non-fiction | 41% |
| Politics | 14% |
| Science | 16% |
| Self help | 30% |
| Motivational | 35% |
| Inspirational | 37% |
| Motivational/African-American literature | 40% |
| Inspirational/African-American literature | 39% |
| Gospel | 27% |
| Chick-lit | 6% |
| Street lit (Ghetto lit) | 16% |
| Other (please specify) | 7% |
| How many books did you buy last year? | Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| 0-1 | 18% |
| 2-4 | 29% |
| 5-10 | 33% |
| 11+ | 20% |
| Do most African-American authors write books that can attract readers from a mainstream audience? | Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| Yes | 37% |
| No | 14% |
| Somewhat | 31% |
| I don’t know | 18% |
| Do you think African-American authored literature is too narrowly marketed to a primarily African-American audience? | Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| Yes | 39% |
| No | 27% |
| Somewhat | 26% |
| I don’t know. | 9% |
| Why haven’t more African-American authored books gained large mainstream readership? | Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| Mainstream audiences actively avoid reading African-American authored books. | 32% |
| Most African-American authored books are only marketed and distributed to an African-American audience. | 62% |
| Most African-American authored books don’t appeal to a mainstream audience. | 35% |
| Was the last book you read written by an African-American author? | Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| Yes | 40% |
| No | 52% |
| I don’t know | 8% |
| Was the last book you read written for an African-American audience? | Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| Yes | 27% |
| No | 57% |
| I don’t know | 16% |
| When thinking about African-American authors, please choose the statement you agree with most below: |
Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| All the books I read are written by African-American authors. | 4% |
| Most of the books I read are written by African-American authors. | 18% |
| Some of the books I read are written by African-American authors. | 42% |
| A few of the books I read are written by African-American authors. | 29% |
| None of the books I read are written by African-American authors. | 7% |
| When thinking about a book intended for an African-American audience, please choose the statement you agree with most below: | Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| Every single book I read is written for an African-American audience. | 5% |
| Most of the books I read are written for an African-American audience. | 16% |
| Some of the books I read are written for an African-American audience. | 40% |
| A few of the books I read are written for an African-American audience. | 31% |
| None of the books I read are written for an African-American audience. | 8% |
| What is your favorite genre of African-American literature? (Please rank your top 3 choices) | Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| Motivational (The percentage of people that picked the Motivational genre as one of their top three choices.) | |
| Total | 33% |
| First | 16% |
| Second | 8% |
| Third | 9% |
| Inspirational life stories | |
| Total | 34% |
| First | 12% |
| Second | 14% |
| Third | 9% |
| Motivational/African-American literature | |
| Total | 23% |
| First | 7% |
| Second | 8% |
| Third | 8% |
| Inspirational/African-American literature | |
| Total | 22% |
| First | 5% |
| Second | 9% |
| Third | 8% |
| Sci-fi | |
| Total | 12% |
| First | 4% |
| Second | 4% |
| Third | 4% |
| Romance | |
| Total | 18% |
| First | 7% |
| Second | 7% |
| Third | 5% |
| Relationship drama | |
| Total | 22% |
| First | 7% |
| Second | 8% |
| Third | 7% |
| Street Lit (Ghetto lit) | |
| Total | 15% |
| First | 5% |
| Second | 4% |
| Third | 6% |
| Chick-lit | |
| Total | 3% |
| First | 1% |
| Second | 2% |
| Third | 1% |
| Gospel | |
| Total | 15% |
| First | 7% |
| Second | 5% |
| Third | 4% |
| Gospel fiction | |
| Total | 5% |
| First | 1% |
| Second | 2% |
| Third | 2% |
| Biographical | |
| Total | 23% |
| First | 9% |
| Second | 7% |
| Third | 7% |
| Suspense/Thriller | |
| Total | 16% |
| First | 4% |
| Second | 6% |
| Third | 6% |
| Mystery/Detective | |
| Total | 13% |
| First | 4% |
| Second | 4% |
| Third | 5% |
| Horror | |
| Total | 6% |
| First | 2% |
| Second | 2% |
| Third | 2% |
| Young adult | |
| Total | 4% |
| First | 1% |
| Second | 1% |
| Third | 2% |
| Poetry | |
| Total | 12% |
| First | 3% |
| Second | 4% |
| Third | 5% |
| Finance | |
| Total | 9% |
| First | 2% |
| Second | 3% |
| Third | 5% |
| Other | |
| Total | 5% |
| First | 2% |
| Second | 1% |
| Third | 2% |
| How do you pick the books you are going to read? (Please check all that apply) | Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| Bestsellers list | 34% |
| Essence bestsellers list | 18% |
| Recommended by Oprah | 12% |
| Recommended by Oprah’s book club | 11% |
| Reviews from non-African-American critics | 12% |
| Reviews from African-American critics | 20% |
| Reviews from a non-African-American newspaper | 9% |
| Reviews from an African-American newspaper | 8% |
| Recommended by a friend or family member | 55% |
| Recommended by a book club | 17% |
| Other (Please specify) | 25% |
| Do themes of sex, drug dealing and relationship drama in African-American books appeal to you? | Total |
|---|---|
| No. of interviews | 1,285 |
| Yes | 40% |
| No | 52% |
| I don’t know | 8% |
3 comments February 6, 2008
