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Worth Fighting 4
by Jarold Imes

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"Now What?!: Prominent Street/Urban/Hip-Hop Authors Answer the Challenge to Produce Teen Friendly Titles… Where the Other Authors At?" by Jarold Imes

 

I’ll never forget it. I was on a popular mailing group and the argument about the street/urban/hip-hop genre was intense as 2004 was rolling into 2005 and even today, people still question whether or not street/urban/hip-hop fiction is legitimate literature. Authors in the genre were accused of publishing “junk” literature, “pimping” the industry and promoting promiscuous and inappropriate behaviors to our youth. True, teenagers ages 12 through 17 make up a significant (some can argue anywhere between 15% to 30%) of the buyers of the books in this genre. That is not something many of us as authors set out to do when we wrote our books. However a comment by a bestselling author triggered a response from me that has made me one of the most likeable and one of the most hated figures in this industry.

She said that she wishes that she could bash all authors of this genre in their heads among other things. My response wasn’t the nicest; I admit as I broke down what she said using a dictionary and then called her a hypocrite among other things some authors and members of that group still feel I should apologize for. Those of you who know me know that I have never been one to hold my tongue either in a phone conversation, in person or with the pen. I am probably most deadly with the later as it allows me to stretch my artistic and literary abilities; using research, footnotes and other tools characteristic of a great journalist or a columnist. In the wrong mood it triggers the character flaw I have in not being able to control my temper as much as I should and really set it off.

She was not the first author or prominent person in the industry to speak about the growth of this genre, which has led to the revitalization of many of the black owned book stores as well as some of the major chains that were starting to die off in drastic numbers. People from school teachers, to best selling authors to store owners were complaining about the genres growth and there not being enough books that were age appropriate for the young readers to get into.

Fast forward to the end of 2006. Triple Crown Publications, one of the largest and leading independent publishers of street/urban/hip-hop fiction endured a lot of criticism for it role in spreading the growth of the genre. Now, in addition to publishing one of the youngest authors in the game, like it or not, they in some ways can now lay claim to having indirectly contributed to the publications of a new wave of teen literature. Four of its bestselling authors have already written, produced, edited and/or financed the publication of several books aimed at the emerging teen market (including the original publication of Worth Fighting 4 by this writer) and it is rumored that up to three more have plans to either write or have books they’ve written for teens scheduled for publication in 2007/2008. And authors of this firm are not the only ones to step to the plate. Power Play Media, well known for its publication of street and erotic titles has already published three books for the market and is actively seeking to produce other books and authors for this market. Not bad for those whom are accused of “corrupting” the market.

The Christian fiction genre has also seen their share of authors contribute to teen series already in publication including Jacquelin Thomas and ReShonda Tate-Billingsley. Pocket Books has been leading this surge and can only present new opportunities for other authors wishing to enter this genre. Dafina, Kensington’s flagship imprint for African Americans, Kimani Press and another Simon & Schuster outfit are also in pursuit of testing the waters for African American young adult titles.

So this leads me to my question or shall I say problem… where’s the other authors at? The ones whom were complaining about one set of authors “corrupting” the publishing industry are nowhere to be found. You’d be disappointed to know that some of the same black owned book stores who fussed and complained about the books that have become some of them’s bread and butter outright refuse to carry some of the teen books by our authors because “they aren’t selling.” That’s backwards to me… some of these same authors that many people were fussing about and talking down to now can barely get any love for doing what many critics of their bestselling works have asked them to do… didn’t make sense to me either.

Would I be wrong to challenge Nick Chiles to come up with a teen book without the help of his wife? I mean, really, he said our eyes were reading smut but where is he now that we are leading the crusade to try to get teens to read appropriate fiction? We could use that positive energy to get our books into stores and into hands of the young readers that read his books too. Or what about getting James Fugate, the co-owner of Los Angeles’ Eso Wan Books to order a few cases of some of the titles we sell on this site? He didn’t want to carry street/urban/hip-hop fiction at first but will he be willing to carry some of our works?

I actually had a store owner tell me last year that teen books and books that portrayed African American adults in positive light don’t sell. My response to that should not be published on a site that still aims to be teen friendly. The truth is so many people are caught up in the money that they don’t see the bigger picture of what this is supposed to be. True, most children’s and young adult titles retail for up to $6.99 and for authors like me and Katina King that handle more mature subjects (and have higher word counts), our books retail for $10.99. It’s hard to get a decent percentage on either the retail or distribution side and small publishers typically are required to print larger print runs of these books in order to make a profit. Oh yeah, the royalty points or the advances are not as high as they are for adult titles… that’s why some of those authors who were doing all their complaining aren’t taking a stab at this genre.

So where does this lead us? I didn’t write this article to make more enemies (although telling the truth seems to do that for me). I wrote this article to give you guys a perspective on how I’m feeling about people who have been so quick to bash (and some wish they had bats to bash us with) us for writing street literature but not even acknowledging that we are writing teen fiction. Some of these same writers who have just as many if not more sex scenes and curse words than many of your erotica or street stories don’t seem to have problems with teens reading their books. I say lets stop complaining about the fact teens are reading this book and teens are reading that book and try reading different types of books with our teens.

Jarold Imes is the author of the Hold On Be Strong Teen Series as well as several titles for adults. He lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with his family.

 

         Copyright 2006 - 2008 Abednego's Free, LLC & Jarold Imes