Been About You Since I Met You
I wholeheartedly believe we can shape the culture of this book space and curate the vibes. Say no to fuck shit
To me, curating the culture we want means stepping away from that noise. It means supporting the authors we love, amplifying their work, and engaging critically without tearing people down. It means holding space for differences of opinion while respecting the community we’re a part of.
This isn’t about conformity or everyone thinking the same way—that’s not the point. What makes this space so dope is the variety of perspectives, the unique voices, the passion and creativity each of us brings to it. We don’t have to all agree, but we can choose to engage with care, thoughtfulness, and integrity.
At the end of the day, I believe we have the power to shape this space for the better. To curate the vibes that reflect what we want for indie Black romance: love, community, authenticity, and support.
Wouldn’t be me if I did leave yall with so Black Romance.
It’s been a wild year and we are only 20ish days in. That really solidified the thoughts I already had. Life serves up its fair share of blows but I can’t let that take me away from the things the bring me joy. So here I go.
I’m here for the love of the space.
The love of Black Romance. The love of indie Black authors.
That’s always been my reason for being here. But lately, I’ve been wondering—have we all kept sight of that love? Are we still moving with the same energy and intentions that brought us here?
Because sometimes, it doesn’t feel like it.
Let’s talk about it— The piracy. It’s an extreme and gross violation of Black indie authors—stealing entire books, posting them on shady sites, or even reading entire books on YouTube without permission. And have the audacity to say, “Well, at least people are reading it. It’s exposure.”
Exposure is not payment. And in this context, it’s theft.
When you take someone’s work, strip them of their rights to profit from it, and then try to justify it as “helping,” you’re doing harm. No author spends hours, weeks, or months creating a story to have it stolen and called a “favor.” And when these piracy issues pop up, we’ve got to do a better job of alerting the affected authors without exposing these platforms and sites. Sharing the links or naming the sites, even with good intentions, only amplifies their reach and drives more traffic their way.
It’s hard enough for Black indie authors as it is. Getting paid less than pennies on the dollar for every page read on Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program. Their art is already undervalued in so many ways. So when they set their price—the price is the price. Their time, creativity, and labor deserve to be compensated. They shouldn’t have to break themselves just to share their art with us.
But it’s not just piracy. With the rise of platforms like TikTok, threads, bluesky, etc. it’s easy to see that the Black book space got motion. People are discovering Black Romance and that’s beautiful. But not everyone is here for the love of it.
Some people saw the motion and came running—not to contribute meaningfully, but to exploit it. To ride the wave of clicks and views, even if it means distorting the culture. They throw out rage-baiting hot takes— “Black romance is hard to find”, “urban fiction……” fill in the anti-Black statement.
Not everything needs a response. Those creators thrive on attention, and every click, share, or repost—even if it’s meant to counter their harmful takes—gives them more of what they’re looking for. It’s like a reward for harmful, bullshit behavior.
Ice them out. If you choose to address something they said, block out their social media handles. Don’t give them the views or the engagement. Let their harmful narratives die in silence. The focus should be on amplifying creators, authors, and conversations that pour into this space—not on giving a platform to those who tear it down.
I’ve been about Black Romance since I met it, and I’ll always be about it. Because of that, I choose to be one of the people who helps shape this space for the better, I hope you do too.
Who are some of your favorite Black book content creators? Favorite authors? Favorite voices in the community? Let’s celebrate them in the comments.
