Francis Ray, a nurse practitioner in Dallas, loved to read romances. But there was a problem.

“The heroes were tall, dark and handsome, but not African-American,” she said. “The women were not my hair color, didn’t have my hair problems.”

Travis Hunter, a Florence native, had a similar concern. He liked to read books, but it seemed the African-American male characters were anything but positive role models.

He saw a need for stories “that men can relate to without male bashing.”

So both Ray and Hunter became writers to tell the kinds of stories they wanted to read about people they could identify with.

Ray, Hunter and New York Times best-selling author Kimberla Lawson Roby will be at the S.C. Book Festival at 1 p.m. today for a session called “Ancient Roots, New Branches: Trends in African-American Fiction.” The book festival takes place today and Sunday at the State Fairgrounds.

That theme of needing books about people they can relate to comes up over and over in talking with writers and readers of African-American fiction.

And that has led to an explosion in African-American publishing.

Blacks spend $303 million annually on books, according to “The Buying Power of Black America 2002.”

Many major publishers have an imprint for black writers’ work: HarperCollins’ William Morrow (Roby’s publisher), Kensington Publishing’s Dafina Books, Random House’s Harlem Moon, Ballantine’s One World (Hunter’s publisher), and Villard’s Strivers Row, among others.

Both One World and Strivers Row were begun in response to growth in the market, said Melody Guy, senior editor for both. Together, they publish about 24 books a year, Guy said.

“We took a look at the self-published books doing well and saw a need that we weren’t filling,” she said.

Not only did interest from black readers lead to distinct publishing imprints, it also led to unique best-seller lists. Frustrated by a perception that black people did not read, writer Faye Childs began the BlackBoard African-American Bestsellers List in 1991. Endorsed by the American Booksellers Association, the list appeared for years in Essence magazine.

In 2001, Essence created its own monthly best-seller list. Both lists focus on the top five fiction and nonfiction titles, compiled from sales at independent booksellers around the country.

SELF-PUBLISHING ROUTE IS A START

In starting out, the experience of black authors has often gone like this: Wanting to write for an African-American audience, they deal with rejection slip after rejection slip. So they publish and market their own work, and their success leads to sudden attention from publishing houses.

Both Roby and Hunter started out this way.

Roby parlayed her background in corporate marketing and finance into her own Lenox Press when she couldn’t get her first book published.

But she knew she had something in “Behind Closed Doors.” She had field-tested sample manuscripts and “my mom said she heard readers say they couldn’t put it down,” she said.

The book, published in 1997, sold 10,000 copies in the first six months, and soon Roby had a contract with William Morrow for her second book.

Five books later, Roby made the New York Times Best-Seller list with “Too Much of a Good Thing.”

Hunter wanted to write a book giving positive role models for African-American parents. He refinanced his house in Atlanta and borrowed from family members to publish “The Hearts of Men.”

“I sold it myself and started getting attention,” Hunter said. He took the book to the 2000 Book Expo America in Chicago and soon had a contract with Random House’s Villard Books.

Ray’s first book, “Fallen Angel,” was published by a small press; her second was picked up by Kensington’s Arabesque imprint, which later was sold to BET Books.

All say the growth in African-American publishing has been driven by demand from the most basic of grass roots: independent black bookstores, book clubs and individual readers.

“Before you got into Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million, you had to depend on African-American bookstores,” Ray said.

Those small booksellers market by personal relationship, Roby said. “They’re hand-selling your books.”

Hunter’s home city, Atlanta, has about 10 African-American booksellers. “They sell you all year long,” he said, not just when you have a new book out.

In Columbia, there are at least two African-American booksellers:

• Doretha’s African-American Books and Gifts, 5410-D Two Notch Road, sells fiction, mysteries, inspiration and metaphysical books.

• The Kwanzaa House, 4039 Monticello Road, specializes in nonfiction and historical books but also sells some fiction, children’s books and self-help.

BOOK CLUBS PLAY KEY ROLE

African-American book clubs also have played a major role in demanding more books for black readers. “They’ve shown publishers they read and they are voracious,” Ray said. In the Dallas area, there are 283 African-American book clubs, she said.

In Columbia, Marie Martin is starting a new book club for African-Americans with this weekend’s book festival. The club, called the T’ursd’y Book Club, is reading Ray’s “Trouble Don’t Last Always” as its first selection..

The club’s next book will be Columbian Carrie McCray’s “Freedom’s Child.” The name of the club — which won’t be meeting on Thursdays — comes from that book. McCray wrote about Thursdays’ being the day off for black caretakers in the early 1900s, and that was when they gathered to talk about issues, Martin said.

African-Americans are reading more because there is more to read, said Ray, whose next book will be about a woman who opens a bath-and-body shop in Charleston. And they’re finding more they can relate to.

Each writer focuses on stories in which the characters deal with problems the readers — or someone they know — might also face.

“My whole theme is male responsibility,” said Hunter, who has started The Hearts of Men Foundation to mentor troubled young people in Atlanta.

His next book will be about giving children the time and attention they need, no matter the family’s income.

Roby has taken on such problems as domestic violence, care of an elderly family member and sibling relationships — sometimes all in the same book.

“I want readers to look at problems and obstacles. They can see how she (a book’s character) handled it, and some options to think about.”

All the authors have Web sites, with e-mail contact readily available. Keeping in touch with readers is good inspiration as well as good business.

“I get e-mail messages from readers who say they gave up on reading till they read one of my books,” said Roby, now at work on her seventh novel.

These messages, and meeting readers at events such as the S.C. Book Festival, keep her motivated.

“I meet readers I wouldn’t have met and hear their enthusiasm. Knowing I wouldn’t have a career without them, it motivates me about writing.”

Reach Jackson at (803) 771-8397 or ljackson@thestate.com