Camika Spencer

A former newspaper reporter, he writes how-to-books, erotica and horror stories. He has also edited an anthology of African-American writers.

Fleming joins a host of writers branching out into the full spectrum of literature. The voracious appetite of the African-American reading audience compels Fleming and other writers to juggle various genres.

They want to keep pace in the competitive publishing game and satisfy readers' tastes that range from appetizers such as hot and sexy romances to meaty issues on workplace racism and self-improvement.

"The good writers are essentially carrying on the Harlem Renaissance and the postwar era," says Fleming, author of "The African American Writer's Handbook" (One World, $12).

"They are carrying on that tradition of trying to write books that really reflect black life and the range of black life, and these books are unfettered by the old stereotypes. They are writing what it really means to be a black woman or a black man.

"On the flip side, you have a lot of the girlfriend books, books on black male misogyny," he adds. "Those guys are selling loads of books, just like in hip-hop where some of the worst stuff is selling the best."

Book publishing in general reflects current entertainment trends. Good and bad. Television's craze with reality programs, such as "Joe Millionaire," "The Bachelorette" and "Survivor," is mirrored in recently released fiction titles. Consider Carl Weber's "Baby Momma Drama," (Kensington Publishing Corp., $24); "Love Frustration" (Simon & Schuster, $23) by RMJohnson; Camika Spencer's "Cubicles: A Novel" (Villard Books, $21.95); or "The Sisters of APF" (Atria Books, $21) by Zane.

The books compete with movies, music, satellite and cable television for the consumer's entertainment dollars. African-Americans spent an estimated $295 million in 2001 on books, according to a report by Target Market News, an African-American marketing company in Chicago. Most of those books tended to be contemporary novels, selling between $12 and $20.

More than 100,000 books are printed each year in the United States. Black authors - about 150 to 200 - produce a fraction of books in that market.

"I've got this very strong feeling that there are as many stories as there are African-Americans," says Janet Hill, vice president of Doubleday and Harlem Moon, the company's African-American imprint. "We're not a monolithic people."

Members of the 4-year-old Nunya Book Club don't read a particular genre, says Barbara Wilcots, associate professor of English at the University of Denver.

"We read autobiographies, historical fiction, science fiction, mystery and new writers," she says. "The rule of the book club is that we will expose ourselves to all kinds of African-American literature. We just want to know what is out there and to have various representations of African-American life."

Ann King, owner of The Underground Railroad Bookstore in Denver, says patrons are drawn to the Bible and also romantic fiction, with E. Lynn Harris being the top seller. A few years ago, she stocked other selections, but they didn't sell.

Colson Whitehead

"I don't have a lot of requests for nonfiction and historical. I used to order those books when they were published ... I still own a lot of that product. As a result, I don't do that anymore," King says.

Nicole Robbins, back-list buyer for Denver's Tattered Cover, says she has noticed how "upper-middle class black experiences are becoming more and more a focal point of books that are doing well."

She cites "The Emperor of Ocean Park" (Knopf, $26.95), by Stephen L. Carter, and "John Henry Days" (Anchor Books, $14), by Colson Whitehead, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, as examples.

"In my experience, it has been a good market for us," says Robbins, who has worked 12 years at Tattered Cover. "I think there has been a wonderful rise to the literary best seller that is cross-cultural."

Stories of soul-searching and of exploring complex world issues also continue to sell.

Bernestine Singley's "When Race Becomes Real: Black and White Writers Confront Their Personal History," (Lawrence Hill & Co., $26.95) a collection of essays on race by black and white authors, has moved briskly. So has Dexter King's "Growing Up King: An Intimate Memoir" (Warner Books, $24.95) and Sister Souljah's "The Coldest Winter Ever" (Pocket Books, $7.99).

Those types of books are frequently taught in classrooms. Wilcots doesn't teach contemporary black authors in her English literature class unless they address broad social themes.

"I tend to stick with what I see as the black canons - Toni Morrison, John Edgar Wideman, Ernest Gaines, Gloria Naylor, Audre Lorde - those works that carry significant weight in terms of critical thinking."

In a scramble to reach this burgeoning African-American market, publishers are creating new imprints, and bookstores and publishers are devising marketing campaigns that rely on a close relationship with bookclubs and readers.

The publishing industry can be viewed as a bell-shaped curve, says Emma Rodgers, co-owner for the last 25 years of Black Images Book Bazaar in Dallas, one of the largest African-American bookstores in the country.

"Of course, you're going to have a lot of commercial fiction in the middle. In the end, you have a lot of literary fiction, the other genres and something that I call 'co-lit' - commercial fiction that has literary appeal or tone to it."

Rodgers has about 33,000 titles in the store she co-owns with Ashira Tosihwe.

Biographies, memories, science fiction, religious inspiration, mysteries, business management, health and self-help also are on the ends of the bell curve.

Romance novels are in the middle of the curve and are not just for African-Americans. Romance fiction accounted for more than 55 percent of all paperback fiction sales in America last year, says Romance Writers of America Inc.

In 1995, Black Images and author Francis Ray, a romance writer and a public school nurse, formed Romance Slam Jam to help romance writers get exposure. The event travels nationwide and draws an international audience. Atlanta will play host this year from March 6-9.

Authors Ray and Carmen Green were so popular they moved from romance to commercial literature, writing, respectively, "Somebody's Knocking at My Door" (St. Martin's Griffin, $13.95) and "Atlanta Live" (BET Books, $15).

Publishers have noticed the popularity and the potential profit in the genres and sub-genres being created. To woo readers, they offer full-color newsletters and catalogues. Instead of providing separate free readers' guides, publishers insert them in books. Publishing companies are even making authors available for book club speaking engagements.

And, in another effort to respond to black readers and capitalize on this market, publishers are picking up profitable self-published books.

Mainstream publishers also are developing black imprints or divisions in the company to compete. Doubleday's Harlem Moon was formed in September, following the 2001 formation of Villiard's Strivers Row and the 2000 creation of Walk Worthy Press by Warner Books Inc.

Hill, who also is executive editor of Harlem Moon, says Doubleday is no Johnny-come-lately to black authors. The company published Booker T. Washington and Chester Hines in the early 20th century and, later, Bill Cosby. The company's first Harlem Moon release was "Gumbo" ($17.95), a collection of stories by 70 authors who donated their work to support the Hurston/Wright Foundation in Washington, D.C. The book was conceived and edited by Marita Golden and E. Lynn Harris.

Critics say they want to see more works with the literary caliber of James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Toni Morrison, bell hooks and Alice Walker. But the editor-at-large at Time Warner Books Inc. dismisses that criticism.

"Any presumption that black literature sets out to be any one thing is offensive; they don't tell white literature that it has to be one thing," says Denise Stinson, who also is publisher of Walk Worthy Press, a black Christian imprint.

"Every book written by a white author isn't heavyweight. Everything isn't Truman Capote. Why question it?" she says. "While I can't say I am in love with everything, black writers are stretching their wings."