Amistad Books started a great initiative to elevate black voices in the publishing world with the hashtag #BlackoutBestsellerList. See their tweet below.
https://twitter.com/AmistadBooks/status/1272151946082881538
You still have one day to participate and buy books by black authors. It doesn’t matter which books, or where from. Every sale is more support. We, as a community, can show we stand with Black Lives Matter. We can support black voices by showing we will buy their books, we will read their stories. Don’t forget to review when you’re done.
If you can’t buy a book, wishlist it and buy it later. If you’ve previously read books by black authors, you can review them, talk about the books, and include them in your recommendations for other readers to find.
While understanding black pain and the suffering they went/are going through is important, we shouldn’t forget about the other stories. The ones that feature black people in normal day life. One where they don’t have to fight, but where they are celebrated. By buying other stories we tell the publishing world we want more stories by black authors, even when they don’t include black pain. Right now books like The Hate U Give are more likely to be bought by a publisher than a black fantasy novel or a black romance novel. Those that did get published had to fight extremely hard to get where they are.
In this capitalistic world, money still talks. So let’s talk with our wallets. Let’s Blackout the bestseller lists with black voices. Let’s show the publishing industry we want change.
My picks
Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender
Summary
An ambitious young woman with the power to control minds seeks vengeance against the royals who murdered her family, in a Caribbean-inspired fantasy world embattled by colonial oppression.
Sigourney Rose is the only surviving daughter of a noble lineage on the islands of Hans Lollik. When she was a child, her family was murdered by the islands’ colonizers, who have massacred and enslaved generations of her people—and now, Sigourney is ready to exact her revenge.
When the childless king of the islands declares that he will choose his successor from amongst eligible noble families, Sigourney uses her ability to read and control minds to manipulate her way onto the royal island and into the ranks of the ruling colonizers. But when she arrives, prepared to fight for control of all the islands, Sigourney finds herself the target of a dangerous, unknown magic.
Someone is killing off the ruling families to clear a path to the throne. As the bodies pile up and all eyes regard her with suspicion, Sigourney must find allies among her prey and the murderer among her peers… lest she become the next victim.
Queen of the Conquered reckons with the many layers of power and privilege in a lush fantasy world—perfect for readers of V. E. Schwab, Kiersten White, and Marlon James.
Their new book, Felix Ever After (read the review by Esmée), will be released soon and the sequel to Queen of the Conquered, King of the Rising, will also be coming out this year. Support a black, queer, trans author during pride month and preorder their books.
Rosewater by Tade Thompson
Summary
Tade Thompson’s Rosewater is the start of an award-winning, cutting edge trilogy set in Nigeria, by one of science fiction’s most engaging new voices.
Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious alien biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry and the helpless—people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumored healing powers.
Kaaro is a government agent with a criminal past. He has seen inside the biodome, and doesn’t care to again—but when something begins killing off others like himself, Kaaro must defy his masters to search for an answer, facing his dark history and coming to a realization about a horrifying future.
Other picks
A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole
Summary
Between grad school and multiple jobs, Naledi Smith doesn’t have time for fairy tales…or patience for the constant e-mails claiming she’s betrothed to an African prince. Sure. Right. Delete! As a former foster kid, she’s learned that the only things she can depend on are herself and the scientific method, and a silly e-mail won’t convince her otherwise.
Prince Thabiso is the sole heir to the throne of Thesolo, shouldering the hopes of his parents and his people. At the top of their list? His marriage. Ever dutiful, he tracks down his missing betrothed. When Naledi mistakes the prince for a pauper, Thabiso can’t resist the chance to experience life—and love—without the burden of his crown.
The chemistry between them is instant and irresistible, and flirty friendship quickly evolves into passionate nights. But when the truth is revealed, can a princess in theory become a princess ever after?
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
Summary
Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.
But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favorite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous, than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision.
With the future of Orléans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide—save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles—or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.
Get A Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Bonus points for disability rep and a biracial couple!
Summary
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?
• Enjoy a drunken night out.
• Ride a motorcycle.
• Go camping.
• Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
• Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
• And… do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.
Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.
But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…
More lists with recommendations you can buy
5 Black Non-Binary authors you should check out! – Servillas Speaks
Black queer recommendations on Twitter via @katrinajax
20 Fantasy Novels and Series by Black Authors by GeekDad
Black Science Fiction and Fantasy Authors You Need to Read by Olivia Mason & Kelsey McConnell (The Portalist)
Drop your own recommendations in the comments!
The Queen of the Conquered cover looks amazing and the story synopsis, I need!!!
Yes! Please read it