William Simpson
The Romance Writers of America filed for bankruptcy protection this week after several years of infighting and allegations of racism fractured the organization, sending many of its members fleeing.
The Texas-based trade association, which calls itself the voice of romance writers, has lost about 80% of its members over the past five years due to the turmoil. Now with just 2,000 members, it can’t cover the costs it committed to paying for its writers’ conferences in Texas and Pennsylvania, the group said in bankruptcy court documents filed Wednesday in Houston.
Mary Ann Jock, the group’s president and author of seven published novels, said in a court filing that the problems arose “predominantly due to disputes regarding diversity, equity and inclusion” between previous board members and other members of the romance writing community. .
The organization, founded in 1980 to represent and promote writers of the best-selling genre fiction, said it owes nearly $3 million to the hotels where it planned to host its annual meetings. In court filings, Jock noted how the organization held its 2024 conference in Austin, Texas, and was working to pay the contract due to the local Marriott facilities where the event was held. At the same time, the Marriott hotel in Philadelphia, where the organization was planning its 2025 conference, demanded full payment of $1 million, Jock said.
The association was driven into bankruptcy “in light of Philadelphia Marriott’s demand for immediate payment and without a consensual resolution with Marriott Conference Centers,” Jock said.
In cut documentsthe association listed between $100,000 and $500,000 in assets with between $1 million and $10 million in liabilities.
Relations within the group began to fray in 2019 over its treatment of one of its authors, a Chinese-American writer who it said violated the group’s code with negative online comments about other writers and their work. The association reversed its decision, but the uproar led to the resignation of its president and several board members. The organization at the time had around 10,000 members,
Following allegations that it lacked diversity and was predominantly white, the organization canceled its annual awards in 2020. Several publishers, including Harlequin, Avon Books, and Berkeley Romance, pulled out of the annual conference. The association later said it would present a new award in honor of Vivian Stephens, a pioneering black novelist and editor.
The following year, the association faced more anger and ended up withdrawing the award to a novel widely criticized for its sympathetic portrayal of a cavalry officer who took part in the massacre of Lakota Indians at the Battle of Wounded Knee.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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