Joann Roberts, co-owner of the Phenix Bookstore in San Bernardino, has seen good times and bad times in the book industry. Black readers have flocked to her store for the past five years to buy books, attend readings and socialize. As the only store in a region seeing heavy Black migration from Los Angeles, Roberts’ store has benefited from demographic changes. But business isn't always great.

''We have not been doing as much business this year as last year, but it has started to pick back up,'' she said.

The problem isn't with customers. It is with the many well-known Black authors who she says do not patronize her store, passing it up for readings and signings at larger chain bookstores.

''I can't speak for other stores, but they say that our store is too far out of the way,'' said Roberts.

She's not the only store owner with this complaint. In what has become a dirty little secret in the book business, many Black authors who sell primarily to Black audiences do not make appearances at Black bookstores. Many publicists, particularly those at large mainstream publishing houses, just do not know about Black bookstores. Some, focusing strictly on the numbers, simply prefer the national chains - Borders, Barnes and Noble - over smaller, independent bookstores. And, some people say, some Black authors don't like the audiences at Black bookstore events.

''If Barnes and Nobles has a track record of selling books,'' said Joi Afzal, owner of the Hue-Man Experience, a Black bookstore in Denver, ''they will send an author there rather than trying to find out if there is a Black bookstore in the city that they are targeting.''

It wasn't always this way. In 1987, when Terry McMillan's first book, “Mama,” was published, she sent out thousands of letters, primarily to Black organizations and Black bookstores, to promote her book. Many cite her strategy of targeting the Black market as one of the reasons behind McMillan's success, as well as a factor in the explosion of Black authors and Black book sales.

According to a survey released by the Book Industry Study Group, Blacks spent $356 million on consumer books in 2000, up from the $310 million spent in 1999. Of those Black readers surveyed, 67 percent said they enjoy reading Black authors and 53 percent said they liked to read anything dealing with Black issues.

With such a loyal reader base, the failure by Black authors to patronize the stores that stock such work and serve such readers can be seen as a betrayal.

But writer Omar Tyree (“Just Say No”) says there are a number of reasons why some Black authors avoid Black bookstores. ''A lot of Black bookstores don't push Black books,'' said Tyree. ''They sell books all year round, but they don't push the books. They are just like, 'whatever sells.' In White stores they push titles. In those stores, they buy a trunk full of books, give discounts, put the books in the front window and then stack the books all over the store.''

Tyree, whose earlier books were self-published and distributed, says that many publishers aren't aware of Black bookstores, because they often do not buy books from publishers, choosing instead to go through distribution companies - a decision that may save the bookstores a few dollars, but can also rob them of name recognition among large publishing houses, translating into fewer contacts and a lowered potential for author visits.

Max Rodriguez, publisher of “QBR: The Black Book Review,” said that complaints by Black bookstores about Black authors aren't new, and that reasons behind them are an offshoot of attitudes within the book industry as a whole.

''As superstores take positions within communities, the assumption is that these stores will provide greater opportunities for those authors' books,'' said Rodriguez. ''The assumption is the larger the bookstore, the larger the crowd.''

He said that publishers gravitate towards the larger bookstores or larger independents, which often leaves smaller, Black-owned bookstores out. Rodriguez adds that publishers look at their balance sheet to determine who gets what. ''As a bookstore owner, if your account is current with that publisher, then you are more likely to see an E. Lynn Harris, bell hooks or other authors on tour at your store.''

In order to avoid these traps, Rodriguez said store owners should begin to cultivate friendships with authors when they come into town, so that authors can become advocates for the bookstores.

''Eric Jerome Dickey insisted on a tour stop to go to a certain Black bookstore in Philadelphia,'' said Rodriguez. ''He has developed a sufficient enough readership that he can determine the additional stops that he wants to make on a tour.''

The same is true for novelist and critic Ishmael Reed, who says he insists to his publicist that Black bookstores are on his reading tours.

''I have been to a lot of Black bookstores on tour,'' said Reed. ''Black bookstores have freed up writers so they don't have to appeal to crossover audiences.''

But while some Black authors insist that they are only sent to Black bookstores when they ask to be, most publishers say decisions about where authors go for events are driven by booksellers. ''The store requests the author and we send them there,'' said Tracy Sherrod, an editor at Pocket Books who focuses on African American authors.

When noted Black authors do appear at Black bookstores, the results can be dramatic, Roberts said. When Colin Powell was on tour for his autobiography, “My American Journey,” Roberts recalled, she was able to convince his publicist to send the author, now U.S. Secretary of State, to her store. The event was phenomenally successful, attracting about 5,000 people.

''People flew in from Nevada and Arizona for the book signing,'' said Roberts, who says their purchases helped the store raise enough money to acquire new titles for years and raised the store's profile among publishers. The Powell event also helped establish Phenix as a profitable stop for any Black author on tour.

Lee Hubbard is a writer for the NNPA.