Book-to-screen adaptations are having a moment — a very white moment.
In 2025 alone, book-based titles drove more than 9 billion global views on Netflix, making up nearly 20% of all hours watched on the platform. And that number only continues to grow. Book adaptations held the number one spot on the Top 10 English TV list for eight of the first 13 weeks of 2026.
Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV and the like know exactly what they’re doing, and they’re doing it with a very specific lens. The authors owning this summer’s slate include Emily Henry, Colleen Hoover, Carley Fortune, Elin Hilderbrand, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Elle Kennedy and more. Notice a pattern? #BlackBookTok and other corners of the internet certainly have.
While #BookTok has given an enormous boost to white authors, the same can’t be said for their Black counterparts. The frustration isn’t just about recommendations, it’s about who gets greenlit. Publishers channel marketing budgets into titles they believe will sell, and the algorithm has conditioned them to assume that white-centered romance and fantasy are safer bets.
“The challenge that many books by Black authors face in all of this is that they aren’t always afforded the same opportunities to reach that level of visibility to begin with, and that starts well before Hollywood even enters the picture,” said Carlos Segarra, founder of Typecast Literary, an IP scouting consultancy.
“Since the pandemic, conversations surrounding access and representation in publishing have grown louder, specifically around who gets represented, acquired, published and positioned for breakout success,” Segarra continued. “Without enough agents who are actively seeking out and championing diverse voices, editors and publishers willing to invest meaningful resources behind those books, and marketing and publicity teams that have a clear understanding of how to reach those intended audiences, many books by Black authors don’t receive the support necessary to become commercial successes.”
This summer’s streaming calendar makes the case quite clearly. Netflix’s The Little House on the Prairie reboot was renewed for a second season back in March, months before its July 9 premiere date. Meanwhile, Peacock is adapting Elin Hilderbrand’s The Five Star Weekend, and Prime Video is continuing its beach read obsession with Every Year After, based on Carley Fortune’s romance novel Every Summer After.
There are some bright spots for Black authors, and they matter. Season 1 of Forever, Mara Brock Akil’s modernization of Judy Blume’s classic novel, was a massive hit for Netflix, and Season 2 is currently in production.
Bestselling romance author Kennedy Ryan has inked a first-look deal with Universal Studio Group, and her breakout hit novel Before I Let Go is currently in development at Peacock. Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone is finally set for an IMAX release in January 2027. And Maame, Jessica George’s debut novel, was recently optioned for TV by Universal International but has yet to surface without a premiere date.
That gap between optioned and streaming is exactly where Black stories keep getting lost. The process is full of stops and starts due to creative disagreements, funding delays and shifting priorities. Rights get bought, pilot scripts get written and then…nothing. We’re still waiting for word on the highly sought-after adaptation of Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half, which HBO acquired the rights to six years ago.
This is where production companies with cultural aptitude must step up. I’d love to see Kerry Washington’s Simpson Street bring Sarai Johnson’s Grown Women to life; Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions take on Imani Thompson’s Honey; and I’d be first in line to see anything Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media puts out.
So while this summer’s book-to-screen adaptations are dominated by white authors, this is a choice, not an inevitability. The audience is there. Someone just has to decide that Black stories aren’t a risk.
Kayla Conti is a Brooklyn-based reader, writer and newly-liberated woman in tech. You can find more of her musings on Substack at TLDR Things, where she discusses books, travel, fashion and life as a 30-something-year-old Black woman. Kayla also curates a monthly book club for Black women who enjoy reading fiction by other Black and brown women. And when she’s not reading and traveling, you can find her enjoying wine with friends or geeking out over Formula 1, fitness and breakfast foods.