I was just browsing this forum to see if it is worth uploading some images to a stock site, when I chanced upon this topic.  Being an author too and having several author friends, I think I can shed some light here.  Most fiction books have images of people on them that are looking either serious or morose.  You do not see images of anyone smiling, except on a few humorous romance books. 

1.  Models for book covers need to look serious.

2.  Next, the problem with most of the African American images is that they show poverty or labourers.  Authors want glamorous images.  Handsome and either bare-chested with muscles or well-dressed.  This might be a possible option:



3. Authors are picky and want attractive models.  Think movie-star-looking good.  They need this to sell their books.  People won't buy books with models that look like street bums.  Or even ordinary.  They need someone like Michael Jackson.  The Indie authors have to compete with big New York publishing houses that have the money to hire professional models and photographers at the cost of thousands of dollars.  Only the Indie authors do not have that kind of money.  Many are just housewives, teachers, professors...so they look for stock images and try to get the best ones possible.

So there you have it - Yes, there are some images of African American males.  But no, most of the images do not meet the criteria.  There are way more handsome Caucasian males available, though authors still complain there are not enough of those either - ones with sexy muscles and serious faces.

This is the kind of image for a book cover I am talking about:



The image must show the hero of an epic story - serious, grave, sexy...not a miner or a beggar...or someone brushing his teeth...

Good luck and I hope my explanation helps.