African-American Literature Web Sites Launch “Power List” of Best-Selling Books
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Troy Johnson: troy@aalbc.com
Gwen Richardson: grichardson@cushcity.com
Ron Kavanaugh: ron@mosaicbooks.com
African-American Literature Web Sites Launch “Power List” of Best-Selling Books
(April 22, 2013 — New York, NY) — Three leading African-American literature web sites announced the launch of the Power List, a quarterly compilation of best-selling books written or read by African Americans. The Power List is a joint project of AALBC.com, Cushcity.com and Mosaicbooks.com, three Web sites which have promoted African-American literature for more than a decade.
The founders of these companies believe there is a need for a comprehensive list of best-selling African-American books. “Currently, the data is dispersed over a wide variety of sources,” said Gwen Richardson, co-founder of Cushcity.com. “We wanted to compile and analyze the data across the board and present those findings to the public.”
Besides collecting data from online book sellers and random samples on relevant Facebook pages, the Power List has a unique feature: Its findings include a quarterly survey of 1,200 African-American book clubs. “African-American book clubs are well-established in urban communities across America,” said Troy Johnson, founder of AALBC.com. “The survey results tell us not only which Black authors are gaining traction among Black readers, but they also let us know which non-Black authors have garnered their attention.”
The Spring 2013 list is divided into separate categories: Hardcover fiction, hardcover non-fiction, paperback fiction and paperback nonfiction. Best-selling ebooks and classics will be added in future editions. The list will be released on the fourth Monday in the month following each calendar quarter.
Notable information about the Spring 2013 list:
- Urban fiction author duo Ashley & Jaquavis have a total of four books among the top ten paperback fiction best sellers
- Author Sister Souljah has titles on both the paperback and hardcover fiction lists
- Best-selling author E. L. James’ Fifty Shades of Gray was a top seller among African-American readers
- Two titles by politically-conservative African Americans were among the best-selling titles in paperback non-fiction books
“Our ultimate mission is three-fold,” said Ron Kavanaugh, founder of Mosaicbooks.com. “To promote African-American literature; to assess the reading habits of African Americans; and to report those findings to the public.”
The Spring 2013 lists may be viewed at the Power List web site: www.powerlist.info. Updates will be included on the Power List Facebook and Twitter pages. For more information, contact one of the individuals listed above.
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