AALBC.com Celebrates 20 Years!

Troy April 4, 2018April 4, 2018 0 Comments #readingblack

Website Upgrade Nearing Completion

I’m just a few months away from completing AALBC’s most recent upgrade. It has been a two year effort which should greatly improve your ability to access information about the books you will enjoy the most.

Upgrade Reaping Immediate Benefits

Before the upgrade each of the thousands of AALBC.com pages were individual documents that had to be managed individually. This design was labor intensive to maintain and impossible to scale. In my first 18 years I managed to create 900 authors profiles (an average of 1 per week). In the last two years, I’ve added over 2,400 more profiles — at a rate of more than 3 a day!

Not only has the rate of production increased, but the quality has too. The code meets current standards, is optimized for mobile, and uses encryption.

I can now provide information in unique and creatives ways; whether it is a beautiful collage of our 100 bestselling authors or a more serious list with information and detail.

A great many of AALBC author profiles rank on the first page of search. This is something that is exceeding difficult to do today, but important for a site to remain viable.

Louis H. Michaux Our Greatest Bookseller

“I’d get lost in the thousand and thousand of books on his shelves, and loved the larger than life oil paintings always on display by Earl Sweeting… and the political and literary discussion always going on in the store. Louis H. Michaux remains our greatest bookseller.”
—Paul Coates, Founder Black Classic Press

#readingblack Means Reading Books from Black Publishers

I’m in the process of reviewing the more than 1,900 imprints in my database to identify all of the publishers owned by people of African descent. If you know of a publisher not already on our list, please provide us their information in the comments section on the page.

In the spirit of #readingblack visit the pages of these publishers and check out the books they’ve produced. For several, like Black Classic Press and Just Us Books, the buy button provides links directly to their websites allowing them to benefit more from the online sales of their books.

Join the #readingblack Movement

Promote Your Book, Product, or Service on AALBC.com

AALBC.com is uniquely positioned to show to your book, product, or service to very targeted and engaged audience. Our visitors look at an average of 5 pages per visit. We have already delivered more than 1/2 a million pages views this year. You’ll also find our ad campaigns provide a much higher click through ratio than other platforms. Learn more about our most popular advertising options.

Dear Reader,

★ Technically, the site was started in October of 1997. Back then it was just a directory off my consulting website. AALBC (African American Literature Book Club) was just an experiment for me to learn how to make money on the web so that I could better advise my clients.

I immediately discovered how much I did not know about Black history and I was completely unaware of the great wealth of fiction available from Black writers. In March of 1998 I registered the domain AALBC.com, because I knew I would dedicate my life to sharing and celebrating our stories. Since 1997 AALBC.com has sported many different looks. You may look at all the old versions.

While AALBC has grown by leaps and bounds and is the most prominent site of it kind ever built, I’m still working on how to make money on the web, so don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter.

I’m looking forward to serving you for another 20 years.
Peace and Love,
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