One of the very first things I put on AALBC.com’s web site, back in 1999, was a list of independent, Black owned, bookstores: http://aalbc.com/writers/aabook.htm  This list was very difficult to maintain and over the years various individuals contributed to help keep it up to date.  My list, unfortunately, has not been updated since 2007.

Nkiru Books, a Brooklyn based insititution founded in 1977, closed in 2002 - Photo Credit: Marcia Wilson

The Good News First:
Recently, in a joint effort by, ABLE (The Alliance for Black Literature and Entertainment), Huria.org and AALBC.com, the out of date list of independent, Black owned, bookstore list was revived and updated into database driven directory with maps, social media, photos and more.  The new bookstore database was launched just today today and is available at Huria.org and here on AALBC.com (http://aalbc.it/blackbookstores).

Here is the Bad News:
When I looked over the results of our Bookstore research, my heart fell as I discovered more than 2 out of 3 stores that were in business just a few years ago are now closed.   I’ve shared the list of the closed bookstores below.  I have nothing more meaningful to add.  This list speaks for itself…

A & B Distributors – Brooklyn, NY
African & Islamic Books Plus – Cleveland, OH
African American Books and Publishing – Baltimore, MD
African American Gift Gallery – Knoxville, TN
African American Heritage Book – West Palm Beach, FL
African Artisans – Baldwin, NY
African Book Store – Fort Lauderdale, FL
African Heritage Books & Gifts – San Francisco, CA
African House Institute of Learning – Jersey City, NJ
African Marketplace – Los Angeles, CA
Afro Books – Atlanta, GA
Afrocentric Book Store – Chicago, IL
Afrocentric Books & Cafe – St. Louis, MO
Alkebulan Books – Berkeley, CA
Amen-Ra’s Bookstore and Gallery – Tallahassee, FL
Arawak Books – Hyattsville, MD
Ascension Books – Columbia, MD
Asiatic the Soul of Black Folks – Toronto, ON
Atlantic Bookpost – Reston, VA
B.T.S. Unlimited Books – Detroit, MI
Baruti-Ba Books – Dayton, OH
Bishari Urban Books, Phoenix Crossing Shopping Center – , NC
Black Book Discounters – Houston, TX
Black By Popular Demand – Hyattsville, MD
Black Classics – Books & Gifts – Mobile, AL
Black Images Book Bazaar – Dallas, TX
Black Spring Books – Vallejo, CA
Black Swan Books & Coffee – Kohler, WI
Blacknificent Books & More – Raleigh, NC
Blackprint Heritage Gallery – New Haven, CT
Book House Cafe & Gifts – Benton Harbor, MI
Books In Color – North Highlands, CA
Books in the Black – Columbia, SC
Bright Lights Children’s Bookstore – Inglewood, CA
Brother’s Books – Seattle, WA
Carol’s Essentials Ethnic Gifts and Books – Seattle, WA
Celebrate – Peachtree City, GA
Crescent Office Store – East Orange, NJ
Cultural Bookstore  – Chicago, IL
Cultural Expression – Newport News, VA
D & J Book Distributors – Laurelton, NY
DARE Books & Educational Supplies – Brooklyn, NY
DeesBookNook Distributors – So. Richmond Hills, NY
Dorothea’s African-American Books and Gifts – Columbia, SC
Drum and Spear Books – Washington, DC
Dygnyti Books – Hamden, CT
Dynasty Bookstore, Eastland Mall – Charlotte, NC
EDEN Books – Hartford, CT
Education 2000+ Bookstore – Long Beach, CA
Education Central, Sunny Isle Shopping Plaza – St. Croix,
Ethnic Elegance – Jacksonville, FL
Exhale African American Books & Gifts – Sugar Land, TX
Faith To Faith Books  – Minneapolis, MN
Forewords Books & Gifts, Located in Originations Gallery – Ann Arbor, MI
Freedom Now Bookstore – Decatur, GA
Gene’s Books – King of Prussia, PA
Haneef’s Bookstore and Mosi Art Gallery – Wilmington, DE
Heritage Bookstore and More – Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Heritage House – Charlotte, NC
Imagine This! Books Etc. – Memphis, TN
IronWood Corner – Pasadena, CA
Jamaicaway Books & Gifts – Boston, MA
Karibu Books – Hyattsville, MD, (6 Locations)
Know Thyself, Bookstore and Cultural Development Center – Philadelphia, PA
Kongo Square Gallery – Los Angeles, CA
LaCeter’s Book Service – Southfield, MI
Liberation Bookstore – New York, NY
Ligorius Bookstore Inc. – Philadelphia, PA
Living Room Book & Pastry – Greensboro, NC
Lodestar Books – Birmingham, AL
Love Christian Book Store – Orlando, FL
Mahogany Books – Detroit, MI
Mahogany Books & Gifts – Fairfield, AL
Matais Books Cards & Art – Long Beach, CA
Mind & Soul Bookstore, Inc. – Trenton, NJ
Montsho BookFairs, Etc., Inc. – Orlando, FL
Mt. Zion Kid’s Village, Little Angels Children’s Bookstore – Jonesboro, GA
Nefertiti’s Books and Gifts  – Jacksonville, FL
Nimde Books – Louisville, KY
Nu World of Books – Beaumont, TX
Off The Shelf African American Books – Columbia, SC
One Force Books – Richmond, VA
Our Black Heritage – New York, NY
Out of Africa, Windsor Park Mall – San Antonio, TX
Paperback Connection – Oklahoma City, OK
Paradise Book Store – Peoria, AZ
Peek-A-Boo Books II, Wheaton Mall – Wheaton, MD
People’s Books & Gifts – Springfield, OH
Phenix Information Center – San Bernardino, CA
PowerHouse Books – Hopkins, SC
Rainbow Books & Blooms – Yorktown Heights, NY
Reading Room Bookstore  – Chicago, IL
Roots & Wings: A Cultural Bookplace  – Montgomery, AL
Sacred Thoughts Bookstore – Jersey City, NJ
Sensational Minds – Savannah, GA
Serengeti Plains  – Montclair, NJ
Shades of Sienna – Oakland, CA
Sidewalk University – Memphis, TN
Soul Source Bookstore – Atlanta, GA
Special Occasions – Winston-Salem, NC
Stouffville Book Connection Inc – Stouffville, ON
TDIR Books – Columbia, SC
Tenaj Books & Gift Gallery – Fort Pierce, FL
The Black Bookworm – Fort Worth, TX
The Black Library – Boston, MA
The Book House Café, LGBT Books – Oakland, CA
The Book Lovers Lounge – Lauderdale Lakes, FL
The Cultural Connection Bookstore  – Milwaukee, WI
The Heritage Center – Vicksburg, MS
The Know Bookstore – Durham, NC
The Living Word Bookstore – Chicago, IL
The Presence of Africans In the Bible Book Center – Minneapolis, MN
The Reading Room Bookstore – Atlanta, GA
The Roots Book Store, Inside of Tapers Hair Care – Baton Rouge, LA
Too-No Books Etc. – Moss Point, MS
Treasures of the Mind Bookstore – St. Louis, MO
Tricia’s Books N’ Things – Houston, TX
Truth Boutique & Bookstore, Eastland Mall #823 – Harper Woods, MI
Tunde Dada House of Africa – Orange, NJ
Tunde Dada House of Africa, Green Acres Mall – Valley Stream, NY
Two Friends Bookstore – Atlanta, GA
Uhuru Books – Minneapolis, MN
Under One Roof Afrikan American Bookstore – Killeen, TX
W&W African American Art, Specializing in Books & Gift Items, Etc. – Fayetteville, NC
X-pression Bookstore & Gallery – Indianapolis, IN
Yawa Books – Washington, DC
Yehudah Inc. – Teaneck, NJ
Zawadi Gift Shop – Brooklyn, NY

…Actually I do have something to add.  If you happen to reside in a community fortunate enough to have an independent bookstore, please support it.  These establishments are true community and cultural, treasures.   Sure eBooks and websites are great, but not everything can be replaced with machines and technology.

While we attempted to make this list as accurate as possible, mistakes do occur.  If there is a store posted here that is indeed open please lets of know so that we may remove it from this list and add it to our database of bookstores.  You may post the correction in the comments below or email me at troy@aalbc.com

Our database of bookstores can be made available to anyone interested in posting it on their website, with a single line of code.  Email me at troy@aalbc.com if you are interested.

Here is a related article: “Top Ten Reasons Why African American Bookstores Are Closing“ by Gwen Richardson

AALBC.com Founder, Troy Johnson on James Baldwin

I had the pleasure of speaking in a couple of the short video biographies, on American novelists, created by Bio.com, which is part of the  A+E Television Networks.  I spoke briefly about James Baldwin and Langston Hughes.

There were several more videos created.  I’ve posted a seven of them below — hence the title of this article.

James Baldwin
http://www.aalbc.com/authors/james.htm

James Baldwin’s written works made him an important spokesman of the Civil Rights Movement. His essays explored the black experience in America and his novel,”Giovanni’s Room,” was one of the first to tackle homosexuality.

Langston Hughes
http://www.aalbc.com/authors/james.htm

Langston Hughes was the leading voice of the Harlem Renaissance, showcasing the dignity and the beauty in ordinary black life. The hours he spent in Harlem clubs affected his work, making him one of the innovators of Jazz Poetry.

Toni Morrison
http://www.aalbc.com/authors/toni.htm

Toni Morrison is the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her novels include “The Bluest Eye,” “Sula,” and “Beloved.”

Harper Lee
http://aalbc.com/reviews/hey_boo.html

In 1961, Harper Lee became the only author to win the Pulitzer Prize for her first and only novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Jack Kerouac

As a writer and pioneer of the Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac epitomized the era of sex, drugs, and jazz. His novel “On the Road,” which he wrote in a three-week bender of writing frenzy, became the bible of the countercultural generation.

John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck gave voice to working class America. In 1939, he reported on migrant farm workers for the San Francisco Chronicle, providing the basis for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “The Grapes of Wrath.”

Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut’s blend of black comedy and wild imagination in works such as “Slaughterhouse-Five” and “Cat’s Cradle” made him one of the most loved writers of all time.

All of the videos are posted here are provided courtesy of A+E Television Networks, LLC.  © 2012 All Rights Reserved.

I did not want the year to end without expressing my sincere thanks to all of AALBC.com’s supporters.

I’m a collector.   My family calls it hoarding.  While I’m a big proponent of electronic books, I still love to surround myself with books and magazines.  Recently I had to admit the space required to maintain such an extravagance was too costly and becoming aesthetically unappealing.   As a result, I’ve either given away or tossed hundreds of old magazines.  I still have hundreds of books in boxes ready to go to anyone interested. (*see note at end of article)

Like any hoarder, worth their salt, I could not purge myself completely.   I managed to hold onto hundreds of books.  I also drew a line with first issues of any book related magazines.   It was these 1st issues that motivated me to write this blog post.

Quarterly Black Review of Books Volume 1, Number 1 August 1993

Like an old photograph, each of these 1st issues conjures up a wide range of memories and nostalgic feelings.  When I look at these magazines today I still experience the hope and promise they offered.  The hope came from an understanding that the coverage of books and stories written by Black people was a very rare thing.  Each of these magazines covered the wealth, and depth of our stories.  For me they were, and still are, a source of pride.

While I am excited to share information about these magazines, I’m also disappointed when I realize that most are no longer being published.  An even greater source of disappointment is, despite more books being published by Black writers than ever before, there are fewer platforms (television, magazines, newspapers, websites, bookstores) showcasing this work than there were just 5 years ago.

Here are a few of the first issues of magazines I have in my collection.  I have been a staunch supporter of most of them since their inception.  I have contributed content to, or have been featured in articles, in a few of them.  I have subscribed to, sold subscriptions and individual issues, at street fairs and on AALBC.com for most of these publications.

This is not to suggest that I liked everything they’ve published or all the editorial decisions they made.  They are, however, trailblazing publications and I love each of them.

Black Issues Book Review Premiere Issue - January - February 1999

Here I share a portion of my experiences and thoughts on a few of the first editions in my collection.

The first time I saw the first issue of Quarterly Black Review of Books (better known as QBR).  I was in a Brooklyn barber shop, waiting to get my hair cut.  I saw this broadsheet newspaper with nothing but information about Black writers in it.  All I could remember was thinking was WOW!

Max Rodriquez, founded this terrific publication in 1993.  The premiere issue measured 14.75″ x 11″ and was loaded with information.  The cover art was Malvin Gray Johnson’s 1934 oil painting the “Postman”.  QBR’s premier issue highlighted Rita Dove who, in 1993, was named Poet Laureate by the Library of Congress.

My copy of this magnificent work was a present from my dear friend and colleague Linda Duggins.  Linda and Max Rodriguez would go on to co-found the Harlem Book Fair.

Black Issues Book Review (BIBR) was founded in 1998 by William E. Cox, Adrienne Ingrum, and Susan McHenry.  The premiere issue debuted in 1999.  The launch party was held in a Borders Bookstore in midtown Manhattan.  It was one of the first industry events that I attended after launching AALBC.com.  I did not realize it at the time, but many of the country’s top Black publishing professionals were in attendance — people I would come to know and respect over the next decade.

Mosaic Literary Magazine - Preview Issue - February 1998

BIBR’s first issue featured the legendary author Octavia Butler.  BIBR did not pick some over exposed celebrity, or trendy rapper, to grace the cover.  They selected a talented writer (the author of one of my favorite books Kindred).  This signaled to me that BIBR was serious about showcasing talent.  In fact, in 1999, Black Issues Book Review was named one of “the ten best new magazines” by The American Library Journal from more than a thousand new publications.

In June of 2005, QBR: The Black Book Review and Black Issues Book Review announced an intent to join forces.   Unfortunately, the QBR and BIBR alliance never bore fruit.   In March of 2006, BIBR announced that it had been acquired by Target Market News, Inc.  Ultimately QBR became a online publication.  Neither magazine would continue as print publications beyond 2006.

Mosaic Literary Magazine (Mosaic) was launched by Ron Kavanaugh in 1998.  Given the history of similar magazines that have come before and after, it is truly a testament to both Ron’s dedication to his mission, and his skill as an entrepreneur, that he has kept Mosaic in print for almost 14 years.

ANANSI: Fiction of the African Diaspora - Premiere Issue - Winter 1999

I first discovered Mosaic online through it’s sister website Mosaicbooks.com.  I asked Ron for permission to publish, a list of Black owned bookstores he maintained on mosaicbooks.com.  Ron replied, “yes”, emphasizing that, “…this information needs to be shared”.  I knew immediately I was dealing with a conscious brother.  It would be months before we would meet in person, during a chance encounter in a small independent bookstore.  It was during that first meeting that we also discovered we graduated from the same high school, in the same year.  We have been close friends and business associates ever since.

ANANSI: Fiction of the African Diaspora was Founded in February 1999 and published by Sheree Renee Thomas, Angeli Rasbury, and Martin Simmons.  The first issue, featuring cover art by John Biggers, included original short fiction by writers of African descent.

I purchased this numbered (#495), first issue, in 1999 during the ANANSI launch party.  I would go on to work with the publishers Sheree and Angeli on a number of projects.  One of my favorite collaborations was with Sheree; we hosted a performance by Chrysalis Theatre Company of Mindscape during one of AALBC.com’s Brownstone Series events.

Lorraine and James: Global Urban Literature - Vol. 1, Issue 1 - 2005

Lorraine and James: Global Urban Literature was published in 2005.  The tri-annual publication published and edited by Jasia Madden was a high quality, well reviewed publication.

Honestly I’d lost track of this gem of a magazine.  I searched and found this message, the final entry, from the Lorraine and James blog, dated April of 2006:

Effective immediately, Lorraine and James is on hiatus. We are not sure how long this break will last or if we will have to simply call it a wrap – that remains to be seen.

As Editor, I appreciate all of the support and encouragement that I encountered along the way.

Best to all of you on your journey – Writer, may you find the prefect rhythm in your voice. Reader, may you discover and be changed by these worlds within great stories; worlds we might only dream of otherwise.

Yours,

Jasai
Wordjunkie/Editor/Friend
Lorraine and James

SLR: Street Literature Review - Vol. 1 - Fall 2007

As far as I can tell, Vol. 1 Issue 2 of Lorraine and James was never released.

SLR: Street Literature Review was founded by Jason Claiborne, and Anthony White.  I first saw this magazine at the Harlem Book Fair.  Someone handed me the 2nd issue and I walked around until I found the SLR table and secured the inaugural issue shown here.

Editor-in-chief Blaine Martin pulled together a smart, visually appealing and informative magazine.  The SLR team elevated a genre with the introduction of this magazine in 2007 — at a time where there were few other magazines showcasing Black book and authors.  SLR demonstrated that they were the authoritative voice for Street or Hip-Hop Literature.

As far as I can tell SLR has published three issues since their inception.  Indications are they plan to continue.  I truly hope so.

Fire!! - First Issue - November 1926

Fire!!  Devoted to Younger Negro Artists was a quarterly magazine first published in November 1926 and edited by Wallace Thurman.  Thurman’s effort were supported by Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Gwendolyn Bennett, Aaron Douglas, Richard Bruce and John Davis

The first issue, was the only issue of Fire!! ever published.

My copy of Fire!!, unfortunately, is just a replica of the original 1926 publication.  The content of Fire!!, relatively mild by today’s standards, was quite controversial in it’s day.  Fire! addressed sensitive issues directly including homosexuality, colorism in the Black community and prostitution.

The following quote best summarizes the importance of Fire!!:

At a time when Black writers were dependent on White editors and publishers, Wallace Thurman had the courage and foresight to plan and publish a quarterly magazine to provide opportunities for new talents. –source of quote

Killen Review of Arts & Letters - Fred Beauford, Editor - Published March 2010

Almost 100 years later this very same courage is  needed more than ever before.

Any success these magazines enjoyed is a function of their ability to corral the talents of writers, editors, photographers and other professionals to produce a quality publication.  Of course a quality publication is not enough.

Magazines, especially our book and literary magazines need to be actively supported.  Sure subscribing or making financial contributions are important but,  we can also contribute our time and energy by helping to promote magazines that we enjoy and encouraging others to do the same.

I’ve also observed the most successful magazines, the ones that make it over the long haul, have figured out ways to do two things; (1) Show their supporters that they are appreciated and (2) Develop alliances with other entities even other magazines.

There are so many other magazines I could have written about.  Some were left out simply because I did not have a copy of their first issue.  Below I’ve included a short list of other literary or book magazines still in print:

• Journal of Hip Hop
• Killen Review of Arts & Letters
• African Voices Magazine
• Written Magazine
• mythium literary journal
• Tidal Basin Review
• phati’tude Literary Magazine
• Pluck! Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture

If you are aware of other book or literary magazines not listed please post them in the comments section.  If I get enough entries perhaps I’ll write a part 2 — especially if I’m sent a copy of the first issue!

________________________________________

Admittedly this last publication, a comic book, does not belong with the rest.  But it does relate to the special feelings associated with 1st issues and speaks to why people get really excited about reading.

I’m old enough to remember, when it was still a big deal to see a Black person on television and an average reader could know the names of all the Black writers published by the major publishing houses.  This was a time were there were less than a handful of Black comic book characters and certainly no super heroes with their  own comic book series.

Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 Published June 1972

In walks Luke Cage, Hero for Hire.  The first issue was published by Marvel Comics in June of 1972 and featured the cover art of John Romita, Sr.

I purchased this comic and maybe the next 20 or so until I lost interest in comic books about about 35 years ago.  My copy is not nearly as neat as the version depicted here, but it is still just as valuable to me.

Cage was the only super hero that I wanted to relate to — because he was Black!  He was from Harlem and the action took place my neighborhood.

In hindsight, the fist Black super hero comic book series was introduced to capitalize on the popularity of Blaxploitation films of the era.  From the eyes of this young boy, eager to see a Black superhero, Luke Cage was the man!

________________________________________

*Note about my books: I do have several hundred books in boxes ready for donation.  If you are driving distance from Philadelphia area, and would like these books, please email me at troy@aalbc.com.  You’ll need to be able to transport the books yourself and be prepared to you to take all of the books.  The vast majority of book were written by African American writers have have been published within the last 10 years.

On April 4, 2003, EarthLink announced a partnership with MOBE (Marketing Opportunities in Business and Entertainment) to present The 100 Best Web Sites for African Americans.

That partnership was apparently initiated to support an effort started by EarthLink who, in 2002, announced the first 100 Best Websites for African Americans.

I learned of the list via an little tri-fold flyer I received in the mail (image on right) from EarthLink.  There was nothing special about the mailing.  There was no raised lettering, no embossed envelope or fanfare — just your average piece of junk mail that I would have normally thrown away were it not for the neat little list of websites.

The EarthLink/MOBE effort did not last very long.  The last record of the list I found was on EarthLink’s website from January 2006 (courtesy of  the Wayback Machine).  The Mobe website (mobe.com) has been out of commission since 2008 and was not updated after 2006.

By today’s standards, in a world with a bazillion websites and ultra fast search engines, a list like this seems almost quaint.  Or so one would think…

Last night I decided to visit each of the original (from the 2002 list) 100 Best Web Sites for African Americans.  Here is some of what I discovered:

• 42 of the websites are no longer active
• Of the inactive sites Africana.com and BlackVoices.com have been absorbed by the Huffington Post.  (Honestly, I think this is really jacked up, but that is a topic of another blog post)
• Another inactive site’s domain (black movie dot com) was reclaimed. by a pornographer — slowing my research considerably.
• Of the 58 sites still alive, 5 have not been updated a very long time.
• One site not updated in a long time is Melanet.com “The Uncut Black Experience!” the site is over 17 years old and is one first Black oriented websites I recall seeing.
• NiaOnline.com (a really smart well designed Blog) has announced: “…as of Nov. 1, 2011 we will not longer be publishing the blog or newsletter in its current format.”  Keep your eye out for something good from Nia Enterprises

Many of the remaining websites don’t look very different from when they were launched, while others have kept up with the times and seem to be doing quite well.

The sites do however have one thing in common, something to be proud of, they (we) have all withstood the test of time.

Of course, since this list was first published in 2002, many things have changed on the World Wide Web.  One change I’ve observed is that mission driven sites, like most of the ones on the list, are being supplanted by websites driven purely by profit.

One consequence of the predominance of profit driven sites is the most popular “Black” websites are no longer Black owned an controlled by huge corporate interested who do not serve Black people well.  This results in the voices of independent Black owned sites being crowded out.

Mission driven, Black owned sites exist — they are just harder to find.  This is one reason I launched a new search engine called Huria Search.  To read more about why I created Huria Search, click here.

Below is the last version of the The 100 Best Web Sites for African Americans.  I believe it is from 2006.  I wonder what websites would be included on a 2012 list and who would own them?

Introducing Huria Search:  Search independent websites that deliver meaningful content written by or about, the global Black community.

As the webmaster of AALBC.com, I’ve been an active observer of web-based content, of interest to my visitors, for almost 15 years.  I share what I find in my eNewsletter, website, social media and by word of mouth.  Despite vast improvements in the capability of technology, and the advent of social media, the ability to find quality, conscious, content written for the or about the Black community has become much more difficult.

As the largest Black oriented websites became absorbed into large corporate entities, there has been a trend toward the creation of content heavily focused on scandal, particularly celebrity scandal.  For example, here are just a few titles of articles recently published and promoted by large corporate, Black oriented, websites:

• 83-Year-Old Caught TRICKIN’
• Amber Rose After Kanye West Apology: “He Was An A$$hole”
• Jessica Simpson Announces Pregnancy Beyonce Style
• Kim Kardashian Wedding: E! Reveals The Truth Behind The Scenes
• Justin Bieber Fans React On Twitter To Paternal Suit Allegations
• Reggae Star Vybz Kartel Denied Bail In Murder Case
• Top 5 Most Notable Sexual Harassment Cases

The primary goal of a publicly traded company is to maximize shareholder wealth.  As a result, the type of content generated is designed to appeal to the broadest possible audience.  Any consideration for variety, the promotion of negative stereotypes and imagery, or a potential adverse impact on Black people is purely incidental.

I don’t mean to suggest that this type of content should not be produced at all.  The problem is that search results tend to favor large corporations, and as a result, their type of content dominates.  Large corporate entities can buy sponsored links, pay professionals to perform search engine optimization and utilize other tricks to game search engine results to skew in their favor.

Over the past year I’ve observed an accelerated trend in search results favoring large corporate sites.  The impact of this trend is that content generated by smaller websites, regardless of quality, is pushed so far down in the search results that it is never discovered.

I blogged about this recently after seeing how search engine results for a popular African American author has changed over time (read the blog post).

Search results matter because this is how most sites attract new visitors.  There is a direct correlation between search engine ranking and website traffic.  This condition raises the barriers of entry for new independent websites interested in producing serious content and jeopardizes the survival of sites that already do.  I discussed this issue in a recent interview (read interview)

Huria Search was born out of an effort to combat this condition.

Huria Search uses a customized and curated version of the Google search engine.  I believe you will find the results of a “Huria search” a refreshing improvement over conventional search engine results when looking for content generated for or about the global Black community (read more about why Huria Search was created).

Huria.org was launched, November 5th 2011.  If you believe in Huria Search’s goals, please share this message and the Huria Search website http://huria.org with others.

It is up to us, as individuals, to promote and support what we believe is important.  I hope Huria Search will become a tool to help us do that.  If you see ways to make the Huria Search site better please let me know.  Comment below or send me an email at info@huria.org

Huria.org is not a revenue generating site — you’ll find no advertisements or sponsored links.  Our goal is to promote and support independent websites to contribute to the global Black community in a meaningful way.

Peace,
Troy Johnson

Related Links

Find information on authors and books
http://thebestblackbooksearch.com/ or http://bit.ly/tbbbse

There are so many free, high quality, eBooks available for immediate download, it is really quite astonishing.   One can download a free eBook and begin reading it while they are waiting for a bus or in a doctor’s office.   A computer isn’t even required; inexpensive eBook reader or even a smart phone will do.

Here I share information on several resources for learning about and downloading free eBooks.

Project Gutenberg offers over 36,000 free ebooks to download to your PC, Kindle, Android, iOS or other portable device.   The eBooks available at Project Gutenberg were previously published by bona fide publishers, and are made available for free, in the United States, because their copyright has expired.  No fee or registration is required, but they do accept donations.

A couple of terrific titles available at Project Gutenberg include:

The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar First copyright, 1893

The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Paul Laurence Dunbar [Illustrated]
http://aalbc.com/authors/paull.htm#all

Booker T. Washington called Paul Laurence Dunbar the “Poet Laureate of the Negro Race”. Dunbar, the son of enslaved parents, grew up in Dayton, OH, where he was friendly with the Wright Brothers.  He had a successful high school career–founding editor of the school paper and elected class president of the predominantly white school–but upon graduation, he was forced to work as an elevator operator. His second book of poetry was praised by William Dean Howells and by age 24, he was one of the most renowned literary figures in America.

The Marrow of Tradition by Charles W. Chesnutt  http://aalbc.com/authors/charlesw.htm#marrow

One of the most significant novels in American literature, Chesnutt ‘s The Marrow of Tradition is based on the Wilmington, North Carolina, Massacre of 1898. Called a “race riot” by the inflammatory Southern press and engineered by white Democrats who had seen their political [power] slip into the hands of Republicans, many of whom were black, it was in fact a coup that restored power to the Democrats by subverting the principles of free democratic election. Some of Charles Chestnutt’s relatives lived through the violence, and their accounts inspired this powerful and passionate novel.

Free eBooks are not just limited to the old classic titles.  There are many new works available for free download. 

You can always find free, or really inexpensive, Kindle ebooks on Amazon.com.  Here is a link: http://aalbc.it/free_aaebooks  There you’ll find titles which include:

Irresistible Forces by Brenda Jackson http://aalbc.com/authors/brenda_jackson.htm#free

The Kindle Fire

Brenda Jackson has written more romance novels than I can count.  She was the first African-American author to have a novel published as part of the Silhouette Desire line, and has seen many of her novels reach the AALBC.com & USAToday Bestseller lists.

You may as well check out Amazon’s new eBook Reader, the Kindle Fire.  The Kindle Fire sports a vibrant color touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle. It also provides 18 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, and books, the Amazon Appstore – thousands of popular apps and games, free cloud storage for all your Amazon content . The reader is provides accelerated web browsing via Amazon Silk Cloud-Accelerated “Split Browser” — all for only $199!

You can also find a large selection of free eBooks made available by the authors themselves. 

For example, the critically acclaimed novelist Leonce Gaiter, has made his latest novel, The Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang available for free eBook download
http://aalbc.it/lg-free-ebook

This eBook is available in all the popular formats. The promotion ends October 6th.  You must use coupon code WB45M at check out.

Leonce is a excellent writer and has crafted a thoroughly researched novel about little known chapter in American history.

One of my most critical reviewers described Leonce’s novel “Bourbon Street” this way:

“It has been a long while since I read a book as complex and gorgeous as Bourbon Street written by Leonce Gaiter. A novel which explores the spectrum of inner naked essence of human nature, Bourbon Street was a sheer joy to read from beginning to end.”

To find more deals like this you can subscribe to the AALBC.com eNewsletter we share information about free eBooks.  Authors can also share information about free eBooks on our discussion boards.  In fact authors are encourage to share information on any aspect of their work (see note below).

Many authors are using free eBooks to promote their work, in creative ways, and expand their audience.

Christopher D. Burns, makes his book Stages: A Handbook on Men and Relationships available to read for free (http://aalbc.it/stageshandbook) but you’ll have to download each chapter individually.

After reading a few chapters, for free, you may decide pay for the full download.  This gives readers an opportunity to discover a new author or interesting book without any financial risk.

Increasingly eBooks may even be borrowed from libraries.  This is just some of the way one can begin to enjoy the wonderful world of literature.  The only investment required is time

Remember, it does not hurt to “read more”

Note:  AALBC.com helps share information about books:

Libraries are also a good source of free ebooks. “Nationwide, 82 percent of public libraries across the country offered e-books in 2011″ (Check out an article on the subject on Kansas.com)

Authors, publicists, publishers, book lovers, check out the revamped AALBC.com Discussion boards.  http://aalbc.com/tc you can post information about your books or books you enjoy, post reviews, book trailers, excepts and more.

You should also take advantage of events calendar (http://aalbc.it/BookEvents) to post information about your book signings or book related events.

You may share information posted on our discussion boards with your followers on Twitter and Facebook.  I also review content their to include in my eNewsletter (http://aalbc.it/newsaalbc).  Our highly regarded eNewsletter, has been published continuously for over 12 years.  It is emailed to almost 20,000 subscribers.

AALBC.com discussion board have been on-line for almost 14 years.

Both are free resources.

Authors in the following states; Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina, Rhode Island, & Connecticut.  Here is another win-win proposal from AALBC.com.

If you make links available on your site to sell your books via Amazon.com, you may already know that Amazon is no longer paying commissions to affiliates listed in the states above.  However, there is no reason Amazon should keep the money that would normally go to you in affiliate commissions for sales you generate, right?

Well I have a simple proposal:  Provide AALBC.com with the 10-digit ISBN’s for all the books you are selling online, via amazon, and we will provide you with new links which you can use on your website or anywhere else you choose.

The new links offer several advantages

1. Affiliate commissions will be earned by AALBC.com for sales you generate without effecting the price your customers pay or the earnings you generate as the author.
2. Sales generated via AALBC.com’s affiliate links are used to create our bestselling books list .   If you book makes our bestsellers list, you will benefit from even more promotion.
3. If you use any of the AALBC.com affiliate links on your website you will immediately be enttitled to a 10% discount on all AALBC.com services.
4. If your link generates more than 10 sales in any given month you will be entitled to a 25% discount on all AALBC.com services the following month.
5. If you generate a large number of sales in a given month we are open to negotiation on AALBC.com services including  free ad placement!

You may also generate your own links at anytime.  Here is the format:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982719345/ref=nosim?tag=readthisbook-20

Just substitute the 10 digit ISBN, used in the URL above, with your book’s 10 digit ISBN.  When you want to take advantage of your 10% discount just email troy@aalbc.com the URL of the page where you are using the link.

I hope many of you will take advantage of this offer – it  truly a win-win situation.

Notes:

• This promotion is open to ANY author, or publisher who  would like to participate.
• If you are selling books on-line, via Amazon, and are not an Amazon affliate read this article: Sign up as an Amazon.com Affiliate
• We can also provide short, easier to remember, links upon request.  Read this article to learn what I mean.

“How do I get my book featured on AALBC.com?”  is a question often posed to me by authors, publishers and publicists.

Of course the best and fastest way to obtain prominent placement on AALBC.com is to purchase advertising.  However when the above question is posed, subsequent follow up sometimes reveals the inquirer does not have a budget for advertising.   This is fine, because there are many ways one can promote their work on AALBC.com for free.

While AALBC.com has funded the creation of 1,000′s of pages of content featuring profiles and interviews with authors, critical book reviews, book club reading and bestseller lists, we simply can not cover every author.   In an environment where 3 million (see note) new titles are published annually, no entity can — nor would they want to.   If one is unable to purchase an AALBC.com  ad, how does one get their book featured on AALBC.com at no cost?  Here are three simple ways:

1 – Introduce Your Book on Our Discussion Forum

Visit our African-American Literature Discussion Forum (better known as Thumper’s corner); http://aalbc.it/bookdiscussion.

Over at Thumper’s Corner we have been discussing books on-line since 1997.  This is the perfect place to post information about your book.

You can post your book’s cover, and a brief description of your book, post a link back to you website, insert a YouTube video and more.  Creating an account is simple; if you have a Facebook or Twitter account you can use those accounts to get started sharing information about your book, your work and yourself.

One of the best ways to take advantage of this platform is to post information about your book in direct response to a related post.  For example, if someone says that are looking a good children’s book.  If you’ve written a children’s book please feel free to reply with information about your book.

There is also an events calendar http://aalbc.it/BookEvents.  You are encouraged to post your events there as well.  I actively review the discussion boards to discover information on new or interesting books, authors and events to include in my eNewsletter and for my own reading pleasure.

What Not to Do on Our Discussion Boards
Please do not post information about your book on our discussion board every single day.  Do not post information about your book in response to an unrelated conversation.  This is spam and will result in your access being terminated.  More importantly it will turn off potential readers and irritate the discussion boards moderator (read: me)

2 – Introduce Your Book on AALBC.com’s Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/aalbcfanpage/

AALBC.com Facebook’s fan page was not only created to notify “fans” about AALBC.com content, but it was also created to provide another platform for readers and authors/publishers to directly engage AALBC.com and our fans.  Authors are encouraged to introduce themselves and their work.  As with the discussion boards; I always review the AALBC.com Facebook fan page for information about authors and books.

I read everything that is posted on the fan page.  I visit every link and watch every video posted.  Time does not always permit me to respond to every post but I do look at everything.

What Not to Do
Again do not post information about yourself or your book every day.  Once every few months is plenty, unless you are responding to a related post or question posted on the Facebook page.

Additional What Not to Do on Facebook

1. Do not post information about your book on someone else’s personal Facebook wall.  Use your own wall for this activity
2.  Do not tag others on photos, comments or videos that are promotional material for your book or yourself
3.  Do not add people to Facebook groups without their permission (invite them to join)

While Facebook allows you to do all of the above it is considered spam.   One might think it is clever, to expand their reach by posting on other Facebook friends walls, in reality this just irritates those friends.

3 – Send Us A Photo With an AALBC.com Branded Product

Award winning author Wahida Clark – Send us a photo and get your “mug” on AALBC.com too!

This is really a very simple way to obtain free placement of AALBC.com.  This ad appears at the bottom of every AALBC.com page.  These ads get hundreds of thousands of impressions a month.  Just order an AALBC.com mug or any branded merchandise, email a photograph of you with the produc and send us a short blurb with a link to your site.  We will setup the rest.  You can also hold a copy of your book or anything else to promote your brand.  This free AALBC.com advertisement will be limited to the first 10 published authors  Click here to learn more.

These Techniques are Universal

The techniques listed above (with the exception of the AALBC.com branded product), can be used on other discussion boards, blogs and social media.   In fact these are some of the techniques I utilize to promote AALBC.com.

Remember not to spam other websites when posting comments or information.  Ask yourself are you moving the conversation forward or contributing in a meaningful way or are you merely engaging in shameless self promotion?

With the increase in the number of books published, I get more requests to be featured on AALBC.com than ever before.  As a result, the techniques described are even more valuable in an increasingly competitive environment.

For more information about getting your book on AALBC.com, and AALBC.com in general, please visit: http://aalbc.com/faq.htm

Notes
In 2010 more than 300,000 new books (or new editions) are published via traditional means.  If we factor in print on demand and other non-traditional titles published in 2010 that number exceeds 3 million (read more about these figures).

Troy’s Note (Jan 26, 2012): I just watched 60 Minutes on CNBC which validated my observations below.  60 Minutes’ Leslie Stahl, after running a Google search on the term “60 Minutes”, asked Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt why the results skewed negative.  Eric said they had no way of distinguishing the popular favorable results from the popular negative results.  That response, not mincing words, is bullshit.  Google had no problem doing it in the past and Microsoft’s Bing search engine accomplishes this today. _____________________

Troy’s Note (Dec 4, 2011): I was really motivated to do something about the issues described in this article.  I decided to create a customized and curated search engine, by taking advantage of Google’s, fee based, Site Search.  The result is Huria Search: http://hura.org   (Huria Search Terry McMillan to see the difference)
_____________________

After the browser Google has been the best thing the Internet has seen.

I have been a fan and user of Google for more than a decade.  The biggest reason is that Google, more than any entity before it, brought order to the worldwide web. Google’s search engine enabled one to find the highest quality content, quickly, easily and without bias.

Google’s YouTube allowed me to easily publish and share AALBC.com videos — increasing our video viewership by 2 orders of magnitude.  Google Analytics have proven to be an invaluable tool, providing deep insight into my website’s performance.  Google’s new social network Google+ seems to have addressed many of the concerns and issues I have with Facebook and other social platforms. Over the last few years revenues from Google’s AdSense easily covered all of AALBC.com’s overhead. Indeed, AdSense helped make it possible for me to grow AALBC.com from a sideline business into my livelihood.  I could go on, but if should be clear that I love what Google has provided.

Unfortunately my love affair with Google is becoming tainted with skepticism and caution. I no longer believe Google’s near monopolistic dominance of search is in our best interest. In fact, I’m beginning to believe Google’s dominance may be to our detriment over the long term.  The primary reason for this belief is that Google no longer returns the best search results.

Sure, one could easily assert that the “best search results” are a matter of opinion.  At some level, I agree with this sentiment.  However, the example, shown below, reflects an undesirable and recent trend I’ve observed in the relative quality in the ranking of Google’s search results, that I think most reasonable people would agree with.

Google search results tend to skew more toward scandal and away from meaningful content.   

For example, run the following query for the NY Times Bestselling author; “Terry McMillan”  You’ll find the following, or similar, results.

The 3rd ranked result - Two sentences on the Huffington Post site for a page with the title; “Terry McMillan Apologizes To Smiths For Calling Kids ‘Pimped’”

Here is all the text on the page:

Just a few hours after Terry McMillan went on a Twitter rant against Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith for “pimping and exploiting” their kids Jaden and Willow, she’s issued an apology.

It seems she couldn’t take the heat. However, she does make a good point.

That is all the text on the page related to Terry McMillan.  Again, this is the 3rd highest page returned by a search on “Terry McMillan” .  The 4th ranked search result is a USA Today page for an article based upon the same tweeted message entitled “Terry McMillan: Willow and Jaden being ‘pimped and exploited’.”

The fact USA Today used Terry’s tweet as a news story is, in and of itself, astonishing (subject for another rant) .  However, couple this with the fact that Google ranks the 7 month old, USA Today article 4th for a query on “Terry McMillan” and it becomes clear that Google search algorithm is doing something other than retuning sites with the best content.

The next remaining top ten search results include brief articles; including one from Orpah.com entitled, “Author Terry McMillan and ex-husband Jonathan Plummer return to discuss their relationship” (Sep 28, 2010) and the thesmokinggun.com sharing with us, “Terry McMillan Sues Her “Little Fag” Ex | The Smoking Gun” (Mar 22, 2007).

Websites that actually deal with Terry McMillan’s work are buried pages deep in the search results.  The AALBC.com page where I’ve published original video of Terry McMillan, a description of all of her books as well as links to original AALBC.com book reviews is the 11th ranked page.  One saving grace is that McMillan’s own website is ranked first.

Now I’m not saying that Google should not return websites containing scandalous or trivial information about someone — indeed they should.  The scandalous results should be returned to people who are clearly performing a search for that type of information.  The presumption, by Google, that someone querying “Terry McMillan” is looking for websites that provide two sentences about an inappropriate, Twitter message that Terry sent over 7 months ago is, at best, an insult to our intelligence.

Another saving grace is that the 2nd most popular search engine does not exhibit this bias toward scandal.  Compare Yahoo’s (Powered by Bing) search results with the Google search results on “Terry McMillan”.

This is just one example.  I can provide many, many more.  I’ve attempted to reach out to Google regarding this issue and have been unsuccessful.  This problem and related ones are no secret.  A great many websites are complaining about Google questionable search results.   Unfortunately for us, Google is so big and powerful they have no incentive to be responsive; despite the #1 statement of from Google’s philosophy being: “Focus on the user and all else will follow.”

While competition from other search engines provide a glimmer of hope against Google completely dominating search.  Today Google is the most popular search engine.  The majority of new visitors to AALBC.com arrive via a Google search.  I suspect the same is true for most other websites.

I’ve also heard and read additional speculation that Google skews their query results to sites that purchase a great deal of online adverting through Google’s AdWords.  While I can not prove this; the search results shown by the example above do not rule this assertion out.

Of course it could be that web page popularity is a significant factor in Google’s search algorithm.  The sites or pages with the most traffic would tend to rank higher.   Perhaps the very popular, AOL owned, Huffington Post can exert dominance and higher page ranking simply because of it prominence.

Even if the Huffington post brought $10 million dollars in Google ads and was more frequently visited than Facebook; there is no way one can justify that a page containing two sentences (quoted above) belong in the top ten of a search result for the query string “Terry McMillan“.    That Huffington Post  page would be appropriate result for a query entered something like this: Terry McMillan Tweet Willow Jaden Smith

I fully realize I could be making things worse for myself by making these accusations against Google in a public forum.  I have first hand experience with Google shooting first and asking questions later (yet another topic for a future rant).  However, this is a very important issue that needs additional scrutiny and awareness.  We are already losing on-line sources for quality news and information because of a lack of platforms for good journalists and writers.   Now the potential for these platforms are hampered even more by having their content devalued relative to sites that promote more scandalous or otherwise less valuable and relevant information.

As large corporate entities produce, broker, promote and manufacture more scandal, and companies like Google make this information more accessible by elevating it in it’s search results; we are witnessing the Internet becoming less free while corporate interests contort the world wide web in to a entity where profit is the only motive.

Notes: 

1. For the purpose of this article I ran my Google queries using Internet Explorer’s “InPrivate” viewing option.  Presumably, this returns results that are not manipulated based upon browsing history.
2. I also made sure I was not logged into my personal Google account.  I noticed when I’m logged into Google my search results skew toward sites that I frequent.
3. The quotes were included in the query.
4. Following the 3 steps above will improve the likelihood that you queries will return results identical to mine.   However feedback from other indicate the no mater how you run your Google queries the results will not differ so significantly to warrant a change of the opinion expressed in this article.