Blog of AALBC.com's Founder & Webmaster

Google Worsens Web Experience by Retuning Poor Search Results

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Troy

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:

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.
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.
The quotes were included in the query.
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.

Posted in Troy's Rants | 6 Comments

“Troy’s Triangle” for Publishing Success

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Troy

Quality, Marketing, Money – You need at least two of the three to publish a commercially successful (profitable) book.

Quality refers to the quality of the book itself. Is it well written? Does it have an appealing cover? Has it been well edited? A book being well written is simply not enough to make it a commercial success. You may have written the best book in the world, but if the book is not available where people normally buy books and no one has heard of it. You will not sell very many copies. This was true when large publishing companies controlled distribution and it is still true in the age of the eBook where everyone has access to distribution.

Marketing describes the set of activities that one engages in to develop and sell a product to a consumer. For an author this includes; identifying the target audience, determining the book’s sales price, promotion, advertising, and more. Often writers do not ask a very basic question: Is there an audience for my book? A careful examination may reveal that there are not enough potential buyers for the book or the or the effort to reach them would be too costly to make your book a financial success.

Even if there is a market for their book, many writers lament that they have exhausted all of their funds producing the book and do not have the any money left for promotion or advertising.

An author with a ready-made audience, a marketing platform, or a willingness and personality to hit the road and meet with booksellers, book clubs, and sell books out the truck of their cars have an advantage. However most people don’t have the ability or time to aggressively hand sell their books.

Marketing by itself is not enough to generate a successful book. Even if you have have correctly identified a large audience of potential readers and no other competing books; if you book is poorly written or you have no money to execute your marketing plan. You book is dead in the water.

Money, authors with a great deal of it can hire professionals to perform many of the tasks necessary to make a book a success. They can buy advertising on all media platform, they can hire writers and book doctors to turn a mediocre manuscript into a potential best seller.

Money does not have to mean hard currency. Some writers have non-monetary capital that is the equivalent of millions of dollars. They may have powerful and influential friends, or they many have been recommended by Oprah.

Again, as with the other two points money alone is not enough to make a book a financial success. If there is no one interested in the story or subject, or the money is spent unwisely, the book will not likely make any money.

Troy’s Triangle at Work
Over the last few years as changes in the publishing industry have accelerated many in the industry have blamed one thing or the other for poor books sales. Whether it was the loss of independent book stores, the growth of the Internet, the bankruptcy of the super brick and mortar store Borders, increased competition from self-published authors, or the explosive growth of eBooks; everyone from self-published authors to major publishing houses have seemingly lost sight of some very basic business principles.

How Mediocre Books Succeed
Often I hear complaints from people about the success of mediocre books. Using “Troy Triangle” we can see that a book with ample financial resources and marketing behind it can do quite well. There are many examples of poorly edited self-published books that have had moderate success due to strong marketing and investment of financial or equivalent resources.

Interestingly, this also explains why those very same self published books fail miserably when they are published by a major house. The marketing strength behind the book goes away as the author expects the publisher to pick up where they left off and publisher expects the author to continue “hustling”.

Sure, the publishing environment is rapidly changing, but business principle rarely change.

Here is another thing to keep in mind:

The vast majority of book buyers are rational consumers

Buyers will usually seek the lowest price. Sure store location, reputation of seller, shipping costs, delivery time, convenience are factors in the buying decision, but all things being equal buyers want the cheapest one and therefore price is a major factor.
Consumers buy books they actually want to read (or own). If someone does not like poetry they are not not going to buy very many poetry books.
Your book must be available where people actually buy books. If the world is embracing eBooks, then your book better be available where eBooks are sold.

Finally I rank the importance of the three points as follows:

Quality
Marketing
Money.

If I had to pick two, I would pick Quality and Marketing. If you have a really good book and an effective marketing plan, you have a great chance of having a profitable book.

Money can be wasted on poorly placed advertising, national tours to poorly attended signings, paying print of demand companies who force you to set you book’s sales price too high, and so much more.

But don’t get me wrong, money spent wisely is a tremendous benefit. Again, if I only had to componets of “Troy Triangle” I would prefer to have a quaility book and a good marketing plan to help me efficently connect with potential readers.

The unfortunate reality is that the vast majority of books published are severely deficient in all three categories and, as a result, are doomed to failure – right out the gate.

Of course the sweet spot of publishing success would be to have all three in great quantities, but the reality is that most of us do not have infinite resources and we have to make trade-off in our business decisions. Again, my position is you better have at least two of the three points on “Troy’s Triangle” covered before you expect your published book to become profitable.

In today’s environment where over 3 million books were published in 2010; there is an unprecedented amount of competition. Adhering to some very basic business principles is even more important than ever.
Here is to your success!

Notes:

1 – New Providence, NJ – May 18, 2011 – Bowker, the global leader in bibliographic information, released its annual report on U.S. print book publishing, compiled from its Books In Print® database. Based on preliminary figures from U.S. publishers, Bowker is projecting that despite the popularity of e-books, traditional U.S. print title output in 2010 increased 5%. Output of new titles and editions increased from 302,410 in 2009 to a projected 316,480 in 2010. The 5% increase comes on the heels of a 4% increase the previous year based on the final 2008-2009 figures.

The non-traditional sector continues its explosive growth, increasing 169% from 1,033,065 in 2009 to an amazing 2,776,260 in 2010. These books, marketed almost exclusively on the web, are largely on-demand titles produced by reprint houses specializing in public domain works and by presses catering to self-publishers and ”micro-niche” publications. Read the entire Bowker Press release: http://aalbc.it/3mbooks

2 – I’m well aware that a great many writers publish books without a profit motive. This article was written for people interested in making money with their books.

3 - “Troy’s Triangle” is based upon a model I learned about while taking a computer design course over 20 years ago. The triangle in this case was called “Truman’s Triangle”. The three corners of “Truman’s’ Triangle were labeled “Fast”, “Cheap” and “Good”. The idea was that if you were going to design a computer the engineering tradeoff was that you could only pick two characteristics – you could not have all three.
Your computer network could be “Cheap” and “Fast”, but it would not be “Good”. Similarly you could build a computer network that was “Good” and “Fast”, but if would not be “Cheap”.

In “Troy’s Triangle” you can have all three and that will virtually guarantee a successful book, but it is increasingly rare in today’s environment.

Posted in 2011, AALBC.com News | Tagged authors, book sellers, books, Business, Publishing | 4 Comments

Reflections on Black Book Reviews

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Troy

For more than a decade I, through AALBC.com, have published hundred’s of reviews of books written by or about Black people. Over the years this has sometimes been taken to imply that those book reviews were only meant to be read by Black people. This has never been the case for the reviews or, for that matter, the books themselves.

The reviews are written for any book lover looking to discover a great read, or to simply read stories too often overlooked by the main stream media.

When I first started publishing reviews of Black books on AALBC.com these books were largely ignored by the magazines and newspapers that published book reviews. Similarly, websites that might publish reviews of Black books focused primarily on celebrity and scandal driven titles.

It was much harder for an author to secure a critical book review, written by a respected entity, with a large audience, than it was to be published by one of the big six* publishers. This is even more true in today’s environment.

I’m also interested in reviewing books from small independent presses, academic presses, self published authors and even great writers who deserve a larger audience and more recognition than can normally be afforded in a commercially driven environment.

: An Uncaged Eagle – True Freedom by Colonel Richard Toliver, USAF (Ret.), Reviewed by Kam Williams

Magazines and newspapers are folding, and those that remain have cut back or eliminated their coverage of books – despite the fact that, year after year, the number of books published continues to increase. With the continued growth in the publication of books, the demand and need for critical reviews of books is greater than ever.

According to the preliminary numbers released on May 18^thby R. R. Bowker, and reported by Publishers Weekly; “…the number of books produced by traditional publishers rose 5% in 2010, to a projected 316,480”.
This figure does not included self-published books produced by CreateSpace, Lulu, AuthorSolutions, Xlibris, and AuthorHouse, which combined to publish almost 65,000 titles.

Why do we need book reviews?

For readers, book reviews help sort through the vast number of books available, and to find one they are likely to enjoy. For authors, there aren’t too many better ways to get a reader’s and the media’s attention than with a positive review from a respected book review publisher.

Make the most of the book review: Get to know your book reviewer.

You’ll need to read many reviews by a reviewer before you can determine how their opinion relates to your own. Just like you know to trust a good friend when they tell you, “I know you’re gonna love this book!” You can develop the same type of relationship with a book reviewer, one you are familiar with their work.

Like any reader, book reviewer’s opinions are subjective. Ideally, a professional reviewer’s opinion is bolstered by having read far more books than most avid readers. Their passion for reading coupled with a great deal of experience and training in the art of communicating their opinion in an informative and entertaining way is the hallmark of a good reviewer.

Here are some of AALBC.com’s most popular book reviewers:

“Thumper”. is the pseudonym of AALBC.com’s most popular reviewer. Thumper’s book reviews are never luke warm, and his style is quite unique. A popular phrase Thumper used to describe a book is “Ass Wiper!” This is actually a strongly favorable reaction (don’t ask me why). Despite — perhaps because of — Thumper’s colorful language he was far an away my most frequently requested book reviewer. Unfortunately, Thumper has not written a book review for me in almost a year. But his reviews live on, and you can still check them out and discover a great read. Thumper’s book reviews may be found here: http://aalbc.it/thumperbookreviews

Kam Williams is one of my most prolific book reviewers. He only reviews nonfiction books and films. Kam is not the type of reviewer to be overly critical of a book, he tends to balance negative comments with positive ones. Kam has four college degrees and brings a wealth of education and experience to his craft. Kam’s reviews may be found here: http://aalbc.it/kamwilliamsbookreviews

Idrissa Uqdah reviews novels primarily, but her specialty is Christian
fiction, and she is passionate about the subject matter. While I don’t personally read many books in the genre; her reviews keep me up to date. As a result, I always have something to good recommend to those who enjoy this type of literature. Read Idrissa’s reviews: http://aalbc.it/idrissauqdahbookreviews

Robert Fleming is a serious Brother and has been writing for a long time. He, like all of my reviewers, is mission driven. We all take pride in sharing news about good books. Robert can be counted on to expose us to important but relatively obscure authors and subjects. Robert’s reviews may be found here: http://aalbc.it/robertflemingbookreviews

Emanuel Carpenter has reviewed many of our self-published author submissions. Through Emanuel I learn there are indeed good books that have been self-published. Recognizing that most newspapers and magazine have a policy of not reviewing self-published works I take special pride in sharing favorable reviews of books written by self-published authors. Several of these authors have later thanked me saying that their favorable AALBC.com review has resulted in a book deal from a major publisher. Read Emanuel’s reviews here: http://aalbc.it/ecbookreviews

I have been privileged to have many more folks review for AALBC.com; including Black Arts Movement’s poet, activist and icon, Kalamy ya Salaam, poet, Jacqueline Jones LaMon, social media guru, Lynne d. Johnson, author and publisher, Sheree R. Thomas, and most recently Alvin C. Romer (The Romer Review).

Publishing Book Reviews does not come without some headaches.

: The Deal, the Dance, and the Devil by Victoria Christopher Murray Reviewed by Idrissa Uqdah

The worst scenario is when the review comes back very unfavorable (especially if Thumper wrote it). On two occasions I actually had another reviewer review the book a second time. Both times the 2nd review also came back negative.

I really do not enjoy publishing an unfavorable book review. Most authors deal quite well with the criticism. A small minority however takes an unfavorable book review quite hard. I try to help the author understand that the review is not a personal attack and is just one reviewer’s opinion (albeit an informed one) of one book.

Interestingly, I’ve seen authors actively promote unfavorable reviews I’ve published; apparently heeding the advice that there is no such thing as bad publicity or as Oscar Wilde once wrote, “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about”.

Early on I discovered, the hard way, that some reviewers will review whatever you pay them to review – even if they dislike the genre. This dislike usually ends up in the book review, with undesireable results. Today I make sure I pair reviewers with subjects they actually enjoy.

Fee based book reviews

: Scratching for Daylight by Wilbert Gibson Reviewed by Alvin C. Romer

A few years ago I added a fee based book review service. At the time it was very controversal. Once book review powerhouse Kirkus been charging for book reviews, I decided there was no reason I could not do the same.

One benefit is that the quality of the books submitted for review increased dramatically. Authors began to “self-filter” their book review submissions.

The biggest benefit was actully to the author: authors now have a guarantee their book review will be written, by a specific date and published on a site where people will actually see it.

A significant benefit over sending books to publications that simply throw them away in the vast majority of cases. Incidentally, I never throw away anyone’s book — even if it is not reviewed. All books are either donated or given away.

We still publish reviews free reviews. However of those books submitted for review consideration, only a very small percentage are actually reviewed.

Technology Helps

Today our book reviewing process is quite streamlined. For commissioned book reviews, once payment is made, we buy the book on-line and ship it directly to the reviewer (electronically if an eBook version is available). In most cases, the author/publisher does not have to take the time to physically mail a book — unless we are reviewing a prepublication galley.

All of the book reviews that I publish are available permanently on AALBC.com. If the book is favorablably reviewed it is actively shared in our eNewsletter, website and social media.

Notes:

How to get an AALBC.com Book Review: http://aalbc.com/reviews/reviewer_guidlines.htm

Several years ago I wrote a great deal about fee based book reviews on my discussion boards, answering the question; Should Book Review Should Be a Fee Based Service? http://aalbc.it/feebasedbookreviews

“Traditional Book Output Up 5%; Nontraditional Soars .” Publishers Weekly May 18 2011: n. page. Web. 6 Jun 2011. <http://aalbc.it/2011bookspubed>.

*The Big Six: Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, MacMillan Publishers Ltd, Penguin Group, Random House and Simon & Schuster

Posted in 2011, AALBC.com News, Book Reviews, Troy's Rants | Tagged AALBC.com, review, writer | 2 Comments

Random Thoughts About Facebook

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Troy

Facebook became available to the general public on September 26, 2006. Other than Google I would argue Facebook has had the most significant impact on how we use the Internet than any other website.

I created my Facebook account on October 21st 2007. The 4th post on my wall came almost a year later, in September of 2008. The message was my from my friend and business associate Ron Kavanaugh who wrote: “post something!”

In response, I commented on a photo he tagged me on. However it took another 6 months before I began to actively use Facebook. That was two years ago and I’ve been an active user ever since. Today I spend about an hour a day on Facebook; it is part of my daily routine and an integral part of my business.

As a result, of this experience I decided to share some random thoughts about Facebook. Hopefully you’ll find a few interesting. Please share your own insights in the comments.

My aunt calls Facebook, “Myfacespace”
MySpace has actually gotten a lot better, but no one has noticed.
More than 50% of Americans over 12 years of age are users of Facebook. However, most of my family and friends don’t have Facebook accounts.
I never believed Facebook user counts. There are Facebook profiles for pets, characters from novels, people with multiple profiles even Big Foot has one.
I have almost 4,900 “friends”. I’m now suspicious of friend request from someone with whom I share no friends.
I’m surprised when I get a friend request from someone I actually know.
My teenage children and I are not Facebook friends, and we love each other.
I hate the Facebook feature where a “friend” can add you to a group without your permission. Your only notice is the rash of emails from the group.
I spent about an hour a day on Facebook. If I were not running a web based business I suspect it would be about an hour a week.
I love to play games, but I never play games on Facebook – In fact I block all game applications.
When removing that spam post for the “free iPad” on my wall, I accidentally clicked it. The associated application proceeded to spam by friends with the same message. It took an hour to remove those spam messages from my friend’s walls.
It is astonishing how many people use their websites to drive traffic to Facebook rather than the other way around.
Too many people take the activities of others, on Facebook, way too seriously.
I can’t reply to all of my Facebook messages — especially if I don’t log in for a day or two. If I don’t reply, don’t assume I hate you, just try again.
The best thing about a Facebook Fan Page is the visitor statistics they provide.
Through Facebook I’ve reconnected with people I have not seen in over 30 years.
I thoroughly enjoyed the film Social Network
Facebook is great. Some think it will “become the Internet”. I think that would be a disaster.

Troy Johnson Facebook Profile Page: http://www.facebook.com/aalbc
Please like AALBC.com’s Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/aalbcfanpage

Posted in Culture, Facebook, social media, Troy's Rants, Website Tips and Recommendations | Tagged culture, Facebook, information | 4 Comments

Iyanla’s Vanzant’s Book Now a #1 New York Times Best Seller

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Troy

In 1998, Iyanla Vanzant was AALBC.com’s first #1 best selling author. Vanzant had three titles on our 1998 Best Sellers list including our #1 best selling book for the year, One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: 40 Days and 40 Nights Towards Spiritual Strength and Personal Growth.

Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You’re Going Through
by Iyanla Vanzant
(read an excerpt)

Iyanla also holds another distinction: she, along with Terry McMillan, and Maya Angelou are the only authors to appear on both our 1998 and 2010 Best Sellers lists. Vanzant’s latest title, Peace from Broken Pieces, came in as the 10th best selling book on AALBC.com for 2010 — even though it was not released until the middle of November 2010. Iyanla’s personal stories of triumph over tragedy resonate with many AALBC.com visitors.

Of course these stories are universal so it was no real surprise to learn that on March 13th, Ms. Vanzant’s, Peace from Broken Pieces, also reached the #1 position on the New York Times Best Seller’s list. Congratulations to Iyanla and the extraordinary team at SmileyBooks.

This was simply going to be an article to congratulate Vanzant and her team’s accomplishment of reaching the #1 position on arguably the worlds most important best seller’s list. But as I reflected on that achievement, it occurred to me I should point out the other Black authors on “The List”.

Below I’ve highlighted the Black author’s on The March 20, 2011 – New York Times Bestseller’s List. (“These lists are an expanded version of those appearing in the March 20, 2011 print edition of the Book Review, reflecting sales for the week ending March 5, 2011″). Clicking the name of the list will send you to the New York Times web site where you can find all the titles for that particular category.

Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction

I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to “The Blind Side” and Beyond
by Michael Oher
(read an AALBC.com review)

Hardcover Nonfiction

#8 – I BEAT THE ODDS, by Michael Oher with Don Yaeger. (2 weeks on the List)
Michael Oher became famous a year ago when his inspirational story was made into a heartwarming Hollywood movie. That overcoming-the-odds sports saga recounted how a traumatized, black teenager went from homeless to National Football League star with the help of the a well-to-do family who rescued him from the streets of Memphis. Sandra Bullock even won an Oscar for her endearing portrayal of matriarch Leigh Anne Tuohy, a compassionate Christian who altruistically invited the gentle giant to move into her house.

COMBINED PRINT & E-BOOK FICTION

#25 – OUTLIERS, by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown) (read an AALBC.com Review)
“This is a book about outliers, men and women who do things that are out of the ordinary. I’m going to introduce you to one kind of outlier after another: to geniuses, business tycoons, rock stars, and software programmers. In examining the lives of the remarkable among us, I will argue that there is something profoundly wrong with the way we make sense of success…”

COMBINED PRINT & E-BOOK NONFICTION

HARDCOVER FICTION

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

PAPERBACK TRADE FICTION

Paperback Mass-Market Fiction

The Other Wes Moore
What The Dog Saw
by Malcolm Gladwell

Paperback Nonfiction

#6 – WHAT THE DOG SAW, by Malcolm Gladwell (12 weeks on the List)
In the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has written three books that have radically changed how we understand our world and ourselves: The Tipping Point; Blink; and Outliers. Now, in What the Dog Saw, he brings together, for the first time, the best of his writing from TheNew Yorker over the same period.

#15 – THE TIPPING POINT, by Malcolm Gladwell. (335 weeks on the List)
In this brilliant and groundbreaking book, New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell looks at why major changes in our society so often happen suddenly and unexpectedly.

#16 – BLINK, by Malcolm Gladwell (177 weeks on the List)
In his landmark bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant – in the blink of an eye – that actually aren’t as simple as they seem.

The Other Wes Moore
by Wes Moore
(read an AALBC.com review)

#19 – THE OTHER WES MOORE, by Wes Moore. (5 weeks on the List)
“This is the story of two boys living in Baltimore with similar histories and an identical name: Wes Moore. One of us is free and has experienced things that he never knew to dream about as a kid. The other will spend every day until his death behind bars for an armed robbery that left a police officer and father of five dead.”

E-Book Fiction

E-Book Nonfiction

Hardcover Advice & Misc.

#5 – PEACE FROM BROKEN PIECES, by Iyanla Vanzant. (SmileyBooks, $24.95.) (2 weeks on the List)
Vanzant recounts the last decade of her life and the spiritual lessons learned — from the price of success during her meteoric rise as a TV celebrity on Oprah, the Iyanla TV show (produced by Barbara Walters), to the dissolution of her marriage and her daughter’s 15 months of illness and death on Christmas day. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Iyanla shares why everything we need to learn is reflected in our relationships and the strength and wisdom she has gained by supporting others in their journeys to make sense out of the puzzle pieces of their lives.

The Other Wes Moore
Straight Talk, No Chaser: How to Find, Keep, and Understand a Man
by Steve Harvey

#8 – STRAIGHT TALK, NO CHASER, by Steve Harvey with Denene Millner. (11 weeks on the List)
Drawing on a lifetime of experience and the feedback women have shared with him in reaction to Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Harvey offers wisdom on a wealth of topics relevant to both sexes today. Also check out a cool new website; North Paran co-founded by Denene Millner and her husband Nick Chiles

Paperback Advice & Misc.

Children’s Picture Books

#6 – OF THEE I SING, by Barack Obama. (16 weeks on the List)
The book, illustrated by Loren Long, is a tribute “to 13 groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation,” the publisher said, including Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackie Robinson and George Washington. The cover features an illustration of Mr. Obama’s daughters, Malia and Sasha, as they stroll across a grassy lawn with the family dog, Bo, leading the way.

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters
by Barack Obama
(read an AALBC.com Review)

Children’s Chapter Books

Children’s Paperback Books

Children’s Series

Hardcover Graphic Books

Paperback Graphic Books

Manga

Combined Hardcover & Paperback Fiction

Combined Hardcover & Paperback Nonfiction

Posted in 2011, African-American, Authors You Should Know, Bestsellers, Book Reviews, books, Children's Books | Tagged bestsellers, book, information, Writers | 2 Comments

Black Book Websites Need Love Too

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Troy

Over the last decade there has been a great deal of lamenting over the closing of Black owned, independent brick and mortar book stores. Recently this anguish has even extended to the large chain retailer, Borders Books and Music, which many Black authors say are responsible for a large percentage of their sales nationwide.

Throughout this turmoil Black owned book websites go largely ignored. When we do get attention it is often in the context of contributing to the demise of the physical book store.

As the owner and sole operator of the largest website dedicated to Black books I feel it is time to emphasize why websites dedicated to Black books are just as important as physical stores. If these websites are taken for granted they too will disappear, and we will have lost another important platform for celebrating and showcasing books by and about people of African descent.

AALBC.com in 1997

When I first started AALBC.com in 1997, its value became immediately evident based upon feedback from visitors. Much of the feedback reflected the excitement visitors experienced discovering that there were so many books written by Black writers. These visitors not only discovered new books, but older classics as well.

AALBC.com and the other websites around during the late 90’s, including Cushcity.com, Mosaicbooks.com, BlackHeritageBooks.com, TheBlackLibrary.com, BlackBookNetwork.com (the last 3 sites no longer exist) were very valuable as many of our visitors did not live near a bookstore. There was value even for those who were fortunate enough to have a bookstore in their community, as the selection of Black books was very limited.

Given the current trend of physical bookstores closing and the lack of coverage in newspapers and magazines; websites that promote Black books and authors are more important than ever.

For several years I’ve been maintaining a list described as, “Web Sites That Support, Promote, and Sell Black Books” (http://aalbc.it/aasites). The list captures websites dedicated to Black books including the websites of physical book stores, web-based bookstores, book reviewers, book clubs, and other entities. Many of the websites have been on-line for close to a decade, exhibiting a long term commitment to their respective missions.

This list does not include websites dedicated to an individual book, author or publisher. The websites are expected to praise or critique books without bias. These websites are not owned by multinational corporations whose coverage of Black books typically focus on celebrity, and who completely ignore books published by small presses and individuals.

BlackLiterature.com as it appeared in 2008

What prompted me to Blog about this issue is that when I updated the list recently (March 9, 2011), I had to remove more than 20% of the websites that I’ve been tracking. Each time I update the list I remove more websites than I add. I found the number of websites I had to remove this time extremely disheartening. Blackliterature.com, thegrits.com and DockBooks.com, to name a few are gone.

What is more disheartening, alarming even, is that of the literally tens’s of millions of active American websites there less than 100 websites dedicated exclusively to Black books. Less than 50 are regularly updated and less than 20 receive an appreciable amount of traffic. In other words, the Black book niche is effectively unrepresented online.

One reason is that it is very hard to earn a living selling Black books on-line. I started building AALBC.com in October of 1997, sold my first book on-line in December of 1997, launched AALBC.com in March of 1998 and it became my full time vocation in February of 2008. Even if one is able to earn a living selling Black books online, they will not become extremely wealthy.

On-line booksellers constantly deal with many challenges, which we address in relative obscurity and with even less sympathy. Early on there was a reluctance for my demographic to provide credit card information on-line, this and competition from Barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com made making money selling books directly extremely difficult. I redirected my focus to providing services to authors and selling advertising.

As the economy continues to suffer my income from advertising sold directly to publishers and authors is down, fortunately this revenue made up by income from Google.com, Amazon.com and other affiliate programs. However today my biggest challenges is staying relevant in a publishing industry and internet environment that is in a state of constant change.

AALBC.com on Facebook

As social media competes for traffic, AALBC.com is forced to become actively engaged in sites like Facebook and Twitter; not only contributing to the conversation, but to using these platform to bring readers back to AALBC.com. A massive website redesign was performed in 2009 to help accomplish this goal.

On the horizon there are early indications that despite the increased number of books being published and new technologies to facilitate reading – the number of readers is waning. This reduction in readership appears to be most pronounced for literary.

To further compound the problem the support from authors, and publishers to promote literary fiction and poetry is essentially nonexistent. When you see a literary title or poetry on AALBC.com it is because I personally feel the work was important to share. Commercial fiction, erotica, urban fiction, and non-fiction subsidize the promotion of literary fiction on AALBC.com. Figuring out a ways to promote literary fiction and the variety of work Black writers produce while earning a living is another challenge.

While I can’t speak for everyone who runs a Black book website, I can say most are mission driven. Our reward is knowing we are doing something important: promoting and preserving a culture by providing an important platform for writers. We enjoy the written word and the exchange of ideas. We rejoice in the diversity of our stories and take pride in the fact that we help ensure the voice of the Black community is shared not only within our community but globally.

But it can’t be all about flower rhetoric, Black book websites made a tremendous impact in helping to keep our voices alive. AALBC.com, for example sold 3,392 different titles in 2010 alone (virtually by writers of African descent). AALBC.com has published more than 100 videos of authors garnering over 1 million views. By the end of 2011 AALBC.com will have profiled more than 1,000 different authors. We have published hundreds of reviews of books which were published by major houses, academic presses and individuals. I attract 100,000 to 300,000 unique visitors to AALBC.com each month.

AALBC.com has hosted an on-line book club for the better part of a decade and have hosted events from Harlem to Los Angles. I attend and support events all over the country with money, time and expertise.

The impact of the web based book sellers is incalculable and the potential is unlimited. Keep in mind on-line booksellers support physical bookstores as well. I can’t tell you how many people have told me, “I just discovered a book on your site and went straight to the store to buy it.” Indeed, most book websites actively promote physical bookstores (assuming they don’t own one outright), by publishing content about the stores, promoting their events and even attending signings and making purchases.

Next time you read an article about the demise of the Black owned bookstore, consider the potential demise of the Black book website as well. We need your support too. Remember supporting web based stores does not come at the expense of supporting a physical store nor does require much effort.

Simply sharing our website addresses with your friends, “liking” us on Facebook or “tweeting” the content you enjoy is a great start. Buying a book and providing feedback to help us improve is even better.

And always remember, book websites need love too.

Book Industry Professionals Gather at 2010 Black Pack Party -- Hosted by AALBC.com, Mosaicbooks.com, Writtenmag.com, and Linda Duggins

Posted in AALBC.com News, Book Blog, books, Culture, reading, Troy's Rants, Website Tips and Recommendations | Tagged AALBC.com, book, Book Blog, culture, information, web, Writers | 25 Comments

Visitor’s day at Camp Grant – Research & Share Your Family History (Part 3)

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Troy

The author of the next installment of “Research & Share Your History” is my virtual friend Connie Bradley. I’ve known Connie for the better part of a decade and have enjoyed reading her opinions, musings and observations of our culture the entire time. She writes on many subjects, but I enjoy her perspective on historical events the most. Here she shares a little about her parents

Charles Divers and Marian Merrill, 1918

The photo was taken in 1918 during Visitor’s Day at Camp Grant.

Camp Grant is an army post just outside of Chicago. America didn’t enter Word War I until 1918 and the duration of its participation was only about a year so by the time my father was done with basic training in September, the war was almost over, coming to an end the following November before he could be shipped overseas to France. With the prospects of widowhood greatly reduced by these circumstances, my mother then consented to marry him.

Read Connie’s Review of Isabel Wilkerson’s Book The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration

My parents were both among the early arrivals during the great migration, my father journeying to Chicago from Kansas in 1914, and my mother coming up from Tennessee 2 years later in 1916.. One of his first jobs was as a waiter in the dining room of The Auditorium, one of Chicago’s finest hotels where the all-black staff was required to wear tuxedos. He was fired from this job when he was caught selling boot leg whiskey to the hotel occupants. He later went to work as a Pullman porter for the railroad.

My mother worked as an elevator operator in a vaudeville theater, her uniform being a red outfit trimmed in gold braid, and my father would join her on their lunch hour when they would sneak up to the balcony and from the back of it, view the acts of some of the most famous burlesque stars of the day, On one of their lunch hours, they skipped the show and went down to city hall and got married. Enrolling in night school, my mother also took courses at Madam C. J. Walker’s college of hair care.

They left Chicago in 1922 and moved to one of its western suburbs, becoming a residents of a town that had been integrated since its founding in 1867.

During World War I I my brother served on the USS Mason, the only vessel manned by an all-black crew who 50 years later were awarded medals for valor from the Secretary of the Navy at the behest of President Bill Clinton.

Connie, Today & in 1951 graduation picture (sporting dark sweater and pearls -- standard attire for graduation photos back then)

Posted in African-American, Culture, Troy's Rants | Tagged African American, culture, History | Leave a comment

Opal’s Jim Crow Blues – Research & Share Your Family History (Part 2)

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Troy

Today’s blog post is by guest Cheryl Wills. Cheryl, a television news anchor and reporter, has extensively researched her family’s history. She has generously agreed to share a story about her grandmother’s perspective on skin color. Enjoy.

Opal Virginia Wills, circa 1940

I love my grandmother to pieces, but she just doesn’t get Black History Month.

She was born during the roaring twenties when half of America was doing the Charleston and the Lindy Hop – as African-Americans danced around the pitfalls of Jim Crow.

Regrettably, my grandma drank the kool-aid like so many of her time. Born in Haywood County, Tennessee, she didn’t think black was beautiful – in fact she thought it was downright repulsive. The blacker you were – the worse off you were. Although her skin color was of the deepest cocoa – she looked in the mirror and pitied her complexion. She even married a light-skinned man with hopes that her children would not be as dark as she.

Die Free: A Heroic Family History
by Cheryl Wills

Her first born, my dad, Clarence, was the spitting image of her – color and all. She adored him but was thankful that he was a boy – and not a girl. A dark girl, she reckoned, would have a tougher time finding a man – which was all a mature girl was destined to do in her mind. It was such a shame. When I grew up during the turbulent 1960s, I recall my grandmother looking at me with that same unspoken pity. I was a dark-skinned girl and Jim Crow was dead but it lived on in my grandma’s heart. Opal never told me I was pretty – she never pushed me out front – she just looked at me and wished me well for what I was. Like I was some cursed thing. I would hear her brag about how pretty the lighter-skinned girls were in her presence – but she could never focus beyond my brownness.

As I grew older, I embraced my African identity. Opal was puzzled. As I read black literature by my favorite writers like Langston Hughes, James Baldwin and Maya Angelou, I learned to love and embrace my heritage, just like other Americans who were proud of their Irish, Italian, Asian and Latino backgrounds. Although Jim Crow made Africa a dirty word, I did not accept such twisted logic and instead felt honored to call myself a daughter of Africa.

Had Opal been properly educated in a society that viewed her without contempt, my grandmother would have been proud of our heritage, too. When Opal danced in the spirit inside a vibrant pentecostal church, she was wholly unaware that the motions of her fancy footsteps were set in motion long ago in Africa. The swivel of her hips and the songs that bounced off her tongue were not indigenous to North America; they were eerily reminiscent of a colorful African tribe.

Her round stunning face and deep chocolate color came from a continent that she dared not even utter its name in personal references. When she spoke in tongues while enraptured in the spell of the Holy Spirit, even I could discern the native tongue of an African chant; Jim Crow tried to make her deny it—but it was right there in the fullness of her mouth. The music, her laughter, her strength, it was all from Mother Africa, and it was something of which to be proud—not ashamed.

A couple of years back, I went on ancestry.com and unearthed an amazing family story of our ancestors who were brought from Africa and sold on slave auction blocks in Tennessee. One ancestor in particular, Sandy Wills, went on to fight in the Civil War. When I told Opal about my incredible find, she was pleasantly surprised. No one had ever connected the dots for her before. It was a needle on the record moment.

Opal is now 85 years old. She told me I was beautiful the other day. I proudly told her that she was too.

Cheryl Wills
Author, Anchor, Reporter

Here is a new video of Cheryl speaking about her new book.

Posted in African-American, Guest Blogger, Photo, Race | Tagged African American, Black, Race | 6 Comments

For Black History Month: Research & Share Your Family History

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Troy

Troy Johnson Maternal Grandfather Rev. Freeman Foster and family

Troy Johnson's Maternal Father Rev. Freeman Foster his 2nd Wife Hazel and 8 of his 15 Children

Every February someone asks me,
“What are you going to do for Black History Month?”
As trite as it might sound, I always reply,
“Every month is Black History Month at AALBC.com”

I view the question the same as, what are you gonna do for Mother’s day or Valentine’s day. While I’m sure this is not the person’s intent, the implication is that we need a day to do something special for our mothers or a loved one. Similarly, everyday is Mother’s day and Valentine’s day for me.

Today I decided to contradict myself and do something that was specifically motivated by Black History Month and share a small aspect of my family’s history.

The initial impetus actually came from a post made on my discussion board from a very popular contributor “Cynique”. Cynique, a septuagenarian, wrote what I thought was a fascinating, piece about her recollections from he past. The piece called “A Flashback black history ala Cynique” touched on her recollections of seeing Jackie Robinson, play against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, standing in line to view the mutilated body Emmitt Till, and more. She personalized many of the things I’ve only read about in history books — things too many of our young people know nothing about.

Cynique’s stories (from time to time she will provide her personal perspective on historical and contemporary events) touch me because, I just don’t get enough of those stories from my own family. Perhaps there is too much pain in those recollections, or maybe people have simply forgotten.

In any event, since so much of my history was stolen during that f’ed up institution of slavery, the failure to pass down family history today seems inexcusable. I invest energy, time and money trying to reclaim this forgotten family history, because in many ways I’m reclaiming myself.

The photo above shows my maternal grandfather, Rev. Freeman Fenner Foster (seated center), and his family circa 1934. The Rev. F.F. Foster though illiterate, was a shrewd businessman. A family legend describes how Grandpa used to make marks in the dirt which were unintelligible anyone else, but was his unique system for tabulating. He was known for not being easily taken advantage of in business transactions.

Rev. Foster was know for moving frequently (a characteristic my mom always attributes to me). As an adult, he owned a large home and an automobile when most men of his time and background were struggling to survive. By the time Rev. Foster passed in 1958, he’d accumulated over 900 acres of land in North Carolina. That land is still in the family today.

Freeman’s 2nd wife the former Hazel Pulley (seated holding the baby) was considerably younger than he was. Another story from the family tells how my oldest uncle (standing rear, left) was teased; “How’d you let your ‘ole man beat yo time?”. Martha and Rev. Foster had nine children together, including my mom who was not born when this photo was taken. Tragically, Hazel died in 1945 at the age of 36.

Two of the people pictured remain alive today.

Below is a copy of a portion of the 1850 US Census, which shows Hazel Pulley’s Great-Grandfather Jackson Pulley. “Jack” was born abt 1815.

According to this census Jack was a farmer and owned about $100 worth of land. Jackson is listed as “black” and his wife, Cinthya, is listed as “mulatto”. I find it fascinating the my third great grandfather, a black man, was not enslaved in 1850. Was he ever enslaved? Were his parents? This is information I hope to learn one day.

Unfortunately, other than what this census record tells me, I know little else about Jackson Pulley. I do know that all of Jackson’s descendants, their spouses and children where listed as mulatto or white in this and subsequent censuses (though by the 1920 census Hazel Pulley would be listed as “negro”). We do not have any relationship with Hazel Pulley family. I know the reason for the estrangement, but I’ll heed my mother’s advice, “Boy, don’t be puttin’ all your information in the street”.

I included links to the website Ancestry.com in this blog post and below. I’ve had an Ancestry.com account for over a decade now. It has helped my research tremendously. I previously performed this research manually by visiting the National Archives and it was a very tedious and time consuming effort. Today, in a few minutes, I can pull up documents on my home computer. In the past such a search may have taken days.

The teriffic thing about Ancestry.com is that they will find related documents for you. The information my come from other family tree, census records, passenger manifests, and other primary source documents. The 1850 census I posted above was pulled from Ancestry.com a few moments ago as I was writing this.

Ancestry.com helps you do DNA testing. The results can be matched with others who have taken the test to help you find family members and distant relatives. I now, as result of the DNA testing, my father’s line can be traced by to Western Africa, in a region where where Togo, Benin, and Ghana are today.

Also, the privacy settings allow you to decide what you want to share with others. For example information about living people is hidden on my tree.

Please leave comments and link to stories about your family history.

Happy Black History Month,
Troy