Troy Johnson

“Black Literature is for Everyone” —Troy Johnson

Troy Johnson photo

Troy D. Johnson is the founder and webmaster of AALBC.com (The African American Literature Book Club), and President of AALBC.com, LLC. He started AALBC.com in October of 1997, today it is the oldest, largest, and most frequently visited website dedicated to books written by or about people of African descent. In addition to AALBC.com, Mr. Johnson has launched several other internet based businesses including; Edit 1st, a manuscript editing service. As a website consultant, Troy also shares his wealth of experience and knowledge about managing websites with individuals and groups. Troy is also a popular blogger, who writes about books, publishing, the World Wide Web, and Black culture.

In addition, to his entrepreneurial ventures, Mr. Johnson has over 20 years of corporate experience, in roles ranging from designing wide area networks to managing international projects for companies including Goldman Sachs, United Technologies, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

As an educator, Johnson teaches web design at Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business.

Johnson has presented at conferences both internationally and throughout the United States including, Book Expo America, The National Black Writers Conference, The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference, Sacred Circle/Spoken Word International Festival, The Antigua & Barbuda International Literary Festival, The Kingston Book Festival, Small Press Center’s New York Round Table Writers’ Conference, The National Black Book Festival, Harvard African American Student Union and many others (a list of upcoming and previous events). Johnson has also made numerous radio and television appearances including C-SPAN2’s BookTV, and has a regular segment on the What’s The 411 television program in New York City.

Johnson has been recognized in articles that have appeared in Publishers Weekly, The Amsterdam News, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, Black Issues Book Review, The Network Journal, The New York Beacon, Emerge Magazine, Black Enterprise, The Philadelphia Sun, and many other publications. As a blogger his articles are often cited and referenced throughout the internet He has also written articles and provided content to publications ranging from Mosaic Literary Magazine, the Electronic Urban Report, and the Black EOE Journal.

Mr. Johnson has served on numerous advisory boards and committees including the Syracuse University Alumni Association Board, Literary Freedom Project, Harlem World Magazine, The Charlotte Book Fair, The Harlem Book Fair, Black American’s in Publishing, and New York is Book Country.

He is the recipient of several awards and honors including receiving; the “Literary Activist of the Year” Award in 2017, during the AAMBC Literary Awards; The Literary Trailblazers Award from the African American Literary Awards Show; a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Los Angeles for “Extraordinary Contributions to the Literacy Legacy of Los Angeles;” an “Outstanding Alumni Award” from Syracuse University; a “Citation for Excellence” from Grumman Corporation as well as other honors and awards. His website AALBC.com was listed by EarthLink as one of “The 100 Best Web Sites for African Americans.” In 2005 he was named one of the 50 Most Powerful African Americans in Publishing by Black Issues Book Review magazine.

Mr. Johnson holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University, an MS from Polytechnic University, and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He has also completed Stanford University’s Publishing on the Web course. He has been married since 1990, has two adult daughters, and splits his time between Tampa, FL and Harlem, NY.

Listen to an Interview of Troy Johnson Interviewed by Lee E. Meadows on Detroit’s WPON’s “Book Beat” February 4, 1999