Fiction: Both Evil Never Sleeps and The Nickel Boys made our list for the 4th time. Most of the other fiction titles made our list for the first time this period.

Nonfiction: Wealth Happens One Day at a Time: 365 Days to a Brighter Financial Future was originally published over 20 years ago and has never been out of print. It make our list for the first time.

Children’s Books: Children’s Books continue to dominate sales of all genres this year. Chocolate Me! by Taye Diggs and Illustrated by Shane W. Evans outsold all other books this period.

Poetry: The 100 Best African American Poems edited by Nikki Giovanni leads poetry sales and is an excellent sampling of the best work from classic and contemporary Black poets.

Several books written by, or about, African Americans won awards in the books and drama categories this year. Winners included; Colson Whitehead, who won his 2nd Pulitzer, for The Nickel Boys; and Jericho Brown, who earned the honor for his book of poetry, The Tradition.

W. Caleb McDaniel’s Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America, which won in the history category, tells the amazing story of Henrietta Wood. Wood was freed from enslavement, but later kidnapped, and sold back into slavery! She ultimately won a federal lawsuit and was paid $2,500.

An AALBC Author Profile is a typically a photograph, biography, and includes pages for all of an author’s books. If it is a contemporary author, it is not uncommon for AALBC to have photographed, videoed, interviewed, or reviewed the author’s work.

Many of the authors profiled on AALBC may be obscure and their books long out of print, but their work is captured here because it is important. Today we have 4,004 authors profiled on AALBC. The critically acclaimed, debut novelist, Francesca Momplaisir was our 4,000th author profiled. Her book My Mother’s House was published today (May 12th, 2020).

The article includes my “Three Tips for Children’s Book Creators and Lovers to Make a Difference:”

Tip #1: Authors, When Telling Readers Where They Can Buy Your Book, Recommend an Independent Bookstore

Everyone knows you can buy a book from Amazon, but Amazon is not your best cheerleader. Indie bookstores are your most loyal supporters, and we love authors who recognize this and return the love. Now if you are afraid of playing favorites, you’ll never go wrong by saying, “Buy at your favorite independent bookstore,” or “Buy wherever books are sold.” Now if your book is only available via Amazon, understand that you have effectively cut ties with your most ardent supporters. Read the Entire Article ?

by Jessica Guynn USA TODAY

When Johnson, who runs AALBC, or the African American Literature Book Club, talks to groups, he asks for a show of hands of how many live within driving distance of a black-owned bookstore. “In the majority of circumstances, people don’t,” he says. Read the Entire Article ?