This is my friendly reminder to support your independent booksellers. People often ask; why I spend so much time, energy, and money supporting other booksellers — my “competition” — when I could use these resources to support my own business?
I do it because there are so many great books, but increasingly fewer curated platforms with the visibility to get these books into the hands of the readers, who are most likely to enjoy and benefit from them. This is particularly true for books written by or about Black people.
There are fewer platforms publishing critical book reviews; covering, participating in, promoting, and hosting events; promoting authors and their books; bestowing awards; than ever before. These are things that AALBC does, and it is only possible because of your book purchases and website engagement.
AALBC can not function in a vacuum. There is an entire ecosystem of Black book professions that I must work with to learn about the books and authors that I share with you. AALBC is better when there is a vibrant “Black Book Ecosystem.” This is why I actively promote and support other booksellers and provide the following information on AALBC: