Nonfiction

1 - Barack Obama Presidential Vault by Avery Krut
2 - Faith in the Valley: Lessons for Women on the Journey to Peace by Iyanla Vanzant
3 - The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life by Kevin Powell
4 - I Played MONOPOLY With My Daddy: Financial Education For All Ages by Faith Scriven
5 - 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro With Complete Proof by J. A. Rogers

Fiction

1 - Purple Panties: An Eroticanoir.com Anthology by Zane (Editor)
2 - Missionary No More: Purple Panties 2 by Zane (Editor)
3 - Life Is Short But Wide by J. California Cooper
4 - Queen Bitch: Part 4 by Deja King
5 - Head Bangers: An APF Sexcapade by Zane

Jayne Cortez
http://aalbc.com/authors/jayne.htm

Jayne Cortez is the author of eleven books of poetry and performer of her poems with music on nine recordings. Her voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic, dynamic innovations in lyricism, and visceral sound. Cortez has presented her work and ideas at universities, museums, and festivals around the world. Her poems have been translated into many languages and widely published in anthologies, journals, and magazines. She is a recipient of several awards including: Arts International, the National Endowment for the Arts, the International African Festival Award. The Langston Hughes Medal, The American Book Award, and the Thelma McAndless Distinguished Professorship Award.

Her most recent book, On the Imperial Highway: New and Selected Poems was published February 23, 2009 by Hanging Loose Press

Barbara Keaton
http://authors.aalbc.com/barbara_keaton.htm

Barbara Keaton, a notice of Chicago, thinks it is the best city in the world. She enjoys writing and reading. Her articles have appeared in Today's Black Woman Magazine, Chicago Reader, Chicago Crusader, and True Confessions. She has written seven books, including the popular novel One in a Million.  Keaton credits her late grandfather, Thomas Hill, and the Oblate Sisters of Providence for instilling a love and passion for writing in her

Paule Marshall
http://aalbc.com/authors/paule_marshall.htm

She is a MacArthur Fellow and is a past winner of the Dos Passos Prize for Literature. She was designated as a Literary Lion by the New York Public Library in 1994. Marshall was inducted into the Celebrity Path at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in 2001.

Marshall is perhaps best know for her first novel Brown Girl, Brownstones originally published in 1959.  Her memoir, Triangular Road was published, March 2009, by Basic Civitas Books

Solomon Jones
http://aalbc.com/authors/solomon_jones.htm

Solomon Jones is the author of the critically acclaimed novels includes, Payback: The Return of C.R.E.A.M. (March 2009 Minotaur Books), The Bridge, and Pipe Dream. He also writes the Weekend Warrior column for the Philadelphia Daily News.  Jones holds a journalism B.A. from Temple University. He has been published in Newsday, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia magazine, the Philadelphia Weekly, and the Philadelphia Tribune. Jones is an adjunct professor at Temple University's College of Liberal Arts, and lives in Philadelphia with his family.

Nicole Fa�Lon Garrett
http://authors.aalbc.com/nicole_garrett.htm

Nicole Fa�Lon Garrett was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She earned a Bachelor's and Master's in English from the University of Iowa and Chicago State University respectively. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California with her son where she is a high school English teacher.

Garrett's newest novel Double Dippin� follows episodes in the fast-paced worlds of a group of Chicago elites. The novel alternates the narrative between these friends, spouses and lovers until the specter of murder raises its head in this complex and vividly drawn world.

Farai Chideya Interview with AALBC.com - Video
http://aalbc.com/authors/faraichideya.htm

Chideya has combined media, technology, and social justice during her 20-year career as an award-winning author and journalist. From 2006 to early 2009, she hosted NPR's News and Notes, a daily national program about African-American and African diaspora issues.  She has written three nonfiction books: Trust: Reaching the 100 Million Missing Voters; The Color of Our Future; and Don�t Believe the Hype: Fighting Cultural Misinformation About African Americans.

Farai Chideya is interviewed by Ron Kavanaugh of Mosaic Literary Magazine. The 24 minute Interview took place March 12th 2009 at the AALBC.com Gallery in Harlem, New York.   Also, Chideya's new novel Kiss the Sky is Essence Magazine's book club selection for May 2009 and pubs May 12th from Atria Books.

Lisa Nichols discusses book "No Matter What!" with One Spirit Book Club - Video
http://aalbc.com/authors/lisa_nichols.htm

The video is 2:47 minutes long and was filmed in Silver Spring, MD in March of 2009. 

In her book, No Matter What!: 9 Steps to Living the Life You Love, Nichols describes how, by developing and toning her own bounce-back muscles at critical points in her life, Lisa found the power to become her authentic self and achieve everything she dared to hope for. Now, in No Matter What!, she offers a groundbreaking program that outlines these 9 Steps or "muscles", which include among others your Confidence, Faith-in-Myself, Honesty Out Loud and Forgiveness muscles, and explains how anyone can use them to achieve happiness and off-the-charts success. In this powerful guide Lisa Nichols introduces her dynamic plan, shares her own remarkable story, and prescribes specific exercises and action steps to inspire readers to learn from their past and move toward a courageous future. 

A DEBATE Special Ron Kavanaugh v. Troy Johnson - Audio
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=71019736203

Ron Kavanaugh, Editor of MosiacBooks and the vision behind The Literary Freedom Project and Troy Johnson, President and Founder of AALBC.com (African American Literary Book Club) in a BETWEEN YOU AND ME special on literary innovation.

Off The Page, hosted by Esther Armah WBAI99.5FM brings the book world to life. Tune in and hear from those who write, critique, publish, profit, publicize and organize - with a particular emphasis on people of color, nationally and internationally.

Will.i.Am - The X-Men Origins: Wolverine Interview

William James Adams, aka Will.i.Am, was born on March 15, 1975 in the City of Los Angeles where he attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. But by the time he got around to launching his own clothing line (�i.am�) in 2005, the talented Renaissance man had already found fame as front man for Black Eyed Peas, the multiple Grammy-winning hip-hop group with hits like �Let's Get It Started� and �My Humps.�

Perhaps his most important cultural contribution came during the run-up to the presidential election, when he released �Yes We Can,� the Emmy-winning song which ostensibly served as the Obama campaign's unofficial theme song. Here, he talks about all of the above, and about X-Men Origins: Wolverine where he co-stars opposite Hugh Jackman as John Wraith.

Review of Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts, Jr.

*giggling* I�m going to love writing this review. A little while ago, I read and finished a wonderful debut novel, Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts, Jr. I LOVED IT!! I have not read a debut novel this extraordinary in years. The novel is the story of a former R&B superstar of the 70s, who discovers he is suffering from an early onset of Alzheimer. Before he loses life as he knows it, he takes his teenage son on a cross country road trip to visit his dying father. The novel tells a wonderful story but it focuses on another purpose. I loved it!

James Moses �Mo� Johnson is a has-been soul singer. Mo became famous in 1974 when he wrote and recorded his first major hit. But, that was then, this is now. Mo is almost 50 and he had begun to forget things. He is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, even though he is a relatively young man, too young to have Alzheimer, or so he thinks.

Southland by Nina Revoyr

In the beginning of my throes into books that I missed the first time around and cleaning out my library, one of my discoveries was the second novel by Nina Revoyr titled Southland. I first read Revoyr's debut novel, The Necessary Hunger, many years ago when I first came to AALBC.com.

Southland is an incredible epic. The novel has everything I could possibly want in a novel: romance, historical events, family drama, and a murder mystery. The novel is absorbing, smooth and addictive. It drips in richness. The characters simply walk off the pages already in human form. If I had the power and money, Southland would be a miniseries that I would broadcast during the May sweeps. Even with all of the excellent qualities the novel possesses, I do have a bone to pick. First, I�ll sing the praises of the novel before I gnaw on that bone.

The Love Ethic: The Reason Why You Can�t Find and Keep Beautiful Black Love by Kamau and Akilah Butler

As the Butlers teach the singles and couples at their institution, love must be taught and learned. They add that Blacks get strength and power from being with each other, not from being apart. The statistics they cite are very grim. One recent poll says that a Black child during the days of slavery was more likely to grow up living with both parents than he or she is today. Another survey cites that the Black community was comprised of 90% families with both parents in 1920, but that figure slipped to 50% in 1990 and 30% in 2007. With out-of-wedlock births taken out of the equation, the birthrates of Black married women have fallen off sharply, jeopardizing the cultural and social impact of our community.

In the book, the Butlers present the catalog of ailments and defects within the Black community, but they also create a positive vision for the enduring survival of our people. They set out a list of principles of �the Love Ethic:� including justice, balance, reciprocity, harmony, unity, propriety, responsibility, faith, proper communication, common purpose, and order. The terms are self-explanatory and make good sense.

The Sound of Miles Davis - TV Program Review
http://reviews.aalbc.com/the_sound_of_miles_davis.htm

50 years ago, on April 2, 1959, the Miles Davis Quintet teamed with the Gil Evans Orchestra to perform in New York City on a TV series called The Robert Herridge Theater. Music aficionados might be amused to learn why the legendary trumpeter's combo that day wasn�t the usual sextet, namely, because alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley had cancelled due to illness. Miles� sidemen in attendance were giants of jazz in their own right, including tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, bassist Paul Chambers, pianist Wynton Kelly and drummer Jimmy Cobb. 

Filmed in black & white, the show starts with a casual introduction by Herridge standing in front of the camera with a lit cigarette in his hand. Between numbers, the chain-smoking host, a man of few words, simply shrugs that �this is music that should be �listened to and not talked about.�

The Right Mistake: The Further Philosophical Investigations of Socrates Fortlow by Walter Mosley - Book Reviewed by Thumper
http://reviews.aalbc.com/the_right_mistake.htm

The Right Mistake is the literary version of a beautifully made Long Island Ice Tea. The book was sweet, cool, refreshing and I was not aware, until I stood up, how powerfull and poignantly intoxicating the stories were. As I began reading the first story, The Right Mistake, I mentally and physically got comfortable and became reacquainted with Socrates. Oh and boy did it feel good! By the time I put the book down to cook my dinner, I kept prolonging the task because I did not want to stop reading. The Right Mistake, for two days, became my childhood rabbit rug that if it wasn�t for my mother, I would have taken it everywhere I went. (Yeah, I had a thing for rabbits even back then. *smile*) I took the book to bed. I took the book to work. I read it while I ate. The book became as necessary as toilet paper.

A Person of Interest by Ernest Hill - Book Reviewed by Thumper
http://reviews.aalbc.com/a_person_of_interest.htm

The only part of the novel that did not sit well with me was the ending. The ending was rushed, causing me to do a double take because it ran opposite of the flow of the book up to that point. The ending reached a highly unlikely conclusion that came out of nowhere. I read it again to make sure that I got it, unfortunately I did. I finished the book with a sour taste in my mouth. What a shame too, because the book was pretty good up to that point.

Overall, A Person of Interest was a good read. I would have had a higher opinion of the book if the ending had been tighter and flowed in the same vein as the rest of the novel. I took a couple of points away because of it. The novel is worth reading. I have no regrets on that score. I recommend A Person of Interest.

Delightfulee: The Life and Music of Lee Morgan By Jeffrey S. McMillian - Book Review
http://reviews.aalbc.com/delightfulee.htm

Dizzy Gillespie, a founder of bop, considered Lee Morgan one of the major post-bop trumpet stylists

McMillian uses countless interviews from Morgan's peers and business associates to convey the multi-faceted musician, whose persona matched his playing style: cocky, confident, playful, soulful, and lyrical. Toward the end of his life, the author shows the reader a Morgan wanting to change his life, trying to move on from the heroin addiction and his longtime bond to Helen More, a woman known to fly off the emotional handle. The horn man was busy at the start of 1972, two popular club dates and a TV appearance, but a tragic fate awaited him on a cold February night at a Slugs club in New York City.  Helen More, angry about his romance with another woman, shot Morgan in the chest and he was pronounced dead at age 33.

The Soloist - Film Review
http://reviews.aalbc.com/the_soloist.htm

Despite being raised in the �hood by a single-mom, child prodigy Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx) exhibited such promise on the cello that by the time he graduated from high school in 1970 he had earned a scholarship to Juilliard. But unlike other classmates such as Yo-Yo Ma, Nathaniel would never get a chance to realize his full potential, because during his sophomore year he began exhibiting symptoms of the schizophrenia which would derail his dream of a career in classical music.

A compelling cross of a couple of Academy Award-winning Best Pictures, A Beautiful Mind and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, capable of holding its own up against those similarly-themed, screen classics. Film review includes link to Interview with Jamie Foxx

Nicole Beharie - The �American Violet� Interview
http://reviews.aalbc.com/nicole_beharie.htm

A recent grad of the acting program at the prestigious Juilliard School, Nicole Beharie made her screen debut just last fall in The Express, a bittersweet bio-pic about the abbreviated life of Ernie Davis, the first African-American recipient of the Heisman Trophy. Now, in just her second film, the promising young thespian has already handled her first leading role.

In American Violet, a riveting drama based on a real-life case of racial profiling and malicious prosecution in a tiny Texas town, she plays a single-mother of four falsely accused of dealing drugs. Here, the emerging ingenue reflects upon her work in the movie which co-stars Alfre Woodard and Charles S. Dutton.  Interview includes link to American Violet film Review.

Family Properties: Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America by Beryl Satter - Book Review
http://reviews.aalbc.com/family_properties.htm

On April 3, 1964, in one of his most famous speeches, �The Ballot or the Bullet,� Malcolm X said African-Americans didn�t end up stuck and suffering in the nation's ghettos by accident, but because of a government conspiracy to �deprive you of your economic opportunities, deprive you of decent housing, deprive you of decent education.� The late civil rights leader went on to conclude that the government was �responsible for the oppression and exploitation and degradation of black people in this country.�

45 years later, we now have a book chock full of evidence confirming many of Malcolm's allegations, especially in terms of the real estate concerns. Family Properties: Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America was written by Beryl Satter, the daughter of a liberal Jewish lawyer who had dedicated his career to representing poor black folks being ripped off by a rigged housing market which favored whites while discriminating against blacks.

Rashida Jones - The I Love You, Man Interview
http://reviews.aalbc.com/rashida_jones.htm

Born in L.A. on February 25, 1976, Rashida Leah Jones is the younger daughter of jazz icon/composer/arranger/record producer Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton of Mod Squad fame. Rashida was raised in Bel Air and attended the prestigious Buckley School where she was a member of the National Honor Society and voted the �Girl Most Likely to Succeed.� The academic overachiever also received religious training at a Hebrew school en route to Harvard University, and she continues to practice Judaism today.

Here, she talks about her new movie, I Love You, Man, a romantic comedy where she plays the fianc�e of a nerdy loner (Paul Rudd) desperate to make a friend (Jason Segel) to serve as best man at their impending wedding.  

Sovereign Evolution: Manifest Destiny from �Civil Rights� to �Sovereign Rights� by Ezrah Aharone - Book Review
http://reviews.aalbc.com/sovereign_evolution.htm

A controversial clarion call for separation just when America finally appears on the verge of actually becoming the melting pot it has long pretended to be. Given that you hear so many black people saying they feel fully American for the first time, pursuing brother Aharone's divisive dream of black sovereignty is probably as practical aright now as trying to unscramble a bowl of scrambled eggs.

Includes reaction to the book review from the author Ezrah Aharone.

Sugar of the Crop: My Journey to Find the Children of Slaves by Sana Butler - Book Review
http://reviews.aalbc.com/sugar_of_the_crop.htm

It's hard to believe that when Sana Butler started searching for children of slaves in 1997, that the fruits of her ensuing 11 year-quest would yield fruit as rich as Sugar of the Crop, a bittersweet collection of revealing interviews with the surviving offspring of folks freed by the Emancipation Proclamation over a century before. What makes this book special is how seamlessly the author contrasts her aging subjects� fading recollections with her own expectations of them and her intimate reflections about being black and female in present-day America.

The Other Side of Losing

There are always a bunch of baseball books released right at the start of every season, and among the cream of this year's crop is The Other Side of Losing, a novel likely to tickle the fancy of any fan with a soft spot in their hearts for the Cubs. For this edge of your seat page-turner by Peter Brav chronicles a valiant effort by that seemingly-cursed franchise to follow in the footsteps of the Boston Red Sox by ending the longest World Series drought.

Meticulously researched in a fashion anyone familiar with the North Side of the Windy City is apt to appreciate, this struggle of the underdog against the odds unfolds on the streets and inside several working-class establishments located right in the shadow of Wrigley.

Nubiah: Land of African Kings and Queens Bedtime Stories & Coloring Book - Children's Book Review
http://reviews.aalbc.com/nubiah.htm

A potpourri of positivity for black parents interested in introducing young offspring to their roots, religion and role models.

More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City - Book Review
http://reviews.aalbc.com/more_than_just_race.htm

Tepid in tone, this tame tome has just five chapters and focuses fairly narrowly on three issues: the financial straits of the black male, the fragmentation of the black family, and the forces contributing to the concentration of poverty in the black community. Wilson's conclusions are invariably uninspiring. Trust me, it's hard find a more vague summary on the subject of African-Americana than Wilson's here, which reads: �We can confidently state� that regardless of the relative significance of structural and cultural factors in black family fragmentation, they interact in ways far too important for social scientists and policy makers to ignore.�

I.O.U.S.A. (One Nation. Under Stress. In Debt.) - DVD  Review
http://reviews.aalbc.com/iousa.htm

Listening to the experts and political pundits weigh-in on the recession is likely to leave you confused about why we�re in this mess. Democrats and Republicans predictably resort to blaming each other, while economists tend to explain the situation using jargon too complicated for the Average Joe to comprehend.

For this reason, director Patrick Creadon is to be commended for making I.O.U.S.A. (One Nation. Under Stress. In Debt.), a nuts and bolts documentary which seeks to explain the burgeoning financial crisis in layman's terms. The film opens by stating the basic proposition that the most serious threat to the U.S. is our own irresponsibility when it comes to spending. America's present predicament is then put in perspective via telling analogies of the Roman Empire shortly before its fall.

Texas Battle The Dragonball Evolution Interview

Born in Houston on August 9, 1980, Texas Battle earned his bachelor's degree in kinesiology at the University of Texas before making his way to Hollywood to take a shot at showbiz. The former student-athlete made a memorable screen debut in 2005 opposite Samuel L. Jackson in the basketball bio-pic Coach Carter. He followed that performance with another just as impressive in Final Destination 3, a hit flick which opened at the #1 spot at the box office.

Here, the handsome, young thespian talks about his latest outing as Carey Fuller in Dragonball Evolution, a screen version of the popular comic book series co-starring Chow Yun-Fat, Emmy Rossum and Justin Chatwin.

Obsessed - Film Review

Superficially, the plotline of Obsessed reads like a thinly-veiled remake of Fatal Attraction, as it features so many similarities to that classic thriller that the original's scriptwriter, James Dearden, deserves to share a credit for the screenplay. Whether it's the suicidal sexpot, the kidnapping of Derek's son, his fed-up wife's being forced to take the law into her own hands, or the femme fatale having nine lives in the climactic finale, the story often looks like a line-by-line rip-off.

Nonetheless, that being said, the three principal cast members throw themselves into their respective roles with such gusto that they manage to generate a palpable tension which makes this B-version feel genuinely fresh and exciting. Idris Elba rises to the challenge of playing his clueless character convincingly, while Beyonce� is just as good as the doubting spouse with serious trust issues.

Unlike other motherhood books that focus on the experiences of a small group of affluent, married white women, Who's Your Mama? centers on the largely untold perspectives of the majority of American women, whose unique and sometimes unconventional family structures impact our country. Their contributions speak practically of their personal beliefs, intimate relationships, and socioeconomic realities.

The book explores the intersection between motherhood and other facets of the contributors� lives, including race, class, sexuality, politics, and personal tragedy. Personal stories include a feminist juggling the roles of activist and mother, a college graduate who applies for welfare so she can remain home with her child, a gay couple's navigation of the adoption process, and a mother's celebration of her own vibrant sexuality. This collection of personal narratives will illuminate various female experiences of parenting and humanize a variety of social and economic issues that affect millions of American women and their families.

The Greatest Gift I Could Offer: Quotations from Barack Obama on Parenting and Family
by Olivia M. Cloud
http://authors.aalbc.com/barack_obama.htm#gift

Words of wisdom on raising a family, from President Barack Obama.

Barack Obama's eloquent words have inspired many. Here, in the only collection of its kind, are his thoughts on parenting and family. Each of his quotes is set in a context of insightful background on Obama's family experiences�a child of divorce, raised by a single mother, woven into a blended family, reared for years by his grandparents, then going on to embrace his multi-racial roots and blood relatives�and how each of these experiences helped to shape the choices he made in starting his own family.

The Last Prejudice by David Rivera Jr.
http://aalbc.com/authors/david_rivera.htm

At first glance, the three plus-sized women in David Rivera, Jr.'s The Last Prejudice go through the same relationship trials and tribulations that many women go through. But when forced to deal with the added social stereotypes, and sometimes personal insecurities of being a full-figured woman, their true personalities come to surface. On one hand, there's Noreen Klein, the empowered diva who gets � and often takes � what she wants out of life, including sexy men. She knows what she wants and is confidant in her curvy size-24 figure. However, Dahlia Ortega, who recently has removed herself from an abusive relationship, is a pretty but self conscious full-figured woman with a new found thirst for dominating men. Finally, there's Kat Davis. Kat once had a stellar body, but as a result of a pregnancy that added 60 pounds to her frame, she now must contend with a new body and voracious sexual appetite. As the three women bond and support one another in the ups and downs of their juicy romances and chaotic lives, the characters bring to surface how cultural biases against voluptuous women can create dissension and mayhem when lust is in the air.

TheDefendersOnline.com
http://thedefendersonline.com

Now, LDF is expanding its responsibility and challenge as the nation's premier civil rights law firm through TheDefendersOnline, a new forum for the discussion of those events and ideas that have always been at the heart of America's civil rights struggle: race, justice, equality and democracy.

The LDF blog is produced by the LDF Communications team, and is edited by three authors with extensive journalistic experience: Lee A. Daniels, Editor-in-Chief; TaRessa Stovall, Managing Editor; and Stacey Patton, Senior Editor.  Look out for a series of Mother's Day Tributes, this Sunday, May 10th, including one tribute written by AALBC.com founder Troy Johnson.

nat creole
http://www.natcreole.com

nat creole. is the online magazine dedicated to offering an entertaining yet informed perspective on the literature, politics, art and music of contemporary global culture. With a focus on broadening the conversation on the arts and their role in an increasingly inter-connected world, nat creole. provides an ideal forum for the exchange of ideas, beliefs and forms of cultural expression.

Participate in our Social Networking Survey for a chance to win $50
http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2ijnmvdfuen3hf1/start

What are your favorite social networking sites for business and pleasure?

Winners of $25 Cash for completing our eBook Survey are:
Alethea from New Jersey, Primrose from Florida, Tracy from Hawaii, and Dennis from New York - Congrats everyone!

Here is an interesting quote from the survey:

"I am old fashioned - I like to hold and turn the pages in a book. Books hold a certain value in my eyes. You can ask the writer to inscribe his/her book to you. You can give a book to a child or read from a book to a child especially taking the time with the illustrations.  With a book - you can write questions or challenge a statement in the margins. Books can have a special scent about that that triggers your memory. We must not forget the beautifully illustrated covers on the books that draw your attention to the book and want to pick it up.  Books and bookbinding are sacred professions that bring an intimacy for the reader and the writer of the book. Too many things in this world have become impersonal and disconnected. No one talk to each other because everyone is plugged into their ipod. I vote for keeping books in the old fashion format."

2009 Mosaic Literary Magazine Benefit - Sunday, June 7, 2-5 PM - AALBC.com Gallery, Harlem NY
http://mosaicmagazine.org/benefit.html

Join us Sunday, June 7, 2-5 PM for some wine, food, and art as we celebrate spring and Mosaic. Proceeds will go to benefit Mosaic Literary Magazine and its education programs.

Featuring poet Cheryl Boyce-Taylor and the photography of Marcia E. Wilson which includes photographs of  Amiri Baraka � Derrick Bell � Cheryl Boyce-Taylor & son, Phife (Tribe Called Quest) � Octavia Butler � Colin Channer � Dr. John Henrik Clark � Jayne Cortez � Edwidge Danticat � Angela Davis � Junot Diaz � bell hooks � Jamaica Kincaid � Haki Madhubuti � Terri McMillan � Bebe Moore-Campbell � Toni Morrison � President Barack Obama � Kevin Powell � Sonia Sanchez � Alice Walker � Margaret Walker

Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sesb3nYRzZk for a video preview of the exhibit (0.31 minutes)

National Black Book Festival - Houston, TX - May 16-17, 2009
http://www.nationalblackbookfestival.com/

The National Black Book Festival (NBBF) is an annual event, sponsored jointly by Cushcity.com, the world's largest African-American retailer online, and the Houston Black Expo, the largest African-American tradeshow in the state of Texas. The event is held in conjunction with the Houston Black Expo and attracts a wide array of authors, publishers, book clubs, libraries and individual readers from the Southwest U.S. and nationwide. NBBF 2009 will be held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston, Texas in Hall C.

The event features a pavilion of authors, including those who are notable and new. Book signing and discussion sessions with featured authors, workshops and seminars, a spoken word poetry slam and book club give-aways are just a few of the exciting featured activities at NBBF. Authors will be grouped according to genre and there are 16 genres that will be represented.

AALBC.com founder, Troy Johnson is a sponsor and will be on a panel on Saturday, May 16 @ 4:00 p.m. called Marketing Your Book On a Limited Budget with Dana Pittman of Nia Promotions and Author and Attorney Oswald Scott: http://www.nationalblackbookfestival.com/seminar2.htm

Self Publishing Symposium � New York, NY � June 14, 2009
http://www.selfpublishingsymposium.com

Join us on June 14, 2009 at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (515 Malcolm X Blvd) to take advantage of what this important business event can do for your publishing company. Whether you�re a self-published author, small/independent press or writer considering self publishing, you won�t want to miss this opportunity to: Learn successful business strategies from industry experts, Network with professionals and make powerful connections, and Grow your business to new heights.

AALBC.com founder, Troy Johnson will be the �Hot Topics� Panel Moderator.

New Rochelle Festival of Books - New Rochelle, NY - June 20 & 21, 2009
http://www.qbr.com/page15243.asp

On Saturday and Sunday, June 20 & 21, 2009, the New Rochelle Public Library and Library Green will be transformed into an exciting marketplace of books, food, and cultural concessions for the first annual New Rochelle Festival of Books. Throughout the library and the two-day event, dozens of local and internationally-known authors and local performers will offer insightful presentations and entertaining performances. Especially for kids and their parents, a Children's Space in the library's Alphabet Garden will showcase children's books, readings, storytelling and crafts.

The Harlem Book Fair was founded in 1999 by QBR The Black Book Review as a community event and forum for African American readers to discover, experience and celebrate African American history and culture through books. From the success of that first book fair, the event has grown to become the country's largest community gathering of readers and book lovers. It has evolved into a national brand, and expanded into new markets - including New Rochelle on this June weekend!

National Book Club Conference - Atlanta, GA - July 31 - August 2, 2009
http://www.nationalbookclubconference.com/

In six years, the National Book Club Conference has developed into the premier annual literary event for books by and about African-Americans. The three-day weekend is a spiritual experience filled with laughter, learning, fun and fellowship.

The 2009 NBCC, will be held July 31-August 2 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, promises to again set a new standard on literary bliss. Walter Mosley, Terry McMillan, Dr. Cornel West, Terrie Williams, Connie Briscoe, Brenda Jackson, Kimberla Lawson Roby are just a some of the top-flight authors who will be a part of the seventh-annual occasion.

To maintain the intimacy that has made the NBCC special, we limit registrations. So, to experience what thousands of book lovers have over the years, please secure your position today by visiting our Registration page.

Troy Johnson, President of AALBC.com will be a participant in this year's event.

The Power Network - Increases your book's exposure
http://aalbc.com/power_campaign.htm

To better serve publishers AALBC.com (the most popular site dedicated to African-American literature), MosaicBooks.com (the first site created to showcase Black literature), and Cushcity.com (the largest African-American Internet retailer) have formed a "Power Network."

Your book-cover ad can be served in a premium position on three of the top sites for African-American literature. Substantially increase the reach and impact of your marketing campaign.

All About AALBC.com - Promotional Video
http://aalbc.com/aboutus.htm

See AALBC.com in action and learn more about our services and features.