Honestly that would explain their behavior. Oprahs is the face of the publication and it gives the implicit impression that supporting Bookshop.org is the same as supporting an indie web based bookseller.

O, the Oprah magazine, is partly or maybe even wholly-owned by Hearst Communications. And according to the circulation report, nearly 64% of its subscribers are white.

It was both. O Mag ignored my emails explaining what they were doing and what the impact had. Still, I was disappointed they decided not to link to a Black booksellers. I get that linking to Bookshop.org pays affiliate commissions. I would have done the same. I've had a couple of conversations with the ABA on this issue, they are sympathetic, but won't doing anything, as they have a financial investment in Bookshop. The investment in Bookshop was not revealed to me. I read about it in Publishers Weekly. Bookshop offered to discuss the issue with me, to their credit, but I saw no

I found another "write 'em and forget 'em" author who signed with a Big 5 publisher and thought it meant the publisher would put in the work to sell his book. Signing with the Big 5 means you're going to get superior distribution - and better access to awards - BUT it doesn't mean they will sell and market your book. I was so disappointed to learn the book was out of print - mostly since the protagonist was a Black woman FBI agent taking on a case that was far beyond her reach. This book was optioned for a screenplay by none other than Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance! I did reach out to the

From mediabistro via Twitter How to Pitch Christina Orlando for Tor.com WHAT IS TOR.COM? Tor.com is an online magazine and community site that covers science fiction, fantasy, and all the many related subjects that interest us as readers - Pay around $75 per article

What’s the point in writing if you aren’t going to be read? If you are selling books you have to establish a plan that is going to make you known. I think that’s one of the biggest challenges authors face. It’s not the competition, developing and executing plans which get the in front of people. If you don’t have goals it’s harder to aim for greatness. I now need to learn redirection or hire someone who does it.

Since I wrote my response. I have dropped all Amazon links, but I have decided to allow advertisers to link to Amazon. Many authors do not have websites, have published through and sell exclusively through Amazon, so they have nowhere else to send readers to buy their books -- I can't even sell their book here on AALBC as I'd have to source them from the author -- which is inefficient. this is an alarming trend... but that is another story. Again I believe Amazon's near monopoly has contributed to lowering of the average author's revenue. Part of the reason is the

This is very good news: Self-published authors’ earnings are rising rapidly, but they still make less than traditionally published authors. While the median book-related income for self-published authors nearly doubled since 2013, rising to $1,951, they still earned 58 percent less than traditionally published authors. Among the authors surveyed who ranked in the top decile for book-related earnings, self-published authors earned 50 percent less with an annual median of $154,000. Like I said in another post my goal is $65,000 in a year of sales from this first book

I will have to come back to this article.

Hey @Mel Hopkins yeah sites that do that are a real pain. Bookshop did delete my account the very next business day. I decided not to pursue an additional offensives against Bookshp.org. As I implied earlier my time can be better spent focusing on AALBC. I could have had my affiliate program setup now were it not for me expending energy countering Bookshop.org AALBC has weathered many challenges I'll weather this one too. I'm not even going to share the video beyond posting it here.

This is an excellent move! I've been on a few websites that wouldn't let me self-delete - and I've changed the copy - but never did I think to use the opportunity to protest! Bravo!!!

Bookshop deleted my page and noticed my commentary. They took issue with it, obviously, and sent me this comment among other things; "We are determined to be a socially-conscious alternative to Amazon and we will not stop improving our platform to make it better and better for our patrons, our booksellers, and all of our affiliates." I replied; "I’m sure you personally believe Bookshop.org is supportive of indie booksellers, but as someone who has been selling books, independently on the web, for almost 25 years I can tell you Bookshop is not supportive of

It just occurred to I never deleted my Bookshop page. I went to bookshop to delete it and realized you can't do it on your own. I guess they never figured anyone would ever want to delete their page. I emailed support requesting that they remove my page on their website. In the meantime I updated my page to indicate that I'm boycotting their business. Let see how long it takes them to delete the page now https://bookshop.org/shop/aalbc I just did some more research into bookshop and discovered the state of Black-owned bookstore ecommerce is atrocious. The

The AALBC.com Bestselling Book, Different and the Same by Adijah & Atiya Brabham, has been republished TODAY in a larger format — great for reading with a child. It also sports AALBC Bestseller’s seal! Making a bestsellers list is always a good thing. Over the last 24 years AALBC has had over 1,400 bestselling books. Interestingly, most authors fail to exploit the achievement, so it is refreshing to see it happen. Adijah and Atiya went the extra step of actually printing the bestseller on the latest version of their book. Some authors apply

I was in a meeting with some booksellers last night and some were surprised that AALBC.com is not a fan of Bookshop dot org. It felt just like the reaction I got from people regarding my feelings about Amazon when I began to express them years ago. People could not understand my aversion to Amazon initially, but today, most people get it. Bookshp is Amazon all over again. Read the article in Publisher Weekly (and the comments) for some insight; "ABA Relationship with Bookshop Draws Booksellers’ Scrutiny"

The Metadata Guide from Ingram is very informative and includes an explanation of the importance of BISAC codes

This is an interesting campaign, but anything short of a boycott of Amazon is a waste of time. Read more: http://bit.ly/BOXEDOUT

vaguely...it went out in a blaze of glory. This whole process of investigating the BBE is making me more aware of how important Pyramid was. Though at the time it seemed like just a guilty pleasure. Hours could fly by in that place just reviewing the merchandise.

I never read this article and while i hear of Drum and Spear I was unfamiliar with DC's Pyramid Books. @Nnamdi Azikiwe are you familiar with the Brothers who ran Karibu Books?

The former Pyramid Books on Georgia Avenue in DC. Hodari is a legend here. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1981/12/10/new-bookstore-fills-void/ba2c912b-1063-46e1-8680-ada97fa51c20/

Sure we do, we just don't use our alternatives. AALBC and other Black owned business -- including the ones selling through Amazon today can sell these books directly (all the ones I looked at have websites). If people did not sell on Amazon readers would have to seek out our sources for these books. Once Amazon is out the loop the additional profit could be used to build our businesses and that money would stay in the community longer -- rather than going straight into Jeff Bezos' (JB) pockets Which Pyramid Book are you talking about? I'm familiar with Pyra

This is why control is more important than ownership. Haki owns TWP but JB controls the information about sales of TWP on A2Z. That's only true because no one has a plan in place to counter it. Again we are watching people play the game and know all their moves but we have no winning moves of our own. If they could make more as a third party seller somewhere else that would cease. It's not about profit or ownership... it's about control. JB controls what we let him control. Control over publishing and distribution is essential. Hodari Ali made mention of his plans to start franch

I think this a great idea. In fact this is my reasoning with the book I have. There are many book that are published by Black people that we could monopolize, but the problem is too many Black people are making too much money selling these books on Amazon as third-party booksellers. Unless that changes we will never be able reap the financial rewards that come with ownership. Black people did not publish Morrison, but we published Brooks. But again today most* of the books published by TWP make their way to Amazon. If we stopped selling to, and buying, our

One of the things he brought to mind is the University of Sankore. Islamic scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Tamimi needed to go back to Fez before he was qualified to teach at Sankore. Outstanding literature is a product in demand. A supply of Gwendolyn Brooks' and Toni Morrisons that can only be gotten through the Black Books Ecosystem encourages more of the same.

It gave me a different vision. Wait till you read Phase 2. It seems like he is talking about having a monopoly over books by Black authors, although he does not use that word.