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Actually, when my wife and I go to the gym, she takes her Kindle and reads while on the elliptical, so the gym is a great place for reading a book. I think Cynique is speaking towards where I was headed with my discussion on writing a book that crosses over. I am not saying that black writers have to cater to whites, but that the book has to be engaging enough that it "could" crossover, which would mean that the content is something a lot more universal. It's the idea that the Parable series by Butler, should have been made into a Hunger Games styled film... but it has yet to be done (which may have more to do with the religious overtones/perception of the books) while The Road which is a poorly written novel, to me, has been turned into a film. They are similar in concept, but our people in a position to make films based on books, which actually strengthens literature and the purchase of books, rarely make it happen. I do think there is a fix in this discussion. White screenwriters mine White novels, both obscure and popular, for films. This in turn leads to reprints of out of print novels and increased purchase of novels in print. I honestly can't remember when I've seen a Black film that was based on a novel outside of The Butler and 12 Years, which interestingly enough proves my point about how a books sales increase and brings more people to stores. Zane realizes this and it has made her a very wealthy writer. I remember Tanarive Due was working on a series featuring Blair Underwood as David from the Living Blood series, but it never came to fruition. Had it even made it straight to DVD it would improve the chances of other sci-fi writers getting read. I guess what I'm saying is, Cynique is right. We are in the digital age and content is readily accessible and distractions are everywhere, but people who don't read are going to bookstores and buying Game of Thrones because it is on television. People stop and read after they see it in film now. Is this the way it should be? Of course not, but it may be that screenwriters need to mine Black literature and work in more of a collaborative effort to help Black art overall. Will this happen? I'm skeptical because with such small budgets screenwriters would rather make up something than to share the money with a writer which is the crabs in a barrel mentality that prevents Black literature from reaching a larger audience.

A couple of years ago, I read and reviewed a book entitled the "Savion Sequence by D. Amari Jackson. It was a novel based on a premise similar to that of the DaVinci Code. Its author is black and the book is Afro-centric. Anyway, IMO, the elephant sitting in the room is not the black books stores closing or the big publishing monopolies. It is the ongoing distraction that continues to be tailor made for people who are genetically wired to prefer their entertainment to be visual rather than written. That would be television and all its hand-held, touch-screen electronic spin-offs. Reading cell phone texts, checking out FaceBook posts or Twitter hash tags is the closest many black people come to engaging with the printed word. Black folks would rather go to the gym and get a physical work out than pick up a book and exercise their minds. For the majority of them, it's just easier to click on TV channels to get the fixes that entertain and educate. And with a program roster that has something for everyone, who can blame them? Who needs books - or establishments that sell them?? There's a huge audience for the volatile reality shows, the situation comedies, the chick flick sex drenched dramas, the crime scene investigations of both the true and fiction variety, the pop culture tabloid shows, and musical talent hunts that fill our waking hours, and these genres all have black counterparts on Indie channels, The Science, History, Discovery and National Geographic stations fill in the gap for those Blacks who have alternate interests. And of course, there's Public TV with its series and specials that focus on race issues. The point is that in Society at large books, as we know them, are becoming obsolete and increasingly irrelevant in the 21st century. Needless to say, if this is bad for Whites, it's worse for Blacks. And awful for bookstores. Yes, there is a faithful little hard core community of black book readers, and it is important that independent black book stores stay afloat, and that young black people be encouraged to acquire an appreciation for literacy. But the electronic age has the millenial generation in its thrall. Too bad there isn't a way to turn reading books into a trendy fad that will go viral and, in the hoopla, give book stores a shot in the arm. An unfortunate state of affairs, indeed. Very discouraging. It's enough to make you get up off your recliner - and go see A MOVIE!