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Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/17/2016 in all areas

  1. That is a very common question. Reach out to other sci-fi writers, who currently have agents for recommendations and suggestions on how to proceed. You can search for names of sci-fi authors to reach out to, most of the ones on this site are quite approachable. Visit their websites or look for them on social media. Also research which agents have recently sold sci-fi books, you can use http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/ There is a $25 monthly fee to access their database, but if set aside some time you may only need access for a month. Many people use The Guide to Literary Agents, it is always a bestselling book on this site, but some people say by the time the book hits the stores it is already dated. Getting a good agent is perhaps harder than getting published. No agent will work with you unless they thing you have a book they can sell. Of course, never give an agent payment up front--for anything.
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  2. No problem @Aha Mena I'm also embedding one of the video you shared above below
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  3. Part of healing and uplifting the Black community is breaking out of the old sexually repressive and patriarchal structure that was imposed on our people and figuring out a social structure that works for US. One of my partners actually helped me understand the pain so many women and especially Black women go through in this society. Not that I'm a super macho guy, but I just don't cry much. I think the last time I actually cried was when my father passed away, and before that when my mother passed years earlier. However a few years ago we were just sitting around after a meeting sipping on coffee and she told me something that for some reason almost brought tears to my eyes. She was telling me about how her and her 2 older brothers grew up and how she routinely got better grades than them and when they all went off to school her brothers got new cars for graduating college and all she got was a new DICTIONARY. Apparently her Preacher father didn't believe so much in girls getting an education as he did boys as he figured men should be the maintainers so the emphasis should be on THEM getting a good education and finding a good job. I know there are worse examples of sexism in the world, but for some reason everytime I hear that story it brings up a mixture of sadness and anger . All the years of hearing about how women were abused and killed in the Middle East...though sad...still didn't produce that type of reaction in me and I'm STILL not sure why. But everytime she tells me or another this story she says it with a laugh and talks about how it's just a small example of the routine sexist treament she's had to deal with for her 50 plus years in this world. I've heard similar stories....some even worse...from other Black women about how they were treated in their own families. She and other women around me have helped me to recognize the pain that woman, homosexuals, and even just passive men have had to deal with much of their lives in such a type-A society where it's all about strength and results. Often times men take things as simple as being able to walk to the store at 2 am to get a snack for granted not realizing that most women can't do this without the fear of being sexually assaulted or accused of being a prostitute walking the street at that time of night. From time to time I wonder do White people see the priviledges of being White the same way I see the priviledges of being a man? Or does it have to first be brought to their attention that they actually ARE priviledged, and then afterward receive a reminder from time to time to keep them in touch with the reality experienced by others?
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  4. This article was written by a Brother I met at the Black Pack Party this week. Is Black Success Possible without White Infrastructure? by Dr. Obari Adéye Cartman I decided to go the “all Black everything” route last year when I published my book. In the text I encourage us to do for self, so it felt hypocritical to let Amazon make money while I advocate Kujichagulia. I had a vision of becoming a model for large-scale collectively sustained Black success. It was unsettling trying to think examples and only coming up with Marcus Garvey and Tulsa from decades ago and Tyler Perry today. Independent black bookstores are barely surviving, so I dreamed of doing my part by creating a demand for my work to then say ‘you can only buy it from a Black owned bookstore’. Which still sounds good, but I’m starting to have some doubts. Now y'all know this brother is singing my song. When I was setting up his pages on this site, I noticed his book, despite having an ISBN was not in any of the major retailer websites. I inquired about this and he sent me a link to his article. I was like whoa! I'm completely down with this--I just did not know. So I asked him for a direct to his book. Interestingly, I'm increasingly have conversations with publishers and indie authors who are interested in selling books directly--completely cutting Amazon out of the picture. I think this is a great trend, as Amazon OWNS the Black book retail business and this is impoverishing black business, and not serving the reader very well. The other benefit is that with Amazon out of the picture the author will make more money and the reader will pay less for the book. The example I shared about Dante Lee's book is a perfect example. But the trick is, getting the reader to buy the book on a platform other than Amazon. This will require a seismic shift in attitude among readers, but with enough promotion on the reasons why this matters I think it can be done. Dante was able to address the issue of getting reader buy by directly from him with by setting a very low price. This works for the type of book he was selling; a very short ebook. But for a physical full-length book, the model may not hold, but it is something we are wrestling with, and we are open to ideas. Below is a photo of Dr. Obari Cartman and a few other "Book" brothers at the Black Pack party; from left to right (front) myself, Obarl Cartman, (rear) Kwame Alexander (Newbery Medal Winner and Coretta Scott King Honor Award Winning author), Earl Sewell (bestselling author), and Earl Cox (publishing consultant).
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  5. Here is another Brother, J. Marcellus Burke, I met during our annual Black Pack Party. He wrote what sounds like an interesting novel, The Black Knights. Which is fact based story about four fighter pilots serving in the German Air Force (Lufwaffe). His publisher, Bennett Johnson, who was also at the party (shown in the photo with me below) has an even more impressive resume. Bennett was Vice President of the Third World Press Foundation, President of the Evanston Branch of the NAACP and much much more. These brothers are both well into their 80's and still gettin' it in!
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