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I've always said that for a Black person to "crossover" or gain ground in publishing/entertainment they have to have a serious and consistent cosign. In regard to Coates it's his editor for the early years of his career, David Carr. This is not a dig and doesn't demean the work that Coates put in as a writer and in building his career. A Black writer has to build their career in stages. It isn't luck, but his long term success is definitely predicated on the cosign of his long term editor. That cosign from a highly recognized national publication editor enabled his career to become steady enough to pursue writing. His talent was as well. I do agree that Coates is an unfortunate aberration. Black writers have to constantly shift and try a variety of things to capture attention and audience share. It's the same for all artists, but it's particularly hard for the Black writer/artist.

i would disagree about Coates; remember Coates first book was pubbed by Spiegal and Grau back in 2008. The book was well received but did not exactly make him a household name. Coates blew up as a result of the reaction to his Atlantic article on reparations. What would become the wildly successful Between the World and Me was already completed (though the pub date was pushed up as a result of the popular Atlantic article). Of course Coates had been writing many years before anyone ever heard of him. Actually, Coates would be the poster child for a publisher nurturing a skilled writer until commercial success was achieved--the exact opposite of celebrities like Trevor Noah. The celebrities will always get book deals. I would argue that they are almost necessary to subsidize writers like Coates until they pop. But Coates is an aberration, a success story that comes along rarely--even for white writers. Of course Coates success is extremely rare for Black writers; because of the lack of opportunities--opportunities that the Black community, unfortunately, can not provide to our writers. That is a condition that I would like to help change.

Oh. My. Goodness! How could I have lived so long and not heard of this brother? I am appalled! Only with me though. New mission: know his work!

thanks Troy. That was great article and I'm going to follow some of the tips from there. Also I'm working on an author website now.

Hi Julius, Congratulations on your first book! Also check out this article about linking to Amazon (point #3). Do you have a website? Here is Langston Hughes’s story essay “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain“ Hard to image it was written 90 years ago. It could have been written today One of the most promising of the young Negro poets said to me once, “I want to be a poet—not a Negro poet,” meaning, I believe, “I want to write like a white poet;” meaning subconsciously, “I would like to be a white poet;” meaning behind that, “I would like to be white.”