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Del I'm pulling back on the word "successful." Now I know success is purely subjective and relative. I just don't consider myself completely there yet, at least as far a AALBC.com is concerned. From a technical perspective the site is better than any site in it's niche that I've ever seen. I think that is an objectively true statement. But it is a struggle from a business perspective.

Man the line, about the white owned black planet posting an article that companies that are not Black owned and without mentioning themselves is deep! Sometime ago I compiled a list of the most popular Black websites, many of these are white owned I'm in process of updating this information. I asked the question about the most important media outlet that we own today, because I was thinking maybe we could figure out a way to rally support for the platform--particularly if they have already demonstrated the ability do do something substantive in this harsh environment or clearly have potential but just needs more support... I dunno just a thought. @NubianFellow are you aware of any other websites owners that have your sensibility, particularly as it related to technology? I don't know many, but the is a Brother @CDBurns, who posts here from time to time. There is another Brother Derrick Young over at https://www.mahoganybooks.com/ who tried a few different things with and Ron Kavanaugh at https://mosaicmagazine.org/ Interestingly I never encountered any sisters on the tech side. Most technically oriented sisters I've encountered are completely dedicated to amping up their social media presence.

Makes sense. In fact yesterday I started collecting email addressed for a author and publisher email list. However, I already have a lot of insight into the motivation and needs of authors already and provide, or can provide, some of the services that can help. It is not a matter of providing authors with services they need it is getting them to use them. In other words, I can run a survey, collect the data, create and promote the services, but the challenge of getting people to actually use them still remains. Indeed I've done this before. Again, the issues are not technical... Here is an anecdote to illustrate the point: We determined that authors were really interested in a bestseller's list that covers Black books. I got together with then Mosaic Books and Cushcity and created a list called the Power List. The list gathered sales from a variety of sources and was far better than any of the bestsellers list' Essence, Blackboard of anyone else produced from a methodology perspective. Some suggested that I should simply promote my list more. I wanted to have a list that was not tied to a particular sources to I teamed up with others. At any rate, the list was published once a quarter for over two years. The list failed to gain any traction with Black authors, ultimately I killed the list, shut down the website and archived the data on AALBC.com. @CDBurns, used to describe the "white co-sign." I believe the list failed to catch on because it did not get the elusive white co-sign. Today, authors are still describing themselves as "Essence Bestselling" authors and Essence has not produced a bestseller since 2009! When they produced a list it was never more that just that a list so content supporting content or even information about the books themselves. But Essence had the white-cosign (maybe because they are white owned). Side bar: when running a query to figure find out when Essence actually stopped publishing their bestseller's list I stumbled across a website the American Library Associations website describing AALBC.com's list; "The people who are viewing the site must be the people who are interested in this literature, and so it follows that those using the site as a vehicle to make book purchasing decisions are part of the African American book buying market. They are truly 'best sellers.' There is a certain straightforwardness to it." I never saw this quote before but I appreciate it. The Powerlist bestsellers list was mentioned on Publishers Weekly, but not a single mainstream published referenced the list in their marketing materials. Now I would argue that acknowledging the list would have created buzz for their titles, but that is besides the point. Because mainstream publishing did not embrace the list, Black authors did not embrace it. I can't prove it but that is my professional judgement. Just this week I posted a newly created AALBC.com Bestselling Books seal There is no other entity that has published a bestsellers list focused on Black books for as long as AALBC.com has. I have made these list available, continuously, for 20 years. Almost 1,200 books have made the bestseller list during that time. Every book is backed by a detailed description of the book, the authors many are reviewed. Yesterday I emailed my mailing list information on how to use the seal. My hope is that publishers large and small will recognize the achievement of being an AALBC.com bestseller and use it as a tool to help create buzz for their books. Of course this will help raise AALBC.com profile when will then allow me to better promote great Black literature. Win-win right? I will continue producing bestsellers list whether they are acknowledged by mainstream publishing or not. My hope is that Black authors and publisher recognize the lists If we embrace it, readers will, and mainstream publishing will have to recognize it. We must claim our own agency and be the ones who validate our work. Now @Mel Hopkins, I know full well this may be more than you asked for, but often when I write here I'm not just replying to you, but I'm replying to other readers interested in this subject, and even to my future self. If you are in an Amazon bookstore one day and see this seal on a book, you know it took decades and a lot of work to make that happen.