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I think the link is unconscious. It doesn't reside in space and is also outside of time. Like the creator/creators. So underneath I believe we are linked with everything in this universe. The sum of which is the ultimate. Since this link is not physical yes we are dreaming. It could be that Numbers are considered a universal in a way language is not. Although I don't think this has to be true. It could just be another symbolic subset of our type of thinking. The mind doesn't reside in space and is also outside of time. Like the creator/creators. So underneath I believe we are linked with everything in this universe. The sum of which is the ultimate. Since this link is not physical, our existence is akin to dreaming. Numbers are considered a universal in a way language is not. Although I don't think this has to be true. It could just be another symbolic subset of our type of thinking.

There is an popular indie press bases in New York City called Akashic Books. Researching the meaning of their name was how I learned of the Akashic records. Now seems like a good time for me to revisit the subject ;-) Thanks everyone!

@D.E. Eliot, we all make mistakes. I'm glad you took the feedback as it was intended. There are many options for indie publishers to get books into the hands of readers without using Amazon. At the end of the month, I'll be giving a workshop for indie authors and publishers at the National Black Writers Conference in NYC, with Paul Coates, founder of Black Classic Press and BCP Digital Printing. We will help writers with every aspect of producing a book from editing, design, printing, distribution, and marketing. For example, I provide book printing through AALBC Prints Books and manuscript editing through Edit 1st. There are many other professionals out there, but we tend to give one big corporation all our business. Amazon's ability to secure the exclusive right to sell an author's book was just brilliant on their part, but hurts authors collectively. In fact, last year I was considering organizing a boycott of Amazon -- only then did I realize just how dependent so many authors were on Amazon -- their books could not be purchased anywhere else! That realization gave rise to #readingblack. Yes, @Mel Hopkins is absolutely right. The #readingblack platform is a place where we can share mistakes so others can avoid them, and good ideas so that they don't have to reinvent the wheel. I hope you will consider participating. BTW, if you made $10K in profit selling one book you are doing GREAT. Maybe you'll share some of your successful strategies at #readingblack.

Congratulations, @D.E. Eliot and much success. Yes, you're in the right place. Troy has more than 20 years in the business - especially as it relates to black publishers and author and he won't steer you wrong. Also please consider joining #readingblack if you haven't already. Check out the articles on Amazon posted there. Many successful medium-large publishers have moved away. If you choose to stay, then moving forward as a publisher, you are going to negotiate with Amazon on a different level at least-for the sake of those you will publish in the future.

@D.E. Eliot I don't take your not understanding my point as a form of disrespect. I'm only going by the information you presented here and the information you've shared. Now that you elaborated on the nature of your company, I see now that you are indeed a publishing company. However, I've been in this industry a long time and you present like an indie author, not a publishing company. I'll take the time to explain why and I hope you receive it the information as helpful advice. In your "not so perfect" intro you provided a link to Amazon. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing this, but this is how indie authors open up, not publishing companies. When you said your book was published by a Black own publishing company I was anxious to learn more, because I actively promote these businesses. But when I could not find a website or a single book in distribution (outside Amazon), I was confused because this is not characteristic of a publishing company. You said you are locked into selling through Amazon so I can only assume to are using a service like KDP Select when you are locked into 90 exclusive arrangement with Amazon. No publishing company would lock themselves into an exclusive arrangement with a single online bookseller -- even if it is Amazon. I could go on but I think you see my point. Now you might not be concerned about how you are perceived by others, but if you are selling books (indeed any business) you have to be aware of how you are perceived an why you are perceived why you are perceived this way... this is just an aspect of marketing. @Mel Hopkins, I'm sure there is an audience for your character. The main difference between you story and Black Panther is that Black Panther had the full marketing might of The Walt Disney Company behind it... and that is a very big deal.

My apologies @Mel HopkinsBeing insulting or condescending is no way to have a discussion or even an argument. Mea Culpa

Please let us know who you are. What you'd like to accomplishment. How we can help you get the most out of this club? Provide your goals, expertise and even your expectations. Share as much or as little - and add when you feel comfortable. Thank you for being part of #readingblack.com movement and we want to make sure the movement serves us all. As for me, I read as much if not more than I write. So far, I've written, published two fiction titles and I’m working on a memoir. The former got me a full-page feature in a major business magazine; the latter is proving to be difficult to format. On the digital front, I've acquired several domain names currently valued at $10K. From those highly-coveted names, I’ve launched a personal website, a news magazine website that is growing in popularity due to the strategic alliances I’ve built with AALBC.com and PRNewswire. com I was half of a two-person start-up team who created and developed a popular lifestyle website and a weekly live 2-hour radio talk-show. With sweat-equity, and free social networks such as Myspace, Facebook, and BlogTalkRadio we built an engaged community for the website. By 2008, the Facebook page had 100K fans. We invited the most loyal fans to write for the site. In 2010, the website had a global ranking with an estimated value of about $35K. If sold, it would have been nearly 100% profit. The co-founder changed the format and pushed me out. The website lost 90% of its value after the community dwindled. Since 2002, I've consulted in Media Relations with a focus on building communities and creating strategic alliances. I've accumulated millions of dollars in earned media for myself and clients in publications with a monthly multimillion readership. Before building a media consulting business, I was responsible for corporate communications of several multimillion-dollar funded high-profile nonprofit organizations. I took those skills to work for a large customer-facing financial institution where I worked closely with marketing to handled internal communications and special projects for the Community Reinvestment Act department. As News Anchor and Managing Editor, at a CBS network affiliate, led a team of editors, photographers, reporters to produce #1 rated weekend newscast that gained 27% of market share. As AM drivetime news anchor/reporter for iHeart (formerly Clear channel) Radio Station 1170 AM WWVA acquired Associated Press credits for contributing breaking news resulting in an AP Radio Partner Award. Several national magazines and newspapers have published my features and opinions. Prior, I worked for trade book publishers, G.P. Putnam's Sons and Penguin USA (before the merger) in Special Sales, and Academic Marketing & Sales from 1987-1992. Oh, did I mention I spent 8-years flying the friendly skies for a major U.S. commercial airline?

Absolutely I will

@zaji I found a long article about the Akashic records stored away on my computer, - a saved document I didn't even know i had. Maybe we come here knowing everything because we are each microcosms of a Supreme Intelligence, and during the course of our lives, events and incidents nudge our memory causing info to "come to us". Also, hasn't it been claimed that we are only using a small portion of our brain? So who knows what's stored in its unused lobes?

The Akashic Records. I've always loved the idea of this.

@Troy I don't rule it out. What if Jung was correct and the stuff we learn goes into the collective unconscious and that's why it takes time to retrieve it? No one can say with certainty where information is stored. Aren't scientist still trying to figure out how Einstein's brain worked?

I don't know if I would go that far, although I do see where you are coming from. I felt the same way about Jodi Picoult and her speaking in, what I like to call, "Black Voice" in the novel Small Great Things. It bothered me, not because she wrote about a black woman, but because her novel would not be labeled as urban the way it would've been had I wrote the same exact story. I also don't blame Marvel for capitalizing on black folks. Hell if black folks created Black Panther would black people have supported it? Because you know as well as I do that black folks usually don't start bragging on black things created by black people until white folks try to claim it or Oprah gives it her seal of approval. We are systematically still locked in chains. Think on this... your two favorite characters, ironically are two of my favorites, are villains created by white men. Even the creator of The Wire, David Simon, is white. As a writer, trust and believe, that I do understand why it would bother you. On Facebook when someone would make this same exact point about Black Panther I would comment: "Okay well buy my novel if you are so eager to support black owned things... my novel is written by a black man, published by a company owned by black people, and the story has tons of positive images of black folks throughout. Not one dope dealer or thug or plug or side piece in sight." Hey I give Marvel a thumbs up for including positive images of blacks into their storyline because they really didn't have to do it.