Mel Hopkins

This was a made up example but Gladys (Brown) West is the "hidden figures" of the GPS. I don't think her biography is complete but I read her story recently

@Troy See, this is what I'm talking about! Congratulations and more for you in 2020!

So, you've finished writing your first book and after you've blown through your friends and family list; now, it's time to find your readers. You know, those people who don't know you but will want to read your book if they knew about it? In other words, it's time to market your book. If you haven't thought about marketing until now, that's ok. The first step to finding your audience is to understand why, who and how. To determine it, backtrack to why you wrote the book in the first place. Keep in mind, Marketing (promotion) doesn't dictate WHAT an author should write. It's just that the author should have a group in mind when they do. Determining "who" you wrote the book about helps you find like-minded people. For example, if you've written a biography (genre), the subject's characteristics will help to begin building an audience. Is the subject a black woman? Then those who interested in reading about black women's lives are a clue to uncovering your audience. Consider "why" you wrote about this black woman - knowing why you wrote about her will narrow down the interests to promote. Such as, this black woman is the mother of GPS. So how did she accomplish this goal? The "how" usually contains drama and conflict. A Black woman in Jim Crow south overcomes sexism, racism, and classism to design the prototype of the (GPS) Global Positioning System (computer technology). So, there you have it. The first step to marketing your book after you've written it is creating a one-sentence explanation sometimes called the logline or pitch. Now you can begin your promotional efforts. #bookpromotion Inspired by ReadingBlack.com club: Open Letter to Promoters

The more I think about it, @Troy - those writers you mentioned are "the literati" too. I learned of them because they're admired and often mentioned writers who happened to be black. You are my alumni but my love of reading caused me to gravitate towards your project, AALBC, like it was cooked food. When I see your name and aalbc turn up in my google alerts, I'm never surprised its in connection to PWI literary sites. Further, It's not like PWIs gave you a "white" card. Instead. you're the standard and you're giving something most of us don't have access too. - So, as the authority and go-to expert, you're just famous (period) for your knowledge and contribution to the literary field.

@Wendy Jones the three quotes I pulled actually illustrate what Troy and what most marketing professionals advise. Know your why, who and how. Marketing (promotion) doesn’t dictate WHAT an author should write just that they should have a group in mind when they do. You intuitively crafted a market and wrote your story for them. Your narrative indicates what you wrote, why it’s important and to whom it would matter. The through-line looks a bit like this: Oral History - African American Women - during early part of 20th century - with a hot button issue that is still relevant today - social security - and how one black woman over came an inequitable system meant to assist all americans - with a twist of mystery (because who knew it didn’t?!?!). If I were the script reader and wrote the coverage it would pass because its “marketable” .

@Troy this is so true! Sadly, those authors could probably sell well if marketing wasn’t an afterthought. In fact, there’s an article I think you posted here about “black book marketing matters” even in big 5 publishing. Unfortunately those authors - (writing while black) even when they’ve received the guidance of who they are writing to and for, the marketing and publicity departments still don’t know what to do with them. The reason is they don’t have black marketers. In fact, I was the only one at both Penguin and Putnam back in the day. Probably none or one today. This is solid advice - period. There’s no getting around it. It would be malpractice for any promoter to consult or advise otherwise.

I’m unsure. I think you and AALBC are literary famous. Which is an even more exclusive club - The Literati.

@Troy Kim Coles is black famous too lol... and as you know she has published a few books - "I'm Free but it will cost you" and "Open Your G.I.F.T.S." I love that you mentioned our alumna because it reminded me that "Friends" was a rip off of the "black famous" "Living Single". Kelsey Grammer, "Frasier" had Kim in a reccuring role Self-help guru "Dr Mary"... I really wished that character would have spun off into its on show especially since life imitated art and Kim is also a Life Coach too.

And @Troy Speaking of the Root's Michael Harriott - he allegedly landed a Seven-figure, two-book deal with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt this past weekend. That’s right: after an understandably competitive auction fielded and negotiated by Tanya McKinnon at McKinnon Literary, Michael Harriot has closed a two-book, seven-figure deal with publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt—and as we celebrate the ascension of yet another of The Root’s shining lights into the publishing world, we are thrilled to be relaunching our It’s Lit! section with this incredible announcement.

@Troy If you have the talent - BUT if you don't have the time - send them to me! (can you just hire me already!) I'd love to talk to them about their contributions. I do know Kwame Alexander - and I'm just waiting to get in the same room with him again so I can borrow 15 minutes of his time. I met up with him when he visited Chicago back in 2012 (I think) to give a talk at convention his mother was hosting. This was before his recent success and the imprint. He brought me to tears with his passion. If I can I find the little piece I wrote about his speech, I will share it. It was pure raw emotion. His talent was real and seriously there wasn't a dry eye when he finished speaking. Although my photos from the event were lousy , I will share them too. By the way, shame on them! Posting on social media will never compared to editorial content. A journalist can trigger memories and emotions that just don't come through in a facebook post. smh Also, I've always love the chitlin circuit - but my mom hated when I used the term, so I stopped. I guess the PC term now is "Black Famous" Root Journalist Michael Harriott was just talking about black famous on twitter ... by the way, did you know Bobby Caldwell (what you won't do for love) is a white man? I didn't. But Caldwell is black famous too! lol

@Troy et al , recently discovering and uncovering the success of Kennedy Ryan speaks volumes of how important it is for black writers to continue to do their thing - but also participate in PWIs (Predominately White Institutions) in an effort to get the notoriety. It would be nice if we could remain self-contained and eventually get our recognition in "the establishment." But I see, once again we have to work twice as hard to get half as far. Where as people of Angles descent only have to promote to one gatekeeper - those of us of the African diaspora must first promote to the black community and then go out to mainstream. I'm thrilled I found that article but I wonder if she didn't win the RITA award would she have even landed a story on NPR? Think about it. Ryan had a 4-book deal with the Hachette Group and I never heard a peep. Now that she's chosen the self-published route - she wins a coveted award and we get to learn that all along, she's been writing about the black community and the controversial issues we face. In addition, I'm even more excited that a place like AALBC.com exist for me to post Ryan's story. I didn't even post her story on my website - I came here first to share it. I'll share a review here too once I finish reading her award-winning book.

You're welcome! I just learned of her too. The article mentioned she wrote 16 books including a few collections too. http://kennedyryanwrites.com/books

LONG SHOT isn't the odds of an African American winning the coveted 2019 RITA award; it's the winning title of the Romance Novel that landed Kennedy Ryan in the winner's circle. Ryan is the first African American to win the award in the 37-year-history of the Romance Writers of America organization, and she also self-published the romance novel. "Long Shot" takes on the controversial subject of domestic violence in professional sports. The Charlotte, North Carolina resident, told WFAE she didn't expect to win. Ryan says she entered the competition to challenge the organizers' belief that black writers didn't enter their work. She said when they announced her name, Ryan said it felt like there was a collective, "we did it." Ryan began her writing career with the Hachette Group after landing a 4-book deal - but once it was up, she said she turned down subsequent offers to self-publish instead.

@Troy all looks good again! I signed in with my phone and now commenting with ease. Thank You!

Perfect! At least you can sit back and watch if Ethos Capital keeps its word. I agree - no for-profit organization should be able to hold an extension hostage that supposed to be available to the public. And ICANN held a public comment period and most of the people requested to keep the price cap.

I just checked my dot-org sites and my renewal fee is $20.99 ... before ICANN lifted the price cap - it was supposed to be $9.99 ...smh

As of December 4, 2019, safari browser (iPhone) isn't displaying aalbc.com properly through mobile display. The most prominent display problems occur when you click on the forum topic and it triggers distorted images, advertisements covering content, and no comment box.

Exactly! I hope the Genius lawyers bring that up at trial. I google lyrics to click on the genius site out of spite lol Thank you! I didn't realize google also ranks registration length too. I register every year to get the marketing tax write off - the value of it as an asset isn't enough to stretch out over time. But I'll consider registering multiple years now.

@Wendy Jones me too! I'm so proud of us and @Troy for this "writer's write to be read and profit too" movement!!! :D

News roundup for bloggers - Genius Media Group, Inc, the company behind the annotated lyrics website, is suing Google and Lyric Find for $50 million. The complaint mentions copying lyrics from the site and using it on the results page. Here's a link to the Brooklyn based media company's complaint filed December 03, 2019, in Brooklyn Supreme Court of New York State County of Kings https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/ViewDocument?docIndex=3E0o8kQz4X3cWcbbid67wQ== Several news sites report Internet Society (ISOC)'s Public Interest Registry, a nonprofit, sold the top-level domain dot-org registry. The winning bidder is a private equity firm Ethos Capital. Allegedly, the dot-org registry is Ethos Capital only asset, but their website ethoscapital.com indicates otherwise. In July this year, ICANN, the nonprofit responsible keeping all things equal and equitable in the domain registrar world, also voted to lift the cap on registration fees. According to news reports, there will be no registration fee hikes. Still, your dot-org registration fees could go up and become cost-prohibitive. Sadly, nonprofits mostly use the dot org extension for their organizations' websites. And other online nonprofit news media websites containing a treasure trove of information also use the dot-org extension. Should those websites not be able to pay the domain registration fee - that information might disappear. If you're a dot org registrant, you might want to secure registration for the ten years to keep your domain name. At least it will buy you some time while these things shake out.

@Troy You're welcome! I have a google alert set for aalbc -

Serving Writers and Readers: African-American Literary Organizations by Diane Patrick Features our own @Troy and AALBC.Com leading the pack of several organizations that help books by and for African Americans thrive. The Publisher Weekly's article lists African American Literary and Culture Society, Cave Canem, The Center for Black Literature, Harlem Writers Guild, and Hurston Wright Foundation. For more of what each organizations offers writers and readers visit Publisher's Weekly November 22, 2019

Universal Music Enterprise (UMe) is a brand of the global music conglomerate Universal Music.

@TroyI was checking out some SEO words I wanted to include in this content I'm writing. So, I put in my search engine Black Books Direct ...to see what would come up AND guest what was number 1 on my google results page? Yep - it landed me right here. Google giveth and taketh lol

The best!