I started a kickstarter in order to recreate the much missed "Black Issues Book Review", which passed away back in 2007 for reasons I'm still not clear about. You could do it online, with as many reviews and matching and exceeding that quality, for about $2000 grand a month.
We're asking for $750 for the first month just to prove the concept. Obviously, we would think that readers and writers here would be interested. Here's the pitch:
As you may or may not know, there used to a bi monthly review of African American books called "Black Issues Book Review." It wasn't a great magazine--not on the level of say the Comics Journal or Locus--but it had decent writing and prominent African American writers would make the cover. Unfortunately, due to the usual financial problems, that magazine died in 2007 and was never replaced. As a lover of African American fiction and non-fiction, I would like to replace it online with a small team. A third of the money would go toward freelancers and the rest would go to me, where I would attempt to review three to four books a week. I believe "Black Issues" reviewed about 20 to 30 books every two months. I think I can match that, and potentially write even higher-quality reviews. I would love to do this as an African American writer. PS: I'm a professional freelance writer and reviewer. You can find some of my reviews here: http://writersofcolor.blogspot.com/
You can fund the Kickstarter-like campaign here, if you happen to think that promoting and developing black writers is an important task.
Thank you for your comments although I noticed that neither of you donated! Maybe Kickstarter like isn't enough. But I also miss "Black Issues". In fact, I'm looking at an old issue now with Aaron MacGruder on the cover. It wasn't just reviews but a lot of really good stories and gossip. And I'm just shocked that it hasn't been replaced. As far as new black writers, well, you got me there because there's no longer a forum like "Black Issues" to point me toward the right stuff. However, and nepotistically enough, I would probably review the books of my cousin Leonce Gaiter because they're outstanding, at least on a technical level. So that would be a start. Heard there's a new Zadie Smith novel out. Would love to see what's out there. Chris: You're probably right and I have used the more high end services in the past. Give me some time on that. But the money does go through. It does work. Whatever I raise will go toward the project. If you're curious about the quality of the reviews then please check out some of my reviews here. As for work that black readers might be interested in, I do have two short stories on Amazon right now. You can find both of them here and here. But I'm really excited about what I'll be writing in the future and I'll make sure that I mention those efforts at your forums. .