Troy

"...as a Black-American in Australia, we’re viewed as exotic. We have an “accent,” we dress different, and we carry ourselves in a different manner that makes us stand out. So, to no surprise, we’re very well received here." Read the full article. The above was one of main selling points. All you have to do is move to a diffetent region of the country to reap that "benefit." At anyrate, it wasn't a compelling argument to move there. @Del did any of this reasonate?

The Center for the Restoration of Ma'At, named after the Egyptian goddess for balance, is searching for its first class of 42 "initiates" to join a 14-week summer conversion course where disciples commit to becoming a Kemite. https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/religion-pharaohs-grows-harlem-article-1.1798523 I generally don;t read the Daily News as it is a tabloid. But I came across the article looking for more information about an author I recently added to the website, Jabari (Heru Djeden Ma'at Aten-Ra) Osaze. His book, 7 Little White Lies: The Conspiracy to Destroy the Black Self-Image, seemed like a simply introduction to American indoctrination to marginalize Black people.

The site launched last year. I just added it to my list of Black-owned websites: https://aalbc.com/top_black_websites/top_black_sites_list.php#Tru+Dreadz You can find a lot of good sites there. Here I rank the top Black-owned websites using a formula I came up with: https://aalbc.com/top_black_websites/index.php If I'm missing any top websites let me know.

@Kareem I actually considered implementing this software myself. Please consider turning off ad blocker for this site. Basically this site would not exist without ads -- book sales alone would not cut it. Google adsense and author ads is a major source of revenue. In an era where Amazon is a virtual monopoly for the online sale of books and social IS the internet for many, I know of no other way to monetize the site. It would not exisit without ads. Google is always sending me emails telling me about content on this site that they don't approve of for advertising. I usually just ingnore them as they will block ad serving at the page level. In the old days they would block the entire site! This forum used to be on thumperscorner.com when Google blocked ads, because of the content of some posts, I migrated the forums here. About 3/4 of the participants dropped off at the point. Google is great at screwing sites over.

Sad but true. I never did understand the culture's fixation with dogs. Kissing them in the mouth, sleeping in bed with them, buying expensive food... Given the way they treated Michael Vick, one could argue white folks treat dogs better than Black even in 2019. People have had dogs for all recorded history. They provide protection, helped us hunt, herded sheep, and provided useful services. Today ehelp the blind navigate city streets and find bomb hidden in luggage. But up until recently dogs slept outside and ate table scraps. Today people carry them in purses and bring them on planes for comfort!? If you can't get in a plane without your dog you don't need to be in a plane; you need psychiatric help.

Agreed. Before I deleted my personal accounts I used to spend an hour or more a day using social media, humble bragging and vying for approval from "friends." Today if I spend an hour a month on social media that would be a lot. I use social media, I don't let it use me. Today I just post links to my site and that drives revenue. I actually make far more money since I stopped using social for personal reasons. This is smart, but I have not ditched my TV yet. I do not watch broadcast TV and have "cut the cord." I still use TV for cheap entertainment watching movies, YouTube, Netflix and HBO (my kids and I share these subscriptions). I listen to the radio (podcasts) far more than I watch TV I have noticed the more I watch TV the less I read.

Hey @Pioneer1, @Kareem you are probably already aware of this site, but in case you are not check it out: https://trudreadz.com/ The articles seem to align perfectly with your world views.

Cool!

@Coach Michael Taylor, what is the book's ISBN13?

@Pioneer1 no, Omar did not write romance novels. Still, I can't think of any Brothers that have. A search of male romance novel writers shows E. Lynn Harris and Eric Jerome Dickey. My query of "Romance Novels sorted by pub date" above also returned Eric Jerome Dickey, but neither author are romance novelists -- at least as I understand the genre -- depite each having books categorized that way. I don't think there are any Black male romance novelist. If anyone knows of any let me know. Perhaps @Kareem will be our the first.

I've done this too. Recently I asked paid advertisers to supply links to their site (or use an AALBC page) rather than using an Amazon link. Most have agreed to do this. It seems that people get it when you tell them. This was not the case a few years ago. The tide seems to be changing. Sometimes, however, the author's goal is to make one of Amazon's best sellers lists, so directing readers, in this instance, to an alternative store is not possible. Given that Amazon has a bestsellers list for every category (thousands) some careful planning and pricing by an author can result in a #1 Amazon best selling book. Having a #1 Amazon bestselling book is as prestigious as making the New York Times Best Sellers list in some quarters. The problem with the NY Times list is that it is, naturally, biased against Black books and independently published books, these books typically don't make the shelves of the stores that report to the NY Times. AALBC reports to the Times, but my sales are not enough impact the list (The AALBC bestseller Sulwe, make the list during the period I reported 😀). Imagine, if book promoters directed readers to buy books from AALBC and other stores that report to the Times. We could impact the list and build the Black Book Ecosystem at the same time. Then again, imagine if the AALBC Best selling Books List, published since 1998, carried the same clout in our community as Amazon's or the New York Times' lists. Imagine...

As a bookseller I get pitches for new books several times a day — which is great, because it tells me sometime positive about the author: If they have the resources to invest in promoting their book, they've probably also invested the resources into producing a decent book. Of course this is not always the case, but I've found this to be true more often than not. One thing that has always irked me is when authors/publicists/publishers tell readers to buy book their from Amazon. In the old days they would say sometime along the lines of, "Available Wherever Books are Sold." Those promoting books were sensitive to the fact that explicitly promoting a single bookseller over all others ran the risk of upsetting other booksellers. Today, this sensitivity has been completely discarded. Why? Everyone knows Amazon sells books, so why do authors and publishers give the multibillion-dollar company free promotion by telling readers to buy their books from Amazon? In the early days of Amazon, there may have been some level of validation when Amazon offered one’s book for sale — sort of like seeing one’s book on the shelf of a prominent bookstore. Today Amazon provides a platform for the sale of ANY book no matter how poorly written or produced — they even offer bootlegged books and books published in violation of copyright for sale. A book being available for sale on Amazon has meant nothing for years. I simply ignore books that prominently promote Amazon. Below is marketing copy I received for a book a few moments ago. I'm sharing this image not to disparage the book, author, or promoter, but to share an example of what I mean (I shared this post with the person who sent me this email in the hope that they will understand). Again, this is not the only example, but it is a book I would have added to the site were it not for the Amazon ad. Amazon's logo is more prominently displayed on this ad than the author's own website, where the book is available for sale! As a bookseller, I'm not alone in this sentiment. However, few of us have a platform large enough to make this sentiment widely known. Imagine if the promoters wrote ORDER NOW ON AALBC.COM (and included our logo). Amazon is not going to stop selling books anytime soon. However, if authors, publishers, and their promoters continue to give Amazon free promotion, Amazon will become the ONLY bookseller who can sell their books. Anyone with a rudimentary understanding monopoly understands why this is bad for sales, discoverability, and pricing. Can we help restore a vibrant and diverse bookselling environment by not giving Amazon free promotion? We all, especially readers, stand to benefit.

Hi @Mel Hopkins I just updated the forum to the latest version of the software. Please tell me if the problem persists. If it does can you share a screen shot and let me know what platform you are using (which version of safari and model of Iphone you are using). I'll use an emulator to see if I can reproduce the problem and report it as a bug -- thanks

If is hard to say, for certain, what you'd do unless you're actually in the situation. A lot of Brothers who have been locked up for a long period of time go back to prison, for a wide variety of reasons. Shoot, some folks go to prison deliberately as they can't make it on the outside

In my Riley Freeman voice, "Nah, nigga dat's gay." Seriously, off the top of my head I can't think of any. Even the Brother's whise names pop up on the list book ate strictly romance. Sometimes erotica or book with sex scenes get categorized as romance. At any rate, your story is interesting 🥰 As an aside, look at the advertisement Google placed on the site based upon the content if this conversation (see below). Now Google has prevented me from serving ad on oages with less risque content

Here are some Romance Novels sorted by pub date. They are all good (otherwise they would bot be on the site). Personally, I've only read one or two romance novels, but they all follow a formula which culminates in a happy ending. Perhaps you can start with a short story. I found what you've about the girl, so far, very interesting. When she literally "let her hair down," do you think that was a signal? Clearly she was comfortable in your presence and respected your intelligence... but you did not push huh?

@Kareem, I hear you Brother, but consider a woman who never knew freedom -- perhaps for generations -- who was then placed in a foreign land far removed from eveything she knew and expected to fend for herself and children. Clearly, she felt she was better off back in Virginia. I have no idea why, but it is hard for me to judge someone so harshly a century later in a circumstance that is completely unimaginable. If it is any consolation the kids probably did see freedom as emancipation was just 24 years later.

Well that is jacked up. There are actually two incremental upgrades to the forum software that I have yet to apply. Perhaps one of those upgrades will correct the problem. I'll will apply them evening or the next, and reach out to you to see it this corrects the problem. @Mel Hopkins, thanks for letting me know.

Directly embedding video linked above

I wouldn't be too hard on our sisters who wanted to return, perhaps the had family back in NOLA.

Well they banned Farrakhan, so you're in good company 🙂

I just got my copy of Publishers Weekly in the mail.

It is probably a minor ranking signal -- google is too opaque to say -- but they did publish a video saying it was a signal. Given the risk of potentially having to pay much more may make it worth the investment. I only have one .org domain, https://cis3630.org i just looked it up and it expires in Feburary!

Sounds like the start of a romance novel... 🙂 Wow this is news to me. One hundred lost books... deep. I believe this. I believe I've met angels before. I also believe we can all be Angels from time to time.