Troy

...sure it is possible @MAFOOMBAY I've pretty much dedicated my life to that possibility When I redesigned this site. I grouped children's books and YA books together into one category. That was a mistake that I will eventually need to clean up. The biggest difference between children's books and YA is that children's books are actually sold to adults (a 4 year-old does not buy books). So the marketing is different. I think white parents, are far less likely to buy a book featuring Black characters, regardless of the color of the author. Keats is often cited, because his book, was one for the first published by a mainstream publisher to have a Black kid as the main character. But I'm not sure how commercially successful it was with white parents. Libraries, schools, and Black parents snapped up copies for sure, but I simply do not know how many white parents purchased the book. Jim Crow laws were still in effect. throughout the south when the book as first published. There is a children's book that is a finalist for a National Book Award tomorrow (11/15/17), Clayton Byrd Goes Underground. It is written by a sister, Rita Williams-Garcia, from New York City. In fact, I've predicted Rita's book has the best chance for a book written by a Black writer to actually win the award. The fact that the book was nominated should greatly boost sales. Even if the book wins I don't expect it to greatly boost sales, outside the library and school communities. Given the dearth of platforms celebrating and selling Black books I'd be surprised if a significant number of Black parents with children are even aware of the book. But hey it is possible and we can observe what happens in the future.

Well one of y'all please mansplain "Wednesday Thursday Friday" to me 'cause I did not get it

Pioneer, that is easy. Here is one; Your position on "race" remains unchanged despite all the information, science, and data that has been shared with you. This like arguing the world is flat.

Del Pioneer explanation correctly expresses what I intended.

The 68th National Book Awards are being held this Wednesday, November 15, 2017. For the first time in five years I, or rather AALBC.com, was not invited to attend this year's celebration. I'm not sure if any Black owned media will be in attendance covering the event. It was not like there were that many to begin with but I just reached out to the other group that covered the event to see if they are going. I'm not mad, but I get the feeling the organizers do not want a repeat of 2016. As I noted in my comments from last year (above), I know some in attendance were not happy that night. No one will ever be able to joke about the National Book Awards being a production of BET ever again. Here are my predictions for the 2017 National Book Awards: Now my predictions are based solely on what I'd describe as politics. "Politics" is really not the right word. The idea is that my predictions are not based upon the quality of the literature at all, but more a combination of political correctness and a reaction to 2016, Of course this reasoning is not objective, but I don't think the National Book Awards, indeed any awards are objective. Despite the lack of objectivity, I'm going to go out on a limb and make my predictions public. The finalist for 2017 include five books by Black Writers. This represents 25% of all the finalists which based upon our percentage of traditionally published authors, I'm sure this is pretty good representation (rrremember I'm completely ignoring the quality of the books themselves--perhaps all of the Finalists should have been books written by Black writers; maybe none deserved to be). In all of the categories for which that National Book Awards gives prizes, Fiction (1), Nonfiction (1), Poetry (1), and Young People's Literature (2). there is at least one book, written by a Black writer that is a finalist: I expect one, and only one, of these titles to win. However if no writer wins a National Book Award in 2017, I will not be surprised. I will not only be unsurprised, I will be a bit disheartened because that would portent even less mainstream publishing support for books written by Black writers in the near future. I'd also have to suspect that the lack of Black writers winning an award is in direct reaction, conscious or not, to the dominance that Black writers exhibited in 2016. The likelihood of two titles winning is so low that it approaches zero. So if only one title will win, which title will it be? For that we need a little historical content: Below is a chart which shows the number of titles that were written by Black writers and have won a National Book Award. It is a different view of the same information presented in the graph above. Technically two of the awards were presented in categories that no longer exist "Children's" and "First Fiction." I have placed these, for the purpose my prediction, under "Young People" and "Fiction" respectively. Year Fiction Nonficn Poetry Young People's Total 1953 1 1 1975 1 1 1983 2 1 3 1989 1 1 1991 1 1 1999 1 1 2000 1 1 2006 1 1 2008 1 1 2010 1 1 2011 1 1 2 2013 1 1 2014 1 1 2015 1 1 2 2016 1 1 1 3 Total 7 4 6 4 21 We can see that Black writers have, historically, won the most awards in the fiction and poetry categories. Given that Black writers have the won the most prestigious award, the fiction category, three of the last 5 years, I doubt a Black author will win that category this year. Black writers, since 1999 have won 1 out of 3 of the poetry awards bestowed. So I doubt the win will be in poetry for similar reasons. Now that might sound like a lot of awards in those two categories, but lets keep in mind: the award started in 1950; for the next 60 years only 8 Black writers won in those categories, roughly one Back winner every 8 years! That leaves nonfiction and children's. Black writers won nonfiction the last two years in a row. I don't see this happening three years in a row. The chidlren's category is a bit more interesting. 2017 Children's book author finalist, Rita Williams-Garcia is only one of 6 authors to be longlisted 3 times or more for a National Book Award and not win. The other are James Baldwin, Carl Phillips, Kevin Young, Marilyn Nelson, and Walter Dean Myers. I think if anyone has a chance this year it is Rita. Rita is the all-time bestselling children's book author on AALBC.com. She is also our #24 bestselling author; no other children's book author is even in the top 50. Rita also has the temperament and personality to appeal to diverse audiences and be an ambassador for books which the National Book Foundation loves. The publisher of Rota's nominated title, Amistad, was started by a Brother, Charles Harris, Amistad's titles have been nominated 9 times but has never won. Both Rita and Amistad are overdue. So there it is. We will see what happens Wednesday night. Again, I will not be there, but I will report on the results Thursday. If I'm right, you would be able to tell me nothin'! *The data behind the information provided above comes from the AALBC.com database. If there are any inaccuracies they are all mine. I'm not aware of another source for this type of information. If you find any errors in the information in my database please share them by posting a reply.

"Amazon has filed arbitration demands against several book authors, publishers and marketers, alleging that they abused the Kindle Direct Publishing system to artificially inflate their profits and sales rankings. One of the demands, for example, alleges that a man from the Philippines offered a service to authors to boost the number of pages read in their books using hundreds of fake Amazon customer accounts, in exchange for a 40 percent cut of their profits. Amazon pays authors who participate in the Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owners’ Lending Library program using a formula based on pages read." Read the complete article at GeekWire. Of course Amazon is not suing for issues of integrity of morality. I'm not aware of Amazon suing anyone for posting bogus book reviews or selling pirated copies of books; because those illicit activities generate revenue for them.

When the Amazon bookstore in Seattle opened almost exactly a year ago — the company’s first full-fledged retail location — book prices were identical to those on Amazon.com, whether you were a Prime member or not. But now the discounted prices are only available to Prime members. If you’re not, you’ll pay sticker price. The message: If you’re not a Prime member, you can’t get discounts. There are no price tags on the books at Amazon’s store, as customers can either scan the book at a kiosk or use Amazon’s app to find out how much each product is. Read the full article at GeekWire

Forget metaphor how about; "God is the Universe." We are not created in the Universe's image like some carbon copy; we are the image of the universe.

Of course the democrats were aligned for hillary against Bernie; should know his was was part of it. Of course the Dems are angry with her. Of course she is trying to sell her book. Harry forget about anyone, including Brazille, for holding Black preachers accountable, as long as they have followers and tax breaks from the government there abuses will never end. This is as American as mom's apple pie.

The Authors United Position Paper on Amazon’s Book Selling Practices (24 Pages) “Initially, Amazon deployed these new technologies in ways that benefited both readers and authors. While Amazon did not invent the e-book or e-reader, it created a platform that made it easy for millions around the world to access e-books, including readers who live nowhere near a brick and mortar bookstore. But as Amazon has become a global corporation of unprecedented size, scope, and power, it is increasingly engaging in practices that undermine the interests of readers, authors, publishers, and society as a whole. Amazon has used the digital revolution in book publishing to exercise control over the marketplace of ideas in ways that threaten not merely open markets but free speech.”

The Authors Guild is the nation's professional organization for writers, aiding and protecting author's interest in copyright, fair contracts, and free expression since 1912. Amazon’s Taking Another Bite of the Publishing Pie “One might wonder how there can be ‘new’ copies offered by someone other than the publisher and how they can be sold for $.01 plus shipping (the high shipping costs are apparently where these sellers make their profit). “The Authors Guild has spoken to several major publishers in the past year about where all these second-hand ‘new’ copies come from, and no one seems to really know. Some surmise that they are review copies, but there are far too many cut-rate ‘new’ copies for them all to be review copies. “Could they be returns from bookstores that never made it back to the publisher? Did they fall off the back of a truck? We don’t know. What we do know is that the re-sellers must be acquiring them at cut-rate price and that there appear to be enough of these copies available that they could replace sales for the truly new copies—those that bring money to the publisher and royalties to the author.”

ANYONE INTERESTED IN ORGANIZING A BOYCOTT OF THE AMAZON BOOKSTORE PLEASE REPLY BELOW OR EMAIL ME troy@aalbc.com. AN YOU WILL BE ADDED TO OUR PRIVATE GROUP.

“Today, half of all U.S. households are subscribed to the membership program Amazon Prime, half of all online shopping searches start directly on Amazon, and Amazon captures nearly one in every two dollars that Americans spend online. Amazon sells more books, toys, and by next year, apparel and consumer electronics than any retailer online or off, and is investing heavily in its grocery business. Its market power now rivals or exceeds that of Walmart, and it stands only to grow: Within five years, one-fifth of the U.S.’s $3.6 trillion retail market will have shifted online, and Amazon is on track to capture two-thirds of that share.” —Institute for Local Self-Reliance You can download the entire report here.

Amazon's adverse impact on the book industry and the economy is global in scope. The Booksellers’ Association (BA) is a trade association for booksellers in the UK, representing over 95% of all bookshops. When Amazon entered the market in 1995 the BA had 1,894 outlets in membership. Now it has 905.6 It argues that Amazon’s growth means that “high streets and communities no longer have booksellers who provide author events, go into schools, churches or libraries, or run book clubs and reading groups”. In December 2015 Tim Godfray, chief executive of the BA, explained its recent approach to the CMA: “We sent a formal submission to the Competition and Markets Authority outlining our concerns. It was a substantial document of about 300 pages. We were particularly concerned about allegations received from publishers and booksellers that Amazon was seemingly engaged in predatory pricing: 93% of booksellers believed that Amazon had been selling books below cost and 51% of publishers thought the same. We supplied a lot of title information examples to the CMA and we hoped that the competition authority in London would investigate, but instead they ended up passing the file over to DG Competition in Brussels. We are still talking to Brussels and we do not have a quick resolution.” Read the complete article at the Ethical Consumer.

Yeah, Erza Jack Keats was one of the first children's book authors profiled on the website. I remember the first time I saw his book, the The Snowy Day, it was the first book I recall seeing with Black kids in the them ; this, I'm sure, was 50 years ago. Peter's race did not need to be mentioned; it was obvious. I learned to read with the Dick and Jane books you know, "See Spot Run." These characters are household names. These book would probably never been published with Black characters when they were introduced in the 1940's. By the time Keats book came out, a generation later, at the dawn of the civil right era, attitudes were beginning to change and white man creating a book with Black characters could get published and realize some commercial success. and recognition. @MAFOOMBAY, you definitely have a lot more optimism on this issue that I do. The prospect of a children's book featuring Black main characters achieving the commercial success of the Dork Diaries seems remote Critical acclaim yes, great commercial success I dunno. I appreciate the success of the Dork Diaries is atypical, and not a reasonable benchmark. Still are there any children's book written by Black writers and with Black characters that have achieved commercial success? My current bestselling children's books features critically acclaimed books, including Bright Eyes, Brown Skin which was published by Just Us Books and written by Cheryl Willis Hudson, Illustrated by George Ford, which was the first book published, written and illustrated by Black people to win a major award. Still do you really think a book like Bright Eyes, Brown Skin could achieve the same commercial success with a white audience the way Dick and Jane or The Dork Diaries have?

@MAFOOMBAY, can you think of any books to support your theory? It is funny, but it seems as soon as you have Black main characters that, in and of itself, is enough for the theme to become "racially charged." If I had the resources I would look at our most important children's books (the list includes YA and is by no means exhaustive) and see if any of them have been nearly as successful as the Dork diaries. I know many were marketed to a wide audience.

The purpose of this club is to provide a platform, with a variety of tools, to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas focused on organizing a boycott of Amazon’s Bookstore.

Hi Chanelle, the event has been added to our events calendar: https://aalbc.com/events/index.php?st=New+Jersey#North+Jersey+Literary+Festival if anything changes please. Post those changes here, and I'll update the page if necessary. Thanks Troy

@Pioneer1 I can never prove, to your satisfaction, that anything you say is false or ridiculous. Asking me to do so is a waste of my time. I've never observed you change your position on a subject even when presented with information to the contrary. Describing research, information, and facts as "academic." is an excuse for the not to facing the reality that your position is flawed. Indeed, your unwillingness to look up the most basic information about a subject you admit you have limited knowledge of tells everyone you are not really interested in the truth, but only concerned with defending your beliefs. Describing yourself as, "a straight shooter", and saying you "speak plainly, directly, and to the point." does not make what you say true. This is the same tactic used by "45," which only appeals to the uninformed and those moved more by emotion than reason.

So you believe white racist kill each other out of boredom? (why am I having this conversation?) Let's go back to my original question @Pioneer1 when did white supremacy start? I know you said you did not know. But you should look it up. It would help us have a more intelligent conversation on the subject.

@Pioneer1, I say you should research the subject because your personal experience is very limited. I know you like to rely mostly on your personal experiences I suspect most people do, but you have to appreciate by doing so you have an incomplete understanding. Not that I'm an expert. One of the reason I say that I understand is because I came from where you are and know many who understand the world they way you do. You asked for, and I gave you, an example of a system that has caused more harm to more people over a longer period of time, but you have ignored or rejected it. The transatlantic slave trade while horrific only lasted 200 years. Now the Black experience in America, over the past century and a half, has suffered as a direct consequence of the slave trade and the white racism used to justify it. Would you have rather been a white boy living in eastern europe where 10, 15% or more of the population was slaughtered during WW II? Why do you think white people spent so much time and energy killing each other?

@Pioneer1, it looks like @TSegal and you are on the same page on this issue.

Yes of course you are right about "turning" an asexual. Indeed as he suggested he'd be grossed out by the encounter. I was merely joking.

Well I'm glad you share your ideas here. So that we and others can benefit from them. I still think there is a book in your musing in this forum from over the years. I just wish I had the resources to compile it. Maybe one day, that is if Google-Amazon- Facebook (GAF) don't run me out of business first

@Pioneer1, you should research the subject of white supremacy. At least earn a bit more about it's origins, you then see many of your conclusions are baseless. I was not trying to make a point. I was just trying to discern how much you knew about White Supremacy. It is interesting given your admittedly limited knowledge on the subject that you feel perfectly comfortable making grandiose statements like, "White Supremacy took these evils which were rather local and isolated and MAGINFIED them into a world wide system of exploitation and misery previously unknown to humanity." This characteristic makes it difficult to have a reasonable dialogue about this subject with you, because you'll say anything with nothing to back it up. A cursory knowledge of history would give you ample examples to the contrary. Think about religion for example. Religion predates White Supremacy and has been the cause of a great deal more suffering which continues to this day. Wouldn't you agree? BTW regarding the video, people can have dual citizenship i.e. have two nationalities. For the upteenth time, there is only one race. You can't look at someone and determine what you understand to be their "race." As far as the brother is concerned; he struck me as perfectly normal. It is not surprising that he would get a little tongue tied when a stranger sticks a camera in his face and asks deeply personal questions in public.