Troy

Cynique, I'll give you an example. When I was a kid, the government literally introduced drugs into the Black community. Black folks became addicted. What was the government reaction? Lock both the low level dealers and the users up for decades or longer with new 3 strike laws. Today white folk here in NY City are ODing left and right. The government's response: decriminalize drug laws, arm police with drugs to police to prevent death from overdose, implement programs to treat the addiction, and launch a media campaign to turn public's perception of drugs addicts from criminals to be reviled, to victims of a disease in need of compassion and help Black people in Chicago's South side know no one cares about them; not the business community, not the government, not even the religious organizations (right @harry brown). If they were treated like people we would not have these conditions. That sound like hyperbole, but it is the reality. When you see it first hand it is obvious. Another example, we know high levels of lead causes brain damage. The idea that a government would poison (or ignore) a water system that serves the Black community shows at best a complete disregard for the people drinking the water. Usually these people are Black, but they always poor. The solutions are simple Cynique. It just starts with treating people with respect and dignity; something Black folks never really enjoyed in the US. Black folks who move to white communities can benefit from the proximity to white folks, while Black folks without the resources to escape the inner city ghettos catch hell. Image getting whacked while pushing a baby in a stroller down the street or while sitting in you home. This is crazy, but it is accepted as the norm....

The categories for our Bestsellers Lists include Fiction, Nonfiction, Children's Books, and Poetry. Unfortunately we did not sell enough poetry to fill the category for this period. Historically, poetry books have sold strongly on this site. Certainly one of the reasons poetry book sales are down is, despite 1000's of pages of content related to poetry, there is simply a lot less engagement on the site connected to poetry. I have not published a poetry book reviews in sometime, the poetry forum is not active, and while poets never really took ads out on AALBC.com, ad sales to poets is probably at an all-time low. This is too bad, because 2016 may be an all-time high for page views on AALBC.com. The only exception is poetry book for children (which I categorize under "Children's Books"); there are book in the series "Poetry for Young People," the book covering Langston Hughes' work sold well enough to make our bestsellers list. Novels on Go On Girl! Book Club's reading list are also prominent on our bestsellers list. Commissions AALBC.com earns from sales of books on Go On Girl!'s reading list are contributed to their scholarship fund, so they have been instrumental in driving sales for those books through AALBC.com. Similarly Brown Girls Books, dominates the fiction list with several bestselling titles due largely to direct support of AALBC.com. Readers, publishers, and authors all win in this scenario--reminiscent of the early days of the web. Prospects for the Black Book Ecosystem are promising!

...more than NYC and LA combined. This is beyond tragic, virtually no one in Chicagoland is untouched by this horror. We live in a culture where we spend more time talking about some gymnast's hair style than things like this, which truly matter. There is nothing in our culture positioned to do anything about this, not "Southside Obama," "I am somebody Jackson," or even The Nation. This is not unprecedented, Chicago's murder rate has been worse. NYC had many years where they topped 2,000 murders. Sure our population is much larger than Chicago's but not that much larger. NYC's solution was to just lock everyone one up. They have all these other theories like "Broken Window," but at the end of the day they put a lot of people away for a long time, guilt or innocence was often not even a consideration. We know how to fix these problems without locking negros up and throwing away the key. No one will make the investment or commitment--not even Black people...

“When brothers say, ‘Let me be the man,’ he’s exposing that he isn’t one.” Thanks VL, I'll have to use this one.

@Trina Jordan, I agree with VL. While I've never written a novel myself I do consider myself an authority on books in the digital space I've been an active user of Amazon since it was invented. There are three main issues here (and I write this for your sake as well as other authors who may also be reading this). It is looks like there were some issues loading your book(s) information in Amazon. Surely the images of the cute little girl alone is not the book cover. How many books do you actually have is it three? You should share the information about your book's description here. There are a lot of reasons for this, but paramount among them is that few people will actually follow the links--save folks a step and describe the book, they can always go your site for more information Speaking of sites, get your own website. Amazon should not be your primary web presence, and if you are going to send people to Amazon--please use an affiliate code. Read this article point #3 to learn how and why: http://aalbc.com/blog/index.php/2013/07/28/5-things-writers-must-do/

I'm still months away from pricing, but I'm thinking the pricing would be a function of budget and goals of the individual clients. Lets talk. I'll follow up after the holiday.

@VL Towler man you articulated that better than I ever could and I agree 100% This is why I struggle to get those in my sphere of influence, the Black book ecosystem, to work together in the manner you described. Slowly I see it happening, if not for anything else--out of necessity.

AALBC.com is curently testing a service where I provide online markting services to authors. The idea is that AALBC.com would work with authors and publishers to help them market and promote ther books on the web. This would of course include promotion on AALBC.com's platform, but it would also include the use of social media, Amazon, Google adsense, and other Black owned websites. This service is an attempt to evaluate and maximize the effectiveness of various online options to give the client the best bang for the buck on the web. @CDBurns, this is the answer to the question you posed several months ago on the Bloggers helping Bloggers forum on what service I can provide, beyond the 30 day and out type of banner ad placing.

AALBC.com is continuing to expand. We are just a few months away from providing book printing services. I'm excited about this because this is one of the final pieces needed to becoming a full service publisher. The other great thing is that I'm working with an established Black owned printer who is producing a quality products at competitive prices. I'm setting up the website now (which is slowing up the AALBC.com upgrade, but it is worth the effort). I also plan on publishing great books that agents can't find publishers for, I'm about a year away from this, but there's some great potential here that I can't wait to begin working on.

Perfect--all the information about the book as well as a link back to your website. If you get a chance I'd encourage you to change the title of the post from "Book Review Request" to something more descriptive and interesting like, "CHANGE OF HEART, a powerful new novel examines the damage done to families." This will not only help with search engine optimization (helping your information appear in queries on this website and and Google), but it will also potentially pique the interest of potential readers who visit this website I've encouraged authors to post information about their books here, rather than emailing me their book review requests. The primarily reason for this is; not only will I definitely read the request, but other potential readers will see it as well. Posting information about the book also imposes a self-selection filter that I find helpful--if an author can't be bothered to share information about their own book on this website, I can't be bothered to pay a book reviewer to review their book. Of course an authors savvy enough to post information about their book here will also be more likely to have their own website and share information about their book's review on AALBC.com after it is published. All of this matters from the perspective of the publisher of the book review. Thanks for sharing information about your book here @NRM.

Brilliant @VL Towler thanks for expressing those sentiments. Obviously I can't disagree with your experiences, but I would like to explore how you perceive them. You see a common refrain I hear from folks extolling the virtues of Twitter, and social media in general, is that Black people; Have a voice; make contacts, and network; sell books; and complain to corporations, and get a response. All of this is of course true, and I have used Twitter for all of these reasons too. But, what we seem to forget is that all of this was possible before social media. Some, usually social media owners--those that stand to benefit financially--speak as if they have revolutionized human networking. The World Wide Web revolutionized networking. The owners of social media have simply mastered the monetization of social media by exploiting our privacy and information. As a result, social media has distorted and corrupted the WWW's effectiveness. My primary problem with the massive social media sites--especially the outsized use of Twitter by black folks, is that is comes at the expense of Black owned platforms. Large Black owned sites are virtually non-existent and this was not always the case. Today Black people's voices are expressed solely at the largess of white owned platforms. We serve at THEIR pleasure. Like the black person creating a back door where none was present; we do so willingly. You see, our true voices are not measured by the volume of uninformed opinions, the spread of unsubstantiated rumors, and the dissing of other Black folks. To understand what is really happening we need journalists. Black journalists do not thrive in a social media dominated WWW, neither do undistorted Black voices, nor things that truly serve Black people. I also know that some Black individuals have reaped financial success as a result of social media, but again Black individuals achieved financial success.before social media. All in I believe social media has provided a net deficit, financially, for Black people collectively. I say believe because I can't prove it, but I have over two decades of experience creating content for the web and observing the contribution of other Black owned platforms.

Twitter: noun twit·ter \ˈtwi-tər\ A vapid venue, that attracts shallow, self-absorbed, cruel characters who feed on celebrity gossip, political controversy and non issues, - gullible people who allow themselves to be manipulated by profiteer. Precisely! Actually I'm not surprised @Cynique, nobody your age and few people my age--save those like me using it for marketing purposes--actually use Twitter on a regular basis. Of course, there are good and decent people on Twitter who use the platform, as an alternative to email, to share messages with groups of friends and associates. But these people are not the ones who generate the preponderance of Twitter's traffic, revenue, and notoriety. It is all the negative stuff that goes on that makes Twitter popular. You never read about Black women being demeaned and trashed on LinkedIn or Pinterest. Twitter is designed and optimized for the sole purpose of spreading celebrity gossip, political controversy and non issues--for profit. Twitter picks up where World Star HipHop leaves off except you know exactly what to expect when you go to World Star and there is no pretense, Unlike Twitter, who is elevated as if they are some kind of revolution starting, engine for enlightened social change. "black Twitter" is discussed as if it is the only thing of value for Black folks poppin' on the web. Twitter is the National Enquirer treated as if it is The New York Times. I get that you are not a bully. The folks on Twitter are bullies and they jump on people like a pack of rabid hyenas. And I haven't even gotten into Twitter porn or that the majority of tweets made are automated...

Yes I agree. I try not to write anything online about, or to, someone I would not say to their face. Twitter is rife with this vitriol because you can be anonymous there, which is one reason you don't get this crap on Facebook so much. Your store experience reminds me of a study, which described some of the benefits attractive women enjoy (i.e. not the Leslie's of the world). Anecdotally several of the women described situations, similar to yours @Cynique in which the cashier told them not to worry about paying. Then again Leslie enjoys benefits due to her celebrity that other probably can't image... One women did an experiment and deliberately with to the register without enough money to cover the the stuff she put on the belt. She was waived on, or told to comeback with the money later--each time! When I used to sell books at fairs I would often give people books--telling to send me a check later. The vast majority of people actually followed through by sending me a check. Once I sold books for a minister at a church in Brooklyn. Half of the checks I got for the book I sold bounced--half! After sending letters to the addresses listed on the checks, only one person made good on the check. I was a naive thinking Black Christians, in a church, wouldn't rob me, or treat me after worse than random people at a street fair. Perhaps people are more inclined to return kindness with kindness. As far a getting a "fiendish dish" teasing others that activity never did amuse me very much. Even as a kid, eventually some would get their feeling hurt or someones mother would be dissed an people would want to fight... Now a comedian at a comedy show crackin' on people in the audience, the way Robin Harris used to do, is something I find funny. But the protracted, merciless, hateful, mean stuff we see on Twitter is a waste to time and does no one any good. There is a difference between being mean and being funny. On twitter we often treat meanness a humor.

Yes I was referring to NYC, sorry about that. Outside of NYC; Florida and the rest of the state have a lot in common. NYC has 5 boroughs. One boroughs, Staten Island, will probably go to Trump. But the rest of the city is so democratic that Hillary will easily win the state. Now it will be interesting to see Trump's percentages throughout the state. I would not be surprised to see Trump get a higher percentage NY State's votes relative to the Democrat than Romney or McCain got in 2012 or 2008.

I replied to a comment on Google+ back when Cynique first made this post which prompted me to research some of the related activity on social media. I received notification of the following comment this morning: "i wish it showed less. i hate seeing her ugly face. that and i miss the old mayhem commercials. those were at least funny. unlike this ugly insecure dullard. her hair looks like an inflated puffer fish, she has the facial structure of a man, her body type is well. ugh. and her teeth look all lop sided.oh and even worse yet. its not funny, which. is sad if this woman was supposed to be some kind of comedian." While I don't agree with anything this person wrote (the "puffer fish "comment was funny though) it just seemed unduly harsh and uninformed (he probably never saw her standup routine). Sometimes I wonder what motivates people to share such vitriol? What do they get out of it? Maybe it is a reflection of their own mental illness. I know some people this stuff fun, like the ones who come after me from time-to-time. But these guys can get a laugh because they are coming directly at me. Leslie will not likely see the comment made above, so where is the fun in that?

I did hear about this story all over talk radio, which I listen to a lot when I drive. Both left and right wing stations were ablaze with this "controversy," which you've summed up quite nicely. This story is utterly and completely uninteresting to me. Sadly for me it was virtually impossible to avoid. Though I don't mind talking to you about it I would not elevate Kaepernick to the level of Tommie Smith and John Carlos. What those Brothers did took actual heart, as well a tremendous athletic ability to put them in the once in a life time situation. But it gives the media something to talk about, meanwhile it is hitting the fan in the middle east as the U.S. and Russia back opposing factions. The U.S. really helped make a mess of things in the middle east, but like little children we are easily distracted by talking about Kaepernick's inconsequential gesture--get back to me when he does something substantive. Now a story that really interests me is the one which suggest the potential for the possibility of the discovery of a hugely advanced alien civilization based upon a signal received! I heard the tail end of a news story about the subject and I could not believe my ears. I have not had a chance to lookup additional coverage yet-but what a story!

Cynique I think your experience is more typical of most Americans. If it was not their experience, it is what they aspired to. I'm 30 years behind you and grew up in an urban ghetto, but I can relate to everything you wrote--especially the last paragraph. I think this, for those of us who experienced it, is what we miss. Some call it "hope and change," others calling it making "America great again." At the end of the day, we all know America can do better... because we have. When I was a kid a common pastime was to sit around a crack jokes on each other. We called it, "snappin'." Later, as an adult, I learned others called it "playing the dozens." Today I look back on the activity and think, on one hand it steeled us for the harsh reality of streets and the larger white dominated world, but on the other hand if probably adversely effected our self esteems. This may be one reason I have zero sympathy for anyone whose feelings are hurt by something someone, they don't even know, wrote about them on social media. But when I was a kid, I could always go home and the snappin' would end. Today people live on social media 24/7, so when it social invariably turns on them they, perhaps, feel as if there is no escape. The "snaps" spread far and wide, transcending both space and time, and never go away. So while I did not experience the potential for a constant barrage of insults as a young person, the difference does not make me anymore sympathetic to the Leslies or Gabbys of the world, because they can always leave Twitter. Besides, despite the hype of Twitter and facebook there are still other communities where people like Leslie or Gabby can post picture and share their experiences without having to worry about the constant ridicule of others. But again the failure of people to recognize that they don't need Twitter is what gives Twitter so much power to do us harm #tohellwithtwitter

Cynique, from your perspective, all things considered, who do you think received a better education (up to High school), your peers, your children or your grands?

Noooooo! Twitter is not necessary--evil or otherwise. This very idea is what has actually weakened our voices on the web. OK, I did not mean to demonize all Twitter users, I use Twitter (for now), but surely you know much of the stuff that goes viral and gets traction does not serve Black people very well. Our very conversation about Leslie is reflective of that. The VAST majority of people on Twitter don't post. The most popular content is usually something that makes fun of Black people. We have always had a voice--especially on the web. Twitter has not brought anything new to the game--other than brilliant marketing. Black voices have actually been weakened in the age of social media. I say this for a number of reasons but the primary one is the crowding out of Black journalists. So while you say people are able to compartmentalize their time; they only have 24 hours in a day--they can't do everything. So we spend more time reading nonsense blasting Gabby and Leslie; and spend less time reading things that matter more. As we read less of stuff that matters, less of it is published. As result, we have tons of crap written by people who don't know what they are talking about, while journalists and talented writers struggle on jump on the bandwagon. This in my estimation this is the worse thing that has happened on the web, for Black people in the almost 1/4 century I've been publishing content on the web. It is the reason I spend as much time working with indie sites as I do selling books.

You are right; I skipped the Republican convention, not because I'm boycotting a lot of TV, but because it does not interest me. I also refuse to feed the coffers of mainstream media by falling fall prey to their obsession to get us to gawk at Trump. While Black people can not become 100% unified we, could reach across racial lines. Cynique, you have more in common with your white neighbors than you do with a Black person whose family has been in poverty since reconstruction and even less in common with people like Hillary or Trump who will represent us. It is about class, not race. Join the Republican party? No thanks. I spend a lot of time in NYC and Florida. NYC is firmly democratic and they live in a bubble. The more provincial New Yorkers can't even wrap their heads around why anyone would vote republican. In Florida local talk radio are citing polls which say that Trump currently has 20% of the Black vote and will likely win the state. There are non-racists, smart people in both locations, but New York and Florida may as well be two different countries given their views on religion, politics, guns, etc...

No worries Angela. We can always pick up where we left off even if it is more than a decade later :-)

Cynique how do you explain all the Black Republicans? There is zero chance of Blacks, becoming of one mind. But that is not what is needed to improve our situation. Interesting, you should mention nation building that would be an interesting alternative explore. It is not a new idea, but perhaps worth looking into. I don't think it is as implausible as you suggest.

Cynique where do I begin... First lets be clear, I'm obviously in favor of people supporting others; but this whole thing has gotten blown way out of proportion. This has NOTHING to do with Lesie; this is all about the generation of revenue by the media properties that manufacture and promulgate this garbage. Sites get hacked; that is the nature of the beast. If every site that got hacked made the news there would be no time to report anything else. I mean you all have witnessed this site get regularly bombarded by spammers much of the damage I've managed to hide. But again this is par for the course. How did Leslie's "woes" start? There were a bunch of knuckleheads joking about Leslie--so what? If someone got out of hand and started relentlessly dissing someone on these forums, they would be banned--end of story. But no, Twitter fans the flames while dumping gasoline on the whole situation. Whether we participate in the jokes or call our selves standing up for her with a stupid hash tag; all we are doing to keeping this bullshit going. Five minutes from now this will be over and we will be dissing some other sister. Of course their will be the requisite faux outrage accompanying. How many times will this continue. From Gabby breaking down during the Olympics to kids being driven to suicide over tweets--the whole thing is beyond stupid. But making fun of Black women is lucrative and sadly very amusing for a lot of folks--many of them Black. If we want to stand of for Leslie stop using the platform that profit from dissing her. But again, that will not happen because Black folks have nothing better to do.

“Not all Republicans are racists, but all racists are Republican.” I hear that quote all the time and it is misleading because there are plenty of racist Democrats. Believing racist are only in the Republican party results in a lot of pain for folks... because the get hurt when they discover racist are in all parties. The believe that the Democrats is our only alternative is self defeating. There are always options our collective failure to conceive of and execute something different is our greatest weakness.

Kam's review of Southside With You “…a syrupy soap opera readily recommended for ardent Obama admirers.”