Troy

Yeah James H. Cone is a scholar more people should be familiar with. Interestingly I only learned about his work as a result of AALBC.com a couple of years ago Cone published The Cross and the Lynching Tree. Thanks for the reminder Harry.

I'd settle for similar acknowledgement from the Perry's and Lee's of the world...

I actually have not sat down to watch the panels at the Harlem Book Fair myself. I will comment after I do so which may be some time...

Hey DT do you actually use MySpace and Blackplanet? Do you find them useful. I'd almost forgotten I even had a Blackplanet profile (http://www.blackplanet.com/Troy/) going back to 1999. I saw the negative review on you book on Amazon. Actually it was not a review of your book but an assessment of you tactics. I'm not sure why they guys thinks you are a spammer, you post here but do so in an unspammy fashion. Indeed I would like to see more writers post information about their book that way you do. Can you have the comments removed since they do not relate to the book. If I had the resources I would actually have someone review a couple of your books. One of the really bad things about Amazon is despite being Earth's largest book seller, it is hard to get a good book recommendation out of them -- especially for Black books. As Amazon grows the likelihood of getting a Black book reviewed continues to decrease.

Just a couple of apples in a row, right? I'm not suggesting that this book cover has gone to far. It is however a clever way to combine culinary and erotic interests in a visual

AALBC.com's credit for a quote from Kam's review of the blockbuster film, OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN (http://aalbc.it/ohf2013). Sony Pictures could have pulled a quote from anyone. It is nice when small independent source is recognized.

I forgot to mention James Hendrick's book, Power of the P, did really well on the website; it generated enough attention to be clicked by a high percentage of the website's visitors. I don't have similar data on the other books.

"Leaving things to the imagination" a likely respond from someone under 30 might be, "What does that mean?" Cynique, you apparently reacted in the way the author intended. Perhaps you are more reflective of the target demographic. For me the cover did not illicit interest in the book's content. I just started thinking about how book covers (magazine covers too) are becoming much more graphic. Here are a couple of other book covers from recent advertisers. I LOVE advertisers. My intent is not to berate their products. I'm merely discussing them in the context of broader industry trends. Indeed, the fact they are advertisers is the reason I'm, and now you, are aware of the books. That said; When this book cover ad was placed on AALBC.com (this advertisement was sold by an affiliate). I was concerned people would view the AALBC.com negatively. I've actually had two potential advertisers tell me that they did not want their book covers on the homepage (one of my inexpensive advertising options) because of the book covers already present. I hate that attitude because if they advertised they could impact what was on the site. But the real problem I have is that both of these people whose books were too precious to be on the homepage have no problem taking advantage of all the free promotion I provide them. At any rate, this cover, in my opinion, is too revealing for a book cover. I could image a physical bookstore refusing to display it out in the open. But in today's world to get noticed authors constantly up the ante. Besides there are so few stores left the idea of reducing the prospect for prominent placement is no longer a factor. The cover below is rather interesting, humorous even. Perhaps that is the goal? I have no idea. Clearly each of us will see something different in a book cover. This is natural. But the cover and title, ideally, should yield the same impression for the majority of the target audience. I can only speculate who the target reader is and what they should take way from the this cover. It also made me think about HBO again. Netflix as you know has began producing their own original TV series. They also make the entire series available in one shot. Given the Netflix is only $8 a month I think this is a terrific deal (but I'm way off the subject). Netflix seems to be following HBO down the road of leaving too little to the imaginations. On one of the series that I started to watch, "Orange is the New Black", there was as scene in which the main character, a woman, goes to the bathroom. I said to myself if they show this woman using the toilet and wiping herself I'm bailing. She did and I decided to read a book.

THE GOOD LORD BIRD a novel of about John Brown a revolutionary abolitionist and American hero by James McBride Riverhead Books (August 20, 2013)

Thanks for stopping by Cynthia. Also check this article especially item number 2 and 3 when you get a chance -- thanks.

Maybe I'm becoming a prude in my old age but sometimes I think the media has really taken things too far. For example, take HBO's television series; it seems HBO is hell bent on shoving sex, especially gay sex, down our throats. Otherwise compelling programing is hurt, in my opinion, by the gratuitous (and it is always gratuitous) sex. Look, porn is fine and there is a place for it, but not during a every single episode of every single series. OZ really took the cake -- I actually couldn't even really watch the program for fear of having to witness that big Nigerian dude anally raping someone. The True Blood series fell apart for a number of reasons but if I have to watch the vamper skank Sookie Stackhouse get naked again I'm going to puke. But from The Wire, to Game of Thrones to my favorite series Six Feet Under, the freaks at HBO bombard you with sex -- full frontal male nudity, Male on male, woman on woman, even dwarf sex -- sheesh! Now to book covers. I saw this book cover at the Harlem Book Fair a couple of weeks ago. I spoke briefly with the author and even shot a quick video of her. The young lady, Nadege who wrote the book was very sweet. I did not talk to her about her cover, so I feel a little bad about singling this cover out -- cause there are many others I could have chosen. But then again when you put a book out into the world you also extend and invitation to folks to talk about it. That said, I thought this book crossed the line a bit. I have no problem with the book cover, but should it be prominently displayed, out in the open, a few yards from the Children's Pavilion at an outdoor street fair? Perhaps this is art and I'm a prude. The faux penis in the woman's month subtly suggesting what one may find between the covers of the book. I dunno. What do you all think?

That was well said Cynique. You brought out what I was after and much more. We hear all this talk about the paucity of "good" Black men but we never hear talk of the scarcity of "good" black women. I think most people are "good" the problem is the inherent incompatibles in needs, wants desires, etc. I know plenty of "good" people getting divorced, multiple times even. I'm not so sure toxic men (or women) are the root of the problem. I think the environment is what is toxic. The men merely reflected the environment.

Pioneer of course Black people behave the way you describe I hear it daily. Mother cursing out there children is particularly irksome to me because when you look at the child's face you wanna just grab them, and show them some love and affection... but it would be a full time job stopping each mother I encountered from doing it. I also hear Puerto Ricans, in the same community ,behaving the same way. When I used to ride the subway I would occasionally encounter groups of young white men behaving badly too -- including calling each other niggaz. It is not just a Black thing we just catch more hell for it. While whitely the REAL crimes, eloquently detailed by Cynique, go unanswered, unpunished. Also a typical New Yorker, as irritating as the behavior is, there is usually no cause for fear.

The House I Live In (2012, Drugs Documentary Movie - Trailer) Pioneer I thought about you when I learned about this film, listening to a recent This American Life episode.

Pioneer the way young Black men present, on the the street, is a direct consequence of living in an oppressive and racist society. To many that sounds like an excuse, but the situation will not change, indeed it will get worse, until we remedy the underlying problem.

I agree completely with what Cornel said. I wish more people would listen. Perhaps because West is so critical of Obama many Black people can;t hear what West is saying. People worship Obama. I think an Obama presidency may have worked out worse for us. Because as Obama continues, even escalates, many of Bush policies and the assault against Black folks continue while condemnation of executive office is non-existent. Indeed those who might complain, like Cornel, are vilified by the majority of Black people including the Brother who wrote the article. If Obama was white Black people would be all over him...

Agreed. Now for a completely different question: do you think Black men have a difficult time finding a good woman?

Highlights from this year's fair

Here are highlghts from the 2013 book fair:

Here is an email I just got in reaction to my article: I started finding a bunch of stories about the Amazon monopoly now -- very very hot news in your industry. Wow. http://www.mhpbooks.com/breaking-news-amazon-declares-war-on-book-industry/ http://www.mhpbooks.com/monopoly-acheived-an-invincible-amazon-begins-raising-prices/ http://www.mhpbooks.com/amazon-warehouses-literally-worse-than-coal-mines/ I have not read the articles yet -- still trying to crank out a eNewsletter which takes all day.

Hey Milton, thanks but let me know what you think after you get a chance to read the article. I did offer five solutions they are are not to hard to implement. The easiest is if you are gonna send people to Amazon then use an affiliate code -- it kills me when I see people send other to Amazon without using an affiliate code. One day Amazon may decided to stop paying commissions. We should take the money while it is still being paid. The hardest might be stop writing for big corporations for free. If every writer did that then many more could actually earn a living. I pay writers, the Huffington, for example can too -- it writers demanded it, but they never will... I just wish more writers would write for indy sites with the same gusto and largess as they do for rich sites, maybe a few more of us indy sites would be around.

I think Baldwin was a keen observer of his times. He seems clairvoyant because nothing has changed. Baldwin I think would be in West camp. He had no problem dismissing Whitney Young and Roy Wilkins as leaders.

5 Things Writers Must Do To Survive Online Let me know what you think about the above article by posting here or on my blog. My thesis is that we are giving up too much to big websites like Amazon/FaceBook/Google and get too little in return. The imbalance it growing increasingly worse... At this rate books, for example, will only be available for purchase from Amazon -- they already control 60% of all book sales not even B&N comes close. The Facebook will be the World Wide Web, at least that is where most people will spend most of their time and Google will control access to what little online content that is left, that they don't directly control. Everyone else will have to pay Google or Facebook for the potential to be seen. I admit that I contribute to the problem for example, by selling books (almost exclusively), as an Amazon affiliate. But you live and learn, and I'm attempting to change -- certainly for new websites I build. I realize my perspective may not be shared or understood by many. But I also understand that my position as an independent content producer on the web for almost 18 years is pretty unique. So my article may come across as a creed or at least rant. In any case, I'm interested in what people think -- especially those who do not share my experiences and those who disagree. .

I still wonder Karlicia. I mean it is good to say there is someone out there for everyone, but I'm just not so sure just given the numbers. I have not seen a serious study to support my suspicions but if you consider the Black male incarceration, murder and employment rates and contrast that to Black women now obtaining college educations at a higher rate. One has to seriously consider, numerically it is just much hard for a Black woman to find a "Mr Good" so say yes to. If you take a college educated Black woman and assume she wants a college educated Black man of a similar age without children I would be willing to guess there are 50% more women in this category. Once you factor in Black men who actually want to be in a committed monogamous relation, and mutual compatibility. it seems like women have if MUCH more difficult than men.

I was present during the event in which the photo, on the Guardian's website, of Obama and Cornel l was taken (A video is this is shown below). Cornel has not changed as a man. However his opinion of Obama has changed. There is a profound difference. The author's assessment of Cornel as "...probably the most important voice to have helped shaped African-American identity in recent years..." was arrived at from a career of activity and now the author wants to undo that because his assessment of Obama differs from Cornel's?! Cornel knows Obama MUCH better than the authors does. Cornel was on the campaign trail with Obama for 85 events. I'm certain West critique of Obama does not come easily, certainly not as easily the writer's critique of West.