Troy

Pulitzer Prize-winning, Harvard professor Annette Gordon-Reed reviews Wil Haygood’s new book, Showdown, on Thurgood Marshall and racial segregation, in The Washington Post Book World. Gordon-Reed details Haygood’s cast of characters whom Marshall encountered while being confirmed before the Senate as the first African American Supreme Court justice. Gordon-Reed writes: On Southern senators What a cast of characters! There was the chairman of the committee, James Eastland of Mississippi, who had a plantation and whose father had allegedly lynched a black man. In a conversation with the new Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Eastland mused aloud that “you Kennedys always care about the Negras” (usually spelled Nigras). Strom Thurmond of South Carolina was also “lying in wait” for Marshall, hoping to trip him up while, unbeknownst to everyone but some in his home state, supporting his own half-black daughter. Sam Ervin of North Carolina--the self-described “country lawyer” from Harvard Law School, who would later gain fame during the Watergate hearings for his waggling eyebrows and down-home demeanor--was also part of the group of long-serving Southern senators whom Edward Kennedy referred to as the “reliable old bulls.” They, he said, “controlled Judiciary as a sort of fiefdom.” On President Lyndon B. Johnson There were larger-than-life characters on the other side, too, not the least of whom was Marshall himself, with his great sense of fun and the fearlessness with which he pursued his goal of ridding the country of racial discrimination. The man who appointed him to the court, Lyndon B. Johnson, thought he recognized a kindred spirit. He said to Marshall, “I’m nominating you because you’re a lot like me: bigger than life, and we come from the same kind of people.“ Read the entire review in The Washington Post

I read only paper books now, so this really comes as no surprise to me. On my most recent bestsellers list, only 2 of the 30 books where electronic, and both of those ebooks were only available in eBook format. However, if you look at all books sales, eBooks outnumbered physical books sales 53% to 47%. Most of the ebooks sales were inexpensive downloads--which has really decimated my revenue from commissions on book sales--but that is another story. While book bootlegging does take place the impact has not been the same as it has been for video and music. People who buy hardcover books don't buy them on the Black market; they buy them through normal channels. Mass Market and regular paperback books are not worth the time, energy and punishment--it is just easier to bootleg DVDs you have a larger customer base and they are cheaper to copy. While the New York Times article makes no mention of this, Black booksellers, online and off, have been smashed to smithereens. Of course the New York Times, who writes for white readers will not report on this segment of the business, so it is largely unknown to the general public. I guess the Black book ecosystem will rebound, but, as usual, we will lag our white counterparts by years.

The Plot Twist: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far From Dead By ALEXANDRA ALTERSEPT. 22, 2015 Now, there are signs that some e-book adopters are returning to print, or becoming hybrid readers, who juggle devices and paper. E-book sales fell by 10 percent in the first five months of this year, according to the Association of American Publishers, which collects data from nearly 1,200 publishers. Digital books accounted last year for around 20 percent of the market, roughly the same as they did a few years ago.

The #1 Power List Bestselling Author, AALBC.com Bestselling Author, #1 NY Times Bestselling Author, National Book Award Winning Author (my prediction), and heir apparent to Jimmy Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates will write the new Black Panther comic for Marvel! So says the New York Times. Coates has "the juice" right about now. Black Panther No. 1 (coming 2016)

You know Cynique, now that you mention, it Hitler rose into power for the same reason.

Here del you can easily check the last time someone posted by visiting their profile. Here is a link to Cynique's profile. Yeah I see that she has not posted in a week. You can also check for her on Facebook she is active there too, but I don't follow her (anyone really) there. I'm sure Cynique will pop up again when the spirit moves her.

Celebrate the Longlists for the 2015 National Book Awards!The National Book Foundation released their Longlists for the 2015 National Book Awards this week. The 40 titles in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature represent a diverse body of exemplary literature, selected by their panel of judges. AALBC.com will of course highlight the books written by African American Authors. Ta-Nehisi's, Between the World and Me, will win. I've never failed to predict a National Book Award winning title.

Welcome to Death Row: The Uncensored History of the Rise & Fall of Death Row Records

I don't know enough about Aussie politics to have an opinion (remember I'm in America where Trump is the most important Political topic and nothing beyond out shores is significant), but if you are impressed I'm impressed too. Was the guy put out before his term? Is that unprecedented? Were there no clues, or scandals indicating that this might be a potential outcome?

Hi TMP. I'm don't know what you mean by "African American Publishing Directories." Would you describe what they are?

I'm looking forward to November :-) The website redesign is progressing, I'm also securing more content, but the larger question remains will it make a difference? Actually that should have been the question I should have asked back in February.

The thing about this stuff is, that if you are so inclined to believe it, there are plenty of examples in Harlem to justify the reasoning.

Guest, I was just thinking about the Johnson house. It caught my eye driving down Germantown avenue (because my name is Johnson). I noticed from reading the placard out front that is was a stop on the underground railroad. Yesterday, I discovered a bookstore just a block or two away, The Color Book Gallery

I stumbled across this conversation looking for Adam Mansbach content on AALBC.com. Getting side tracked O found a cool video of Stacey Ann Chin and Adman reading different the english and the jamaican version of he popular book: http://aalbc.it/goderass Adam seems to be irreverent and funny enough to be the old ABM. Over the years I've come to appreciate Akashic as they have kept a lot of talented writers in print.

Akashic Books Just Us Books These images are taken from screenshot of what I'm calling "book cover mosaics" from the new version of AALBC.com. I hope to have the new site done in time for the 18th anniversary of thew websites launch in March of 2016. Both Just Us Books and Akashic are and supporters of AALBC.com. Of course their are several others who I will highlight in the coming months. Do you all prefer the circle or the square image?

Hi Guest (Gisele), The service Chris pointed is completely different than using Amazon to publish a book. Essentially Amazon is trolling the pool of unpublished manuscripts and deciding which ones to publish--presumably based upon their deep knowledge of the marketplace and the likelihood of profitability. If your book is selected Amazon will pay you a $1,500 advance and give you a 50% royalty and exclusive worldwide all format right to your work for 5 years. Is this a good deal? From the perspective of most writers it probably appears to be, and in today's environment, it probably is when the alternative is to self-publish or not publish at all. In this program the authors has to have the book edited which could easily cost more than $1,500. A 50% royalty sounds goo until you learn how Amazon calculate that royalty and what the purchase price of the book will be. On the upside, you have to believe if Amazon decides to publish your book, they will position these books more prominently than other titles that did not come through the program. ------------ Gisele (all authors reading this) please read this article, "5 Things Writers Must Do To Survive Online." Read point #3 – NEVER Link to Amazon Without Using an Affiliate Code. Failure to heed this point is leaving money on the table. Here is an better link for you to use when sending people to Amazon: http://aalbc.it/wolfgirlbook the (the article will describe why).

New Guild Survey Reveals Majority of Authors Earn Below Poverty Line"So what does that Federal Poverty Level statistic mean? Given that a single person earning less than $11,670 annually sits below the poverty line, 56% of respondents would qualify, if they relied solely on income from their writing. The survey also indicated that not only are many authors earning little, they are, since 2009, also earning less. Overall, the median writing-related income among respondents dropped from $10,500 in 2009 to $8,000 2014 in 2014, a decline of 24%. The decline came for both full-time and part-time authors with full-time authors reporting a 30% drop in income to $17,500 and part-time authors seeing a 38% decrease, to $4,500." Read the full article. ------------ I suspect, in the Black community, the numbers are more dire. I'm doubt being an authors has ever been a vocation in which the majority could earn a living wage, but it seems it is now more difficult than ever. Increased competition, little marketing, fewer platforms to sell product and a waning readership are all likely contributors for Black authors.

If Blake would have put up a fight he he might have been shot. I was surprised how easily he was taken down. I would have been kicking, screaming and fighting if someone bum rushed me like that out of nowhere. If Obama was elected don;t be surprised if Trump is elected. People are moved by emotions and only vote for people they have heard of and since the media will only cover Trump, he has a serious advantage. These are the two things hurting Bernie, a lack of celebrity, and what little coverage he gets is usually biased against him. Unless you listen to Democracy Now, or some other far let programming. Now this is deep. Was not familiar with Pastor James Davis Manning, I am actually familiar with the church--it is around the corner from where I live. The first time I saw the sign I did a double take--thinking did I read what I just read. But this is NYC and nothing really surprises me. His extremist rhetoric is getting attention. If Pastor Manning were famous and rich, he could run for President.

Praise de lawd! Katura, you are a glimmer of hope :-) I know you love books because you have purchased copies to replace worn ones! That is saying something. I've done that once, buying a very nice edition of The Alchemist. I liked the book so much I just wanted to have a better looking copy (I never admitted that before). I will probably go back and finish The Warmth of Other Suns (Cynique, I you forgot to mention you read that one that one, In fact I started it because of you). I'm taking a few days off next week, so I'll have the luxury of being able to read a book or two. As we speak, I'm working on AALBC.com bestsellers List for July and August. I'm still experimenting with new designs for the presentation, and on the backend (database and scripts). When it is all done I can go back to publishing a list monthly. I stopped doing it because it was too labor intensive. Now that I think about it what do you all think about a bestsellers list that is say 100 books deep that represents the bestselling books on this website, keeping a running total (sort of the way Amazon does).

Reading for pleasure is a luxury that increasingly fewer of us can afford. As folks lives improve, they read more. Cynique you make me think of the Sam Cooke song, It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die 'Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky But I think the real problem is that we are constantly presented with all the crap in the world. I mean did any of us really need to know about that woman in Kentucky. There is plenty of good happening in the world, but that rarely gets shared. The general consensus is that this is what people actually want, "if it bleeds it leads." As a result we tend to believe there is more crap in the world than there really is... in fact the opposite is true. The crap is front and center because it is profitable, not because it is what people want. They prey on our weaknesses, whether it is sugar, porn, cigarettes or just parading dysfunctional people in front of us, we repeatedly engage not because we want to, but because we are simply human. Crackheads don't want to be crackheads, but as long as there is someone greedy and vile enough to sell the product, there will always be crackheads. I know I'm rowing upstream with a leaky boat trying to sell good books and that I can make more money selling fried Twinkies. But Sam continues; It's been a long, a long time coming but I know a change gon' come Oh Yes it will!

Somewhat surprisingly this is the least read post I'm ever made. There was a time a post like this would have generated some interesting discussion. Here is the entire list maybe that will prompt some discussion. Has anyone read, or plan to read, any of these books? I only read a few of these myself. I've been working side gigs and spending a lot on more on web development, so I have not been doing a lot of reading. Most of what I have read is not on this list. I haven't read Morrison's latest. It seems as if there was little exciting with this last novel. In fact, Morrison got more media attention, saying TaNehisi was the next Jimmy Baldwin... Summer 2015 - Paperback - Fiction #1 - Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie#2 - The Cartel 5: La Bella Mafia by Ashley and JaQuavis#3 - Ruby by Cynthia Bond#4 - A Deeper Love Inside by Sister Souljah#5 - The Cartel 4 by Ashley and JaQuavis#6 - The Cartel 3 by Ashley and JaQuavis#7 - Secrets of a Side Bitch by Jessica N. Watkins#8 - Stand Your Ground: A Novel by Victoria Christopher Murray#9 - Mama’s Boy by ReShonda Tate Billingsley#10 - Jezebel’s Daughter by Jacquelin Thomas Summer 2015 - Paperback - Non-Fiction #1 - 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse by JJ Smith#2 - The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander#3 - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot#4 - The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore#5 - Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay#6 - The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson#7 - Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Expanded Edition: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment by Steve Harvey & Denene Millner#8 - Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland#9 - America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great by Ben Carson#10 - Instinct: The Power to Unleash Your Inborn Drive by T. D. Jakes Summer 2015 - Hardcover - Fiction #1 - God Help the Child: A Novel by Toni Morrison#2 - The Sellout by Paul Beatty#3 - The Ultimate Betrayal (A Reverend Curtis Black Novel) by Kimberla Lawson Roby#4 - And Sometimes I Wonder About You: A Leonid McGill Mystery (Leonid McGill Mysteries) by Walter Mosley#5 - The Family Business 3 by Carl Weber & Treasure Hernandez#6 - Zane’s The Other Side of the Pillow: A Novel by Zane#7 - One Night by Eric Jerome Dickey#8 - The Turner House by Angela Flournoy#9 - Rose Gold by Walter Mosley#10 - A Wanted Woman by Eric Jerome Dickey Summer 2015 - Hardcover - Non-Fiction #1 - Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates#2 - Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson#3 - The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs#4 - The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist#5 - What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey#6 - Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success: Discovering Your Gift and the Way to Life’s Riches by Steve Harvey#7 - One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America’s Future by Ben Carson#8 - Forgiveness: 21 Days to Forgive Everyone for Everything by Iyanla Vanzant#9 - Success Through Stillness: Meditation Made Simple by Russell Simmons#10 - Fire Shut Up In My Bones by Charles M. Blow

I just collected some more detailed data on my social media activity, drilling down into that <2% of my overall traffic source. I will write it up tomorrow, but I have compelling evidence that with a bit more cooperation and an understanding of the tools we use, the can demonstrably increase out over all traffic--and use social media to help do it. Hi Shannon, thanks for stepping out of the shadows. Sharing your experience is important for others to read. Of course it resonates. I've been a observer and active website builder for 20 years, so I know what we have lost, perhaps more than most. I know how AALBC.com efforts and effectiveness has been constrained as well. Again, I believe we can do something about it, but each of us working in isolation reinventing the same wheel and competing against each other will not do the trick.

The 40 Most Popular Books Read by African Americans this Summer (How many have you read?)

I went to segregated schools in the deep north; virtually all of my classmates where poor or working class Black and Puerto Ricans. I did not attend class with a white student until high school, but that was a specialized high school which required an admission test. My zoned high school (the default neighborhood school) would have been more same. In all my years of schooling (including 8 years of college, I've had three Black teachers. The first a 7th grade homeroom teacher the others were two undergraduate professors (both African American studies teachers). Did this effect me? Of course it did. I think the most damaging was the class segregation, not having a clue of the possible professions, or knowing anyone in the professions that I was aware of (Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer, etc). Reading helps me understand why we are in the situation were are in. Who else will tell these stories? This is perhaps why I work so hard to share these stories.

Hi Shawneda, thanks for spawning the separate conversation for this subject. I agree with Chris in that is seems like a good idea, I just have never been involved in an effort like this that was successful. Attempts I have initiated have been largely unsuccessful, but I continue to try, I always have. Recently I emailed over 100 Bloggers just looking for ways in which we could collaborate. Keep in mind these are Blogger every one of whom I'm promoted independently. I know I've sent traffic their way as I've tracked the click throughs. But despite that only a handful of people replied and besides Chris you are really the only one whose has replied, I have a few questions; (1) How did you discover this message and what was it that promoted you to reply and offer suggestions. (2) How do we actually execute your suggestion? What specifically must be done. Are you willing to lead the effort, I'm willing to help.