Troy

Read Publishers Weekly's entire article and coverage of BEA (Book Expo America), which is the country's largest trade show for the publishing industry. ABA CEO Oren Teicher said that for the sixth year in a row the number of independent bookstores has grown. ABA added 48 members, for a total of 1,712, up from a core membership of 1,401 in 2009. The total number of locations also grew to 2,227, from 1,651 in 2009. In his presentation on the state of the e-book market, Jonathan Stolper, senior v-p of Nielsen’s U.S. book business, noted that according to Nielsen’s PubTrack Digital report, which tracks e-book sales from more than 30 top publishers (for more on PubTrack Digital, see p. 7), e-book units fell 6% in 2014 compared to 2013. One of the most notable aspects of BEA 2015 was the large presence of China. The country had a 25,000-sq.-ft. pavilion that housed more than 500 publishers and authors. The pavilion occupied space from aisles 1,000 to 1,800 and was so large one could easily get lost exploring the display. The most talked about books were two novels, one from a debut author, Garth Risk Hallberg’s City On Fire and the other from a seasoned veteran, Jonathan Franzen’s Purity. Next year’s show will run from May 11 to 13 in Chicago. It will be the first BEA held outside of New York City since 2008, when it was held in Los Angeles. Here is a link to a video from the panel, "In Search of Diverse Book Buyers," that I sat in on during BEA.

Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan is on President Obama’s Bookshelf. What other Black author's books can you find?

Reviews of films released by AFFRM

African-American authors with multiple titles are well represented on the Spring 2015 edition of the Power List of Best-Selling African-American Books. These authors have clearly developed a wide audience for their books, and a solid fan base. Does anyone read anymore?

Needless to say, my posting of the Playboy cover image of Condi garnered more attention on social media in 60 minutes than the video I posted several days ago. I now understand this is also a function of what social media sites choses to show, and it is not just a function of what we want to see. Essence actually did interview Condi, at least once, but the interviewer came across as uninformed about Condi and her role as Secretary of State. I have to believe Ebony covered Condi more than Essence, but given their inexcusably weak website, one is unable to make that determination. They could have put Barack Obama on the Republican ticket and Sarah Palin on the democratic tickets and I assure you our people would have still voted Democrat, or not at all. Nothing short of a substantial bribe would get negroes out to vote Republican in 2016.

This first time I saw this flag it was quite striking, blowing in the wind fully extended. It can be seen most easily on I-95 South near mile marker 134 or so, about 40 miles south of the Mason-Dixon Line. This Confederate Flag welcomes drivers on I-95 to the American South. The "flaggers" feel that our politically correct culture has falsely demonized this flag. That may be true. Today however the flag is not only a symbol of what was wrong with the South 150 years ago; it also symbolizes what is wrong with America today. I'm sure white supremacists are beaming with pride every time they see it.

I dunno Cynique I can't recall ever hearing a Black woman praise Condi Rice. Sure Black men dog her, but I've never heard a Black women ever come to her defense. Most of the reaction to Condi is along the lines of the hyperbolic, false, rhetoric Harry Brown posted above. That is so damaging because people read that stuff and believe it because they are dumb I guess. Saying stuff like this serves no other purpose than to be inflammatory. Condi is not a "birther", was not part of Fema, Homeland security or any department responsible for Katrina dealing with, and is not part of the tea party. These are simply facts. I don't believe Bush, Powell, or Condi lied about "weapons of mass destruction" (whatever that means). Chenny is another story. Condi is perhaps the most accomplished Black woman on planet Earth. Now I don't measure success based upon the amount of praise given by mainstream media of by income, in which case all praises go to entertainers. I'm just talking about pure accomplishments. Has Condi ever been on the cover of Essence Magazine? How many times has Beyonnce (sp?) been on the cover? I'm sure their is no comparison

Condi spoke at my kid's graduation on Saturday. It was as good, if not a better, than the speech Steve Jobs gave that everyone was creaming their pants over. Rice is an amazingly accomplished woman. It is astonishing that Black people dislike her. She is often brandished as a war hawk, even disparged as Bush's mistress. Barack Obama is no less a war hawk and is worshipped (literarlly) by most Black folks. The idea that Black folks are not talking about TPP boggles the mind. But I digress... On a related note, on my way to my kid's graduation, in VA, I passed at huge conderate flag blowing in the win, easily visible from I95 near mile marker 134 in VA. It I'll be passing that way this afternoon. I'll try to get a photo. The location of flag appeared to be in or near Spotsylvania, VA the site oif a Civl War battle. The South will never forget. Honestly I don't think they should, but they need to stop blaming Black folks for their troubles a recognize who is really jamming them up.

I'm not certain that men Blog less than women; it may be that we simply get less attention and are less supportive of each other. As I continue with my Blogger research, I'm sure I'll come to a conclusion that will convince me one way or the other; though right now it appears Black men do Blog less, much less. If it turns out that the vast majority of Bloggers are women, I would disagree that it would be of no consequence. I think it would be a bad thing. The Black male perspective is important. If it is missing we have a problem. Much of what we see online is dominated by what appeals to youth. The voices of wiser, more senior people are completely crowed out, as if they don't matter, or even undesirable. This is a problem too. When I was at Blogger conference recently most of what I was hearing did not resonate, At least two women, during their presentations, mentioned issues dealing with wearing high heeled shoes. Many were wearing flip-flops by the end of the day. That whole issue of women's feet hurting in shoes is either nonsensical or boring to me; as it would probably be to many men. The same goes for hair issues, fashion, weight loss, Christian (fill in the blank), etc... Of course I'm not saying these types of Blogs have no place, I'm saying we need masculine Black bloggers and content providers on the web. In a culture where the vast majority of Black men are raised by soley by women, or by a couple where the man was not raised by a man, is anyone confused as to why young Black men are killing each other at such an alarming rates? What does this have to do with the lack of male Bloggers? What does it have to do with the lack of American born Black in decent coporate jobs and in colleges? What does it have to do with are high rate of incarceration? I dunno, perhaps nothing, but more likely everything.

Yeah BB King was good. I would have loved to see him perfome when he was in his prime. I saw him about 15 years ago and he was okay. Whenever I go see an artist, past their prime, it is more like seeing historical figure in real life, I'm paying homage, rather that expecting an inspired performance. RIP BB King. Around the same time I saw Bobby Blue Bland, who passed in 2013 to much less fanfare. Bland was in his 70's when I saw him perform. Again, I was not expecting much; I went to see a piece of history before he was gone. To my delight the performeance was excellent. He sang a song that night, that I do not recall hearing before, or since, and it was beautiful. I can't even image what Bobby Blue Bland was like in his prime. Some artists never lose it (or so it seems). I saw drummer Roy Haynes perform a couple of years back. Haynes was in his deep 80's and was fantastic!

"...a picture of the devil would be right at home on the twenty. In Satan, we trust." Perfect! Lets just drop the pretense and "keep it real" (as the Reverend Sharpton likes to say). If everyone knew who those in charge actually served, there would be a lot less stress due to monumental congnitive dissonance we must manufacture to deal with the the crap we have to deal with. I'm sure there must be a photo of Satan on currency online let me look.... ...I found something even better: Satan is already represented on our currency according to some:

If you can get to New York City on Wednesday of next week (or happen to be in town for Book Expo America), please stop by an annual party I co-host. The 9th Annual Black Pack Party, will be held Wednesday, May 27, 2015 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Londel’s Supper Club, 2620 Frederick Douglas Blvd @140 St, in Harlem, NY

Thanks for posting here Marc. The list is up to 168 Blogs. When I get to 200 I will email the Bloggers in the database folks to solicit ideas including for promotion and get feedback on the "Visit a Black Blog" campaign. Maybe we can get the bloggers to encourage readers to visit at least on Black Blog a day, read an article, and leave a comment, for say 30 days. Like a 30 challenge for supporting out own. BTW Marc, how did you find this conversation? Also take a look at this conversation where I mention my impressions of Blogger Week and let me know what you think. You were one of the few other men there and probably closer to my age than the average person there, perhaps what I wrote resonates with you. Either way I'd be interested in reading your impressions. Also I created a profile page for you: http://aalbc.it/mwpolite

"ALL DEF DIGITAL is a YouTube MCN brought to you by Russell Simmons, showcasing the best in comedy, music, and entertainment news." I just learned about this video reading an interview of Marc Polite on BMoreNews.com. It looks like Simmons published this video on his youtube channel back in 2013. Many people took offense to the video, ultimately resulted in Simmons having the video pulled. I was not aware of this video until today. I wasn't offended by this video, any more than I've been offended by any of the other nonsense, Simmons has produced. What actually puzzles me is that anyone though this skit was the least bit funny. This video should have been pulled simply for being a horrendously poor excuse for comedy. The other thing we have to consider when we publish to the web is that this stuff never goes away. This video has already been downloaded, copied and redistributed by people anxious to profit from this video. Others are making money from this video.

Nelson George's documentary Finding the Funk traces the birth and evolution of the musical genre by presenting a wealth of archival performance footage from various artists like James Brown and Sly Stone, as well as interviews with many of the music's central figures, including George Clinton, Sheila E., and Bootsy Collins. Watch the Full Movie

Read (or listen) to a panel discussion on this topic help during Book Expo America 2014 Where are the People of Color in Children’s Books? - Panel Discussion (transcript) Held During Book Expo America (BEA).

No she does not possess the fiery rhetoric of a Farrakhan, nor the witty puns of an Al Sharpton, so the information she has will largely go unheard by Black people. Of course putting this info in a best selling book will not help is either. Both this is always the case. We have answers and solutions, but most of us aren't even aware of the problem, so it is hard to get folks to work and make sacrifices to fix something that don't even recognize is a problem...

Yeah Wack would be one way to describe the tee shirt. I just attended a Blogging conference I don't think I met anyone who claimed to living off blogging. Many of those speaking seemed to using blogging as a platform to get noticed in the media or as a springboard to better (paid) writing opportunities. Others viewed to be blogging as a passion, they had some personal challenge, say losing weight, and they wanted to share that with the world and where more interested in ideas and commiserating with others (again why it probably skewed female). OF COURSE IT IS HARDER TO MONETIZE WEBSITES TODAY--THAT IS THE POINT OF ALL MY EFFORTS TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THIS, AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT. The emphasis was for other reading this conversation, but not participating. As far as the sale of Yelp that is just another example of a few rich getting richer. The inherent value of that website and its long term prospects were compromised years ago. Howabout a black tee with this image?

I doubt these companies will go anywhere soon, at least not the market leaders. It is all software driven. In the past I might have had to order a few dozen untis to get the price down, but I can buy/sell one AALBC.com mug at a decent price and the mugs are excellent quality. No labor, storage, shrinkage, returns, or dreaded trips to the post office. I sold products directly through the website, but I have to have someone else do the work, shipping stuff is not my thing. I have a buddy that did not mind doing it and he was quite good at it. The best products are the ones that are exclusive, but those opportunities are very rare now. Autographed books don't do the trick, if the book is also available from Amazon (even if it is unsigned). Last year, I had a book, signed by the author and at a price LOWER than Amazon's price, but everyone still purchased through Amazon. Maybe if I (AALBC.com) was fulfilling the orders I could have sold some, but the company fulfilling the orders had my endorsement and are reputable... Maybe what I'll do next time handle the transaction myself and just have the other company drop ship on my behalf. Matter of fact I will see if they have any of those book in stock. I also put up a tee shirt I though had a cute line, But maybe black tee, white letters, on a Black model, preferably a known author would work. I'll think about the store I just need a partner to handle the shipping... I have just started the site redesign and an online store would not take too much additional heavy lifting to implement I just need products.

Man this woman takes my observations to a whole 'nother level!

Your visitor stats do not look unusual, in the sense that the majority of people who visit a site do not stay very long. The majority of visitors will be new and a minority will be return visitors. As you suggest, if have a ton of content you generate more traffic. That is one reason AALBC.com has survived for so long. I often will see some obscure page jump in terms of traffic because people are searching on a particular subject or person I've covered that is not covered many other places. This is called the long tail and some have made a science out of creating websites based upon this idea. Whenever a popular author passes away I see a bump in hits on that author's profile page. When Maya Angelou passed away Guy Johnson's page, Maya's Son, surged in popularity and was the top page on the site for several days. Maya's page saw an increase too but because there is so much more competition for Maya Angelou and less for Guy Johnson my Maya page did not see nearly as large an increase. Again, as with many writers, my website is my product. So social does not help me as much as in might help someone who has a tangible product like a book. I'm down to about 5-10 minutes a day on social media. I share from websites not on social and I only login to check for comments that I need to answer; if I don't see any I'm out. I even updated my banners to instruct people on how to get their questions answered or how to reach me. I get getting messages from Facebook saying I'm not responding to my messages. I updated my facebook page banner to make this plain to visitors Here is an quote from a Blog, The Black Agenda Report, that I discovered as part of by blog promotion project: WHY YOU SHOULD COMMENT ON OUR ARTICLES HERE INSTEAD OF FACEBOOK Facebook & Twitter are like rivers. If you're not standing by the bank when something floats by, it's gone. Good luck finding that brilliant conversation you had with somebody in a FB thread 2 or 3 weeks ago. People who "follow," "like," and "friend" you on FB may rarely or never see your posts, especially if they're answering someone else's, and those lacking that tenuous relationship are even less likely to see them. So like and follow us on FB and Twitter, but when you post your comments on our articles here, anyone who finds the article finds the comment, now or a decade from now. That's because Facebook respects your carefully thought out comment exactly as much as an emoticon or an LOL or STFU, LMFBAO, and needs to make room for the next one. Mark Zuckerberg doesn't respect you. We do. I don't normally see this sentiment expressed on a Black sites. Generally Black sites want people to engage on social sites, but then I have to step back and remember all big Black news sites are white owned and controlled. They are not interested in empowering Black folks. The problem is most Black folks don't know this.

Chris your statement: "What we have in the Black community is a lack of understanding how relationships are built. We hold on to information because we think we lose if we give it away. We also want to be paid for everything, but that's not how it works. There has to be reciprocity for a relationship to work" pretty much sums it up from my perspective. Over the years I've noticed that we all are forced to reinvent the wheel because we don't share from our experiences and repeat the same mistakes. We also believe business is a zero sum game; that is I only benefit at your expense. The concept of growing the pie is completely alien. It never occurred to me to contribute to Spike's movie project. Honestly, he should be contributing to AALBC.com. Seriously, I've promoted every book he and he wife has ever published and I have published reviews every movie he has made. There has never been any form or acknowledgement or gratitude. But this is not unusual, so there are no hard feelings, just the realization that support of wealthy people is rarely reciprocated. They expect and receive support as if it is owed to them. Fortunately not all authors are like that, as AALBC.com recieves support from NY Times bestselling authors to first time indie authors. But FAR too often indie authors end up subsidizing the promotion of wealthy authors--which is backward. It is also crucial to emphasize, as you pointed out Chris, that support does not have to come in the form of money. Indeed nonmonetary support that is even more valuable. Spreading the word about a website, linking to a website, posting a comment on an article, or even referring someone as a potential client is all very important. After every Newsletter I'll get an encouraging email from someone who just says, "I love what you are doing," this all helps. By the way several years ago I did set up a store where folks could buy AALBC.com branded merchandise: http://www.cafepress.com/aalbc Over the years I realized people just don't buy the products. I get a few orders here and there, but not enough to compel me to grow that component beyond what I have set up now. Occasionally I'll promote the fact that I offer authors an incentive to buy AALBC.com products, but again nothing substantial enough happens to warrant working this revenue stream more aggressively.

My wife took her class to Gettysburg, PA (know know the site of the bloodiest scenes in American history). I would have loved to have taken this trip and will probably swing through there real soon. At any rate, she brought me this book and I started reading it the other day. It is turning out to be pretty good so I did a little research about the book and discovered to my surprise that it was published 40 years ago and won a Pulitzer Prize! The book says "Winner of Pulitzer Prize" right on the cover, but I did not notice that. I chose to read this book because my wife said every who saw her with it raved about it. That was good enough for be to dig in. Plus it boggles my mind that so many men would so willingly walk into certain death for their version of "honor." It was certainly a different time. Shaara wrote four novels before he died of a heart attack in 1988. His second novel, The Killer Angels, is considered by some readers and historians to be the best novel ever written about the Civil War. Rich in carefully researched historic detail, the book recreated the Battle of Gettysburg and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1975. History Channel

This is cute and humorous video performed by La Shea Delaney (@lashea_delaney) & Annabelle Quezada (@annabelleqv) I discovered it trolling for bloggers for Huria Search. This video was shot in NYC, and makes the city looks like a really nice place. The Strand bookstore pictured in the video's preview image is a great independent bookstore. One of the last videos I shot was in the Strand Bookstore. This easily the largest indie store I've ever seen, perhaps the largest book store I've ever been in. They claim to have 18 miles of books!