Troy

Cynique I think you've hit the nail on the head or at least touched on a major aspect of the issue. For the last 10 years I used to wonder way more people are not in the street -- what would it take? I now know; main stream America is now feeling the pain. it s not just Black folks, losing homes, out of work and unemployable and unable to pay for a decent education for their kids. We do know the ultra wealthy control all aspects of the country, to the detriment of the majority of us (the 99% if you will). They will not yield control easily. There is a long fight ahead and it will be hard, but it has to start somewhere. Perhaps this is a beginning...

Cynique I have so much to say about this and related issues, I feel like my head will explode - Over couple of years I've seen so many changes take place so quickly that the World Wide Web is quickly becoming a complete mess. As an active participant since the mid 90's; perhaps I have a perspective most don't. But it really is remarkable that these adverse changes are largely going unnoticed. The problem are due to unbridled capitalism and in some way I've been part of the problem. The spam email is really the tip of the iceberg.

Here is a link to more photos shot earlier today: http://aalbc.it/occupywallstphotos It is difficult for me to understand why some people would take issue with the protestors?

Valaida thank for sharing information about your new book here. I define philanthropy as any form of unforced donation of your wealth or time to a cause, business, organization or person you choose to support. I think the term "giving back" is a little loose in that it rarely means giving back to someone (or entity) that gave to you. I think we all need to think of philanthropy in more broad terms. For example everyone who believes your book is important should share the information you have provided here and consider purchasing the book if it is something they are interested in doing. Purchasing directly from the publisher while perhaps a little more cumbersome would support your efforts even more. Or of people wanted to purchase via Amazon they could use this link: http://bit.ly/bookgivingback and they would be supporting AALBC.com Non-monetary should not be diminished relative to financial support. We should engage in both and challenge ourselves to think of way to support to entities we believe in and want to see thrive.

Thanks for the acknowledgement Anika99. You might also want to check the free eBook sources I posted recently: http://bit.ly/ebooks-4-free

Nice tribute Kola I'll lin to this from the Derrick Bell Page: http://aalbc.com/authors/derrickbell.htm

ProQuest Unlocks New Paths for Research of Key African American Writers Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s seminal microfiche collection linked to digital texts for online exploration. Ann Arbor, MI (PRWEB) October 06, 2011 Advances in the ProQuest research environment have streamlined access to a major literary collection assembled by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Scholars and students who rely on Dr. Gates’ ground-breaking Black Literature, 1827-1940, a microfiche collection, can now quickly identify and connect to tens of thousands full-text, digitized versions of articles found through ProQuest’s Black Studies Center and Historical Black Newspapers. “ProQuest is continually looking deep into its databases to find connections between bits of content,” said Tim Babbitt, ProQuest Senior Vice-President, Platforms. “The paths aren’t always obvious, but we’re committed to finding them, exposing them and allowing information in multiple formats to interact with one another to make the process of research more productive.” In the late 1980s, Dr. Gates began the development of Black Literature, opening what he called the “hermetically sealed library of African American periodical literature after a century of neglect.” The collection captures novels, short stories, poems and reviews -- scattered throughout 110 black periodicals and newspapers -- and has been widely acclaimed for its ability to uncover early or little known works by some of history’s most influential authors. “Several previously unknown Zora Neale Hurston stories have been discovered through the Black Literature 1827-1940 resource, including The Book of Harlem, The Country in the Woman, The Back Room, and Monkey Junk,” said Dr. Gates. These Hurston stories were found by Texas Women’s University professor Dr. Genevieve West while conducting research for her book Zora Neale Hurston and American Literary Culture (2005). “These important ‘lost’ stories that I recovered in Black Literature 1827-1940 complicate and enrich our understanding of Hurston as a short story writer during the 1920s and 1930s,” said Dr. West. Despite the importance of the works, students’ and scholars’ only online access to this vast body of American literature has been a digital index, with full-text residing on microfiche. However, ProQuest used the digital index as ignition, enabling deep links that could seamlessly connect scholars to full-text, digital versions of articles archived in Black Studies Center and ProQuest Historical Black Newspapers. In fact, 27,000 works contained in Black Literature are now available for exploration through these online resources. Among the luminaries recorded by Dr. Gates in his Black Literature, 1827-1940 and now discoverable in ProQuest are works by Countee Cullen, Claude McKay, Waring Cuney, Edythe Mae Gordon, and hundreds of others. Well-known writers, such as Hurston and poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize, authored works found only in these early publications and newspapers. For example, Brooks, under the tutelage of Chicago Defender columnist Langston Hughes, published 75 poems in the newspaper which are not found anywhere else. Scholars are now able to easily mine this resource and discover more gems of African American literature collected by Dr. Gates. To learn more visit http://www.proquest.com. About ProQuest (http://www.proquest.com) ProQuest connects people with vetted, reliable information. Key to serious research, the company has forged a 70-year reputation as a gateway to the world’s knowledge – from dissertations to governmental and cultural archives to news, in all its forms. Its role is essential to libraries and other organizations whose missions depend on the delivery of complete, trustworthy information. ProQuest’s massive information pool is accessible through the all-new ProQuest® platform, which moves beyond navigation to empower researchers to use, create, and share content—accelerating research productivity. ###

That is good John a lot of authors get killed because the price of their book are too high. Do me a favor and read this article about selling books via Amazon and let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_veRCThylI0 Reminiscent of Petey Green.

Looking for great, free, eBook read visit http://aalbc.it/ebooks-4-free

Hey kateellington! I trust all is well. I appreciate the feedback. To me, the fact that you can make a meaningful percentage on the sale of your own book or can redirect that commission to someone else shold be a sufficent story to tell. It really is alarming how many authors share links to amazon for there book without affiliate codes.

Authors You Should Know: Hey y'all I'm updating my homepage with new "Authors You Should Know". Do you all have any suggestions? I'm going to add James Alan McPherson (can anyone help me find a photo I can use), and a couple of lessor known authors that were reviewed well by my reviewers. Are the any authors you feel folks really should know? Someone who is a good writer, but underappreciated, young or old, living or deceased, from the continent or the Diaspora -- anyone you think should be more widely known. Thanks!

More about Kevin Reeves

I recently blogged about the fact that most authors who post links to Amazon do not take advantage of Amazon's affiliate program. http://aalbc.it/oWrxtM Someone tried to explain to me why authors do not take advantage of it, by saying they just don't care and are not interested. This seems so illogical because Amazons commisions can be 7, 8% or more depending upon sales -- often exceeding even the author's share of a book's sale. But based upon the acitivity on my latest Blog post on the subject, there seemed to be little interest in the whole issue. Of course the more sophistciated authors are aware of the commisisons that can be earned. Some authors who live in the cities where Amazon does not pay affiliate commisions (currently, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, North Carolina, Rhode Island, & Connecticut) use the codes of business associates. I give authors a discount on services in exchange for using an AALBC.com affiliate code -- sometimes it even help those authors to make the AALBC.com bestsellers list. Are there any authors out there that link to Amazon without using an affiliate code to earn commissions? If so why?

NELS! Good to see you name again!

Ok I've heard a lot about there not being enough good writers. All all the writers are writing crap. Well here is your chance to download an entire book from a good writier for free! Check out the novel "The Rampage of the Rufus Buck Gang" by Leonce Gaiter: http://aalbc.it/lg-free-ebook The eBook is available in all the popular formats. This promotion ends October 6th. Use must use coupon code WB45M at check out. Leonce is a excellent writer and has crafted a throughly researched novel about little known chapter in American history. Again the eBook is free. What do you have to lose -- except a chance to discover terrific story? Thumper, one of my most critical reviewers described Leonce novel "Bourbon Street" this way, "It has been a long while since I read a book as complex and gorgeous as Bourbon Street written by Leonce Gaiter. A novel which explores the spectrum of inner naked essence of human nature, Bourbon Street was a sheer joy to read from beginning to end." Read the entire review here: http://aalbc.com/reviews/bourbon_street.htm

Funny I remember back in the 70's darker skinned Brother used to complain about how the lighted skinned, wavvy haired Brothers (ala El Debarge) were all the rage. When I think about some of my favorite male actors, they all happen to be of the dark complexion variety, Idrissa Elba (in fact all the male leads from HBO's The Wire are excellent actors). I aslo love the work of Don Cheadle. Humm maybe the dark skinned brother are just better actors (just kidding). I have to admit it seems to help female actresses, a great deal, if they are mixed race (ala Halley Berry, Zoe Saladana, etc). Humm maybe you have a point Nels. Can you provide examples light skinned Brothers, who are talented actors that are being over looked because of the bias you mentioned?

Kevin I'm going to launching the Best Black Book Video competition for 2011 pretty soon -- please be sure to enter.

You got it Shawneda!

I have the 1st chpater on my Nook!

Can't argue with that.

Yeah all 6 of them. As an aside, the 10 year old shooting the father is a horrific and tragic story.

Cool, but with so many other books that are actually available I would not fixate too much on this particular title. Besides, Amazon customer reviews not not exactly the most reliable.

Mr. Johnson Welcome. I'm glad to see a Brother chime in here. I completely agree with what you wrote. Ignoring the analysis presented, what do you think about the validity of the premise: That there are very few eligible Black men for Black women?