Troy

Kola, your reputation as a writer is not disputed. Your off the top of your head contributions to these discussion boards attest to your writing ability and passion. You know, of course, you are can be more than a handful. But that is no reason for you not to have gotten a deal from a "big" house. Trust me they publish other authors who are a "handful"; you have not cornered the market on that -- not by a long shot. Also I personally know at least one high level NY editor who has read your work and said you can write. Johnny T. with ownership of his publishing company can do what he wants. Black folks in big publishing houses (as much as I love them) ain't got it like that. The incentives are completely different as you described. Don't even get me started about Eso Won. I have a story that would probably astonish you. I will always support Wanda Coleman. Also don't forget to contribute some websites to Huria Search -- especially non-American websites -- thanks

...dropping authors and cutting advances. Joyce Carol Oates, Edwidge Danticat, OK Johnny T. is officially 'da man! Now I know this gonna sound racist as all get out, and perhaps it is, but I can't help but wonder if a Brother could have secured the Black talent Johnny has and have been as successful. I know Kola will check me if she feels I'm off base here. It is also worth noting that I think Johnny is a terrific person. I like everything I've seen or heard about him. My point has nothing to do with Johnny personally but with the nature of our culture and Black people in general.

Anika99, thanks for the encouragement. I think this a bigger issue than your typically web surfer can appreciate. I have been tracking Black sites since the Internet has been a commercial entity. I remember terrific sites like Netnoir and Melanet and one of the first Black book websites Drumandspear.com I remember the promise and opportunity Black folks had to really do something powerful as our voiced were no longer controlled by big corporations. The Barriers are back up and Big coporations have control over our images again. Independent websites have little chance without the collective support of visitors, writers, and other sites. The problem Black independent sites are muti-faceted and profound. Consider the fact that there is no way I could start and AALBC.com today and have it be as successful as it is now. Here is a thoughtful article written about Huria Search: aalbc.it/harticle1 The site has only been up two days but the support and reaction to it has been quite good so far, but there will need to be continuous support for the effort to have the greatest long term impact. That support however has to come from people; because big corporations have no incentive to support Huria Search's goals. The people truly do have the most to benefit.

Kola I hear you about your concern regarding sales. But you are developing a readership beyond Black folks and you got the promotion thing down. So things bode well for you regarding commercial success.

EDITORS NOTE (June 2017): As of March 2016, after a 5 year run, Huria Search’s run as a standalone site ended. I could not longer justify the additional expense. I found the search engine useful so transferred it here: https://aalbc.com/huria/ so that I and a few others could continue to use it. About a year ago Google announced that they are discontinuing the underlying service which drives Hura Search, so i'm note sure how much longer it will continue to operate. Check out Huria Search: http://huria.org Hey everyone If you have not already noticed all the big Black websites have sold out to corporate concerns who more interested in money than the Black community. The pursuit of money explains why the big "Black" site cover Kim Kardasian, or any celebrity scandal they can dig up and help exacerbate. Because of their might these corporations have dominated search results, not because of "better" content, but because of their ability to game search results and purchase advertising. As a result, you are more likely to learn more about the sorted details of Terry McMillan's divorce than her accomplishments as a writer when you Google her name. To give folks search results that skew toward independent Black owned websites, I created Huria Search. Huria Search will introduce you to websites you probably never knew existed because they were buried so deeply in regular search results. Check it out I think you will enjoy what you find. The sites are not limited to independent Black websites. You'll find sites like libraries (Schomburg), publishers (Akashic), not for profits (poets.org), any entity that has positively contributed to the global Black community should be included. Non-US sites are part of the mix as well. If you believe in the spirit of what I'm trying to accomplish please help spread the word, post links on your Blog and websites and support Huria Search, and by extension, the global Black community. Read a recent Blog posts about Huria Search.

Author and Publishers you should post your book information; AALBC.com Facebook wall: http://www.facebook.com/aalbcfanpage AALBC.com Events calendar: http://aalbc.com/tc/index.php?/calendar/ AALBC.com Literary Discussion board (Thumper’s Corner): http://aalbc.it/aalbctc If you are into SEO, AALBC.com has a Google page rank of 6, has been on line since 1998, has an Alexa ranking ranging from 75K to 200K, has hundreds of other indexed sites linked to us, and is the the largest site of it's kind. This discussion board is published via an RSS feed whose posts are automatically tweeted. I also use these sources to discover information to add to my eNewsletter and to share via social media. AALBC.com will require you to create an account to post, but if you have a Facebook or Twitter account you can logon to AALBC.com using it. Read more about promoting your book for free: http://aalbc.it/aalbcforfree Taking an out an ad on AALBC.com take all of this to another level. We are perhaps the only site that can give an advertiser half a million ad impressions a month to such a targeted demographic (dominated by adult, educated, women). Our click through rates for banners ads are typically in the single digit percent range (compare that to Google or Facebook click through rates). Visit http://aalbc.com/advertise_on_aalbc.html to learn more about advertising on AALBC.com -- customized packages are available. Finally have your website added to the New Huria Search search engine: http://huria.org Remember books do not sell themselves

Hey Kola, the Black section in stores was partly due to customer demand -- people wanted to know where the book written by Black writers were. Folks wanted to be able to find them more easily so they were grouped together. There were so few published this was easy to do. Today I'm not convinced this is still not such a bad idea -- it really depends upon the store. If a store has a good database, knowledgeable sales staff and an intelligent readers. the book should be grouped by genre/subject.

Yeah, a few years ago someone told me that they though (at least strongly enough to share with me) that ABM was Adam. While Kola did not say so I was at least one person to continue the speculation through the rumor mill. I swore her to secrecy as I could not validate the truth -- honestly I never did try. I don't try to divine the real life identities of people who post here under an alias. Yeah I too miss ABM's posts and exchanges with the other folks here including myself. Oh yeah, thanks for the claification Kola -- that is if Adam is to be believed Cynqie, I have not looked into the results of A Chapter A Month myself. I'll report back to you after the end of the year. But keep in mind all of this take time. Even the A Chapter A Month site itself needs to become better known. Kola can tell you while she might be known now, but that did not happen overnight and not with out a lot of work. Click to buy Go to F**K Asleep

As I look at the results returned by this customized search engine. I have to admit I'm really impressed by what I'm discovering; content from websites that I would have NEVER found on the main Google search engine. Looking for non-US English language sites too. Please share any sites for this type that you like.

I've customized a the Google search engine to return results that we would like to find for regarding Black books. It filters out all the nonsense coming from the corporate sites. If you are searching for Terry McMillan and want to know about ex husband -- go to Google main engine and you'll find that right away, but if you want to find infromation about here work -- search here: the URL is: http://thebestblackbooksearch.com/ or http://bit.ly/tbbbse for short. Search for your favorite authors and let me know what you think. It is a work in progress, and I'm looking for feedback too. I've discovered content I would never have found in a normal Google search. The Best Black Book Search Engine http://thebestblackbooksearch.com

Thanks Nazhite! I'm very familiar with folks at UMI. They are doing great things and are a relatively unheralded organization. I will absolutely do a lot more to promote them going forward and in fact will mention this site in my next eNewsletter. You are a self described geek huh? I stopped playing video games after Atria 5200. I have a PlayStation 3 but have only played guitar hero with the kids a few times -- they always spank me, Thanks for popping in. here is my about me page: http://about.me/aalbc

Blackplanet, brokers on sensationalism and scandal to drawn attention. I get their emails to get ideas to build my traffic. Rarely can i Implement them. Here are the top "news" stories from the latest email I received. • Did Kim Kardashian Hook Up With Her Ex Reggie Bush? • Travel Solo Dolo! Visit Bali • Halloween Brings Fears Of Gang Violence • Financial Woes! James Brown's Estate Was $20M In Debt • Is This Why Kim Kardashian Is Divorcing Kris Humphries? • How To Get Into First Class! Follow This GIANT Travel Tip • Black Tech Entrepeneur: We Are Still "Invisible" In Silicon Valley • Teens Drop Shopping Cart From 4th Story Ledge Onto Woman's Head • Packing Playlist: California • Naughty! Herman Cain Accused Of Inappropriate Sexual Behavior • Best Places to Travel Alone: Australia • Terrell Owens: "I Can't Afford My Child Support Payments" • Divorce Party Playlist [ORIGINAL] Here is why I don't do well on the pop-culture category of trivial pursuit: I while I've heard of Kim Kardasian I have not idea who she is or why Black people would care about her. I gather she slept with Reggie Bush, but again it is not clear why that is important or even interesting. Blackplanet is a typical example of what happens when we (read: Black people) do not control our media -- the information is not in our interest not does it nourish us.

I remember this article. It was a good look for all of you. Just around the time I became active with the magazine. I still have my copy. A lot has changed since then...

Yeah, just as I thought...crickets.

I'm on this mission to identify independent, Black owned, content providers. I'm most interested in new sources (you know the places where journalists used to work) It is part of a larger effort -- more on that later. At this point I'm not looking for sites producing the content of a single individuals, i.e. a Blog with only one contributor or authors websites promoting a single writer. Think sites like: The Network Journal http://www.tnj.com or The Amsterdam News http://www.amsterdamnews.com/ NOT sites like Black Voices http://www.huffingto...om/black-voices or The Griot http://www.thegrio.com/ Thanks

Cynique it seems to me your description of a future Cain presidency "beholden only to the shareholders represented by corporate America" would fit Obama, Clinton, Bush I, Bush II...

When I tell you it was a party y'all trust me the whole audience was getting down! More photos from the celebration

Here are a just some of the recent nominees for 2011 National Book Awards. Dr. Manning Marable: http://aalbc.com/aut...ing_marable.htm Nikky Finney: http://aalbc.com/aut...kky_finney.html Yusef Komunyakaa: http://aalbc.com/authors/yusef.html Jesmyn Ward: http://aalbc.com/aut...esmyn_ward.html Carl Phillips: http://aalbc.com/aut...l_phillips.html

“...we have fewer independent book sites focused on black authors than we did five years ago. And the ones that remain are even more difficult to find.” Read the rest of the interview: http://aalbc.it/troy2011

Can you image two different Black men as consecutive US Presidents? Wow. While I'm not convinced that Cain will emerge as the GOP candidate it would be a fascinating study of American politics -- too bad the future of our country is on the line... Missed ya Xeon.

Anika99, I just read in the Wall Street Journal that Long has had a civil law suit filed against him for running a Ponzi scheme, He is accursed stealing millions from his members. He needs to be thrown under the jail -- even if half of what he is accused of is true. Absolute power corrupts...

This Brother seems to have a solution for the Sista's: Just marry white guys. Read a review of Ralph Richard Bank's book Is Marriage for White People? How the African-American Marriage Decline Affects Everyone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eksJYVPKqNI

I got mines! (As we used to say) Pretty cool K.L. I noticed you thanked Selena James in your acknowledgements. She is a real trooper! I'll work this into the next eNewsletter. Kensington has always been a big supporter of website like AALBC.com, Mosaicbooks.com, etc.

Do tell. While I heard Long had affairs I had not paid enough attention to know he was "apparently" molesting young men.... Sheesh! I image the book will sell quite well. You gotta love the title

It looks like Michael "buy your way into a 3rd term" Bloomberg will have his hands full on trying to squelch the unrest in lower Manhattan. Will he sick the dogs on the protestors, or turn on the fire hoses? I'm sure he would like to just open fire...