Is this what Dr. Frances Cress Welsing would want?

[Troy]

I simply can not obtain copies of Dr. Frances Cress Welsing's book, The ISIS Papers: The Keys to the Colors.

 

The only place I can buy it is on amazon.  Yes, amazon wins again.

 

I know I sound like a broken record, but Amazon owns the Black Book ecosystem -- end of story. We have freely given it to them.  Frankly, it is nauseating. We have to wrest back control of our books.  

 

[Guest Sonja]

How did this happen? Can you unpack it for us?  Is there an essay/editorial somewhere?

[Troy]

Here is the simple version Sonia: over the years I've described how Amazon has exerted increasing control over Black books. In fact, I helped facilitate this by providing buy links to Amazon's site for years. 

 

In recent years, I've noticed Black indie authors increasingly giving Amazon the exclusive right to sell their books. This means as a bookseller I cannot sell these author's books unless I send them to Amazon, (something I refuse to do today). This has not been a big loss as these are always indie authors whose books are not typically in high demand.

 

Now The Isis Papers is a 15-time AALBC Bestselling book. I can't tell you how many copies I've sold through Amazon. Now that I sell books directly. I'm unable to buy new copies to resell.

 

If someone knows a wholeseller or distributor who has a copies I can buy; I'm all ears. I can try to figure out who is providing copies to Amazon, but I don't have time to play detective for one book.

 

If anything, classic titles like The Isis Papers should only be available from Black booksellers. Today we have to go to the richest white man to buy this book...

[Troy]

My understanding is that the copies currently for sale, as new, on Amazon are bootlegged versions.  This was told to me by a prominent figure in publishing.

[Guest Sonja]

18 hours ago, Troy said:

My understanding is that the copies currently for sale, as new, on Amazon are bootlegged versions.  This was told to me by a prominent figure in publishing.

I'm mortified and on high alert ever since we lost the Johnson Publishing Archives. Our whole history is in the hands of everybody except us. Horrible.  Thank you for explaining. 

[Troy]

On 2/27/2020 at 7:08 AM, Guest Sonja said:

Our whole history is in the hands of everybody except us.

 

This has been true most of the time we have been on these shores. I thought in the age of the World Wide Web that this would change. However as the control of the web increasingly falls under the control of Facebook, Google, and Amazon we have actually reversed many of the gains we have made both on the web and off

 

We don't even have the platforms to make truth plain to the masses.

 

This is indeed horrible. It will get worse before it gets better.