June 26, 2010
The Washington Post
By Bernice L. McFadden
Saturday, June 26, 2010
[T]he work of many African Americans authors, myself included, has been lumped into one heap known as “African American literature.” This suggests that our literature is singular and anomalous, not universal. It is as if we American authors who happen to be of African descent are not a people but a genre much like mystery, romance or thriller.
Walk through your local chain bookstore and you will not see sections tagged British Literature, White American Literature, Korean Literature, Pakistani Literature and so on. None of these ethnicities are singled out or objectified the way African American writers are.
And while, yes, a vast majority of all writers, regardless of skin color, are struggling to stay afloat, and there are more African American writers being published today than at any other time in history, one must still take note of exactly what is being published.
For more of this article, click here.
March 14, 2010
by Felicia Pride — Publishers Weekly, 12/14/2009 2:00:00 AM
The economy stinks. Book sales are down marginally. Media outlets (and their book review sections) are being shut down at an alarming rate. Oh, and the last time we checked, no one has uncovered the secret to creating an automatic bestseller. All these issues are as pertinent to the African-American book market as they are to the larger American book industry. But what does all of this mean specifically for the African-American book market now and in the future?
Among a variety of responses to this question, it means that editors are becoming very cautious about the books they acquire; it means consumers of African-American–oriented titles may rate pricing more important than whether they buy it at a black book store; and it also means that even the endless demand for more street lit may be slowing down and publishers need to find new categories to target for African-American readers. Publishers Weekly spoke to a variety of book publishing professionals—editors, publishers, marketers, booksellers, and an author or two—to find out how they are responding to the contemporary African American market for books.
To read this article in its entirety, click here.
February 13, 2010
From Aya to Zapt!: 24 Graphic Novels for African American History Month
Featuring Marguerite Abouet, Frank Miller & Kyle Baker
By Martha Cornog, Philadelphia — Library Journal, 1/7/2010
Publishers Weekly
The past year has left tweens and teens with many more quality comics that increasingly depict engaging African American main characters. Plus, we have our Main Man himself, Mr. President, the comics geek–turned–comics hero. Forthcoming from Eureka: a Graphic Classics anthology featuring adaptations of short stories by African American authors. Forthcoming from TV star Rashida Jones via Oni Press: a spy thriller titled Frenemy of the State. Stay tuned!
January 31, 2010
Bloomsbury book cover stirs anger
For the second time in less than a year, Bloomsbury USA has put a white girl on the cover of a book that’s about a girl of color.
First it was Justine Larbalestier’s “Liar,” which has an African American protagonist. This time, the book is “Magic Under Glass” by Jaclyn Dolamore. The romantic fantasy features Nimira, a brown-skinned protagonist, but the figure on the cover that was shipped to stores is white.
Carolyn Kellogg
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-quick23-2010jan23,0,4795756.story
December 16, 2009
By Calvin Reid — Publishers Weekly, 12/15/2009 6:37:00 AM
Publishers Weekly
It didn’t take long before complaints began to circulate on Twitter about the image used on the cover of this week’s Publishers Weekly to illustrate the annual feature on African-American book publishing.
“We don’t get the ‘Afro Picks!’ cover. It’s not hip, cute, or appealing,” said one tweet. Another tweet: “It seems like a big mistake,” while another read, “what exactly is the rationale behind the Afro-picks cover?” “This is a ridiculous cover. An afro with lotso picks. Get it?” “Publishers Weekly what were you thinking?” By early afternoon on Monday, Twitter was swarming with comments about the cover illustration and few of the comments were complimentary.
The image was a photograph taken from a new book from W.W. Norton, Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present by Deborah Willis, a collection of carefully chosen photographs intended to highlight the physical and cultural beauty of African-American life. The image (Pickin’, 1999) by Lauren Kelley is a photograph of a black woman whose hair is full of Afro picks, the ubiquitous metal toothed hair-comb of the 1970s, complete with plastic handle in the form of a black power fist. The afro picks are arrayed in the woman’s hair to create a kind of giant sculptural Afro hair-do and the woman is leaning slightly forward to give the viewer a better look at the quirky artificially created hair-pick crown. The coverline for the image is: Afro Picks! New Books and Trends in African-American Publishing and it refers to the feature story “African-American Books in Today’s Marketplace,” a look at the current marketplace for black books written by Felicia Pride.
The resulting response to the choice of that particular image and that coverline was not anticipated by the person most closely involved with this week’s cover. That person was me, PW senior news editor, Calvin Reid. I organize, edit, and oversee the annual feature story on black books. I chose the cover in collaboration with the magazine’s creative director and I wrote the coverline, Afro Picks!, which was intended as a pun to highlight a story that “picked” new black titles of interest. The image was reminiscent of the 1970s and appealed to me, someone who grew up in the middle of the 1970s-era wave of black pride, black power and big afros with big afro picks stuck right in the back. To me it is a sweet, tongue-in-cheek funny and striking image of quirky black hair power. And while it never occurred to me that anyone would be offended by these images, I was very wrong and I have to acknowledge that. Quite a few people were offended by it and outraged by what some perceive as a disparaging or degrading image of a black woman. I certainly regret offending anyone and while I still love that image, I intend to think long and hard about whatever image is chosen for next year’s cover.
“My apologies to anyone who was offended by our cover—that certainly wasn’t our intent,” said PW’s editorial director, Brian Kenney. “At the same time, I’m delighted that Publishers Weekly was able to draw so much attention to Lauren Kelley’s powerful photograph, Deborah Willis’s wonderful book, and especially Felicia Pride’s absolutely terrific feature on African-American book publishing.”
In an effort to respond to the complaints, I contacted W.W. Norton executive editor Bob Weil, who edited the book from which the photo was taken. He wanted to emphasize that “this is a positive and transformational book.” He recently spoke at an event promoting the book at the Studio Museum in Harlem and said, “Willis’s book goes miles to show a more complete and honest history of the black image. One man stood up in the audience and said he’s using the book therapeutically with his psychiatric in-patients at Bellevue to improve their self-esteem; another young woman stood up and said she came upon the book by accident and was amazed to discover a book that reflected the world she knew.”
And with all due respect to those who were offended by the image, that is not a universal reaction. In an e-mail message from professor Willis, a scholar of black photography, chair of NYU’s photography department and a MacArthur Fellow, wrote: “It’s amazing how the viewers read this wonderful image that exemplifies power, humor, style, and beauty. Including the fist on the comb indicates power and strength and pride. It reminded me of the 70s. Ironic could it be that the readers are afraid to look at the power in black hair. (smile.) Thank you for using the image and exposing Black Beauty.”
September 11, 2009
So many have been asking: What caused you to write 8 books within the last year? Additionally, writing the screenplay for and producing a docu-drama based on my second book “Spread Some Love (Relationships 101)” – all within the same time frame? Basically, I fell in love with writing. I’ve studied many successful people and realized that they have one thing in common and that is – THEY LOVE WHAT THEY DO. Therefore they are good at it. Love is one of the most powerful forces given to man, though it is often overlooked. “For love we will climb mountains, cross seas, traverse desert sands, endure hardships. Without love mountains become unclimbable, seas uncrossable, and hardships our plight in life,” writes Gary Chapman in “The Five Love Languages.”
I never envisioned myself being a writer. I moved to Hollywood in 1996 and just wanted to act. As I stated in my book “When The Dust Settles” I was forced into writing or putting it more subtly it became as a blessing in disguise. While almost going bankrupt in 2004 I stumbled into a 1970s classic film which I so badly wanted to remake. At the time I had no prior experience in film making, except that which I had picked up previously on movie sets. Nonetheless, I was determined to succeed.
For the next three weeks, I made phone calls to find out who held the rights to my intended pet project. When I finally made contact with the studio, a woman answered the phone and told me they were not interested in selling the rights to a third party.
That statement didn’t sit well with me. You see, my plane had already taken off, the fasten-your-seat-belt signs were already extinguished, and the hostess was serving the beverage of the day.
I composed myself, contacted a writer friend whose script was recently optioned by a major studio, and asked him to assist me in writing my script. He did one of the best things a person can do for another: instead of giving me a fish, he showed me how to fish by sending me guidelines for writing a screenplay. I got busy. My mantra echoed for several months, “I’ll write my own. I’ll show them. They’ll be begging for my work someday.” My imaginary airplane was swiftly gaining altitude.
I knew if it was going to be – it was up to me! So I committed my time skill and resources to writing consistently. Each book I wrote, in that process I acquired a subsequent title and embarked upon the task of writing it.
Prior to 2007 I had written two screenplays and in spring of that same year my first book “The 5 Steps to Changing Your Life” was etched. In the summer of 2008 I wrote published and released “Spread Some Love (Relationships 101).” This book has become my bestseller and as a spin off “Spread Some Love (Relationships 101) Workbook” and “Spread Some Love (Relationships 101)” Journal were etched in early 2009. “When the Dust Settles (A True Hollywood Story)” based on my ten year quest in Hollywood followed in tow. This summer saw the release of “Dare to Make A Difference (Success 101),” “Dare to Make A Difference (Success 101) For Teens,” “The 52 Weeks Goal Setting Quest” and “The SUCCESS Triangle.” The latter is a volume of three eclectic books from my inspirational series relating to my climbing up from the bottom.
Back in 2007 after the release of my first book, I had a heart to heart talk with myself and decided that I wasn’t using much of my potential. I decided that no one was going outwork me. Still not adept at using the computer’s keyboard; I had never taken a typing class. My word per minute ratio no doubt was about a few words a minute – I’ve never checked. Someone once said: When the dream is big enough the facts don’t count. It’s my belief that if my thoughts can produce it – I can write it. This fall I’ll be releasing my tenth book “Total Commitment (The Mindset of Champions).”
If writing be the air that I breathe “write on.” When God brings it he doesn’t mess around.
A 2009 Books That Will Enhance Your Life – Release. All Rights Reserved.
April 13, 2009
Another independent bookstore bites the dust. In an email to customers (and a blog post) Friday afternoon, the owners of College Park’s Vertigo Books announced they will shut down for good on April 24. The announcement was accompanied by several parting shots at online shopping behemoth Amazon.com, which the owners more or less explicitly blame for their shop’s demise.
Starting today, everything at Vertigo Books is marked down 20 percent. Vertigo, which started in Dupont Circle in 1991 before making the move to College Park, specialized in carrying African American authors as well as international studies tomes.
http://dcist.com/2009/04/vertigo_books_to_close.php
April 9, 2009
Wed Apr 8, 6:29 pm ET
NEW YORK – Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has signed a deal to publish his memoir — a close-up look at his encounters with major world figures and events.
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning statesman says “a lot has been said and written” about his 10 years as secretary-general, but now he will finally get to tell his own story.
The book will include accounts of the 71-year-old Ghanaian diplomat’s interactions with world figures from George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin and Saddam Hussein to Nelson Mandela and Yasser Arafat.
The Penguin Press announced its acquisition of the memoir Wednesday. The publication date has yet to be set.
Annan and the United Nations were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001.
April 4, 2009
Associated Press
April 3, 2009
New York — Marlene Perez’s “Dead Is the New Black” is a young adult novel with a noirish pink and black cover and a supernatural plot. If it ever becomes the next sensation, give some credit to middle-schoolers such as Geneva Lish.
“It has an unusual plot and a unique power,” says Lish, a seventh-grader.
Lish didn’t buy the book online or at a store. She was among the students at J.H.S. 167 in Manhattan who recently visited the Scholastic Book fair, shopping in the school’s auditorium as they looked through graphic novels, fantasy and a Life magazine volume about President Obama.
During a hard time for publishing and education, the fairs remain a relatively stable source of income. According to a recent report from Scholastic Corp., revenue from fairs for the nine months ending Feb. 28 was $261.2 million, virtually unchanged from the same nine-month period a year earlier.
“I’ve never met one parent who said, ‘My kid has too many books.’ . . . You might cut a lot of things out. You might cut out a toy. You’re not going to cut out a book,” says Scholastic’s president of book fairs, Alan Boyko.
Book fairs have been around for decades, although the field now is largely controlled by Scholastic.
The publisher says its business has grown from about 8,000 annual fairs in the early 1980s to about 120,000 fairs expected this year.
Los Angeles Times
March 19, 2009
By LEE LOGAN, Associated Press Writer Lee Logan, Associated Press Writer – Tue Mar 17, 10:32 pm ET
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Could a vintage, dog-eared copy of “The Cat in the Hat” or “Where the Wild Things Are” be hazardous to your children?
Probably not, according to the nation’s premier medical sleuths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But a new federal law banning more than minute levels of lead in most products intended for children 12 or younger — and a federal agency’s interpretation of the law — prompted at least two libraries last month to pull children’s books printed before 1986 from their shelves.
Lead poisoning has been linked to irreversible learning disabilities and behavioral problems, and lead was present in printer’s ink until a growing body of regulations banned it in 1986. The federal law, which took effect Feb. 10, was passed last summer after a string of recalls of toys.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has interpreted the law to include books but has neither concluded that older books could be hazardous to children nor made any recommendations to libraries about quarantining such tomes, agency chief of staff Joe Martyak said Tuesday.
Still, the agency’s interpretation itself has been labeled alarmist by some librarians.
“We’re talking about tens of millions of copies of children’s books that are perfectly safe. I wish a reasonable, rational person would just say, `This is stupid. What are we doing?’” said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association’s Washington office.\
Yahoo News
