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Emanuel
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 206
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 03:17 pm: | 
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I was sadly disappointed when I read Bookpage's list of hot, new debut novelists. No, not because I'm not on the list but because there wasn't a single Black author on the list. You mean to tell me they couldn't even throw in a token Negro for shits and giggles? What's up with that? Where are our hot debut novelists? Click here to view the story:
http://www.bookpage.com/0607bp/fiction/futurist.html |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 2390
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 03:52 pm: |
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Why would you expect them to put black writers on their list? |
Yukio
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 1336
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 05:36 pm: |
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They've had black folk there before, actually. |
Emanuel
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 207
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - 10:58 pm: |
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Well, since this newspaper/mag caters to libraries across the U.S., I would think one black author would be spotlighted as a hot, debut novelist. Bookpage has reviewed black authors in previous issues. However, none made the new list. |
Dakota
Regular Poster
Username: Dakota
Post Number: 30
Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 01:10 am: |
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It's funny Emanuel, I just posted something about libraries today on my blog. Have you considered contacting the editor to inquire as to why there are no black authors featured on the list? Once again, although it may not be fair, it's up to us to let the libraries across the country know our books are out there. Plus, we must empower our readers by encouraging them to go to their libraries and ask for our books. I don't really see this as a bad thing. Hey, one of my favorite sayings is: "The best way to know the future is to create it." I mention that only because in this society, the best way to make our books successful is to develop our own ways to market them to readers. |
Emanuel
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 208
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 09:11 am: |
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Sure did Dakota. I sent the editor an email. I haven't seen a response yet. A couple of years ago, I sent a similar email to author Po Bronson who wrote the bestseller "What Should I Do With My Life." It featured 33 people who made life-altering decisions to follow their hearts in regards to their careers (none of them Black). His office replied and said it was just an oversight and promised to feature Blacks in the next book. |
Chrishayden
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Chrishayden
Post Number: 2397
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 11:43 am: |
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Sounds like you have solved the problem.
This may be why they don't include blacks on the list--they never hear from blacks and don't think or know if any of them are consulting the list.
If you get a positive response (assuming that you are not getting blown off) then you have just struck a blow for freedom! |
Yukio
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 1337
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 02:08 pm: |
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Hmmm....considering the abundance of poorly written and conceived hip hop and urban fiction, it is not suprising that Booklist did not include any new debut black novelists. I think the key is debut novelists.
Since you all are more in tuned with whats out there, please share with me which debut novelists that you would put on your hypothetical "hot, new debut novelists list." |
Emanuel
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 209
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 02:42 pm: |
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Good questions Yukio. I had to think about that one because I haven't done much reading lately (but I'm working on it). Anywho, I've only read the last book on this list but I hear great things about these debut novels:
The Price of Forever by Joel McIver
Crystelle Mourning by Eisa Nefertari Ulen
5 Minutes and 42 Seconds by T.J. Williams
Snakewalkers by Everett Prewitt
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Yukio
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 1339
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 06, 2006 - 05:28 pm: |
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Only Ulen's and Prewitt's novel hint towards an inkling of what could be considered "literary fiction." Don't ask me what literary fiction is, cause I, and others, have already done this years ago. But when I looked at the covers and read the brief summmaries, and didn't get that feeling of...this looks like something I would read! LOL!
The problem is, to be honest, many people do not know what good fiction is! One needs to be careful when complaining about the absence of socalled good fiction. It aint enough to spell words correctly, and have a strong command of grammar and punctuation. LOL! If that was the case, any trained journalist could be a writer. It aint even enough to have an interesting story! This doesn't mean that the book is not good and interestin, but authors should be honest with themselves when they don't find their names on these lists!
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Solomonjones
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Solomonjones
Post Number: 98
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 03:13 pm: |
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Yukio -
I did not know you were a debut novelist. What's the name of your book? I'd like to support you by BUYING A COPY! But I digress ...
I've learned that accolades in mainstream publications do not mean much for black authors because they do not generally translate to sales. Black readers know that black writers get screwed in the mainstream, so they are more apt to listen to Aunt Suzy who told them the book was good than they are to listen to Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, or even the New York Times.
If you've got a book out, make sure that you do the following, because unlike great reviews and industry awards, these things translate to sales:
1. Go to bookclubs. Eat the chicken. Even if it's nasty.
2. Talk to readers. I mean really have conversations with them and listen to what they have to say. Even if they don't buy the book, you build a relationship. And relationships tranlate to sales.
3. Go to bookstores and get to know the people behind the counter. They, after all, are the ones whom the readers depend on to tell them what to buy. Think of them as your representatives ... because they are.
4. Be nice to people. Never think you're so successful that you can't take constructive criticism from real people. They are not minor annoyances who don't know what they're talking about. They are your customers. Without them, you do not exist.
5. Ignore the industry trade publications, mainstream reviewers and hot shot critics ... 'cause they damn sure gon' ignore you.
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Solomonjones
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Solomonjones
Post Number: 99
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 03:16 pm: |
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Oops. That last post was for Emanuel, not Yukio. But the points are the same. |
Yukio
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 1387
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 03:50 pm: |
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It was definitely not for me...i aint got no book...not yet! But when I do, I am gonna insist that you support it even though you mistakenly addressed the post to me! |
Solomonjones
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Solomonjones
Post Number: 100
Registered: 02-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 04:25 pm: |
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Quid pro quo ... I have a book out right now called C.R.E.A.M. Need I say more? |
Emanuel
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 213
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 05:28 pm: |
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Hey Solomon,
Thanks for the offer of support and advice. My title is "Where is the Love." It's doing pretty well. I have an ad on AALBC.com. It was featured in Rolling Out Urban Weekly, on Rawsistaz and a few other places. It was on the top 1500 on BarnesandNoble.com. And libraries are buying the book in bulk. I just sold 42 copies to my local library in Cleveland.
BTW, Bookpage emailed me back and said they never saw pictures of the novelists who were recognized and asked if I knew of any debut black novelists that should have been on the list. I told them about the Crystelle Mourning title I mentioned above. Even though I review for the Midwest Book Review, I rarely get advance review copies of AA literature. I wasn't thinking about myself because I know they only feature traditionally published authors and my book may not be considered literary but more of a contemporary fiction kind of deal.
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Yukio
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 1389
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 07:16 pm: |
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will do, will do... |
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