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Cdb
First Time Poster
Username: Cdb
Post Number: 1
Registered: 06-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 01:57 am: | 
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What's up board? Obviously I am a first time poster and I apologize for making my first post one that pitches a book. Trust me I have been reading this website for a while, but for some reason or another I didn't join and post. I could blame it on time constraints and the like, but to do so would be a lie. With that said, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Christopher D. Burns. Like many of you I am a writer. I teach English at HBC Lemoyne Owen in Memphis, TN. I have a beautiful wife and son and I currently have a book that I am promoting.
Instead of being an obnoxious person and dumping my website address on this page, I will give you the premise of the book. If you are interested in reading the book then I will write the website location, where there is a long excerpt available.
Title: 100 Black and White Questions
Format: ebook only
Authors: Kevin Pendleton and Christopher D. Burns
Genre: Non-Fiction (Pop Culture)
Synopsis: Kevin (White) and I(Black) are two men who have attained the same level of education (BA English and MFA's), we both have worked in the same field of employment (High School Teachers), and we are both ex-collegiate athletes. With the understanding that there have always been questions that Whites and Blacks have wanted to ask each other we sat down and asked 50 questions each on topics ranging from the lighthearted Sports, Women, Entertainment, etc. To the serious: History, Politics, Education. The book is broken down into two sections and is less 'research' and more of our personal ideas and answers. We are aware that we are not the voices of our respective cultures but what better way to deal with race relations than finding two men who are on "equal" ground and letting them ask and answers questions without being censored or afraid of rebuttal. The book was submitted by Kevin Pendleton as his thesis and approved at San Diego State University.
Notes: The book was very close to being picked up by Arcade Publishing, but was denied because the editor's decided that the book was racist in its balance and tone. I decided after we re-edited the book that Kevin and I should try to get the book out to the public because it may be one of the most important books in race relations.
If you all are interested in reading the excerpt I will go ahead and write in the website after one person responds (unless the website has been included automatically in this post). Thanks for reading and I look forward to the banter and conversation on this site.
Chris B.
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Yvettep
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Yvettep
Post Number: 478
Registered: 01-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 10:13 am: |
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Chris, this sounds fascinating. I'd be interested in reading the excerpt. |
Moonsigns
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Moonsigns
Post Number: 519
Registered: 07-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 12:02 pm: |
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I'd like to read this book as well.
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Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 3442
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 12:20 pm: |
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Cdb,
I'd consider reading your book also. |
Cdb
Newbie Poster
Username: Cdb
Post Number: 2
Registered: 06-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 03:17 pm: |
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The excerpt is located at: www.cbpublish.com/Excerpt-100BWQues.zip
Enjoy and I'm glad that each of you requested the link. If you are at work your network may refuse the download. You may also have to disable your firewall. But all of the download directions are on the site. www.cbpublish.com
I am looking forward to your feedback and of course I hope it picques your interest enough for you to purchase the e-book.
Thanks
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Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 2291
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 03:57 pm: |
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Your initials are the same as mine, so I'd also like to read the excerpt. Why can't you print it here??? (I have a problem with downloading.) |
Babygirl
Veteran Poster
Username: Babygirl
Post Number: 60
Registered: 04-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 05:25 pm: |
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After reading your excerpt, I have no doubts that your book will envoke much discussion and probably piss a fair number of people off. But I wish you much luck with it. The problem I have with this project, in my opinion, is that clearly, you and your associate are no where near being on "equal" ground. You may well have traveled parallel career and life paths, but by virture of your very different upbringings, which I would venture to say has molded a large percentage of your opinions, the two of you are bringing very different plates to the table. I have no doubts that this would justify the difference in your two perceptions of Blacks and Whites.
I'd be curious to know since you've asked and answered the questions, where and how do you both intend to address the fallacies that either of you may have, or if you intend to do so at all? |
Cdb
Newbie Poster
Username: Cdb
Post Number: 3
Registered: 06-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 07:06 pm: |
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Great question and statement Babygirl. First the download issue. Cynique, I understand about the problem with downloading but the file is clean and will not harm your harddrive. You will have to unzip the file and it will open as a .exe. It is a very nice looking ebook form. The excerpt is very long and to post it here I would have to place it in sections which I don't mind doing but I figured the download would be sufficient. Let me know if you want me to place it here question by question.
On to Babygirl. Kevin and I are very aware that we are only equal in degrees attained, employment gained and the ex-athlete thing. We have considered writing a follow-up to the book just as a writing exercise and to allow for rebuttals or arguments that we both have in regard to many of the answers we both had. But we have decided to hold off on doing this. We more than likely will not because to answer or redirect we wouldn't allow the reader to formulate their own discussions. The intent of the book is to create a dialog amongst readers who either agree, disagree or are simply pondering the ideas we introduce.
As for the idea that what we are writing is a series of fallacies... I don't know if that is the correct word choice. We do have strong opinions that are based on experiences and some research, but I honestly think that our answers have some validity. The book was written over a period of three years and went through many incarnations. We chose this form to present to the public because although it is somewhat offensive it is approachable and easily accessed.
On a different note what exactly do you mean by stating that we are no where near being equal? What I meant by equal was that often in discussions with Blacks and Whites it is difficult to find two men willing to ask and answer questions honestly who have attained the same level of education and employment goals. I'm getting longwinded and I will cut it off here. |
Babygirl
Veteran Poster
Username: Babygirl
Post Number: 61
Registered: 04-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 11:03 pm: |
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Chris, you made the comment that you and Kevin were "two men who are on "equal" ground", and I think each reader is going to approach that or define it differently. I understand, as you noted, that your "equality" is represented by the two of you having attained the same degrees, same levels of employement, etc. My comment was based on there being a "different" emotional perspective that you both bring because of your very different upbringings and as such your approaches to the same issues may well be very "unequal". And "equal" may not be the proper word to apply here but I hope you get the jist of what I'm trying to say.
With respect to the "fallacies", this may as well be a wrong choice of words, but there were one or two instances that you/he stated an opinion or commented about the other race wherein that opinion/statement may well be considered by many to be false. To be specific, Kevin's response to one of your questions about white/black women was that in his opinion, "there wasn't as much pressure on Black women to be beautiful" . Now, I understood what he was ultimately trying to say, although I didn't necessarily appreciate how he said it, but at face value, and not to take it out of context, many would say the statement was as far from being true as one could get. And this is where my question arose and purely out of curiosity.
Again, I wish you much luck with it. It was an interesting read and I'm sure will envoke many discussions. |
Cdb
Newbie Poster
Username: Cdb
Post Number: 4
Registered: 06-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 17, 2005 - 11:50 pm: |
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Babygirl, I am not as serious as I may seem but you are on point with this last commentary. My wife read that section and the conversation we had about this was a trip. Take that comment about women and imagine what he said about HBCU's and reverse racism. I currently teach at an HBCU. Which has forced him to reconsider his stance and he has finally started to back away from his thoughts about HBCU's, but the statement is in print for all to see. It gets worse, but it is as honest as I've ever experienced in speaking with any man about the topics in the text. I honestly respect your comments and I really wish you would take a shot at getting the book. Not to stroke my ego but to offset a statement made by Kevin when we decided to make it into an ebook instead of a paperback. "Blacks won't buy the book." Was the statement made and you know what so far he's right. We have been tracking the sales and thus far the readers have all been of other ethnicities. Go figure. But thanks for the words and God Bless. |
Kola_boof
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 300
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 12:47 am: |
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I have noticed that BLACKS will buy books in large quantities
....AFTER....
"Whites/The Establishment" have annointed those books or authors.
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Abm
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Abm
Post Number: 3461
Registered: 04-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 08:17 am: |
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Kola,
What do you mean by "The Establishment"? Are you referring to the 'Great & Powerful' Oprah? |
Cdb
Newbie Poster
Username: Cdb
Post Number: 5
Registered: 06-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 09:08 am: |
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I would hope that anyone who comes across the book would send an e-mail to a friend. I don't want to buy into the idea that Blacks won't buy the book until it is the "popular" thing to do. But that is the way society works. I have been praising books by Diane McKinney Whetstone and Dawn Turner Trice since I read On the 8th and Tumbling. I have yet to see their names on a Black Board Bestsellers list, or the type of praise that is heaped upon authors who write books that you can literally take the cover off of one book and slap that cover on their latest release and it is the same book.
What I'm saying is in many ways once a book becomes recognized by Whites as important you do tend to have an abundance of Black readers who will read said book. As a point of reference the Da Vinci Code phenomena. In my circle, and I was one of the people who read the book long after its initial success, I read it not because I was interested but because it had just become the "book" to read. It actually interrupted my reading of Due's The Good House" which I still need to finish.
I would hope that I can find an audience for 100 Black and White Questions. I have posted in other locations on the web and I am attempting to use guerilla marketing, before paying for marketing. As I said earlier we are writing customers and asking what race they are and where they recieved their information concerning the book. The efforts on my end have been disappointing but it is what it is.
So Kola may have a valid point but I am not buying in so soon.
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Kola_boof
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Kola_boof
Post Number: 301
Registered: 02-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 02:07 pm: |
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ABM---
Oprah would not Christen Anything that WHITES were uncomfortable with or were against.
So it's the WHITES who must blow on the food, before the BLACK will eat it.
Have you not noticed certain authors like KENJI JASPER and the one who wrote MISEDUCATION OF THE NEGRO who get almost no publishing, backing from the Major Publishing Establishment?
They face the same resistance that I have faced.
Black Americans TRUST the White Man's truth. Not the Black man's.
Toni Morrison would be NOWHERE today if she had not been a RANDOM HOUSE "Editor" for Years before her first novel.
Alice Walker, without the White Lesbian Establishment and her appearing at the Right time and her books embracing "White Women" with so much love, would be nowhere.
OPRAH is no different.
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Libralind2
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Libralind2
Post Number: 129
Registered: 09-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 07:54 am: |
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As a reader and one who reads genres across the board, I "protest" the comments made by authors who say "black folks wont purchase my book". Umm "US" readers decide what we will read and where we will spend our dollars. The book we are discussing here for example is not going to be embraced by the segment of book buyers who read the popular fiction. That said why market your book to folks who look at it in passing then "drive by" it to get to what's hot. The issues you and Kevin raise are tough. MOST folks in my experience, dont care to engage in these types of discussions let alone buy a book about them. You guys wrote the book because YOU felt it was something YOU were interested in and now your making the same ole tired comments that "WE (readers) wont buy it". THAT'S the way to sell a book. Now, I dont do ebooks. I cant read a book that way. My eyesight is poor. So, just based on my experience, how many others out there have a GOOD reason why they dont purchase ebooks. NOT because they dont buy books.
The comments expressed here are my own and not necessarily those of management.
LiLi |
Cdb
Newbie Poster
Username: Cdb
Post Number: 6
Registered: 06-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 11:34 am: |
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Hey LiLi, it is not my intention to insult Blacks or attack them. My goal in posting here was obvious, but I did it because I felt that the conversations on this site catered to what the book's ultimate goal is, dialog. My reason for even posting the comment that the co-author made is because it is true. Blacks will spend unspecified amounts of time writing on computers and reading their manuscripts, e-mails, message boards and any number of computer related texts, but will quickly say they don't read e-books. Doesn't really make sense does it. We sat on this book for over two years, because we knew that people would be offended by it and mainly because we were afraid. But within the last year or so we began to ask each other why not get it out there. It is needed and these are the type of water cooler conversations you hear everyday between Blacks and Blacks not Whites and Blacks.
I am posting elsewhere before we begin to pay for advertisement. But, and this is honest, the discussion the co-author and I have had has led to a direct marketing campaign to continue the push towards White America. I know in my head and heart that this will alienate most Blacks but you know what I'm willing to do what needs to be done to get the conversation out there.
After doing random posting on several boards I've realized that you are right I am preaching to the choir. Why should I market the book in areas where the goal is to discuss fiction?
I will continue in the future to peep this board and make comments here and there since I failed to do so for so long, but I won't bring any of my advertisement attempts into the equation. This is not a defeated post or submission of sorts just a reality check. My goal is to promote this book and get it out there. I have several other books that I feel are important and they are works of fiction. I am a writer, I teach writing and care for the craft. But after having an agent and being told consistently what Black people won't read certain types of books, I know that the best way to break in is to use this book as not only a race relations book but as my calling card.
In other words forgive me for my negative marketing scheme in using the quote about "We won't buy it." But let's be honest, we won't buy it until it becomes more relevant in a bigger arena. By that time you'll have folks calling me Sambo and any other word to attack what I have written in the book. Now LiLi, I'll ask you, did you download the excerpt? Was it hard on your eyes? Because we made sure to use a soft brown background and a format that looks and simulates a real book format, when most ebooks look like pdf files. The print is bold and large and in many instances much easier to read than a number of paperback books printed on white paper. We did the research to ensure that the book would be readable on the desktop, we even allowed for a low quality print. But as I said in an earlier post. The numbers don't lie. The book is selling, I just feel that I'm missing out on getting it to my people. |
Jmho
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Jmho
Post Number: 139
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 11:59 am: |
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Cdb wrote:
Blacks will spend unspecified amounts of time writing on computers and reading their manuscripts, e-mails, message boards and any number of computer related texts, but will quickly say they don't read e-books. Doesn't really make sense does it.
This is so true. And, agree, it don't make sense. If you don't prefer e-books then it's more comprehensible to say, I don't prefer e-books because it doesn't feel like a book. I know many people who sit literally, hours upon hours, at their computer (including those notebooks or laptops) reading, each day, but you as stated, will say, I don't like reading e-books or don't think I will because of my aging eyesight. I then wonder how many people have actually tried reading them, as oppose to, those who tried them, and didn't like it. I suspect the number is very small. And, then some of the same people will also send and read e-mails and/or text messages on their PDAs (Blackberries, Palms, etc.) or their cell phones. Which I really don't see how they do -- talk of eye strain. |
Libralind2
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Libralind2
Post Number: 132
Registered: 09-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 19, 2005 - 01:57 pm: |
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No I didnt download your excerpt as I dont like to read those either. I also dont sit for hours reading email.
LiLi |
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