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2004 proved to be a very good year for
African-American’s in literature. Readers were introduced to Essence
best-selling authors David E. Talbert (5 time NAACP Image Award Winner) who
penned his first novel Baggage Claim, Danielle Santiago’s Little
Ghetto Girl, Crystal Lacy Winslow’s The Criss Cross, Brenda
Thomas’ Fourplay, Teri Woods’ Dutch, La Jill Hunt’s Drama
Queen, Shannon Holmes’ Bad Girlz and a host of other striking
novels.
Zane, author of Nervous,
The Sisters of APF, The Heat Seekers, Gettin' Buck Wild: Sex Chronicles II,
Addicted, The Sex Chronicles: Shattering the Myth,
and Shame on It All graced the scene with one searing title this
year, Chocolate Flava. However, in 2005 she is set to hit the
scene again with more sizzling novels; Afterburn, It Is What It
Is: Shame On It All Again and Breaking the Cycle.
Michael Presley’s final installment of the Blackfunk
trilogy hit the streets on a hot day in July. Not only was the day hot, but
Black Funk III was scorching. Prior to the release, Mr. Presley
received over 100 e-mails daily demanding the book. This much anticipated
novel flew off bookshelves nationwide. In just two months, this
self-published author found himself reprinting another 20,000 copies, and as
we near the end of the year Blackfunk III is still the top-selling
fiction novel among African-American distributors self-published and
mainstream!
Triple Crown Publications has become a publishing house
to reckon with along with Urban Books, Black Print and a host of newcomers.
Vicki Stringer, bestselling author of Imagine This as well co-owner
of Triple Crown bowls down publishing lanes making strikes time and time
again! To date, Ms. Stringer has published a slew of successful titles;
A Project Chick, Grimey, Black, Gangsta, A Hustler’s Wife,
Dollar Bill and Dime Piece. What makes Ms. Stringer and Mr.
Holmes so successful? Mr. Holmes states, “We’re giving readers what they
want.” Nuff said!
In addition, Yvette Hayward and Ruth Morrison held the
first African-American Literary Awards Show held September 29th
at the Alahambra Ballroom in Harlem, New York. Show sponsors included Black
Expressions Book Club, AOL Time Warner Book Group and Barnes & Noble. The
event was well attended and some of the winners included: Virginia DeBerry
and Donna Grant – Better Than I Know Myself for
Contemporary Fiction, Tananarive Due – My Soul To Keep for Sci-Fi,
Triple Crown Publications for Small Press and Carter G. Woodson - The Mis-Education
of the Negro for best Non-fiction. For more information visit: http://www.literaryawardshow.com/
Who says African-American’s are not reading or spending
money on books? According to Target Market News CONSUMER EXPENDITURE DATA
From "The Buying Power of Black America" African-American’s spent
$295 million on books in 2001. Those figures increased to $303
million in 2002 and another $326 million in 2003.
The economic slowdown continues and surely has an
impact on future spending, but the verdict will soon be out regarding the
year 2004, and we anticipate an increase in spending on books in 2005. So
I’d like to say thank you to all of the readers for making the dream
of writing possible for all of us authors!
Look out for the my hot new titles, No Strings
Attached, Runnin’ Game by Courtney Parker and another burning new
title, which is too hot to reveal… but don’t worry this novel will be out by
Summer 2005 and will not disappoint! Visit my site:
www.nanceyflowers.com to read a sample chapter of the #1 Essence
best-selling novel, Shattered Vessels and purchase it at a discount from
www.blackbooksplus.com.
If you are interested in having your novel published
take a look at our manuscript submission guidelines. We are accepting books
in several genres including hip-hop fiction, erotica and contemporary
fiction.
Black Books News wishes you and yours a Happy
Holiday Season and a very, very prosperous New Year!
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