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Thursday, December 3, 2009

National Buy a Book By A Black Author and Give It To Someone Not Black!


I had another blog post in mind until I realized that here at Novel Spaces I had yet another platform I could use to help promote author Carleen Brice's fabulous campaign to bring awareness to books by people of color. I celebrated the kickoff of National Buy a Book By A Black Author and Give It to Someone Not Black month on my blog earlier this week. Last year, Carleen, who is a huge believer in buying books as gifts for the holidays, took the idea one step further and encouraged readers to buy a book by a black author and give it to someone not black.


Here's the deal. As naive as it sounds, I truly had no idea that black authors faced such a tough road in the publishing industry until I became published a few years ago. I knew the books were sheveled differently, and that black books didn't get mentioned as much on review sites, but it didn't hit home until I expereinced these obstacles first-hand. Talk about an ugly, eye-opening experience.


National Buy a Book By a Black Author and Give It to Someone Not Black helps to spotlight books by black authors, and personally, I hope it encourages others to be open to exploring the shelves of the African American section of the bookstore.


This holiday season, as you're making your list and checking it twice, think about broadening your reading horizons and give a black author a chance. You just may discover that we're not so different. Who knows, you may even find yourself a new favorite author.

3 comments:

  1. Even though I'm a black author, I had no idea December was dedicated to expanding black author readership. I think it is a really good idea and will definitely play my part and encourage others to do so.

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  2. I didn't know about this either. Last year I joined the Random House promotion "This holiday season... give the gift of reading". (I blogged about it here.) Carleen's campaign has added a new twist to this great movement. Books make the best gifts! As I said last year:

    - A book is the perfect size.
    - It's easy to wrap.
    - It gives hours and hours of pleasure.
    - It's reasonably priced.
    - It's convenient, portable, and can be visited again and again.
    - There's one to suit every imaginable taste and interest.

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  3. I just stole this and put it on my Livejournal. Now all five of my readers will think I thought of it.

    If this takes off, maybe we could start a Buy a Book by a Hopelessly Whitebread Author Who Happens to Married to a Black Person month. (I don't care if they give it to anyone once they buy it.)

    All kidding aside, I think this is a great idea. I am a book giver. This year all of the books I give will be by writers of color.

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