One of the Ngoza Saba principles that I strongly support is Ujamaa (cooperative economics). I've blogged before about the need for each of us to be more focused with our Black spending power. We can correct many of the ills in our community if we simply support Black-owned businesses whenever possible. As such, it is great news to see that AALBC.com, Cushcity.com and MosaicBooks.com, the three largest and most established web sites focusing on African American literature joined forces to offer comprehensive online book promotion options to self-published authors and small publishing firms.Together, the three web sites have over 30 years of combined online presence and over 4 million page views per month. Each site brings different strengths to the venture.
AALBC.com, founded by Troy Johnson of Harlem, N.Y. in 1998, is now the largest website dedicated to promoting books by and about African Americans.
Cushcity.com, co-founded by Willie and Gwen Richardson of Houston, Tex. in 1998, is the world’s largest African American Internet retailer with over 20,000 products online, including books, DVDs, Greek products, calendars and art.
MosaicBooks.com, founded by Ron Kavanaugh of the Bronx, NY, in 1996, was the first site created to showcase African American literature. It recently celebrated its 10th anniversary online.
“This e
ffort brings unprecedented exposure to millions of African American book readers worldwide,” says Johnson. “I am pleased to work with Cushcity and MosaicBooks to bring African American authors and consumers together.”The three sites will initially offer self-published authors and small presses simultaneous, prominent placement on each of the three sites’ home pages. There are also plans to expand these coordinated services in the future to include e-blasts and other marketing opportunities for authors.
The announcement comes on the heels of recent news reports highlighting the growth in the number of African American titles published annually and the resultant increase in book sales revenue. Based upon book sales figures for 2006 released by the American Association of Publishers, African Americans spend about $1 billion of the estimated $24 billion spent in the U.S. annually on books.
Villagers, how many of you have purchased books from any of these three online Black bookstores in the past year? Can we make a commitment to support these three Black businesses over the coming weeks and months? What say u?
14 comments:
Hotep Villager...thx for the info...i'm going to 'borrow' this post for YBR :)
Bria - I encourage you and others to share it. I'm trying to figure out if these folks have an affiliate program for bloggers. Amazon.com provides me with income as a blogger ... I would love to replace Amazon.com with one or more of these three online bookstores if they have similiar system.
Thanks for the info Villager. I would suggest they target the English speaking Caribbean. Here in Trinidad the import duty on books is minimal. Of course, the preferred vendor is Amazon.com. Online purchases are sent to a "sky box address" or courier service in Miami for transshipment. Let me know if there is an affiliate program.
Thanks for the info. I hoard books and would love to patronize a black online bookstore. I will spread the word.
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@zeeska - Hey Trini! (I was born there, haven't been in ages)
SheCodes - Asante sana! Had you heard or used any of these three online bookstores in the past?
Villager, this is huge and I will link to this in blackinbusiness. We all read so we should check this out. Thanks for the information
James - I'm glad that the information is finding villagers willing to take action with it. I'm going to see if I can migrate from Amazon.com affiliate program to one supplied by one or more of these three Black-owned vendors.
peace, Villager
Man am I glad to hear about this. I was going to ask about affiliate potential too but you stole my thunder. I'm an avid reader so I'm getting ready to check them out and save them in their own favorites folder.
This is great news! I've ordered from Mosaic before but not the other two. It would great if they had an affiliate program.
This is great information. Thanks for sharing!
Iya, Martin, and Debo Blue - I'm glad that you found some information that was useful here in our village.
Shecodes - A trip home is long overdue, much has changed. Stay connected.
I knew about AALBC, go to it often, but I didn't know about the others. I'll do a post on Essential Presence and spread the word. I'm a book junkie.
I'll also post the joint venture on my other site traditionofexcellence.wordpress.com
Symphany - Asante sana! I look forward to seeing your posts. As an aside, I'll make sure that both of your blogs are being tracked in the Black Blog Rankings...
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