Monday, April 26, 2010

In the loop - info on our authors

One of the things I struggle with is finding out about new books by African American authors. Back when I was in college (okay, way back) it was easy. I was focused on literature and regularly going to book events on my campus and throughout the city (Atlanta).

I'd see new titles in our campus bookstore, the Shrine of the Black Madonna bookstore, Charis Books and in one of the libraries. I had the time and the focus to stay on top of it. Plus, it was Atlanta, so covering Black authors was part of the daily newspaper's content.

Now, though I follow the book world as closely as I can, it seems I miss a lot of stuff. I hear about books on NPR, via Twitter, occasionally on Facebook and from publishers.

That's why I was a little put off when I got what was labeled the "last" issue of the African American interest newsletter from Random House. I mean really, how could they stop promoting our books. Or were they just not publishing enough of them to promote?

I posed the question on Twitter - why did you stop the newsletter - and @randomhouse responded. They are deferring to the newsletter from their One World imprint and there is an RSS feed you can sign up for. Okay. Got it. Here are the links for you all as well:
One World
RSS feed on African American authors

I know there are books out there that I'm missing - so I look for ways to stay in the loop. How do you follow the African American book scene?

1 comment:

Ernessa T. Carter said...

Great question! And the sad answer is that I basically have a bunch of blogs like yours in my reader, and when see something intriguing, then I order it on Amazon. I didn't even know there was a Random House letter!