Well, it can't hurt ... does the New York Times best-seller list matter for black books?Does placement on the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times best-seller list promise more sales and fans for black authors? Responses from industry experts range from an emphatic "yes" to "not really, but the exposure doesn't hurt." "It matters," says Dawn Davis, vice president and editorial director of Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins publishing. "First, you get added exposure and better placement in the chains [booksellers Barnes & Noble, Borders and Waldenbooks, plus retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco]. "Second, they put your books up front in the store [once they make "the list"] and they get discounted, which gives consumers further incentives to buy," she adds. Tavis Smiley's The Covenant With Black America zoomed to the top spot on The Times nonfiction paperback list because "he really hawked that book," says Janet Hill, vice president and executive editor with Doubleday. "He was on C-SPAN and visiting churches. Reaching Critical Mass "They [Smiley and publisher Third World Press] built the groundswell ground·swell n. 1. A sudden gathering of force, as of public opinion: a groundswell of antiwar sentiment. 2. . Older church people may not appear to be New York Times Book Review readers; however, other people heard about The Covenant and came to the party as well," says Hill. As of June 18, Smiley's The Covenant had been on The Times list 13 weeks with some time at No. 1; Perry's Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings had been on the nonfiction hardcover list eight weeks with a week at No. 1; and Harris placed high at No. 3 in his opening week, on May 21. "The fact that it kept going up and up was an indication that there were other readers, a wider audience other than African Americans, buying the book," says Hill. The New York Times Book Review says its editors calculate book sales this way: Weekly rankings reflect sales at almost 4,000 bookstores, plus wholesalers serving 50,000 other retailers, statistically weighted to represent all such outlets nationwide. Black-owned Karibu Books, operator of several stores in the Washington, D.C., area, has been among the reporting stores for at least four years, says Lee McDonald, marketing director/events coordinator for Karibu. "The publicists always ask if we report to the New York Time," she added. Third World Press, publishers of The Covenant, says it has sold about 400,000 copies. "The New York Times list was nice, but most of the publicity [that drove a lot of sales] was on urban radio," says Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambail, of The Literary in Philadelphia and Smiley's publicist. "Tavis went to places off the beaten track. People in Tallahassee and St. Louis are probably not New York Times Book Review readers, but the list probably helped bookstores order more copies." Emma Rodgers, owner of Black Images Book Bazaar in Dallas, says The Times list did not matter so much to her audience. "No, not in this market," says Rodgers. "We already had The Covenant and E. Lynn Harris's book before they made the list. Customers are aware that they are on the list, but I have not seen an effect." It's not just about sales, Davis says. "The media watchers and cultural gatekeepers pay attention to that list," she explains. "I'm sure getting listed means more media bookings and attention." Her company's African American authors who have graced The Times list include Edward P. Jones Edward P. Jones is an African American author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Born in 1951, he was raised in Washington, D.C. and educated at both the College of the Holy Cross and the University of Virginia. [The Known World, 2003] and Karrine Steffans Karrine Steffans (August 24, 1978) is a former hip hop music video performer and actress. She is the author of Confessions of a Video Vixen (ISBN 0-06-084242-3), her 2005 memoir about her life in the commercial hip hop world, which was controversial for its graphic [Confessions of a Video Vixen Confessions of A Video Vixen is memoir written by Karrine Steffans which details her life as a teenaged runaway who turns to stripping, hip-hop modeling, and prostitution in order to support herself and, later, her young son. , 2005]. Jones was on the list for three weeks and placed in the lower half of the top 10, says Davis; and Steffans entered the list last summer, placed as high as No. 5. At presstime press·time n. The time at which a publication, especially a newspaper, is submitted for printing. , Steffans was on the extended fist--below the top 15. Jones made the list after winning the Pulitzer Prize Pulitzer Prize Any of a series of annual prizes awarded by Columbia University for outstanding public service and achievement in American journalism, letters, and music. Fellowships are also awarded. and getting exposure on the covers of national magazines, says Davis. For Steffans, ascending to The Times list brought her "all kinds of TV. When E. Lynn Harris's novel I Say A Little Prayer entered The Times list May 21 as the No. 3 fiction best-seller, he became the third black male author to appear on one of The Times fists that same week. "Any best-seller broadens the readership," says Hill, whose company publishes Harris. His past bestsellers and highest placements are Not a Day Goes By (Doubleday, 2000; No. 2); Any Way the Wind Blows (Doubleday, 2001; No. 2); A Love of My Own (Doubleday, 2002; No. 3); and What Becomes of the Brokenhearted bro·ken·heart·ed adj. Grievously sad. brokenhearted Adjective overwhelmed by grief or disappointment Adj. 1. (Doubleday, 2003; debuted at No. 6). Hill says the author's reader base has broadened to embrace white, heterosexual readers. She is convinced that The Times book list exposure attracted more customers. Indeed, cultural gatekeepers can push a classic black-authored book onto The Times list, which then creates buzz, says literary agent Victoria Sanders. In 2005, when the estate of Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American folklorist and author during the time of the Harlem Renaissance, best known for the 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. reissued Their Eyes Were Watching God and it was an "Oprah Winfrey “Oprah” redirects here. For the show, see The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is the American multiple-Emmy Award winning host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest-rated talk show in television history. Presents" movie on ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. , the TV buzz propelled the novel onto The Times list for three weeks, two weeks at No. 9 before cooling off at No. 15. Sanders represents authors such as Connie Briscoe, whose Big Girls Don't Cry (HarperCollins, 1996) placed No. 15 on the fist. When the Stars Align Good publicity, good timing or a good story can drive high sales volume that first week, says Davis, but the book must have legs to stay on The Times list. [The New York Times list is based on books shipped by publishers; so after an initial rush of activity, it is possible for a book to bomb.] At presstime, there was no evidence that Smiley, Tyler "Madea" Perry or Harris had inflated figures that would cause their books to stalk Other African American authors on the list that week included Maya Angelou (Mother: A Cradle to Hold Ma Random House, No. 13 in its opening week on the fiction hardcover list) and Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point, Back Bay/Little Brown, No. 5 in paperback nonfiction with 91 weeks on the list). Gladwell's Blink has been on the list for 67 weeks, hardcover nonfiction. "The appearance of a book on the New York Times best-seller list impacts contract renegotiations and bonuses for authors," says literary agent Denise Stinson, who had three clients in the top 5 on the list in 1998. Stinson was quoted in an article for the African American Literature African American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. The genre traces its origins to the works of such late 18th century writers as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano, reached early high points with slave narratives Book Club, by Gwendolyn E. Osborne, a BIBR BIBR Bay Islands Beach Resort (Roatan, Honduras) BIBR Backward Indicator Bit Received contributor. "Regional lists don't count. Local lists don't count," Stinson explained. "When I am negotiating with a publisher, it does me no good to say: 'This author spent ten weeks on the Boston Globe best-seller list.' It's making the New York Times list that counts." 12 Who Made It to the Top SINCE THE AUGUST 9, 1942, DEBUT OF THE NEW York Times fiction and nonfiction hardcover best-seller lists, only 13 books by 12 black authors have risen to the very top. Terry McMillan landed on the No. 1 spot twice, following Alex Haley's pioneering 1976 sales achievement in fiction with Roots. The sixth novel of Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, Paradise, was her first to get to the very top of the fiction list. In 1986, Bill Cosby was America's No. 1 father on network TV when he wrote Fatherhood, Colin Powell was America's No. 1 military leader when he earned out his $6 million advance for his memoirs, and the late Arthur Ashe was an athletic champion, hero and activist against both South African apartheid and the AIDS virus AIDS virus n. See HIV. that later killed him. By the 1990s, infamous athletes such as O.J. Simpson and Dennis Rodman joined a No. 1 best-seller group that was first integrated in the 1940s through the 1960s by legendary literati literati Scholars in China and Japan whose poetry, calligraphy, and paintings were supposed primarily to reveal their cultivation and express their personal feelings rather than demonstrate professional skill. like Richard Wright and James Baldwin. On May 19, 2001, McMillan's Stella haled the fiction list, while bad boy Rodman simultaneously ruled nonfiction. By 2006, Tyler Perry's Madea followed where Malcolm Gladwell's Blink had gone before. Black authors like Bebe Moore Campbell Bebe Moore Campbell (b. February 18 1950, Philadelphia - d. November 27 2006, Los Angeles) was the author of three New York Times bestsellers, Brothers and Sisters, Singing in the Comeback Choir, and What You Owe Me, which was also a , Eric Jerome Dickey Eric Jerome Dickey (born July 7, 1961) is a best-selling American author best known for his novels about contemporary African-American life. Biography Eric Jerome Dickey was born in Memphis, Tennessee and attended the University of Memphis, where he earned a degree in , E. Lynn Harris E. Lynn Harris is an Black American author, (b. June 20, 1955). Harris writes primarily about African American men on the down low or in the closet; Harris confirmed that he is a homosexual. He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas and Atlanta, Georgia. , Sistah Souljah, Lalita Tademy and Alice Walker, also landed books on the New York Times list that never quite made it to No. 1. April 29, 1945: Black Boy by Richard Wright (Harper) nonfiction July 7, 1963: The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (Dial) nonfiction November 21, 1976: Roots by Alex Haley (Doubleday) fiction May 25, 1986: Fatherhood by Bill Cosby (Doubleday) nonfiction July 18, 1093: Days of Grace by Arthur Ashe and Arnold Rampersad (Knopf) nonfiction February 12, 1995: I Want to Tell You by O. J. Simpson Orenthal James "O. J." Simpson (born July 9, 1947) (also known by his nickname, The Juice) is a retired American football player who achieved stardom as a running back at the collegiate and professional levels, and was the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards (Little, Brown) nonfiction October 1, 1996: My American Journey by Colin L. Powell with Joseph E. Persico (Random House) nonfiction May 19, 1996: How Stella Got Her Groove Back by Terry McMillan (Viking)fiction; Bad As I Wanna Be Bad As I Wanna Be is the 1997 autobiography of basketball player Dennis Rodman. by Dennis Rodman with Tom Keown (Delacorte) nonfiction February 1, 1998: Paradise by Toni Morrison (Knopf) fiction February 4, 2001: A Day Late and a Dollar Short by Terry McMillan (Viking) fiction February 6, 2005: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown) nonfiction April 30, 2006: Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings by Tyler Perry (Riverhead riv·er·head n. The source of a river. Books) nonfiction --Susan McHenry Wayne Dawkins teaches journalism at Hampton University and is author of two books on the National Association of Black Journalists The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), was founded in 1975 by 44 men and women in Washington, D.C. Headquartered at the University of Maryland, College Park and with 3300 members, it is the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation. . |
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