June 14, 2001 African-American Booksellers Come Together Participants in the African-American Roundtable and ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz Events for African-American booksellers at BookExpo America 2001 were packed by audiences brimming with enthusiasm, diverse points of view, and camaraderie. From Thursday's all-day African-American Booksellers Conference (AABC) to the presentation of the Blackboard Awards on Sunday morning, booksellers shared their experiences and their delight at a growing African-American market. During the high-powered marketing panel at the AABC, Adrienne Ingrum, associate publisher of Black Issues Book Review, remarked, "The black book business is booming, but, in general, the business is not doing well…. Black books are a bright spot right now." Much conversation was generated by the publishing industry's relatively recent recognition of African-American literature and the establishment of seven black-themed imprints at major publishing houses. The imprints are: Amistad Press, independently operated until it was acquired by HarperCollins; Strivers Row, Harlem Moon, and One World Books, three imprints of Random House; Dafina Books, a Kensington Publishing imprint; Jump at the Sun, a Hyperion imprint that publishes African-American children's books; and Walk Worthy, a co-publishing venture between Warner Books and Walk Worthy founder and publisher, Denise Stinson. It was then fitting that, after a welcome by Clara Villarosa, whose Hue-Man of Harlem is scheduled to open in New York, Stinson was the speaker at the AABC Luncheon on Thursday May 31. An eager group of booksellers, authors, and librarians, heard Stinson describe her plans for the one-year-old Warner imprint. The "hungry market of African-American women who love God and like to read" is the audience targeted by Walk Worthy in its growing list of "entertaining, real-life, Scripturally sound" works of fiction. The "Glory Girls" marketing campaign will represent Walk Worthy's innovative promotional strategy appealing to African-American Christian women readers. Lunch was followed by Bertice Berry's keynote address. Berry, author of The Haunting of Hip Hop (Doubleday), captivated the crowd with witty anecdotes, inspirational adages, and enthusiasm about African-American bookselling. Telling the assembled booksellers "you are the experts," Berry urged them to remember that they know the books and the customers. When she described her book, Redemption Song (Doubleday), she said it was about lovers who meet in a bookstore and added, "That's how important you are to me." The highlight of the conference for Sonia Williams-Babers, owner of The Black Bookworm Bookstore in Fort Worth, Texas, was Berry, because she "re-energized us…. You can sit in a bookstore and forget what you mean to people's lives." While Berry was obviously immensely popular, Thursday afternoon's session, "The Changing Face of the African-American Reader: New Methods for Reaching New Markets," was also crowded and enthusiastically received. Robin Green of Sibanye in Baltimore, adeptly moderated a panel whose participants were Pamela Walker-Williams, the Good Book Club, Houston, and president of the African American Book Club Summit; L. Peggy Hicks, president of Tricom Enterprises, Rockford, Illinois; Nicole Bailey-Williams, WDAS-AM Radio, Philadelphia; Adrienne Ingrum, associate publisher, Black Issues Book Review; and Ken Smikle, president of TargetMarketNews.com. Green opened the discussion by asking, "Who is this new African-American consumer?" and Smikle responded that the readership is a reflection of what's going on with African-American women, who are doing very well economically. "Black women are the most desirable segment of the market right now…. [It's] a unique moment in history." Ingrum said that male readers are "very much in the picture…. As more black authors get published, [there are] more black male readers…. I don't think there's been a lot of literature that appealed to black men…. Reading, in general, has been thought of as a women's pastime." Ingrum asserted that black male authors and spirituality are "going to have a bigger and bigger place in the marketplace." The rise of book clubs was noted by all the panelists. Hicks said, "I have book clubs in almost every state ... nearly 400 clubs ... 73 percent of black books are bought because of word of mouth… which is why clubs are important…. It's a real phenomenon." Ingrum agreed, noting that "the black reader is not an isolated person sitting at home with a book any more…. The reader is someone who's in a community, they're in book clubs, on the Internet…. That's why strategies to reach the reader have to change…. That's why the market is growing so much." Williams suggested booksellers ought to partner with book clubs. Smikle said, "The new black talk radio is the Internet … and it's far beyond what anyone ever imagined for black radio." Everyone on the panel agreed that all booksellers need a Web site in order to thrive. All the panelists happily, but somewhat ruefully, considered the publishing industry's unprecedented interest in African-American literature. Smikle said, "Ours are the voices that have been denied and, therefore, are new and fresh, and I think the industry is going to begin to understand that." On Friday, June 1, ABA sponsored an African-American specialty store roundtable, which had a huge turnout. A spirited conversation was, once again, facilitated by Green. [Look for details about this and the other specialty roundtables in future issues of BTW.] Saturday, June 2, featured "Retailing to the African-American Interest," moderated by Mannie Barron, publishing manager of Amistad Press. The panelists were: Larry Robins, Robins Book Store, Philadelphia; James Fugate, Eso Won Books, Los Angeles; and Karen Torres, vice president of sales and marketing for Warner Books. The panelists all acknowledged the importance of self-published books in the African-American market, but also addressed the growing stature of African-American titles and imprints in the publishing industry. Torres advised booksellers to cultivate relationships within the major publishing houses and encouraged those without Web sites to get online through BookSense.com. Notwithstanding all the talk at BEA about the importance of the Web, when Barron took a poll of how many booksellers in the audience have Web sites, very few people raised their hands. And few raised hands when Barron asked who was planning Web sites. There was much pragmatic advice to booksellers from the panel. Fugate had pithy suggestions: Black stores have to really invest in the backlist, especially in history; booksellers must be on the Internet; carrying "a good selection" of books is key; don't overlook small publishers. Robin encouraged booksellers to always be looking for that new author to hand-sell. He also encouraged African-American booksellers to reach out to the community, especially bringing schools into the store because, "They're your next readers." On Sunday, June 3, events for African-American booksellers culminated with the presentation of the Blackboard Awards at the Book & Author Breakfast featuring David McCullough, Quincy Jones, and Isabel Allende. Carl Weber, president of African-American Bookstore, a chain of ethnic bookstores in Long Island and Queens, New York, and last year's winner of Blackboard Bookseller of the Year, presented the Blackboard Awards. Blackboard Director Faye Childs received a warm round of applause as the awards presentation began. Maleta McPherson, owner of Heritage Bookstore and More in Fort Myers, Florida, won the award for Blackboard Bookseller of the Year and dedicated it to "the Florida network," her friends and colleagues who are independent African-American booksellers in her area. The Blackboard Award for Children's Book of the Year went to The Cheetah Girls by Deborah Gregory (Jump at the Sun). The Blackboard Award for Adult Fiction Book of the Year went to Casting the First Stone by Kimberla Lawson Roby (Kensington). And the Blackboard Award for Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year went to The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks by Randall Robinson (Dutton). -Molly Sackler Topics: BookExpo, African American, News - Bookselling,