Monday, October 22, 2007

Taste of Soul, eh? How bout a Taste of Literature!

















Dear literary citizens of Los Angeles,
While you were out on Crenshaw Blvd Saturday, October 13, 2007 having a 'Taste", you missed out on the 10th Annual Cameron Eugene Jackson Library's Black Writers Festival and Celebratio the same weekend. Authors, vendors and celebrity MC's were on hand. Even the New Image Writers made an appearance:


















It's understandable for the reason you missed us on Saturday, but how about the next day? You missed a treat!!!
Tell you what, if we tell you about the 2008 celebration, will you promise to come? We'll find out! (uh huh, lol)

















Stay connected and stay tuned!



Wednesday, October 17, 2007

From the Director's Chair: New Image Weekend




I returned from the New Image Writers bus tour and man, are my arms tired!


Well, I’m not THAT tired, but I digress…….


Many thanks goes to author and New Image Writers founder Martha Tucker for allowing Staci Robinson, Anjuelle Floyd, Pamela Samuels-Young, Mary Wilridge, Corlis Martin, Sheila Spencer, and some guy who tagged along, the opportunity to make a bit of history the past weekend of October 12-14, 2007. Personally, it was fun hanging out with such talented people and I can’t say enough about the love we received the whole weekend!


The bus tour kicked off inside the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Culver City. We were treated to an inspirational song, a proclamation and some breakfast before we made our way to the first of our many stops, Spa 313 in Inglewood. At the spa, Martha insisted we speak to the patrons inside, talking up our books. Usually I would be nervous, much less shy in approaching strangers discussing my two books, but due to the advances made in promoting the Los Angeles Black Book Expo this year, I was able to read a poem or two. We were tailed by a local station, KTLA during our trip. They showed film of us leaving the Four Points and our time at Spa 313. We showed our appreciation by leaving our reporter on the scene books to remember us by. (poor guy, lol). From there, it was on to our next stop, the Inglewood Main Library.


We were able to have a discussion in the library about the purpose of the New Image Writers and even invoked a question from an aspiring writer who wanted to know how to break in the writing business. After we gave our new author tips to follow, we had lunch in the front of the library. I could see the looks and smiles on everyone’s faces. This was turning out to be a good trip and for the rest of the day during stops at the Crown Books in the Baldwin-Hills/Crenshaw Plaza, and Smiley’s Books, everyone was psyched for the next two days at the Black Writers Festival hosted by the Cameron Eugene Jackson Library.


For the rest of that historic weekend, you’ll have to log on to North Bay Media Review.com for the rest! (smile)


In retrospect, the bus tour was a great idea and I hope all new and aspiring writers out there with a positive message contacts Martha and becomes part of this brand new group out to make a difference. For the record, we can never have enough writers groups out there. If we as authors stress networking as a pathway to success, then groups like the New Image Writers, International Black Writers and Artists of Los Angeles and the California Writers Collective, are great to have.


Thanks to Martha, the New Image Writers are gonna do big things and to think, it all started at the Los Angeles Black Book Expo! The power of networking does work and they are living proof of that!


Many thanks to Algerita Lewis for keeping us on our toes the whole time!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

From the Director's Chair: New Image Writers

In a few hours I’m going to be part of the New Image Writers tour, hosted by Urban Classic Books who Martha Tucker, Cush City’s Best New Author for 2007 and author of “The Mayor’s Wife Wore Sapphires”. We’ll have a kickoff at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Culver City starting at 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM, then we’ll have a day long trek across the city pressing the flesh (shaking hands) and signing books. From what I’ve been told, plenty of print and electronic media will be on hand to cover this historic event, well historic in the case this type of venture has not been attempted before here in Los Angeles with African-American authors, but it has worked in other parts of the country.

The concept of the New Image Writers was born out of the recent Los Angeles Black Book Expo. Their mission is simple, but I’m going to let Ms. Tucker tell us why in here own words:

“We are sick and tired of seeing ourselves as comedians, drug dealers, hoochies, or violent offenders, and never showing a different side, or saying a word against it,” Tucker, the Cush City “2007 Best New Author Award” winner said. To validate the movement, Tucker added, “Having been the Mayor of Compton’s wife for three terms gives me insight into what a balanced image of people can mean them and their community. And every inner city’s image affects our entire nation.”

So there you have it. I think it’s a marvelous idea and something worth being a part of so I was willing to join the New Image Writers tour to help support it and to make it grow. In the future I hope the other group I’m a part of, the California Writers Collective can take Ms. Tucker’s lead and have our own tour, as we hope many new authors do the same. With the explosion of new authors annually, it’s important to promote positive stories and expand our genres rather than the ones that are heavily promoted by outside sources. As I wrote in a previous post, there’s no reason to call for having our own if we don’t support our own. Martha has spent her time and resources into making this a reality and after the Summer of Literacy we’ve had, believe me, it’s an incredible undertaking.

So I hope that you’ll support the New Image Writers whenever they come to your city and town and buy a book or two, but more importantly, show up. If we don’t turn this thing around, save our bookstores and encourage our aspiring writers and poets to continue our literary tradition, we’ll end up asking two questions which easily could have been answered: One, who else is going to do it? Two, for all the negative images we see everyday, why didn’t we show our love for a tour like this?
See you this weekend.

New Image Writers bus tour this weekend





NEW IMAGE BOOK TOUR!!!
Please join Urban Classic Books' New Image Book Tour
Friday-Sunday October 12th -14th Eight award-winning, African American Authors will be available to read and sign books on the "tour to beat all tours"
Friday, October 12th:. (8 a.m.-7:30 p.m.)
Four Points Sheraton Hotel (Culver City) 8 a.m.–10 a.m. (launch))

Spa 313 – Total Body Retreat (Inglewood) 11 a.m.–12 p.m.)

Inglewood library (Inglewood) 1 p.m.–2 p.m.)

Crenshaw Mall-Crown Books (Los Angeles) 3 p.m.–5 p.m.)

Smiley's Bookstore (Carson) 5:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.


Saturday, October 13th:
9 a.m.-7 p.m.10th Annual Cameron Literacy Book Fair, Howard Hughes Center Courtyard, Los Angeles
1 p.m.-5 p.m., Fox Hills Mall – Borders Express


Sunday, October 14th :
11a.m.-7 p.m. 10th Annual Cameron Literacy Book Fair, Howard Hughes Center Courtyard - Los Angeles
1 p.m.-5 p.m. Fox Hill Mall - Borders Express


For additional tour information: writelink3@yahoo.com or 310-337-7008.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

From the Director's Chair: The March to Save Eso Won

Note: This is news regarding Eso Won Books, one of the oldest black independent bookstores in the city of Los Angeles. In the past, they've been a valuable partner to our expo and that's why we need to support them, please read on:

Over 50,000 marched to Jena, Louisiana two weeks ago to protest the unfair judicial treatment of six young teens in that small town.

Let's see if the same will apply to save a bookstore in a city with a population many times larger than the protesters who went on planes, rode buses and drove in cars.

In case you haven't heard (or received an email), the big news here in Los Angeles isn't another case of police brutality or a gang drive-by shooting. In this instance, it's more troubling than that. Eso Won Books, the same bookstore that had former President Bill Clinton sign copies of his book, the same bookstore where celebrities turned authors appear for a book signing, and yes, the same bookstore that has been a cultural icon for years, is now in danger of closing its doors for good. If that happens, we have no one to blame but us.

I was told when the Los Angeles Black Book Expo appeared in the L.A. Times a day after, people I knew whether they were authors, exhibitors or patrons, felt it was a 'big deal' to receive coverage like that. Well, in the Times's Friday edition, Eso Won was the big deal and on the wrong end of it. I received a ton of emails this week about the bookstore, but I didn't know how serious it was until I actually sat down and read from all sources, what was going on. Eso Won moved from it's previous location of LaBrea near Coliseum in Baldwin Hills to it's present location in Leimert Park. For those of you who've followed our Summer of Literacy, the recent Leimert Park Book Festival benefited from Eso Won sharing their resources, authors and time with the inaugural festival. It was a win-win for both. However, before and after the book festival, no one has shown up in droves since. The internet and seductive offers from corporate book chains have helped in adding to the troubles of not only Eso Won, but other independent bookstores in the city.

So while the emails and well wishes are heartfelt, I hope we learned our lesson from the Unrest of 1992. If you were here at that time, you remember when the community cried out because we didn't have our own stores? The swap meets, liquor stores and even our fast food places belonged to other ethnic groups who didn't intend in investing in our neighborhoods. When we had the opportunity to open our own Mom and Pop stores (complete with news coverage of the opening of such a store), we, the community failed to support it. I recall a car wash I used to frequent and support. The owners were mostly African-American. When I asked a good friend of mine who was very much into the culture about the car wash, her reaction was negative. Unfortunately, that's how we can be sometimes. We talk about 'supporting our own' but when it comes time to cash that check, we fail to deliver and may I add, other ethnic groups take over the deserted buildings that housed businesses we didn't want to support and judging from my own eyes, have more bodies in a day than most of us fill in a week.
We need Eso Won and all of the other independent bookstores to survive. They may not serve coffee, have plush seats for you to sit down and browse through a book you picked off from the shelf, and may not have a music area to buy the latest and hottest CD's, but they are needed because they're our own.

I still lament the loss of the bookstores that were willing to hold book signings for me when I started on this journey years ago; Willmax, Positive Pages and Skoobs all had wonderful owners who I appreciated giving me and other fledging authors the chance to be showcased, but they too, disappeared for lack of support. They may not carry the name recognition Eso Won has, but in their own way they were special. It's a shame not many potential customers had the experiences we had.

Think about this; if Eso Won closes its doors because we failed to act and show up in the store to buy a book at least, who's next? Express Yourself, Dr. Rosie Milligan's store? Smiley's? Jaed's? Heritage? Any other new bookstore owner hoping to establish its roots had best beware while location is key, having a strong support system of publishers, authors, book clubs and average readers who physically show up will be the difference of thriving and surviving, or on the verge of shutting down for good. The independent bookstores I frequent do have a lot to offer but if we don't take the time and at least look, then it's not anyone's fault but ours.

As a coordinator of book fairs, it's important to network with the independents because the publicity they give us drive their customers to our events, while we on the other hand, need the independents as sponsors so a higher profile can be added to the individual stores. During my research of book events, I find the larger venues have corporate booksellers as sponsors, even name a stage after them. That's what we have to do too. When we had Smiley's Books sponsor our children's literary zone, that helped out as a promotional tool for them as well. If we're going to maintain what's ours, then we need to keep that connection as strong as it can be. The alternative is too disheartening to think about.

If what happened in Jena was the beginning of a 'new movement' then, we cannot let this opportunity pass us by to preserve a community treasure like Eso Won. No need to hop on planes, but you can hop on your unfriendly neighborhood Metro bus or drive in your car and support not only the bookstore, but the businesses inside Leimert Park.

Time will tell, as one might say. Unfortunately for Eso Won, it's running out.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Get On the Bus for the New Image Writers Bus Tour

I am a woman who believes in the old adage, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Martha Tucker, the wife of the late Mayor of Compton, and author of The Mayor’s Wife Wore Sapphires, will host the California New Image Writer’s Bus Tour. The tour will show a broader and more positive image of African Americans to equalize the many negative images that populate media. The tour will start in Los Angeles and spread across 17 key California cities in the next five months, or as long as writers want and need it.

That's a lot of work. But we can quell the killing, poverty, self-hate, black-on-black crime, lack of education, and division within the race, if we take a little time, and are willing to do it. Yesterday, I went into the mailbox station, where an East Indian woman was telling me how her older brother sponsored two younger brothers to America, She told me how the brothers sponsored her and her mother to America. Today, this woman has a business and is an asset to society. I know that African Americans must adopt that kind of caring and discipline before we can be made whole in this country, or any country.

Writing is a lonely profession, so you can help by encouraging the writers: Why would you need to do that? Because writers paint the world with words; they influence the shape of society. They need to laugh. They need your kind words. They need to see your face.

When the NEW IMAGE WRITER'S come to your area, stop what you're doing and go out and greet them. Tell them you appreciate their efforts. They are out there to show the world that positive Blacks do exist. We need your moral support, your press, referrals, and volunteering. Most of all, we NEED YOUR PRAYERS AND GOOD THOUGHTS.

Don't sit back and be silent. We have two seats, come and take the tour with us.

The New Image Writers will kick off the New Image Writer's Tour, beginning in California. They aim is to wake up this country with the brilliant, innovative, heroes and heroines, financiers, inventors, scientists, entrepreneurs, and spiritual leaders. And you get to make it happen."You are fearfully and wonderfully made." If you live in or near Los Angeles, come out to the launch at 4-Point Sheraton on October 12, 2007, 8 a.m. Interview the authors, be interviewed.

Here is the lineup of authors who write positive, exciting, social, thrillers, romance, biographies, fantasy, and children books. Please buy a book of your choice from one of the authors, or several of them. I've read them and I promise there are none better. They are compelling, gripping, social, romantic, and life-changing. You should read their works and get their autographs before they become household names. Some of them will.On this unique tour, locations are as follows: Friday

October 12—Culver City--4 Point Sheraton/Sepulveda & Green Valley; Los Angeles, Crenshaw Mall; Inglewood Library; Carson-Smiley's Bookstore.

Saturday, October 13--Border's Express, Fox Hills Mall; Hughes Center Book Fair;

Sunday-Church, Hughes Center; Borders, Fox Hills Mall.November—San Fernando Valley, BakersfieldDecember— Carson Mall, Santa--gift book signing, West Los Angeles Boutique consisting of readers and buyers from national organizations January—San Diego, Orange County, RiversideFebruary—San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento (visit Capitol Hill)

October 12, 8 a.m.--readings, music, songs at the 4-Point Sheraton, Culver City. Bus loads at 9:30.“Those wishing to support the new African American image are invited to this historical launch,” Tucker said.New Image Authors are as follows:

Martha TuckerThe Mayor’s Wife Wore Sapphires—Tucker's novel takes her protagonist from selfishness to healing cities and saving children.

Pamela Samuels-YoungIn Firm Pursuit—This practicing attorney's legal thriller tells of a young black female attorney who takes on the defense of a major corporation in what seems to be an open-and-shut case of sexual harassment, but she soon realizes the case is far from what it seems. Pamela is an Essence Magazine Bestseller.

Corlis MartinThe Expressions of Love from the Heart and Soul of Corlis—“I agree with Martha Tucker that ‘what we see is what we be-come.’” She will share touching poetry.Sheila Spencer—These Precious Hands and Crown of Splendor— this public school teacher's two poems are included in the famous Chicken Soup for the African American Woman’s Soul. She will also share her spiritual CD—He is a Lyrical Miracle.

Mary WilridgeBuild That Woman Up! —Admonish men to build up the mother of their children, the leaders of his community. This is a spiritual leadership book that digs deep into the basics for a stable family.

Anjuelle FloydKeeper of Secrets—Literary, Experimental. A licensed psychotherapist, she has beautifully written a never-forget read. Different!

Staci RobinsonInterceptions—This educator wrote of a UCLA Law School hopeful who puts her football star boyfriend’s career ahead of her own. What else is she willing to sacrifice in her search for true love?

Charles ChatmonVoices of South Central—A rare collection of poems that speaks from the heart of a man who knows—South Central, the heart, the soul of mankind. One feels his pain, tears, and laughter.

Martha Tucker
Cush City--2007 Best New Author Award
www.urbanclassicbooks.com
myspace.com/author_marti_tucker

From the Director's Chair: 365 Days Later




One year later……..


I didn’t know what to expect when I received an email from Itibari Zulu, the former executive director of the Los Angeles Black Book Expo. I weighed all of my options, spoke to as many mentors who’ve had their own book venues about it and a day later, I accepted to take over the position.


It’s been a lot of work, but I love it.


I’ve learned quite a few things the past year: a) make sure you plan and plan early, b) advertise like crazy, c) maybe get a few ‘names’ and d) learn the next time. Now I’m at (d) and although I’ll humbly admit I could have done some things better, I’m not disappointed in how things turned out. I’m glad this year’s LABBX was better than I expected, and other authors and visitors felt the same.


This time I’m going to find ways to make the Black Book Expo even better. The challenge was to let everyone know about our event and to bring back the sponsors and supporters who weren’t quite sure whether or not we’ll have it again so that was key and I felt we hit the mark on that. I can’t say enough about what’s going to happen next year (if we’re fortunate to be around) but I have to keep it quiet for now. I will say since I let it out on one of the other blogs I write, that 2008 will be a Year of Literacy. It’s an idea I’ve had in my head ever since our successful Summer of Literacy ended. (one writers workshop, three literary venues and plenty of book signings). So there will be more to come as I begin to get everything in place.


Thanks for all the support in the past year, that meant a lot.