Our History with Books
In April 2002, I attended the
Memphis Black Writers
Conference and Southern Film Festival hosted by Lawrence
Wayne. I had no idea what this “conference” was about. I
called Lawrence Wayne and explained that I was not an author but
wanted to cover the event for Black Men In America.com.
Wanting as much publicity as he could get, Lawrence encouraged
me to attend.
When I arrived in Memphis I met best-selling
authors, first time authors, self-published authors and “wanna
be” authors. I saw first hand that being an author is hard
work. I made the Memphis Black Writers Conference a networking event for me. I met
Zane, James Clingman, T.J. Butler, Damita Shaw, Willie Tee,
Kevin Wayne Johnson and Collen Dixon. I also met
actors and filmmakers such as Tina Andrews, Errol Anthony
Wilks and J.D. Hawkins. I forged relationships with
folks that led to me carving out a section of Black Men In
America.com specifically dedicated to helping authors get
publicity and sell their books. I reached out to major
publishers who provided their client roster for interviews.
Writers like Jessica
Tilles and
LaDawn Black literally
walked into my office and introduced themselves to me. They did
their homework and presented new ideas to help me improve the
web site. Their suggestions evolved into “J.
T.’s Book Corner” and “Tell
It To LaDawn.”
Today, Black Men In America.com is ranked as one of the
Top 10 most popular web sites/online communities on the Internet
for Blacks/African Americans. We have multiple sections on the
site that cater specifically to authors and writers. Our
feature interviews with authors get noticed. We’ve interviewed
Hill Harper, Elaine Meryl Brown, Jessica Tilles, Pamela
Thomas Graham, Karen Slaughter, Andrea Blackstone, Chris Cokley
& Aaron Blake, Janet West-Sellars and C. Kelly Robinson
to name a few.
I have assembled a smart and knowledgeable team of people who
have their pulse on the writer’s community and are dedicated to
helping authors get publicity and sell books.
Publishers know us. Writers know us. Publicists know us. If
you're an author and you want to sell your book, you need to
know us too!
Gary Johnson, Founder
and Publisher
Black Men In America.com
Seed Newsvine
