Bookstores & Librarians & Libraries Rock: Writers & Readers, Pay Attention

Posted on December 1, 2024 by Leslye Joy Allen (Ayọ)

I love bookstores & libraries and librarians, but particularly librarians. They are natural allies to historians or anyone doing research. When you tell them what you are looking for they can point you right to it. I love archivists for the same reason, but archivists deal with materials that are older, and rarer than the books you see on the shelves in bookstores and in public, school and university libraries. This blog, however, is more than a shout out to the folks who handle books, it is for anyone who has written or who plans to write a book.

Here’s a tip. Do your best to get your book reviewed by a librarian. Here’s why.

While most scholarly articles and many scholarly books are peer-reviewed (which means exactly what it says: reviewed by one’s academic peers), the majority of novels, memoirs, some scholarly works, and popular authors’ books are not reviewed by their peers or by librarians.

There is one advantage that a librarian-reviewed book has: If the librarians responsible for purchasing books like the book and recommend the book, they will buy it and other libraries will buy it too! Library sales are not like other purchases. Let me explain.

Let’s say you are a new author. You and/or your publisher (if you have one) get a local bookstore to buy 100 copies of your book for 50 percent off of the retail price of each book. The typical timeline to return copies of books that did not sell is around 6 months. Let’s say, all but 20 copies of your book sold, so the bookstore returns the unsold books for a refund. Now, you certainly sold more books to the local bookstore than to a public or university library, BUT libraries’ sales are final and books are never returned unless there’s some physical damage to the actual book.

So, here’s a suggestion. Scholars and Librarians rarely review books that do not appear to have some scholarly value. Yet, you can always send your manuscript—whether it is a Science Fiction Thriller, a Memoir, or a Book of Poetry—along with a Cover Letter, requesting a review of your book.

Library Journals like Kirkus Reviews (librarians read this one all the time), Library Journal, Booklist, School Library Journal are some of the journals that librarians read and publish in. If you get a positive review in any one of these, you are bound to sell a few books and potentially earn another audience of readers because Bookstores and Libraries and Librarians Rock!

“If libraries order your book, you’re golden, because those sales are non-returnable—an author and publisher’s dream.” — from Returns 101: What New Authors Need to Know

©️Leslye Joy Allen

Vice-President Kamala Harris at Bold Fork Books, on Small Business Saturday, November 30, 2024. Bold Fork Books is a Culinary Bookstore located in Washington, D. C.

#MakeAmericaLiterateAgain

Blogs written by Leslye Joy Allen are protected by U. S. Copyright Law and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Any partial or total reference to any blog authored by Leslye Joy Allen, or any total or partial excerpt of any blog authored by Leslye Joy Allen must contain a reference to this hyperlink: https:/leslyejoyallen.com with Leslye Joy Allen clearly stated as the author. Postings or blogs placed here by other writers should clearly reference those writers. All Rights Reserved.

Sister Survival

Posted on November 28, 2024 by Leslye Joy Allen (Ayọ)

©️by Leslye Joy Allen

In the aftermath of Kamala Harris’ defeat in the US 2024 presidential election on November 5th, no one took her loss as hard as Black women. Our work for her and our votes for her created that long blue line at 92 percent—the single largest and most consistent voting bloc in the United States.

My sister friends did what sisters always do. We called each other to vent at 10 PM or 3 AM. We called to see how we all were doing. We worried about Kamala. The sentence that came up the most in these conversations was: I’m done.

Baltimore’s Mayor Brandon M. Scott stated that Black women shouldn’t have to shoulder the bulk of everything with little to no help from others. And we won’t.

Sisters are worn out from over work, over strategizing, navigating inter- and intra-racial sexism, misogynoir, racism, the constant double standards, the defensiveness that rears its head whenever we dare to acknowledge double standards, the expectation that we must show up to work in everyone’s behalf, but that we must not make a mistake, and we must always be accessible.

A few days after the election and shortly after I reviewed a NAACP report that concluded that one-in-four Black men under the age of 50 voted for Trump, the poem below popped in my head. It’s reposted here at the request of a friend. I wrote it in 4 minutes to the delight of every one of my former English professors. Every sister that read it, got it. And their responses were all along the same lines:

“Girl, I’m done killing myself for people that never support us.”

“So many men and so many other people only pay attention to Black women when we are fighting for them instead of fighting for ourselves.”

We sisters are not the same people we were the day before the election; and whatever is left of us that still resembles us is on hiatus.

©️ Leslye Joy Allen

A Holiday Thought: What Educators Cannot Do Alone

Posted on November 27, 2024 by Leslye Joy Allen (Ayọ)

©️ by Leslye Joy Allen

In my previous blog about the USA’s Literacy Crisis, I mentioned the tragic fact that only 25 percent of American adults read above the 6th grade level; and the consequences of not reading is a poorly informed population that voted against their own interests in this previous presidential election.

But this blog is not just about reading, it is also about developing a wider sense of civic responsibility in the aftermath of this presidential election because not all reading serves equitable and fair purposes. The literature so many members of the Right Wing want to ban are books that often tell inconvenient truths; truths that make some people uncomfortable. But here is another uncomfortable truth.

I can never forget that when the Nazis came to power in 1933, Germany was one of the most literate nations on this earth. Nazi Germany effectively used written propaganda to foster public support for a corrupt and merciless regime that ended the lives of over 6.0 million Jews, along with Afro-Germans, Gays and Lesbians, Gypsies, and the disabled. The Nazis also burned well over 25,000 books that are lost forever.

Therefore, a literate and book-loving population alone will not save the USA. (God knows the folks who purchase a Trump Bible are living proof that literacy isn’t a perfect cure.) Nevertheless, many US Teachers, Instructors, and Professors will inevitably choose books that the Far Right will dislike. In the coming months and years, I anticipate battles between Republican officials and school boards, and challenges to college curricula. Yet…

Educators cannot fight alone. So, from Black Friday to Christmas Eve, if you know any children—your own and other kids—forego the video games and high-priced sneakers, and other useless items for Christmas. Go to your local bookstore and buy them books.

If you know kids that do not have a Library Card, take them to your Public Library and get them a Library Card. While there, ask them if they are interested in any particular thing and let the librarian introduce them to a new subject or area of interest. This is not a miracle cure for what we all may be facing in the next four years, but a better informed population beats one that is not informed at all.

The recent presidential election proved two things: people who don’t read often lack critical thinking skills and can be led to vote against their own interests; and many more can be led to not vote. I just had a heated discussion with someone who did not vote; and I don’t have the strength to write the details of the 45-minute lecture I gave to this individual.

©️ Leslye Joy Allen

All blogs written by Leslye Joy Allen are protected by U. S. Copyright Law and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Any partial or total reference to any blog authored by Leslye Joy Allen, or any total or partial excerpt of any blog authored by Leslye Joy Allen must contain a direct reference to this hyperlink: https:/leslyejoyallen.com with Leslye Joy Allen clearly stated as the author. Postings or blogs placed here by other writers should clearly reference those writers. All Rights Reserved.

The USA Literacy Crisis & This Election

Posted on November 13, 2024 by Leslye Joy Allen (Ayọ)

by ©️Leslye Joy Allen

One factor that no one is talking about is the USA’s #LiteracyCrisis! I taught college history for 7 years and belong to 5 generations of educators in my family. Yet, this country NEVER bothers to consult educators or librarians about anything. Let me share this observation.

I met a MAGA supporter a few months ago who believed that a person could graduate from college without completing a set number of classroom hours if they chose a less demanding occupation or discipline. He thought an English major could graduate with fewer hours than say, a scientist because (his words) the scientist’s job was more difficult than teaching English. Therefore the English major should not have to take as many classes. I kid you not.

Former Georgia Gubernatorial candidate and activist Stacy Abrams, Esq. stated about two weeks ago that the Republican Party has deliberately operated a targeted propaganda campaign to politically disaffected Black men under age 50 over the last 3 major election cycles. They post propaganda and misinformation all over social media targeting these younger men and it worked.

While the majority of Black men voted for Kamala Harris, one in four Black men under 50 supported ‘45.’ Why did this Republican strategy work?

Because the men who are targeted do not read. If you do not read, you do not do any research. And individuals who don’t do any of the above are reliant on what people tell them. They follow what titillates them. They follow whatever propaganda sates their sense that the world is unfair to them. They are easy to fool and to lead and mislead.

This is what we are up against. TWENTY-ONE percent of ALL US adults are completely illiterate. FIFTY-FOUR percent of US adults read below the 6th grade level.

So, now we have a majority of American adults (75% to be exact) who either can’t read or don’t read. When you factor in sexism and misogyny and racism and an over dependence on the internet instead of an over dependence on going to the library, you have a recipe for disaster. So, put on your thinking caps but please talk to some educators and insist that your media outlets do the same.

All blogs written by Leslye Joy Allen are protected by U. S. Copyright Law and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Any partial or total reference to any blog authored by Leslye Joy Allen, or any total or partial excerpt of any blog authored by Leslye Joy Allen must contain a direct reference to this hyperlink: https://leslyejoyallen.com with Leslye Joy Allen clearly stated as the author. Postings or blogs placed here by other writers should clearly reference those writers. All Rights Reserved.

Link

by Leslye Joy Allen

As a historian, I waited to write this because if I had not waited, I would have missed observations that only come with the passage of time. (Areas highlighted in Blue have hyperlinks to other pertinent information.)

In March of this year, when actor Will Smith walked on the stage at the 92nd Academy Awards and slapped comedian Chris Rock there was an absence of visible security. Even though there was security that addressed this spectacle, the viewing public never witnessed any security personnel rush to the stage to stop Smith or to even check to see if Rock was okay. During the broadcast, if Smith was ever restrained, the viewing audience never saw it; and he was not removed from the ceremony.

For several months after this slap, people speculated about why Smith got so angry over Rock’s joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett-Smith. The rumor mill went into overdrive about his marriage, his personal life, and whether he previously had a beef with Chris Rock. I have yet to hear, however, anyone with a large public following seriously speculate about his mental health.

Later on May 3rd, Isaiah Lee bounded on the Hollywood Bowl stage with a fake gun that concealed a knife, and tackled comedian Dave Chappelle. He admitted he was inspired by Will Smith. Lee was quickly grabbed, however, by Chappelle’s security team who promptly beat him up. They blackened his eye and broke his arm. He looked like he had been pummeled by Muhammad Ali when Ali was in his prime. Although Lee never physically harmed Chappelle, he has been charged with assault. Now here’s the spin…

After the incident, the first stories about Lee suggested he was mentally unstable and attacked Chappelle to bring attention to Lee’s grandmother who lost her home due to gentrification. Chappelle privately spoke with this young man, but the story about gentrification sounded fishy. Who the hell attacks a comedian for such a reason? In the weeks that followed, Lee (who identifies as Bisexual) explained that he was tired of and triggered by Chappelle’s offensive jokes about the LGBTQIA community.

I am aware that Chappelle has taken more than a few comedic shots at LGBTQIA people, particularly members of the Transgender community that he obviously does not know have histories as long as humans have been in existence. When he argued that the public cares more about the LGBTQIA community’s feelings than about the sanctity of Black lives, he conveniently forgot that there are Black LGBTQIA people too. Black transgender women bear the brunt of other people’s misunderstanding, misinformation, violence, sexism, and often racism from many white LGBTQIA. Additionally, they face transphobia and violence from many Black folks.

In a conversation with scholar Marc Lamont Hill, Black transgender activist and writer Hope Giselle pointed out that Chappelle might not have meant any harm but his words negatively affected Black Transgender women in particular, and other Black LGBTQIA people in general, precisely because his words granted license to people who already want any excuse to harm them. She pointed out that while white transgender individuals do experience transphobia and discrimination, they still enjoy white privileges that Black and Brown transgender women do not. But, I digress.

The media story of Isaiah Lee began with him described as a potentially mentally unstable young Black man angry over what happened to his Grandmother’s home. Then the story was clarified. He is a young Black Bisexual man fed up with Chappelle’s jokes about LGBTQIA people. Why were there two such drastically different stories? Who knows? Yet, here’s why we should care.

Will Smith has had thousands of his fans look for every excuse to explain his virulent behavior because they like him and enjoy his films. The problem is that Smith could also be mentally unstable; and that slap he gave Rock could have been a lot worse. I can only imagine what might have happened if Rock had hit Smith back.

Even though Isaiah Lee had a knife and Will Smith had only his hands, they both did practically the same thing—they went on a stage with the intent of harming comedians whose commentary/jokes they found offensive. Yet, we looked at both of these scenarios and both of these men quite differently. Smith’s celebrity shielded him from immediately being labeled “crazy”, while Lee’s status as a private citizen—and a bisexual one at that—guaranteed that he would be criminally charged and seen as mentally unbalanced. We need to think hard and long about this because none of these unfortunate incidents (or the manner in which we view them) help Will Smith or Isaiah Lee or the public.

I wrote this piece to emphasize that erratic and violent behavior conducted in public are often symptoms of desperation that neither celebrity nor anonymity can shield anyone from. Importantly, we, the public, can be convinced that an individual’s momentary lapse in good judgement is just temporary depending on who has the lapse and how the story is covered.—And that is dangerous because it grants some people an excuse to act on their anger in inappropriate and volatile ways while permanently condemning others for the exact same behavior. So…

when you read about or witness odd and/or disappointing and/or strange behavior, take a deep breath and pause and think about it because we have always lived in a world where information needs to be processed over days, but media and social media suggest you can digest it in a few minutes. Yet, you cannot. Peace.

This blog was written by Leslye Joy Allen and is protected by U. S. Copyright Law and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives-4.0 International License. Any partial or total reference to this or any blog authored by Leslye Joy Allen, or any total or partial excerpt of this or any blog by Leslye Joy Allen must contain a direct reference to this hyperlink: https://leslyejoyallen.com with Leslye Joy Allen clearly stated as the author. All Rights Reserved.

Sidebar: Deconstructing Will Smith: Race, Masculinity and Global Stardom by Dr. Willie Tolliver is an exceptional (and prescient) analysis of Smith’s career that was published in January of 2022.