Reading, writing and Amazon
I create a lot of promos and book covers for my ebooks, and I usually do it on Saturdays:
I added a spotlight to my Imani performance pic. The original just had her over a black background:
The title for this novella isn’t set yet. I just wanted to add text to it:
My main witchy-poo from Long Ago and Far Away: Lilith
On or after August 15th, indie writers who are enrolled in Amazon’s Select program will find out just how much each page read under Amazon’s new system will amount to. The guessing game up to now has been that the honeymoon is over regarding payment under the Select program.
I’m taking a wait and see attitude, because while Amazon has made publishing more accessible to all authors (including minority writers), much like the established major publishers, Amazon’s publishing wing and the website still lacks a category on their main page for highlighting books for people of color, which consist of either interracial, or multicultural. In addition, books with covers that show a person or persons of color on the cover are rarely listed on the first page or promoted. Readers can’t buy a book if they don’t know it exists.
The reason I didn’t just state there’s no category on Amazon’s main book page for African American fiction, is that this isn’t just a problem for writers who create African American fiction and nonfiction, but all books that feature a character of color.
Searching on not just Amazon’s site for diverse books, but by other major publishers who possibly believe that books with characters of color are “niche” categories is an age old issue.
To their credit, Amazon has taken a major step forward by adding a Gay and Lesbian category on their main page. But the question remains. When will Amazon finally add a category for either multicultural or diverse books on their main book page?
This also goes back to another age old debate on why there’s a need for media outlets like Telemondo, BET, TVOne, Ebony magazine, Univision, Essence, etc. Because if authors and reviewers of color don’t talk about ot promote our own work, there’s no guarantee that the word will get out. And right now, some writers are doing double duty by writing AND reviewing/publicizing works that feature diverse protagonists. Some of these book sites are listed on this site, but here are just a few (I’m not adding mine, since I haven’t updated RED in a while):
Romance in color:
http://www.romanceincolor.com/
Romance novels in color:
http://romancenovelsincolor.com/
Dear Author:
Love in the margins:
More sites can be found under LINKS on this site.