Amistad Author in the News! (Well All Over the News)

Steve Harvey, thanks to his #1 NY TIMES BESTSELLER you read about in the previous post is all over the place these days. Just a few days ago the venerable Wall Street Journal picked up on the story, highlighting how Mr. Harvey has utilized his radio show and all-around popularity to propel his tome on the mindset of men into a bestselling book.

On Sale Today! Comedian Steve Harvey's ACT LIKE A LADY, THINK LIKE A MAN!

Okay. We all know that "relationship" advice is never in short supply. But, according to mega-comedian and "Kang" of Comedy, Steve Harvey, too many women are asking the wrong people: Other Women.

In Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think about Love, Intimacy, Relationships and Commitment, Steve offers some advice to help the ladies finally crack that code on what makes men tick:

*The 90 Day Rule: Ford requires it of its employees....Should you require it of your man?

*How to spot a Mama's boy a mile a way, and can they be reformed?

*When to introduce kids (if you, of course, have them.)

*The five most important questions every woman must ask a man to know if he's serious.

With his trademark humor, Harvey takes on the ever present concern of what exactly, ladies should be doing with those creatures we call "men."

Inagurate your new life with author Kimberly Seals Allers's help!

Happy Inauguration Day All!

I hope everyone finds a way to catch this historic moment on television if you weren't up to packing yourself in like a sardine in Washington DC to see it in person.

But eventually you'll have to pry yourself away from the television and with 2009 still fresh and new, we have a new book out to help you set yourself free from corporate slavery if that is your wish:

The Mocha Manual to Turning Your Passion into Profit: How To Find and Grow Your Side Hustle in Any Economy by author/journalist/mom/entrepreneur extraordinaire Kimberly Seals Allers goes on sale today.

Are you an accountant with a secret love of baking cookies? Want to bake cookies all day? In this helpful, inspiring tome Kimberly details what steps you need to take to start your own business and profiles how other people have done it as well. Kimberly's book was just written up in The New York Daily News.

So worried about the economy? Just got laid off? No worries! This book will help you navigate the world of owning your own business with ease.

2008 Ernest Gaines Award Winner: Ravi Howard!

Ravi Howard, author of Like Trees, Walking, has just won the 2008 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.

For Like Trees, Walking, which is based on a true story of a modern day lynching in America, Ravi receives a $10,000 award and commemorative sculpture created by artist Robert Moreland at the award ceremony on January 29, 2009, at the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge. His novel was selected from 21 entries from across the country by a panel of nationally-known judges. One of America’s finest writers and teachers of writing, Mr. Gaines has been recognized internationally for his work, including the modern classics, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and A Lesson Before Dying.

Amistad's 2008 Best Books List....drumroll please!

2008 has come and gone and we're all a year older without even realizing it. (Well maybe you have realized it, but sometimes it's best when reality is suspended).

But on to books. Magically, some news outlets still reserve some space for book coverage and they like to make giant lists at the end of the year of all of their "top" books of 2008. We're excited the following have gotten some additional end of year ink:

WASHINGTON: The Making of the American Capital by Fergus Bordewich got included in Washington Post ubercritic Jonathan Yardley's fave books of 2008.

IDA: A SWORD AMONG LIONS by Paula Giddings landed on both the Washington Post Book World and Chicago Tribune best books of 2008 list.

FROM HARVEY RIVER by Lorna Goodison made the Washington Post Book World Best Books List.

THE NAKED TRUTH by Marvelyn Brown was one of AOL Black Voices' top 10 stories of 2008 generating over 1,000 comments!

REVISED! New post! Summer Preview: BLACK WATER RISING by Attica Locke

See New Info Below!

Well it's time to change from the Obama photo campaign book....I know we are all drunk on the Obamas, but time to move on. The cabinet positions are filling quickly and soon, inaguration will be upon us...where every person alive thinks they will somehow cram into the streets of D.C.

Coming in June, we have a very cool novel coming out by a very cool writer, with an equally cool name to match, Attica Locke. The book is Black Water Rising and like many a great novel, it has a highly intriguing back story. Ms. Locke's own father was a civil rights era activist who like many of that time found themselves transitioning from spirited and devoted college activists into the working professionals they probably didn't envision themselves becoming--and from this combustible period, the book's protagonist, Jay Porter was born.

It's set in 1981 Houston, and after Jay saves a drowning woman's life, he unknowingly open's a Pandora's Box of entanglements that reach into the highest level of the city's corporate powerbrokers. More as publication date nears!

NEW INFO: Just in case you don't want to take my word for it...here is some outside praise from James Ellroy of L.A. CONFIDENTIAL fame and Paul Yamazaki from City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco.

Ellroy: "What a ride! Black Water Rising is a superlative debut; a wonderful treatise on the Texas 1980s; the best bad town novel in some time. Attica Locke is a stand-out in every imperative-young-writer way."

Paul: "Reading BLACKWATER RISING was a singular riveting reading experience. Locke has successfully created a book illuminates a period of recent American history that has been for the most part overlooked by contemporary novelists....I applaud Locke for a wonderful first book. It is my fervent hope that Locke continues with Bernie and Jay Porter to explore the post civil rights ear of United States. The publication of BLACKWATER RISING will be a significant literary event."

With an indie bookstore endorsement and James Ellroy's words what more convincing do you need?

Sneak Peak: OBAMA: THE HISTORIC CAMPAIGN IN PHOTOGRAPHS

On October 28, Amistad will release OBAMA: THE HISTORIC CAMPAIGN IN PHOTOGRAPHS, which through 150 striking color photos, charts Obama's groundbreaking run for the presidency through the Democratic convention. It includes an essay by Washington Post associate editor, Kevin Merida, and photo historian, curator and photography Deborah Willis. Kevin is the author of SUPREME DISCOMFORT: THE DIVIDED SOUL OF CLARENCE THOMAS. Deb is chair and professor of NYU's Department of Photography and an uber-woman as she is a Guggenheim, Fletcher and MacArthur fellow. Here is a sneak peak at the book's moving and beautiful photography.....and you know your mother will want one for Christmas....so pre-order today!