ib concept magazine's special LITERARY HOOD hate edition
YOU GUYS WANTED TO READ IT BEFORE IT HITS THE MAGAZINE SHELVES...
HERE IT IS, THE SPECIAL HATE EDITION OF LITERARY HOOD
don't get to angry, and if you feel pain it is because the truth... you know the rest.
Salutations ladies n germs, yup you guessed it with but a few shallow words typed, it is I your friendly neighborhood author Brandon McCalla and this is another installment of LITERARY HOOD. As usual I’m channeling my mitigated commentary and cogitations abroad and stretching this shit towards those who truly wanna know what’s what in my, no, our little literary hood.
The column is a bit bigger this issue since this is my special hate installment. I.b Concept allows me to work my words in any particular length and give me jurisdiction to dictate the proper protocol and I always take it for granted and act accordingly. I just wanted to explain the extra shit you are about to read. I got multiple treats and a bit of hate lined up, prepare.
Speaking of bigger and multiplying, our hood is growing and that sometimes is a bad thing. Some people think growth is good but most of the time its bad, very bad. Think of it as obesity or better yet urban sprawl. Like when you got to many niggas packed in one club, the way Diddy did it years back with Heavy D. Either the fire department will come and shut shit down when you over exceed the capacity or people die via getting trampled to death in the stampede when a feisty thug lets off a few rounds or a Jamaican shouts, “BLOOD FIRE!” and then sets it off. Either way it’s no good. Way too many authors are coming through with manuscripts that become books and not enough well placed words and talent are in these manuscripts. A lot of people are authors but so few are true writers. Please try to situate your brain to understand the difference.
Now, you guys know me, I’m the most underrated writer in our little business though I write more capaciously and do more scribbling in other genres than just street fiction, I’ve been through this circuits gambit and for good or ill this is my neck of the hood now. Thus I’m gonna break a few things down to you each and every time you pick up an issue of i.b Concept magazine. And you are gonna get it right at the beginning because Mr. Blanco and Dynamic Dean know that I pimp my words and demand that my column be first. I’m a hater. Fuck them other writers, even those whom bless the magazine in question. I deserve top billing and will fleece and heist whatever I can and tell all of you that I’m worth my weight in gold, though I don’t weigh much. Keeping it gangsta!
Getting to the gist of my damn words, I would like to compliment Vickie Stringer and Teri Woods for keeping their publishing companies situated independently because think, the first record label was a singularly small business. Then other record companies popped up and those record labels eventually became the major labels. It was a process and a lot of these record labels split like amoeba and branched out or combined like osmosis to form bigger ones. Once upon a time there were a handful of black owned record labels pushing out rap records and the bigger companies (the various 7 major labels) ate those companies up and though a few black people got paid, no black people have any major control over any aspect of the music they original created and pressed up as vinyl. Excluding Russell Simmons and a few others, I think Russell lassoed a great deal of the big picture but even he eventually sold most of his Def Jam aspects. Though I’m quite sure he’s on the board of directors, but what is that really. Who is the true owner, the guy who you never see who has all of the fucking money, that’s who…?
Dig this, we created doo-wop, blues, jazz, rock n roll, and reggae and rap and as of now we only own a smidgen of reggae in my opinion thanks to VP records who still hasn’t given in and a few die hard artists who don’t want others digging in their pockets.
This sounds oh so similar to street fiction.
Now Jay-Z has started a world music label called La Roc Familia records, but check this, it’s under Def Jam records and Def Jam is under Universal Records and Universal owns like almost every rap act. Sure they have a few Negro executives. But the head honcho in complete control, who is he? You guessed correctly, white cooperate America, Mr. Cracker man himself. Imagine that, the white man owns rap and hip-hop (though hip-hop is damn near dead) something that they wanted to crucify less than 15 years ago, but now they own it. Own an art form and culture you created. Now they program you to love the music you spawned and I mean you as in you as a nation of Nubian people in America and the whole damn world. And don’t get me wrong, though this is some Black Nationalist shit I’m merely stating an opinion but I feel every word I type has a whole lot of merit.
This tragedy, this loss of our music, a very creative and powerful art form we created back in 1973 or 74 (debatable) isn’t even ours!!! This is happening to our street literary book genre. It has already occurred with African American fiction in general, Zane has already sold herself to a major publishing house and so has Carl Weber. And guess what; as long as we keep selling to them major houses we will never have a major house of our own. They started off small, smaller than most of these black publishing houses and look at what they turned out to be. Why can’t we do the same? I think I know why, read.
Who do we have to thank for another piece of ourselves being yanked away; no, you guessed wrong don’t thank Zane or Mr. Weber because they did what any person seeking more money and stability would do, settle down and marry a rich ugly white man who can provide for them. Why? Well for one the white man doesn’t do us as dirty as we do ourselves. And I aint referring to the white dame Mr. Weber married (that’s some Jungle Fever shit and Wendy Williams has that monologue locked down. Let him get on her show and explain himself. I plan on marrying an Eskimo myself).
Who we can thank though are the little people like Culture Plus distributions and the Black Print publishing house, these people paved the way because it all begins from the ground level. Once people see that we can not control our own creations and conduct honest business amongst ourselves they take matters into their own hands, especially when these creations are gold mines. We always create or invest things that change an aspect of reality. Hip hop is the biggest commodity in the world right now and the most influential and the most visible. Yet, we don’t truly own a speck of it. Even those independent record labels like Cash Money n such are still getting distribution through one of the major houses (Universal records). You can never become a major label playing second fiddle to a violin.
It only takes time, Triple Crown Publications began with just Kwan’s book Gangsta then it flourished. We need to hold out and wait for our creations to grow up. Black publishers don’t fold. If just one of us folds the rest shall cave in, and cave in hard, aint that right Zane and Mr. Weber.
The rap world folded years ago and it has already begun in the Street fiction circuit though Zane and Carl Weber aint street friction by a long shot, they are still our literary jewels and thus I make my point through them and at their expense for if they would have merged together back when this was under corporate America’s radar, I would be so rich right now and so would they and a few others. Why you ask? Well for one the standards of authorship in the street fiction genre would have anteed up and no one is as eloquent with the pen or shall I say Dell laptop than me and them (yes I am comparing myself to them though my writings are far harsher and sadly enough under promoted). And the quality of the product would no longer be in question and most of us wouldn’t have these horrible covers and the terrible editing.
All of these black publishing companies should have already merged together like sensible white businesses do, like Time and Warner did and Sprint and Nextel. Why are they not selfish and greedy yet we are. And you know what, once a few authors get deals on majors, we lose everything also, it is already happening. Like how there once was an underground rap circuit and now there is only this damn near pop cornball stuff we hear on hot 97 and power 105 every damn day. That shit aint gangsta, Ice Cube’s first album was gangsta. What is so gangsta about all the diamonds you are wearing and how cute your car is? You guys sound like bitches. And you faggots get manicures, I seen a few of you on MTV getting groomed. What happened to the other rap acts, where are they now…? Why does Universal Records have almost all of rap music? You don’t know but I do and I’m gonna attempt to explain it briefly. That way I can get into the interview I conducted with one of Queens Borough’s finest Mark Anthony. And he doesn’t speak Spanish and he ain’t digging out Jennifer Lopez. This is Literary Hood. You know how we do this.
Boom! This country was founded by people who were abusive and couldn’t provide for themselves. Slave owners! Because you wouldn’t need a slave if you could do it yourself, that or you were just too damn lazy. Either way the black people the white man boated to America didn’t want any parts of his schemes and antics. So thus when a person doesn’t wanna do something, you force them, like I’m forcing you to continue to read with my shock value.
So the white man was and still is in some people’s opinion slave owners. But back then they were slave owners preaching about one nation under god and equality for all…!? The declaration of independence was actually treason against England and America allied with France (another group of treasonous people) to gain an advantage. Then they created the United States of America and Capitalism and then told France to fuck off. Real gangsta, you can’t even be mad at them. The United States promised France land and a few other things then blocked them out, though we still got New Orleans, and fed them to England. The revolution was barely a victory, the Americans won by the skin of their teeth. But it wasn’t anything our ancestors could truly relish over, we were slaves! France had their own revolution and had less aid then America. So what is so heroic about being a traitor? As horrible as England was, the people who broke away from them, and I’m talking throughout history were just as miscreant and horrible. But we must analyze the stratagem. The way they unified and held firm to what they started and kept it, wouldn’t give in even when the penalty was death. All we are doing it writing and selling books, and we buy our books. These are specific books for us. Why are so many of us unsettled, getting jerked and not happy?
It gets deeper and I know I already got some scrutiny. But peep it, after the declaration of independence, America began fighting amongst themselves; the civil war. Capitalism is better served without blatant slavery, the north knew this, and I challenge a few of you to read a book called The Wealth of Nations. It explains business and capitalism in a nutshell and it also shows you why all these black publishing companies should have merged and it shows that buying books from vendors began the ending of us having street fiction all to ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, aint nothing wrong with hustling books, but when you haven’t a great amount of control over your own creation, you are a damn fool to give outsiders a more lucrative portion than the one you barely possess.
I know; let us share with the white man, Africans or anyone else as long as I’m getting paid right? Wrong! What are they sharing with us? They won’t even let you harness the stuff you created on your own and you give them control of it? You would do better to destroy it than give it away. They only accept what you spawn after they adopt it, before hand they persecute it. But just think, the Americans wouldn’t fold to the Mighty English, now look at us and look at them. Now look at you (authors, distributors, publishers). You look like an idiot (and so do I since I’m amongst you idiots. I’m an idiot also).
When we jerk and mistreat ourselves, being greedy publishers who don’t wanna give authors their proper royalties and hardly giving them much to begin with, distributors not paying publishers on time and those post dated checks that wind up bouncing, aint that right Culture Plus, and let’s not forget about these street vendors. All of these people are us and I see no one else to blame.
You might think it’s a good thing to get your books for 10 bucks at a discount from those vendors instead of the 14.95 but it’s terrible for the black economy. Remember those Africans on 125th street aint American blacks. They aint us, they aint create this shit. Why are they involved right now? We barely have this shit underhand. You are only African if you were born in Africa. They have their own economical system and we aint apart of that. But you know what, these small independent book publishing companies are us and these black owned bookstores are us and we have neglected them. How come?
Direct ordering didn’t work and doesn’t for us. We don’t purchase shit off the net and we only deal with what’s popular, what someone told us was a good read. Who are these jerks telling us what to read? These book clubs filled with older ass women who really don’t know the streets. So they judge our street fiction comparing it to contemporary authors who don’t write as brutally as we do. Mind you basketball aint as brutal as say boxing or football but basketball is still a competitive sport nonetheless. Who made them the judge of good street fiction or bad street fiction? Why wasn’t I apart of this committee meeting?
No one wants to try a new inspiring author out or try something different, like say picking up a book with finer detail and a more creative writing style. The cult following street fiction audience only wants the last book say Teri Woods or Nikki Turner wrote. They just wanna read the last book they read, regardless of all the typos and the really ghetto cover by the same publishing house as the last book they read regardless if the story line is the same premise every book.
These street books aint hip hop books. Aint nothing hip hop about nearly all of them. Yes Diamond Drought, Diamond Dynasty and Reign of the Pimp (my books, the diamond series) are about hip hop, the music industry and my characters rap and I wrote the rhymes for them. That can be considered hip hop and so can Bling by Erika Kennedy but I’m a hater, that book was wack! She should have printed that shit up herself and it should have gone straight to trade paperback. Ms. Kennedy your target audience doesn’t purchase hardcover, hello!
Why do we allow people to word or own wording. Who are these people? What the fuck do they know about hip hop? What is hip hop fiction really, another story whose main character is a gold digger, or some former drug dealer who just got out of jail and wants a portion of his hood back, or doesn’t wanna deal no more but, yeah some of his former peeps give him some trouble. Or a novel about some guy getting locked up for a couple of years, turning fag and letting inmates tap that ass only to get out and start fucking his baby’s mother again. Then she finds out that he’s a homo and she tells her friends. Mind you this story is filled with grammatical errors and terrible writing and bad editing, if it’s even edited at all. Don’t blame the author, blame the consumer who picks up the book, after seeing its trash just by the cover, and then blame that jerk who told that consumer, “The book is hot!”
I also wanna give a shout out to every other author who pimp ‘Harlem’ in their titles. Especially those who don’t live there and rarely pay it a visit. But we buy these books, so all I gotta do is just put a big booty bitch on my cover and some cornball who looks like a thug with a fitted hat and give my title the title of a rap song or an already existing book and then put ‘Harlem’ somewhere in the middle of that. Sounds low maintenance. I might try it one day. Treasure Blue you are Harlem down to the bone marrow. You had the god given right to name your book Harlem Girl Lost.
Black distributors are jerking black publishers. This is very bad business. Distribution is the key to successful business. Getting your goods to where they can be sold, essential for good lucrative business. So what is this saying, is this saying we can’t support our own businesses properly.
The publishers sell their books to the distributors. The distributors sell the books to the vendors, but the publishers sell the books to the vendors also and the authors sell the books to the vendors, because the publishers sell the books to the authors and the authors go straight to the street vendors. Sheesh!
And most authors only get like $1.50 per book if that. So its more money to hustle it yourself only if you are self published. The vendors only charge $10 dollars for a $14.95 book but they are buying the book and making more money than you are off of it. One vendor in Harlem gives you a 50-50 split, meaning you get 5 bucks and so does he. Or he buys your book for 5 bucks. He pays 7 dollars for your book at the distributor. You do the math.
If there were no vendors by now, with the way things are and with good authors like Kwan and good business men like Mark Anthony, the major bookstores would have had no choice but to settle, they always wanna make money, we just never have the patience to hold out. But America held out on England (treason!) and I would rather be treasonous to them then to my own… think about that!
I know, I’ve been jumping around but only because this is the first time you have read me being bro black and this is an issue that I’m gonna continue to break down in a more thorough fashion. I just tossed this bone to inspire thought and also to get feedback, negative I hope because I have loads of facts and pure business knowledge that will destroy any of your doubt, trust me on this.
Writers Digest, a great publication often enough shows us exactly what other authors get and don’t get for their books and how much they make and don’t make. Guess what. Other authors make significantly more than most black authors; how come when we are paying ourselves…?
Thus the more successful street fiction authors and black authors in general are not getting what they deserve, but then again, most of the weaker and less talented authors are making more, just like in the music industry, specifically rap music. And what makes it even more horrible is that these publishers who are underpaying you or not giving you what you deserve, yeah that nigga, the guy who said your book was the next B More Careful (holla at me Shannon); he is the man in the mirror. So you can say we are very ignorant and dumb to not know the difference between talented and less talented street fiction when we invented it. Just like rap, we support the worst artist then complain when we hear them every hour on the hour. I’m tired of this Mike Jones nigga, he’s wack! He only talks about cars, but who bought his CD? You!
Think! Who is more prolific than say a Talib Kweli or Mos Def and they don’t go platinum but an emcee like say Nelly always sells more than their worth. Yes its marketing and yes it’s popularity and all of that, but it’s also us… we purchase these albums and we purchase these books. And we complain about rap, about the content in the words these rappers spit, demoralizing women and promoting violence, but we still purchase the music. Shit I aint complaining but a lot of you people are. I’m complaining about these weak ass street books. Why can’t the prime examples in our genre get their worth? Why can you not see the difference between the good writing and the bad? Why are you judging the book by the cover and only settling for the popular ‘designer’ books?
I can name about 50 authors who you haven’t heard of who don’t do book signings who have sold at least 40,000 books easy (something most urban authors struggle to do) and they are all white and they have no major marketing nor are they significantly popular. You don’t know who they are and I just learned about them. They are from various genres and a few are writing for independent houses just like Triple Crown, lets say white triple crowns.
Think! Now you got a couple of white authors writing books with black characters in the street and urban circuit (Eminem authors) but you have so few black authors in the other genres, and that’s because black publishing companies don’t wanna publish anything other than urban and street books. Even when the other genres are more lucrative economically; I find that odd.
But that’s another topic for another day in my Literary Hood. It shows a lack of creative flux and good business savvy, though some like TCP (Triple Crown Publications) have made a good dent in publishing, just think if they would do other genres.
Science Fiction, pure Romance and Horror sells more books by accident since those genres have been around for decades, yet street fiction is just a small dent in the market… why not go abroad…? If you are willing to jerk your own people, why not gamble on jerking other people…? Naw, we would prefer to do harm to us, and we will continue to get these books from the vendors when we could just hold out for the greater good (aint that right consumers).
These vendors have killed small private owned black book stores, if we didn’t support vendors a few black book stores could have been a chain by now. Africans on 125street aint American Blacks, they don’t put money back into your community. This is what Malcolm X spoke briefly on in his speech the Ballot or the Bullet before he got blasted for what, for what the Nation of Islam deemed treason. The nigga should have kept his mouth shut. And this is similar to buying bootleg albums on CD, it all seems good and you are saving money but you seldom see an alternative CD, Rock CD, or Contemporary CD bootlegged…? Why…? Because it aint rap, or because white people don’t jerk themselves…? You be the judge… I’m just a hater (holla at me Star).
…Now go get Hoodlum by Kwan from your local vendor, me I’m gonna get it from a black owned bookstore or Borders. I know Borders is the white man but yo, eventually that money goes right back to you. Those Africans are sending their money back to their country. Yes! I said it, their country. You are an American Negro, nigga! Try hailing a cab in New York and see how the African driver rolls right past you to pick up a white person further away from him than you.
Mark Anthony can tell you how shady the business is, he doesn’t mess with them shady distributors the way he used to… yo Diamond Dynasty can hardly be found in the stores and my publisher is black and that might be the reason why, because publishers don’t trust these distributors. But by the same token, I got like no promotion, and my book is a fucking hip hop soap opera. And I’m by far one of the best street authors in the business, fuck that one of the most accomplished wordsmiths in the literary field (I’m gonna toot my own horn).
You would think it would be a fucking Negro priority to purchase a book about us regardless of if you like hip hop or not, or whether or not you enjoy a good gritty street saga shit we created it. And besides that what is The Godfather but a street book about the Italian mob. And these magazines are calling the urban/street fiction genre hip hop fiction but that aint it. Diamond Drought, Diamond Dynasty and Reign of the Pimp are hip hop books and so is Bling, though it’s not a very good representation. The others are street fiction, though hip hop was manifested in the streets it aint all gold digging and dumb ass hustlers. Be proud of it. No you aint proud, you would rather make a book about a hookers exploits a bestseller…
Who can I blame, the system, the consumers or my publisher’s antics? That’s another issue. I used to hate on my publisher but that nigga aint so bad now that I think about it because women have hurt me more than that nigga and a bullet could do me worse. I know how the black publishing game works and I aint figure out dames still and I stay away from shoot-outs. I aint no Nelly author, I only wear band aids when I’m injured.
UNO
I CONDUCTED A GREAT INTERVIEW WITH QUEENS FINEST MARK ANTHONY BUT YOU GOTTA PURCHASE THE MAGAZINE'S OCTOBER ISSUE TO GET THAT...
HERE IT IS, THE SPECIAL HATE EDITION OF LITERARY HOOD
don't get to angry, and if you feel pain it is because the truth... you know the rest.
LITERARY HOOD
Special Hate edition
Brandon McCalla
Segment uno: yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of hate, I shall fear no publisher.
Special Hate edition
Brandon McCalla
Segment uno: yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of hate, I shall fear no publisher.
Salutations ladies n germs, yup you guessed it with but a few shallow words typed, it is I your friendly neighborhood author Brandon McCalla and this is another installment of LITERARY HOOD. As usual I’m channeling my mitigated commentary and cogitations abroad and stretching this shit towards those who truly wanna know what’s what in my, no, our little literary hood.
The column is a bit bigger this issue since this is my special hate installment. I.b Concept allows me to work my words in any particular length and give me jurisdiction to dictate the proper protocol and I always take it for granted and act accordingly. I just wanted to explain the extra shit you are about to read. I got multiple treats and a bit of hate lined up, prepare.
Speaking of bigger and multiplying, our hood is growing and that sometimes is a bad thing. Some people think growth is good but most of the time its bad, very bad. Think of it as obesity or better yet urban sprawl. Like when you got to many niggas packed in one club, the way Diddy did it years back with Heavy D. Either the fire department will come and shut shit down when you over exceed the capacity or people die via getting trampled to death in the stampede when a feisty thug lets off a few rounds or a Jamaican shouts, “BLOOD FIRE!” and then sets it off. Either way it’s no good. Way too many authors are coming through with manuscripts that become books and not enough well placed words and talent are in these manuscripts. A lot of people are authors but so few are true writers. Please try to situate your brain to understand the difference.
Now, you guys know me, I’m the most underrated writer in our little business though I write more capaciously and do more scribbling in other genres than just street fiction, I’ve been through this circuits gambit and for good or ill this is my neck of the hood now. Thus I’m gonna break a few things down to you each and every time you pick up an issue of i.b Concept magazine. And you are gonna get it right at the beginning because Mr. Blanco and Dynamic Dean know that I pimp my words and demand that my column be first. I’m a hater. Fuck them other writers, even those whom bless the magazine in question. I deserve top billing and will fleece and heist whatever I can and tell all of you that I’m worth my weight in gold, though I don’t weigh much. Keeping it gangsta!
Getting to the gist of my damn words, I would like to compliment Vickie Stringer and Teri Woods for keeping their publishing companies situated independently because think, the first record label was a singularly small business. Then other record companies popped up and those record labels eventually became the major labels. It was a process and a lot of these record labels split like amoeba and branched out or combined like osmosis to form bigger ones. Once upon a time there were a handful of black owned record labels pushing out rap records and the bigger companies (the various 7 major labels) ate those companies up and though a few black people got paid, no black people have any major control over any aspect of the music they original created and pressed up as vinyl. Excluding Russell Simmons and a few others, I think Russell lassoed a great deal of the big picture but even he eventually sold most of his Def Jam aspects. Though I’m quite sure he’s on the board of directors, but what is that really. Who is the true owner, the guy who you never see who has all of the fucking money, that’s who…?
Dig this, we created doo-wop, blues, jazz, rock n roll, and reggae and rap and as of now we only own a smidgen of reggae in my opinion thanks to VP records who still hasn’t given in and a few die hard artists who don’t want others digging in their pockets.
This sounds oh so similar to street fiction.
Now Jay-Z has started a world music label called La Roc Familia records, but check this, it’s under Def Jam records and Def Jam is under Universal Records and Universal owns like almost every rap act. Sure they have a few Negro executives. But the head honcho in complete control, who is he? You guessed correctly, white cooperate America, Mr. Cracker man himself. Imagine that, the white man owns rap and hip-hop (though hip-hop is damn near dead) something that they wanted to crucify less than 15 years ago, but now they own it. Own an art form and culture you created. Now they program you to love the music you spawned and I mean you as in you as a nation of Nubian people in America and the whole damn world. And don’t get me wrong, though this is some Black Nationalist shit I’m merely stating an opinion but I feel every word I type has a whole lot of merit.
This tragedy, this loss of our music, a very creative and powerful art form we created back in 1973 or 74 (debatable) isn’t even ours!!! This is happening to our street literary book genre. It has already occurred with African American fiction in general, Zane has already sold herself to a major publishing house and so has Carl Weber. And guess what; as long as we keep selling to them major houses we will never have a major house of our own. They started off small, smaller than most of these black publishing houses and look at what they turned out to be. Why can’t we do the same? I think I know why, read.
Who do we have to thank for another piece of ourselves being yanked away; no, you guessed wrong don’t thank Zane or Mr. Weber because they did what any person seeking more money and stability would do, settle down and marry a rich ugly white man who can provide for them. Why? Well for one the white man doesn’t do us as dirty as we do ourselves. And I aint referring to the white dame Mr. Weber married (that’s some Jungle Fever shit and Wendy Williams has that monologue locked down. Let him get on her show and explain himself. I plan on marrying an Eskimo myself).
Who we can thank though are the little people like Culture Plus distributions and the Black Print publishing house, these people paved the way because it all begins from the ground level. Once people see that we can not control our own creations and conduct honest business amongst ourselves they take matters into their own hands, especially when these creations are gold mines. We always create or invest things that change an aspect of reality. Hip hop is the biggest commodity in the world right now and the most influential and the most visible. Yet, we don’t truly own a speck of it. Even those independent record labels like Cash Money n such are still getting distribution through one of the major houses (Universal records). You can never become a major label playing second fiddle to a violin.
It only takes time, Triple Crown Publications began with just Kwan’s book Gangsta then it flourished. We need to hold out and wait for our creations to grow up. Black publishers don’t fold. If just one of us folds the rest shall cave in, and cave in hard, aint that right Zane and Mr. Weber.
The rap world folded years ago and it has already begun in the Street fiction circuit though Zane and Carl Weber aint street friction by a long shot, they are still our literary jewels and thus I make my point through them and at their expense for if they would have merged together back when this was under corporate America’s radar, I would be so rich right now and so would they and a few others. Why you ask? Well for one the standards of authorship in the street fiction genre would have anteed up and no one is as eloquent with the pen or shall I say Dell laptop than me and them (yes I am comparing myself to them though my writings are far harsher and sadly enough under promoted). And the quality of the product would no longer be in question and most of us wouldn’t have these horrible covers and the terrible editing.
All of these black publishing companies should have already merged together like sensible white businesses do, like Time and Warner did and Sprint and Nextel. Why are they not selfish and greedy yet we are. And you know what, once a few authors get deals on majors, we lose everything also, it is already happening. Like how there once was an underground rap circuit and now there is only this damn near pop cornball stuff we hear on hot 97 and power 105 every damn day. That shit aint gangsta, Ice Cube’s first album was gangsta. What is so gangsta about all the diamonds you are wearing and how cute your car is? You guys sound like bitches. And you faggots get manicures, I seen a few of you on MTV getting groomed. What happened to the other rap acts, where are they now…? Why does Universal Records have almost all of rap music? You don’t know but I do and I’m gonna attempt to explain it briefly. That way I can get into the interview I conducted with one of Queens Borough’s finest Mark Anthony. And he doesn’t speak Spanish and he ain’t digging out Jennifer Lopez. This is Literary Hood. You know how we do this.
Boom! This country was founded by people who were abusive and couldn’t provide for themselves. Slave owners! Because you wouldn’t need a slave if you could do it yourself, that or you were just too damn lazy. Either way the black people the white man boated to America didn’t want any parts of his schemes and antics. So thus when a person doesn’t wanna do something, you force them, like I’m forcing you to continue to read with my shock value.
So the white man was and still is in some people’s opinion slave owners. But back then they were slave owners preaching about one nation under god and equality for all…!? The declaration of independence was actually treason against England and America allied with France (another group of treasonous people) to gain an advantage. Then they created the United States of America and Capitalism and then told France to fuck off. Real gangsta, you can’t even be mad at them. The United States promised France land and a few other things then blocked them out, though we still got New Orleans, and fed them to England. The revolution was barely a victory, the Americans won by the skin of their teeth. But it wasn’t anything our ancestors could truly relish over, we were slaves! France had their own revolution and had less aid then America. So what is so heroic about being a traitor? As horrible as England was, the people who broke away from them, and I’m talking throughout history were just as miscreant and horrible. But we must analyze the stratagem. The way they unified and held firm to what they started and kept it, wouldn’t give in even when the penalty was death. All we are doing it writing and selling books, and we buy our books. These are specific books for us. Why are so many of us unsettled, getting jerked and not happy?
It gets deeper and I know I already got some scrutiny. But peep it, after the declaration of independence, America began fighting amongst themselves; the civil war. Capitalism is better served without blatant slavery, the north knew this, and I challenge a few of you to read a book called The Wealth of Nations. It explains business and capitalism in a nutshell and it also shows you why all these black publishing companies should have merged and it shows that buying books from vendors began the ending of us having street fiction all to ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, aint nothing wrong with hustling books, but when you haven’t a great amount of control over your own creation, you are a damn fool to give outsiders a more lucrative portion than the one you barely possess.
I know; let us share with the white man, Africans or anyone else as long as I’m getting paid right? Wrong! What are they sharing with us? They won’t even let you harness the stuff you created on your own and you give them control of it? You would do better to destroy it than give it away. They only accept what you spawn after they adopt it, before hand they persecute it. But just think, the Americans wouldn’t fold to the Mighty English, now look at us and look at them. Now look at you (authors, distributors, publishers). You look like an idiot (and so do I since I’m amongst you idiots. I’m an idiot also).
When we jerk and mistreat ourselves, being greedy publishers who don’t wanna give authors their proper royalties and hardly giving them much to begin with, distributors not paying publishers on time and those post dated checks that wind up bouncing, aint that right Culture Plus, and let’s not forget about these street vendors. All of these people are us and I see no one else to blame.
You might think it’s a good thing to get your books for 10 bucks at a discount from those vendors instead of the 14.95 but it’s terrible for the black economy. Remember those Africans on 125th street aint American blacks. They aint us, they aint create this shit. Why are they involved right now? We barely have this shit underhand. You are only African if you were born in Africa. They have their own economical system and we aint apart of that. But you know what, these small independent book publishing companies are us and these black owned bookstores are us and we have neglected them. How come?
Direct ordering didn’t work and doesn’t for us. We don’t purchase shit off the net and we only deal with what’s popular, what someone told us was a good read. Who are these jerks telling us what to read? These book clubs filled with older ass women who really don’t know the streets. So they judge our street fiction comparing it to contemporary authors who don’t write as brutally as we do. Mind you basketball aint as brutal as say boxing or football but basketball is still a competitive sport nonetheless. Who made them the judge of good street fiction or bad street fiction? Why wasn’t I apart of this committee meeting?
No one wants to try a new inspiring author out or try something different, like say picking up a book with finer detail and a more creative writing style. The cult following street fiction audience only wants the last book say Teri Woods or Nikki Turner wrote. They just wanna read the last book they read, regardless of all the typos and the really ghetto cover by the same publishing house as the last book they read regardless if the story line is the same premise every book.
These street books aint hip hop books. Aint nothing hip hop about nearly all of them. Yes Diamond Drought, Diamond Dynasty and Reign of the Pimp (my books, the diamond series) are about hip hop, the music industry and my characters rap and I wrote the rhymes for them. That can be considered hip hop and so can Bling by Erika Kennedy but I’m a hater, that book was wack! She should have printed that shit up herself and it should have gone straight to trade paperback. Ms. Kennedy your target audience doesn’t purchase hardcover, hello!
Why do we allow people to word or own wording. Who are these people? What the fuck do they know about hip hop? What is hip hop fiction really, another story whose main character is a gold digger, or some former drug dealer who just got out of jail and wants a portion of his hood back, or doesn’t wanna deal no more but, yeah some of his former peeps give him some trouble. Or a novel about some guy getting locked up for a couple of years, turning fag and letting inmates tap that ass only to get out and start fucking his baby’s mother again. Then she finds out that he’s a homo and she tells her friends. Mind you this story is filled with grammatical errors and terrible writing and bad editing, if it’s even edited at all. Don’t blame the author, blame the consumer who picks up the book, after seeing its trash just by the cover, and then blame that jerk who told that consumer, “The book is hot!”
I also wanna give a shout out to every other author who pimp ‘Harlem’ in their titles. Especially those who don’t live there and rarely pay it a visit. But we buy these books, so all I gotta do is just put a big booty bitch on my cover and some cornball who looks like a thug with a fitted hat and give my title the title of a rap song or an already existing book and then put ‘Harlem’ somewhere in the middle of that. Sounds low maintenance. I might try it one day. Treasure Blue you are Harlem down to the bone marrow. You had the god given right to name your book Harlem Girl Lost.
Black distributors are jerking black publishers. This is very bad business. Distribution is the key to successful business. Getting your goods to where they can be sold, essential for good lucrative business. So what is this saying, is this saying we can’t support our own businesses properly.
The publishers sell their books to the distributors. The distributors sell the books to the vendors, but the publishers sell the books to the vendors also and the authors sell the books to the vendors, because the publishers sell the books to the authors and the authors go straight to the street vendors. Sheesh!
And most authors only get like $1.50 per book if that. So its more money to hustle it yourself only if you are self published. The vendors only charge $10 dollars for a $14.95 book but they are buying the book and making more money than you are off of it. One vendor in Harlem gives you a 50-50 split, meaning you get 5 bucks and so does he. Or he buys your book for 5 bucks. He pays 7 dollars for your book at the distributor. You do the math.
If there were no vendors by now, with the way things are and with good authors like Kwan and good business men like Mark Anthony, the major bookstores would have had no choice but to settle, they always wanna make money, we just never have the patience to hold out. But America held out on England (treason!) and I would rather be treasonous to them then to my own… think about that!
I know, I’ve been jumping around but only because this is the first time you have read me being bro black and this is an issue that I’m gonna continue to break down in a more thorough fashion. I just tossed this bone to inspire thought and also to get feedback, negative I hope because I have loads of facts and pure business knowledge that will destroy any of your doubt, trust me on this.
Writers Digest, a great publication often enough shows us exactly what other authors get and don’t get for their books and how much they make and don’t make. Guess what. Other authors make significantly more than most black authors; how come when we are paying ourselves…?
Thus the more successful street fiction authors and black authors in general are not getting what they deserve, but then again, most of the weaker and less talented authors are making more, just like in the music industry, specifically rap music. And what makes it even more horrible is that these publishers who are underpaying you or not giving you what you deserve, yeah that nigga, the guy who said your book was the next B More Careful (holla at me Shannon); he is the man in the mirror. So you can say we are very ignorant and dumb to not know the difference between talented and less talented street fiction when we invented it. Just like rap, we support the worst artist then complain when we hear them every hour on the hour. I’m tired of this Mike Jones nigga, he’s wack! He only talks about cars, but who bought his CD? You!
Think! Who is more prolific than say a Talib Kweli or Mos Def and they don’t go platinum but an emcee like say Nelly always sells more than their worth. Yes its marketing and yes it’s popularity and all of that, but it’s also us… we purchase these albums and we purchase these books. And we complain about rap, about the content in the words these rappers spit, demoralizing women and promoting violence, but we still purchase the music. Shit I aint complaining but a lot of you people are. I’m complaining about these weak ass street books. Why can’t the prime examples in our genre get their worth? Why can you not see the difference between the good writing and the bad? Why are you judging the book by the cover and only settling for the popular ‘designer’ books?
I can name about 50 authors who you haven’t heard of who don’t do book signings who have sold at least 40,000 books easy (something most urban authors struggle to do) and they are all white and they have no major marketing nor are they significantly popular. You don’t know who they are and I just learned about them. They are from various genres and a few are writing for independent houses just like Triple Crown, lets say white triple crowns.
Think! Now you got a couple of white authors writing books with black characters in the street and urban circuit (Eminem authors) but you have so few black authors in the other genres, and that’s because black publishing companies don’t wanna publish anything other than urban and street books. Even when the other genres are more lucrative economically; I find that odd.
But that’s another topic for another day in my Literary Hood. It shows a lack of creative flux and good business savvy, though some like TCP (Triple Crown Publications) have made a good dent in publishing, just think if they would do other genres.
Science Fiction, pure Romance and Horror sells more books by accident since those genres have been around for decades, yet street fiction is just a small dent in the market… why not go abroad…? If you are willing to jerk your own people, why not gamble on jerking other people…? Naw, we would prefer to do harm to us, and we will continue to get these books from the vendors when we could just hold out for the greater good (aint that right consumers).
These vendors have killed small private owned black book stores, if we didn’t support vendors a few black book stores could have been a chain by now. Africans on 125street aint American Blacks, they don’t put money back into your community. This is what Malcolm X spoke briefly on in his speech the Ballot or the Bullet before he got blasted for what, for what the Nation of Islam deemed treason. The nigga should have kept his mouth shut. And this is similar to buying bootleg albums on CD, it all seems good and you are saving money but you seldom see an alternative CD, Rock CD, or Contemporary CD bootlegged…? Why…? Because it aint rap, or because white people don’t jerk themselves…? You be the judge… I’m just a hater (holla at me Star).
…Now go get Hoodlum by Kwan from your local vendor, me I’m gonna get it from a black owned bookstore or Borders. I know Borders is the white man but yo, eventually that money goes right back to you. Those Africans are sending their money back to their country. Yes! I said it, their country. You are an American Negro, nigga! Try hailing a cab in New York and see how the African driver rolls right past you to pick up a white person further away from him than you.
Mark Anthony can tell you how shady the business is, he doesn’t mess with them shady distributors the way he used to… yo Diamond Dynasty can hardly be found in the stores and my publisher is black and that might be the reason why, because publishers don’t trust these distributors. But by the same token, I got like no promotion, and my book is a fucking hip hop soap opera. And I’m by far one of the best street authors in the business, fuck that one of the most accomplished wordsmiths in the literary field (I’m gonna toot my own horn).
You would think it would be a fucking Negro priority to purchase a book about us regardless of if you like hip hop or not, or whether or not you enjoy a good gritty street saga shit we created it. And besides that what is The Godfather but a street book about the Italian mob. And these magazines are calling the urban/street fiction genre hip hop fiction but that aint it. Diamond Drought, Diamond Dynasty and Reign of the Pimp are hip hop books and so is Bling, though it’s not a very good representation. The others are street fiction, though hip hop was manifested in the streets it aint all gold digging and dumb ass hustlers. Be proud of it. No you aint proud, you would rather make a book about a hookers exploits a bestseller…
Who can I blame, the system, the consumers or my publisher’s antics? That’s another issue. I used to hate on my publisher but that nigga aint so bad now that I think about it because women have hurt me more than that nigga and a bullet could do me worse. I know how the black publishing game works and I aint figure out dames still and I stay away from shoot-outs. I aint no Nelly author, I only wear band aids when I’m injured.
UNO
I CONDUCTED A GREAT INTERVIEW WITH QUEENS FINEST MARK ANTHONY BUT YOU GOTTA PURCHASE THE MAGAZINE'S OCTOBER ISSUE TO GET THAT...
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