First off, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I am grateful to every author, publisher, and industry colleague that I worked with in 2021.
To all the authors who subscribed because you found me on social media, attended one of my courses or conference sessions, thank you for joining my growing community.
Can you believe that 2022 is here? It is wild to me! 2021 was great and super busy! (Juggling IRL and virtual events and media job changes kept me alert to say the least 😊)
I’m very proud of my clients who launched their first book this year. We have some award wins, national media coverage, Bookstagrammer love and I expect that all of these authors are going to continue making noise in 2022 as well. So many great projects came to us this year, here are some of the highlights.
Year In Review
Toronto-based, self-published author Oby Aligweke won The Indie Excellence Award for her debut YA novel, The Place Beyond Her Dreams. We helped her launch with a very successful blog tour and bookstagrammer campaign. “Thank you so much Dawn. The tour has been amazing!”— @obyaligwekwe
Romance author Bianca Williams had a great year with the release of her 3rd book Sidelined: The Contract which earned the American Book Fest: Best Book Award in African American Fiction and the National Indie Excellence Award. Bianca also gave relationship advice to Cosmo. “I’m super excited that my tip was chosen and also landed the #1 spot.”
North Caroline poet Khalisa Rae released Ghost in a Black Girls Throat (Red Hen Press) with a full month of virtual events with The Rumpus, Mahogany Books, Charis Books & More, Franklin Park Reading Series in Brooklyn and a launch party that ended in song. Her highly publicized collection received press in Essence, Southern Review of Books, The Root, Reader’s Digest and went on to receive 5 nominations for the Pushcart Prize, Auburn Witness Prize, and multiple Best of the Net nominations.
Support is Sexy podcast host, Elayne Fluker released her first book Get Over, ‘I Got It’ How to Stop Playing Superwoman, Get Support & Remember That Having it All Doesn’t Mean Doing it Alone with Harper Collins Leadership. Elayne truly knows how to cultivate a community and her press in Black Enterprise, Essence, Forbes, Martha Stewart, Zora, and XONecole shared the reason this book is a must read for unapologetically ambitious women.
Debut author and Brown University graduate St. Clair Detrick-Jules had resolved to self-publish her book My Beautiful Black Hair [DH6] and connected with a literary agent once more before moving forward. She is a pandemic success story. St. Claire received a deal with Sterling Books and the launch has been nothing short of amazing. Her book is included in the NYS Department of Education Resources for Implementing and Educating About the CROWN Act, along with media coverage in Allure, Associated Press, Chicago Defender, Christian Science Monitor, 21Ninety, Washington Post and a host of events and on-screen opts including two featured interviews on Amazon Live. Her book will be featured in Target’s 2022 Black History Month retail promotions.
Marlon McKinney Creative Director and Founder of Conscious Culture Publishing launched a successful Go-Fund me campaign for his 4th children’s picture book MAKEDA: The Queen of Sheba. The book also won and 2021 BIBA (Best Indie Book) Award for Children’s Cover Design.
Thank you to Chronicle Books, Sterling, West Margin Press, Penguin Random House, James Rivers Writers, Lounge Writers, Sisters in Crime, Conscious Culture Publishing, HERShot!, Girls, Inc., Sign1News, Resilient Magazine, #BlackBookstagram, ArtHouse Literary, Glow Stream TV, Angela Shante, Anita Kopacz, Sadeqa Johnson, Tina Wells, Trey Anthony, Jennifer Stafford, Dove Bennett, Cherie Jones, Javacia Harris Bowser, Janus Adams, Mai Burnette, Cheryl Gray Hines, Jacqueline Holness, Che Hardy, Kyla Jenee Lacey, Tressa Azarel Smallwood, Tu-Shonda Whitaker, Amaleka McCall, K’Wan, Mia P. Manansala, Cyrus Webb, Todd Hunter, Felicia Brookins, Ray Calloway, Alexandra ‘Aly’ Romano, Watersprings Media
Goals for 2022
I’m launching an HBCU focused speaker’s bureau for BIPOC authors, educators, entrepreneurs and poets. The goal is to get influential voices to connect and engage with students attending HBCUs and help expose these young minds to networks and resources before they enter the workforce.
