GREAT BAY, St. Martin (January 8, 2004) — A House of Nehesi book heads a list of six books selected for holiday promotions on the Internet home page of Small Press Distribution (SPD), a leading US book distributor.
The book, Somebody Blew Up America & Other Poems by Amiri Baraka, was one of five books published here in 2003 by House of Nehesi Publishers, said projects director Lasana M. Sekou.
SPD Sales & Web Manager Brent Cunningham told the St. Martin publisher that, “Your title was chosen to be on our home page for its literary merit and because it is the sort of title we think our customers will be most interested in. So: congratulations, and keep up the great work!” SPD is the only wholesaler in the USA dedicated exclusively to independently published literature.
Sekou is inviting “folks to not only buy the Baraka book but to visit www.spdbooks.org , view the other featured books and see how titles published in the Caribbean are increasingly competitive in design and content quality with books published in the US and elsewhere.
“The SPD promotion is also one of the ways books published in the Caribbean are slowly but surely reaching wider audiences. This is one of the services we are trying to provide to new and senior authors who decide to publish with House of Nehesi.”
According to Cunningham, “This extra publicity normally generates a very modest sales bump directly from the Web site. More importantly, it certainly raises the profile of your title, and may lead to a bookstore ordering the title in higher quantity.
“In addition, having a book on the home page in December (during the high season for gift buying) does often lead to some extra sales.” The special feature could run for about a week or so more.
December was additionally busy for Somebody Blew Up America & Other Poems and the jointly published The Essence of Reparations, also by the famous US author. On December 20, both books were launched at Aljira Center for Contemporary Art in Newark, New Jersey. On December 27, over 150 people turned out to another book party for Amiri Baraka at the Bowery Poetry Club (BPC) in New York City.
House of Nehesi organized both book launches in cooperation with Aljira and BPC, an edgy New York City mecca of poetry, hip-hop and jazz.
St. Thomas will be treated to a Baraka address/recital and book signing in early February as part of the Black History Month celebrations.