BIPOC Book News: RuPaul Has a New Book + A New Bookstore. Plus Marquez, Poetry from Ada Límon, and an Indie Book Reveiw
It’s time for another installment of BIPOC Book News. This is my new column where I share the latest news, reviews, trends and updates from the publishing industry from a BIPOC perspective.
Let’s dive in.
RuPaul is Telling All …and Selling All
America’s favorite drag-performer-turned-reality-TV-star, can now add memoirist and bookseller to his list of accomplishments. Never one to do things the basic way, RuPaul has timed the release of his new memoir, The House of Hidden Meanings, which officially came out on March 5, with the announcement of his new online bookstore, Allstora. Per an article in Publisher’s Weekly, Allstora will, “challenge the e-commerce status quo by introducing a new model of splitting its profits with authors, in turn doubling their income on the sale of a book.” We love a bookstore that puts authors first. Come through Ru!
After a quick perusal of Allstora’s titles, it looks like they are carrying a wide variety of commercial offerings, but according to all of the press materials about the store, Allstora will be “uplifting” the titles of underrepresented groups. And just to prove that point, Allstora’s grand opening will be celebrated with a cross-country tour in the Rainbow Book Bus, that makes stops and delivers books with LGBTQ themes to cities and towns hit hard by book bans. I love this whole literary vibe for RuPaul and for us!
Poet Laureate Ada Límon Marries Poetry and National Parks
Speaking of cross-country tours, U.S. Poet Laureate, Ada Límon, is getting ready to launch her signature project as poet laureate. Beginning with a launch event on April 1, 2024, Límon is releasing “an anthology of nature poems” by 50 of America’s most celebrated poets, including Kevin Young, Jericho Brown, and Joy Harjo. The anthology is titled, You Are Here.
Per the Associated Press: “I wanted something that could both praise our sacred and natural wonders and also speak the complex truths of this urgent time,” Limón said in a statement released [on March 6] by the Library of Congress. “It may seem easier to surrender to the overwhelm of the world’s challenges right now, but I believe that singing out, offering something back to the earth, noticing our connection to the planet, could help us all move forward together in a powerful way.”
In addition to the poetry anthology, Límon will be launching a “You Are Here” tour of seven different national parks and creating poetry installations there, dedicated to great American poets. I love this idea of marrying poetry with nature and bringing it to life, and to the people.
Dead Men Can’t Write Novels, But Gabriel Garcia Marquez Is Giving a Gift from the Grave
Even though Gabriel Garcia Marquez specifically told his children not to publish his final manuscript, they’re doing it anyway.
At the time of his death, Marquez suffered from dementia, and reportedly was adamant that he did not want the novel that he’d been working on, off and on for years, published. He claimed it wasn't good enough.
Now, ten years after his death, Until August, a novel about a middle-aged woman who has a series of affairs when visiting the grave of her mother, is about to be released by Knopf on March 12.
According to an article about the issue in The New York Times, “His sons acknowledge that Until August doesn’t rank among García Márquez’s masterpieces, and fear that some might dismiss the publication as a cynical effort to make more money off their father’s legacy.
“We were worried of course to be seen as simply greedy,” García [Marquez’s son] said. And yet, they’re publishing it anyway. But according to The Times, this will be the last time such a decision has to be made.
“There’s nothing else. Throughout his life, García Márquez routinely destroyed older versions of published books and unfinished manuscripts because he didn’t want them to be scrutinized later.” And yet that’s exactly what the world is going to do when Until August hits store shelves next week. Will you be reading it?
12 Emerging BIPOC Booksellers Get a Boost from BINC
The Book Industry Charitable Foundation (BINC) just announced 12 lucky winners - 12 emerging BIPOC bookstore owners - who get to be in BINC’s inaugural cohort of their “Professional Bookselling School.”
“We are so proud to support this first group of entrepreneurs dedicated to opening bookstores in their community,” said Pam French, executive director of BINC. “They share our commitment to and passion for closing the diversity gap in bookstore ownership, and we can’t wait to visit their stores.”
The 12 entrepreneurs, selected out of a pool of 48, are a diverse group from across the United States. Some of them have already opened their bookstores, while others are still in the planning stages. According to their website, bookselling school for these lucky new students includes, “access to capital; peer-to-peer networks; industry-focused education; mentorship business guidance, research and a resource library.” These are the types of resources that we need to maintain a thriving literary ecosystem.
If you’re dreaming about opening a bookstore one day, definitely check out the resources and programing at BINC.
Book Review: In Search of a Salve
A powerful story by KE Garland
Given the challenges that BIPOC authors face in the traditional publishing industry, as a literary activist with a platform, I want to show support for independent authors and publishers who are doing their part to get important stories out into the world. I recently read the new book, In Search of a Salve: Memoir of a Sex Addict by KE Garland (NR Press), and felt compelled to share my thoughts with my BIPOC book-loving audience.
Even though I enjoy author KE Garland’s work on her blog, and I am a huge fan of Nikesha Elise Williams - the publisher of NR Press - I didn’t know what to expect from this book when I opened to the first page. Needless to say, I read the whole book in almost one sitting. While a memoir about sex addiction is clearly not for everyone, I found Garland’s story incredibly enlightening and masterfully told. I learned a lot about a topic I knew nothing about, and appreciated how Garland wove her complicated family history into the book. In other words, the book is as much about painful family stories, mother wounds, and forgiveness, as it is about “sex addiction.” All told, when I finished this powerful memoir, I felt Garland deserved high praise for being so honest about a potentially explosive topic. I always say memoir is medicine, and without a doubt, many women will be healed by reading Garland’s poignant and redemptive story.