Courtney B. Vance, one of the most respected actors in the business, has carefully cultivated an extraordinary career that showcases his passion, talent, and intellect. Known for successfully finding the dignity and honor in each character he explores, the Harvard scholar and actor trained at the Yale School of Drama is a powerful presence from the theatrical boards to the silver screen. Now, he has authored the dynamic and critical book, The Invisible Ache: Black Men Identifying Their Pain and Reclaiming Their

Walter Mosley is one of the most versatile and admired writers in America. He is the author of more than 60 critically acclaimed books that cover a wide range of ideas, genres, and forms including fiction (literary, mystery, and science fiction), political monographs, writing guides including Elements of Fiction, a memoir in paintings, and a young adult novel called 47. His work has been translated into twenty-five languages. The NBCC named its most prestigious award after him: The Walter Mosley Author of Distinction

Alicia Garza is a civil rights activist who co-founded the Black Lives Matter Global Network, which in 2020 led the largest social justice movement in history. It was Alicia who coined the phrase #BlackLives Matter, and it became a worldwide call for justice for the disenfranchised. She wrote the enormously important and potent book, The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart. It was named among the best books of the year by Time magazine, Marie Clare and Kirkus

Daniel Black is an author and professor of African American studies at Clark Atlanta University. His amazing books include The Coming, Perfect Peace and They Tell Me of a Home and Black on Black.   The accomplished orator is the winner of the Distinguished Writer Award from the Middle-Atlantic Writer’s Association and has been nominated for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, the Ernest J. Gaines Award and the Georgia Author of the Year Award. He was raised in Blackwell, Arkansas, and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Zakiya Dalila Harris is the author of the New York Times best-seller, The Other Black Girl, which is also a television series on Hulu, the streaming network. The Other Black Girl  tells the funny, emotional and familiar story of a Black woman, Nella, being the only Black person working in an office. . . until a Black woman is hired, exciting Nella, who now has someone she can relate to. But then things happen that grabs and holds your attention through the

Nick Chiles has distinguished himself as one of the nation’s foremost chroniclers of Black life, culture, and celebrity over the course of his 36-year career—both as a bestselling author and an award-winning journalist. He is the author or co-author of 21 books, including four New York Times bestsellers he wrote with iconic pastor, humanitarian, and producer Bishop T.D. Jakes (Disruptive Thinking: A Daring Strategy to Change How He Live, Lead, and Love; Faith Words-Hachette), R&B icon Bobby Brown (Every Little Step, Dey St.-HarperCollins),

Kimberla Lawson Roby is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author, Speaker, Writing & Publishing Mentor, Podcast Host, and Founder of Successful Women of Faith – The Sisterhood, Kimberla Lawson Roby, has published 29 books which include her faith-based, nonfiction title, THE WOMAN GOD CREATED YOU TO BE: Finding Success Through Faith—Spiritually, Personally, and Professionally, as well as her novels, such as SISTER FRIENDS FOREVER, BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, SIN OF A WOMAN, A SINFUL CALLING, CHANGING FACES, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL,

Victoria Christopher Murray is the New York Times best-selling author or more than 30 books, with more than 1 million in print. She is the author of Stand Your Ground, an NAACP Image Award Winner for Outstanding Fiction and a Library Journal Best Book of the Year. Her most recent works–The Personal Librarian and First Ladies–were smash hits and NY Times bestsellers.   Four of her novels, Lust, Envy, Wrath and Greed have been made into TV movies for Lifetime. Visit her at www.victoriachristophermurray.com.

Kalisha Buckhanon is author of the novels Upstate, Conception, Solemn and Speaking of Summer: a book pick of Essence, O Magazine, TIME, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Cosmo, Buzzfeed, Lit Hub and more. Her latest novel Running to Fall makes history as the first book published by AALBC.com, the nation’s oldest and largest website dedicated to black authors and books. Her short stories have been printed in Fiction, Fiction International, Oxford American, Black Renaissance Noire, Michigan Quarterly Review, pluck! and more. She is also seen on ID, BET and TV-One true crime shows as an expert. Kalisha’s debut

Yasmin Angoe is the Anthony-nominated author of the critically acclaimed thrillers Her Name Is Knight and They Come At Knight of the Nena Knight series. She is a first-generation Ghanaian American and, in 2020, received the Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Emerging Writers of Color from Sisters in Crime. Yasmin’s books were an Amazon Best Book of the Month for Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, and an Editor’s Pick. Her work has received numerous recognitions, was on a billboard in Times Square, Best Of lists, and a Library Journal Starred Review. Her

Stacy Hawkins Adams is an award-winning author and freelance journalist who crafts fiction and nonfiction that helps readers find relevance in their own stories. She has penned nine women’s fiction novels and one nonfiction devotional book. She also has produced a compilation of original quotes and musings in book form (Abound) and in a notecard collection that features the art of actress/author Daphne Maxwell Reid. Stacy’s novel Watercolored Pearls has been a featured title in college coursework; Coming Home was a Target stores “Recommended Read” and The

Brendan Slocumb is the acclaimed author of the amazing and award-winning The Violin Conspiracy. That riveting book–about a young Black musician who discovers that his old family fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius: when it’s stolen on the eve of the world’s most prestigious classical music competition, he risks everything to get it back–was an ABC Good Morning America Book Club selection and elevated Brendan in the literary world. Brendan’s second fantastic offering is the equally compelling Symphony of Secrets. Synopsis: In present day New York City, Bern Hendricks

Patricia Raybon is a Christy Award-winning author and essayist who writes daring and exciting novels and books at the intersection of faith and race. Her upcoming new detective novel, Truth Be Told, will be released on June 11th. It is a heart-gripping narrative driven by secrets, romance, and lies. Annalee, the detective, must unravel a case with higher stakes than she imagined―one where answers about a lovely woman’s death point to truths and tensions still throbbing today. She also authors the Annalee Spain

Avery Cunningham, a resident of Memphis and a 2016 graduate of DePaul University’s Master of Arts Writing & Publishing program, is the author of the The Mayor of Maxwell Street, a book NY Times best-selling author Victoria Christopher Murray called: “A debut novel everyone will be talking about, The Mayor of Maxwell Street is outstanding. Filled with intrigue, suspense, and a cast of characters I both adored and wanted to strangle, this novel kept me flipping the pages and holding my breath!” It releases on January 30th.

Dr. Pamela Mariva Mshana is an international award-winning playwright, author and educator. Her novel, girls in search of cover, part 1 was an International Books Award final. Part 1 is the first book in a series that examines the lives of three generations of Black women scarred by rape and racism. The young heroine, Carmia Evans-Pullen, is a troubled young African-American girl whose drug-addicted mother relocates Carmia and her brother to Bovina, Mississippi—a deeply religious backwater where they all move in with Carmia’s grandmother,

Vanessa Miller is a best-selling author, playwright, and motivational speaker who started writing as a child, spending countless hours either reading or writing poetry, short stories, stage plays and novels. Her latest work, The American Queen, releases on January 30th and has been selected by Good Morning America as one of 15 books to read in 2024. The book based on actual events that occurred between 1865 and 1889 and shares the unsung history of a Black woman who built a kingdom

Danielle Bayard Jackson is the author of Fighting for our Friendships: The Science and Art of Conflict and Connection in Women’s Relationships. This book aims to explain the mechanics of female friendship from an aerial view, as well as provide tangible strategies to equip women for the day-to-day business of being friends. Danielle didn’t set out to become a friendship coach and educator. She began her career as a high school teacher, where her students often came to her with their friendship issues.

Michelle Lindo-Rice, author of The Bookshop Sisterhood, a novel “that will stay with the reader long after the last page. Absolutely brilliant,” said Kristan Higgins, a New York Times bestselling author. The book is relatable. After years of hard work, four best friends—Celeste, Yasmeen, Toni and Leslie—are finally on the verge of opening the bookstore of their dreams, a place where their community can find solace with an intriguing new read, a comforting beverage and book-loving friends. But before they can cut the

Iris Mwanza, born and raised in Zambia, had early exposure to unfair and unequal opportunities for women and girls and has been a driving force for gender equality in her career. She serves in huge role as Deputy Director, Women in Leadership for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Iris leads the foundation’s strategy and investments to improve women’s representation and influence in the fields of health, law, and economics in priority geographies. Isis’ first novel releases on June 25th, The Lion’s

Mary Annaïse Heglar is an extraordinary writer who works at the intersections of climate change, climate grief, and climate justice. Her latest book, Troubled Waters, which releases next month, weaves an unforgettable, distinctly Southern story of the enduring power of family, Black resistance, and the rising climate crisis. In this intimate portrait of two generations, a granddaughter and a grandmother come to terms with what it means to be family, Black women, and alive in a world on fire. The world is

Essie Chambers is an award-winning independent TV and film producer who has penned her first novel, the gripping and compelling Swift River. This book is a sweeping family saga about the complicated bond between mothers and daughters, the disappearance of a father, and the long-hidden history of a declining New England mill town. It’s the summer of 1987 in Swift River, and Diamond Newberry is learning how to drive. Ever since her Pop disappeared seven years ago, she and her mother hitchhike

Deesha Dyer had no credentials or connections, and yet she negotiated her way to become a senior official to President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. With this unlikely journey comes a candid, incredible, and inspiring story. Moved by the election of the country’s first Black president, Deesha applied for a White House internship in 2009 as a thirty-one-year-old part-time community college student, taking a leap that carried her into a permanent full-time position, followed by three promotions landing her at

Antonia Hylton is a Peabody and two-time Emmy award-winning Correspondent for NBC News and MSNBC, and the New York Times bestselling author of MADNESS: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum. In Madness, Antonia tells the 93-year-old history of Crownsville Hospital, one of the last segregated asylums with surviving records and a campus that still stands to this day in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. She blends the intimate tales of patients and employees whose lives were shaped by Crownsville with a decade-worth

Gabriel Tuggle is a Georgia native who was so skilled athletically as a teenager that he appeared destined for a life playing professional sports. But in high school he was shot in the head, somehow surviving. But his dreams died. In his moving book, Stronger Than A Speeding Bullet, Gabe expresses in great detail the heartbreaking dynamics that led to him almost losing his life, how he lost his memory and his dreams after training for years to become a professional

Gregory S. Works is a sales executive who has recounted his inspiring battle of having two kidney transplants in an uplifting book that is part memoir and part instructional. Gregory wrote Triumph: Life On The Other Side of Trials, Transplants, Transition and Transformation, a persoanl account that will inspire, inform, and encourage anyone facing an insurmountable situation. A two-time kidney transplant recipient, he helps readers face challenges in their lives head-on by telling his story in a powerful way. He uses statistics,

Brian Rashad Fuller is an educational leader, writer, and strategist whose experiences as a student in South Carolina’s public school system fuel his passion for addressing the needs of historically underserved students. He was inspired to write his upcoming must-read, transparent and important book, Being Black In America’s Schools. In a polarizing and racially divided America, what do children of color learn about themselves before they even go to school? As a Black man who has spent his life as a student

Vanessa Riley is an acclaimed author known for captivating novels such as Island Queen, a Good Morning America Buzz Pick, and Queen of Exiles, an ABC View Lit Pick. Her latest work, A Gamble at Sunset, is another totally engaging read. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly calls it, “A triumphant return to romance….Riley renders the Regency in living color, with impressive historical detail and an admirably diverse cast. Historical romance readers will be entranced.” Georgina Wilcox, a wallflower with hidden musical talents, is

Omar Tyree, the New York Times bestselling author and a 2006 Phillis Wheatley Literary Award-winner for Body of Work in Fiction, is back with a a knife-thrilling novel, Control. It goes like this: Dr. Victoria Benning knows it’s unethical to discuss the therapy sessions of her clients, but the drama of their unpredictable lives tests her professional role like never before. First, she counsels Mrs. Melody, a brutally honest, gorgeous rap artist who relies on sexual leverage with men to elevate her music

Denene Millner is the New York Times bestselling author whose first solo novel, One Blood, was the National Book Club Conferences 2023 Book of the Year. Denene brilliantly explores the lives of three generations of women tied together by love, hope, dreams, ambition…and family secrets in this epic novel. Meet Grace: raised by her beloved grandmother in tension-filled, post-segregation Virginia, Grace is barely a teenager when she loses her grandmother. Shellshocked, she is shipped up North to live with her formidably

Phyllis R. Dixon is the delightful author whose latest book, A Taste of More, is a must-read. It is a powerful story of mothers and daughters, against-all-odds success, generational trauma, and redefining home. It is a breathtaking saga spanning the final three decades of the Great Migration – from the Jim Crow south in rural midcentury Mississippi through the transformative 1970s – a tenacious single mother and culinary genius builds an unprecedented empire. But the one dream she can’t stop chasing may cost

Denny S. Bryce is the wonderful author of must-read books, including the upcoming The Trial of Mrs. Rhinelander (July 23rd). It is a compelling work inspired by a real-life scandal that was shocking even for the tumultuous Roaring Twenties, this captivating novel tells the story of a pioneering Black journalist, a secret interracial marriage among the New York elite, and the sensational divorce case that ignited an explosive battle over race and class—and brought together three very different women fighting for justice, legitimacy,

Angela Ardis is an exceptional writer of animation, live production, television, film and ghostwriting. She’s also written a series of well-received erotica. But she reached international acclaim with her memoir, Inside A thug’s Heart, which was compiled of an exchange of letters, poetry and conversations with the late rapper Tupac Shakur. It is an intimate and revealing window into one of modern culture’s most iconic figures, this twentieth-anniversary re-release of Inside a Thug’s Heart celebrates the gifted and impassioned yet vulnerable and uncertain human behind

Omkari Williams is an activist who has crafted a book that paves the way for you to be one, too: Micro Activism: How You Can Make A Difference In The World (Without A Bullhorn). In her book, the former political consultant turned activism coach shares her expertise in empowering introverts and highly sensitive people to help others find the activist roles that will be most satisfying and effective for them. Using Williams’s Activist Archetype tool, readers discover their unique strengths and use this

L. Divine is a young adult star author whose first adult fiction book, An Epitaph For Jezebel, has releases on June 25th. It has been described as Nancy Drew meets P-Valley as an Atlanta reporter investigates the gruesome ritualistic murder of a dancer at the female-owned strip club where she herself worked years before. When Keke starts looking into secretive stripper Monaka’s grisly death, she’s instantly caught between her past and her present. Through The Honey Pot club owner “Honey Mama” Thiboudeaux, Keke found

Trisha R. Thomas is the highly acclaimed author known for her captivating debut novel, Nappily Ever After, which, in 2018, was adapted and released as a feature film on Netflix starring Sanaa Lathan as well as other notable actors. The book as well as the film were nominated for NAACP Image Awards. Nappily Ever After, was chosen by Oprah Winfrey ‘O Magazine as a Book That Made A Difference. Trisha is a Literary Lion Award honoree by the King County Library Foundation. She has