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previous
speakers pictured above (l-r) Vickie M. Stringer, Tony Evans
and Karen Quinones-Miller
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Anita
Diggs
has worked as a
senior book editor for Random
House, Time Warner Trade
Publishing and Thunder's Mouth
Press. She has lectured across
the country on the topics of
novel writing, book proposal
development and how to get a
literary agent. The New York
Times, The Chicago Tribune,
C-Span, The New York Daily News
have all interviewed her about
various issues affecting the
book publishing industry.
Columbia Journalism Review
placed Ms. Diggs on their “The
Shapers” list for the year 2000.
The Shapers is a list of
prominent New Yorkers who shape
the national media agenda. She
is the author of
A Mighty Love,
A Meeting in the Ladies Room
and
The Other Side of the Game.
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Troy
Johnson
is the founder of the
AALBC.com, LLC (The African American Literature Book
Club). AALBC.com was launched in 1998 and is now the
largest and most frequently visited web site dedicated
to books by and about black people. Johnson serves as a
board member of the Literary Freedom Project, an
advisory board member of the Harlem Book Fair, and is
the Book Editor for Harlem World Magazine. Johnson is
also a technology project manager for a global financial
services firm and holds a BS in Electrical Engineering
from Syracuse University, an MS from Polytechnic
University, and an MBA from New York University’s Stern
School of Business and has completed Stanford
University's Publishing on the Web course.
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Ron Kavanaugh
is the executive director of the Literary Freedom
Project, a non-profit arts organization that supports
the literary arts through education, creative thinking,
and new media. He is the founder and publisher of
Mosaic Literary Magazine, a quarterly print
publication that explores the literary arts by writers
of African descent. Ron is also the founder and
president of MosaicBooks.com an online literary website
dedicated to marketing books. A lifelong Bronx resident,
he has attended public schools including Brooklyn
Technical High School and Monroe College. |
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Karen E.
Quinones-Miller, Keynote Speaker (2008)
Born and raised in Harlem, Karen dropped out of school
at the age of 13. At age 22, Karen joined the Navy, and
after spending five years in the military, Karen
married, had a child, and divorced -- all within a
two-year period.
She moved to Philadelphia at age 29, and enrolled at
Temple University three years later. Karen graduated
magna cum laude from Temple with a B.A. in journalism,
confirming her belief that the only thing she missed by
skipping high school was the senior prom. After
graduation she became a newspaper reporter, and worked
for the Associated Press, The Norfolk Virginian Pilot,
and lastly for The Philadelphia Inquirer where she
worked nine years. She also worked as a correspondent
for People Magazine.
Karen wrote Satin Doll in 1999, and after many
unsuccessful attempts at finding a publisher, she
decided to publish it herself. With the support of her
brother, Joe Quinones, and her daughter, Camille, she
started with an initial printing of 3,000 copies -- most
of which were housed in her living room -- and
ultimately sold 28,000 copies in eight months. Satin
Doll wound up on the Essence Bestseller’s List for
two months, and publishing rights were sold to Simon &
Schuster (via auction) for six figures.
Karen went on to write four other Essence Bestselling
novels for Simon & Schuster, I’m Telling,
Using What You Got, and Ida B. (which was
nominated for an NAACP Image Award for
Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction.) and Satin
Nights. She's just completed a new novel, Passin',
which will be published by Warner Books in Feb. 2008
In 2005, shortly after signing a contract with Warner
Books to write Satin Nights, Karen was diagnosed
with a brain tumor and subsequently underwent brain
surgery. She has since received a clean bill of health
and has resumed a writing career.
Miller, who is included
in the book Literary Divas: The Top 100+ Most Admired
African-American Women In Literature, often gives
publishing and self-publishing seminars in her home and
Philadelphia, and is the CEO of Oshun Publishing
Company. In early 2006 she released a new book, by “Miss
T.” entitled The Guide To Becoming The Sensuous Black
Woman (And Drive Your Man Wild In and Out of Bed!),
under Oshun Publishing. |
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Nakea Murray
is the operator of The Literary Consultant Group; a full
service publishing consultation and publicity firm based
in Philadelphia PA and creator of As The Page Turns Book
Club was formed in the summer of 2001. The Philadelphia
based discussion group is still going strong and has
since founded As The Page Turns Chapter II in the MD/DC
area and One Page At A Time. Ms. Murray is also the
founder of W.O.R.D (Women Organized For Reading &
Development) a non-profit organization that donates
books to underprivileged children and provides literary
assistance to local libraries and schools in the
Tri-State area. Nakea’s publishing, bookseller,
distribution and media contacts have made her a highly
sought after publicist by authors and publishers alike.
Most recently Ms. Murray has created and launched a
radio talk show called “ 3 Chicks On Lit” which
interviews authors and airs weekly via the internet. |
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Jessica Tilles
is an award-winning, national best-selling
author, publisher of the 2008 African American Literary
Award Winner for Independent Publishing House of Year,
Xpress Yourself Publishing, LLC,
and founder of The Writer's Assistant.
Jessica is a creative writer in
all genres of fiction, with several titles in print:
Anything Goes,
In
My Sisters' Corner,
Apple Tree,
Sweet Revenge,
Fatal Desire, Unfinished
Business,
editor of the best-selling anthology,
Erogenous Zone: A Sexual Voyage,
and is a contributing author to the best-selling
anthology,
The Triumph of My Soul
edited by Elissa
Gabrielle, with her short story “Julian’s Grace.” In
March 2009, Jessica releases her ninth book, Loving
Simone. |
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