Reaching THE black market

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 2, 2005
Black Literati Unite QBR The Black Book Review and Black Issues Book Review
Join Forces
New York, NY, June 2, 2005— In a move that brings together the
two major magazines that cover African American literature,
QBR The Black Book Review and Black Issues Book Review
have signed a joint marketing and services agreement that
creates a literary marketing powerhouse. The agreement will
allow each company to focus on its core business, as well as take
advantage of each other's complementary strengths. QBR The Black
Book Review will concentrate on indoor and outdoor literary events,
specifically the well-known Harlem Book Fairs, which will expand to
12 cities, including Boston, Buffalo, NY and Phoenix, AZ in the coming
year. “This unified effort provides publishers and other advertisers
the single most efffective way to reach and market to African American
readers. BIBR, QBR and the Harlem Book Fair create a tremendously
powerful brand, ” says QBR publisher Max Rodriguez. Black Issues
Book Review will continue to focus on magazine publishing and
become the official publication at all QBR events, including the Harlem
Book Fairs. “This relationship will have an impact on the entire publishing
marketplace,” says BIBR publisher William E. Cox. “Because there is now
a strong single marketing force for black books and authors, the longevity
of African American readers as a market is secured. Working together both
companies will grow, and the market for black books can grow even more.”
Circulation for the two publications will be combined, creating a “reach” to
the African American reader never seen before in the publishing industry.
About QBR The Black Book Review Founded in 1993, QBR The Black Book
Review was the first book review exclusively dedicated to books about the
Africana experience. It was born to lay claim to the many authors who write
for and about that experience, to give them praise or admonishment, to turn
their insights into personal reflection or action. Publisher Max Rodriguez founded
the Harlem Book Fair in 1998. This year's Harlem Book Fair will be held on July
23rd. More than 40,000 attended the event last year. QBR also sponsors the
Celebration of Black Writers in Philadelphia, the African-American Read In
of Dallas and other book events. About Black Issues Book Review Within
months of its January 1999 debut, Black Issues Book Review was named
one of “the ten best new magazines” by The American Library Journal
from more than a thousand new publications. It is a bi-monthly publication
that provides nationally recognized journalism on the explosion of fiction
by authors of African descent and nonfiction books on topics of black interest.
In 2002, BIBR was accepted for membership in the Audit Bureau of
Circulations (ABC), the first and largest circulation-auditing organization
in the world.