Essence's book club

I think the club is a fabulous idea! We need to put reading in the forefront of our media.

From PW:

Get set for a new book club logo from a trusted print magazine, which will appear on five books this year and six next year. Essence magazine has just launched Essence Book Club Recommended Read program, focusing on recently released and classic fiction and nonfiction. The first pick, Pearl Cleage's new novel, Baby Brother's Blues, was announced in the March issue (on stands this week). 1,500 people have signed up as online members, in the six weeks since the club was first announced to the magazine's seven million readers and on www.essence.com.
Though a $24.95 hardcover seems like a suprising choice for a new book club, Cleage's novels have done better in hardcover than softcover on the magazine's monthly bestseller list. The club's first consideration is "the quality of the read," explained books editor Patrik Henry Bass, but that doesn't exclude consideration of the price-point. In fact, most of the books under consideration are softcover, he said.

Though it didn't hurt that Cleage is a big favorite with Essence readers, publishers shouldn't to read too much into the first pick. The next one is a "far more topical" novel that's likely to inspire a lot of debate, Bass said. "We're also trying to give exposure to writers who haven't had a hearing in the mainstream marketplace, and we won't be choosing just African-American authors. We're taking a broader view of the Africana experience." The author of each book club pick will be featured in the magazine, in the club's monthly e-mail, and in online author forums and interactive chats.

Bass and Editor in Chief Angela Burt-Murray also see the club as a way to gather more data about African-American reading habits, by tracking how many people are buying the club's picks, and gathering demographic information on readers who sign up for the club online. "There's a lot of noise about what's selling and what's not in the African-Amercian community, said Bass. "The only way we can answer those questions is to go to reader and allow them to guide us."