Troy D. Johnson is the founder and webmaster of AALBC.com (The African American Literature Book Club), and President of AALBC.com, LLC. He started AALBC.com in October of 1997, and today it is the oldest, largest, and most frequently visited website dedicated to books written by or about people of African descent.
In addition to AALBC.com, Johnson has launched several other internet based businesses including; Edit 1st, a manuscript editing service. As a website consultant, Johnson shares his wealth of experience and knowledge about managing websites with individuals and groups. He also writes and advocates for books, publishing, independent websites, and Black culture.
Johnson spent over 20 years of corporate settings designing wide area networks for defense contractors and managing international projects for Wall Street firms.
An educator, Johnson has been an Adjunct Lecturer at Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business since 2014 and he has presented at conferences internationally and throughout the United States including, Book Expo America, The National Black Writers Conference, The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference, Sacred Circle/Spoken Word International Festival, The Antigua & Barbuda International Literary Festival, The Kingston Book Festival, Small Press Center’s New York Round Table Writers’ Conference, The National Black Book Festival, Harvard African American Student Union and many others
His radio and television appearances include C-SPAN2’s BookTV, and the What’s The 411 television program in New York City.
Johnson has been recognized in articles that have appeared in Publishers Weekly, The Amsterdam News, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, Black Issues Book Review, The Network Journal, The New York Beacon, Emerge Magazine, Black Enterprise, The Philadelphia Sun, and many other publications. He has written articles and provided content to publications ranging from Mosaic Literary Magazine, the Electronic Urban Report, and the Black EOE Journal.
Johnson has served on numerous advisory boards and committees including Bookshop.org, Syracuse University’s Alumni Association Board, the Literary Freedom Project, Harlem World Magazine, The Sacramento Black Book Festival, The Harlem Book Fair, Black American’s in Publishing, and New York is Book Country.
His website AALBC.com was listed by EarthLink as one of “The 100 Best Websites for African Americans.” In 2005 he was named one of the 50 Most Powerful African Americans in Publishing by Black Issues Book Review magazine.
Johnson 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. He has also completed Stanford University’s Publishing on the Web course. He has two adult daughters and lives in Tulsa, OK.
Johnson is promoting the premier, Black-owned, book distributors in the country. He said AALBC.com, buys books for resale from the businesses below and encourages consumers to know and purchase from these Black owned businesses.
They have titles, including many AALBC bestselling books, that are simply unavailable from any other distributors. Working behind the scenes, with little fanfare, these businesses are crucial to the “Black Book Ecosystem” and are responsible for ensuring important Black books are available for sale to booksellers around the world, he said.
Black-Owned Book Distributors:
Africa World Press & The Red Sea Press (AWP & RSP)
Kassahun Checole
609-695-3200
In been in business since 1983, Africa World Press & The Red Sea Press is dedicated to the publication and distribution of books on the African World. In a period in which the publishing industry, in the United States, is undergoing dramatic changes, these two publishing houses are fulfilling a great demand for “non-mainstream” academic texts, poetry, short stories and children’s books.
Africa World Press is a “Top 100 Selling Publisher Imprints” on AALBC, with 5 Bestselling books including the classic, Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy Is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy by George G. M. James.
Africa World Press & The Red Sea Press is also the exclusive distributor of my book, Voices of the Harlem Renaissance: Originally Published as The New Negro an Interpretation.
Afrikan World Books
Nati Kamu-Nataki
(Afrikan World Books does not have a website)
410-383-2006
Afrikan World Books distributes Black book around the world. Readers who attend the African-American Children’s Book Fair may have seen “Brother Nati” in action as Afrikan World Books is the book supplier for the annual fair.
Lushena Books, Inc.
Luther Warner
773-783-8320
Lushena Books distributes all genres of books. In addition to books, they also distribute a variety of other African-American merchandize, including figurines, sorority/fraternity products, journals, puzzles, and more. During the holiday season Lushena Books distributes Kuumba collectibles card, Kwanzaa sets, and calendars.
- Lushena Book is a wholesale/distributor to bookstores and corporate America
- Lushena Books offers drop shipment to both bookstores and online stores
- Lushena Books will wholesale your books to Ingram
- Visit Lushena Books’ website view their wide collection
The following distributor is not Black-owned, but they are also of a source of books for AALBC:
Ingram Content Group
customerservice@ingramcontent.com
(615) 793-5000
Ingram Content Group provides virtually every service in the publishing industry. With warehouses all over the United States, Ingram Content Group is the largest book distributor/wholesaler in the country.
While it is common for the terms “Distributors” and “Wholesalers” to be used interchangeably, there is a big difference between the two businesses. Both businesses enable booksellers to purchase a wide variety of books from a single source rather than establishing terms, and managing accounts, with potentially thousands of different publishers.
A true book distributor, as opposed to a wholesaler, actively engages with booksellers to help market and promote books on behalf of the publisher — in much the same way a bookseller hand sells a book to a reader. The distributor understands the bookstores they sell to an can help them secure the books that would do well in their stores. Africa World Press & The Red Sea Press, listed above provides distribution services.
