Read Like It Matters
Because What You Buy Determines What Gets Written Next
For most of my life, February felt like permission. Permission to focus on us. To pull out the books by Black authors, to revisit the speeches, to celebrate the accomplishments we spent the other eleven months, squeezing into the margins of our history in America and globally to honor and celebrate in a world that has always tried to burn the torch on our existence. Black History Month was the one time it felt not just acceptable but expected to center Blackness—in classrooms, bookstores, work settings, and in conversation.
This year marked 100 years since Carter G. Woodson launched what was then Negro History Week. A century later, his vision is still being misread. He never intended Black history to live inside a single week, or even a single month. He envisioned 52 weeks of study, curiosity, and engagement, with that one week as a culmination—a moment to pause and take stock of everything you’d been building all year.
February is behind us now. The displays are coming down in stores if they even dared to put them up in this political and social climate. The algorithms are shifting. What happens now? Because if Woodson was right, this is where it starts. March is the month to begin accessing how you are going to use the next year to dig deeper into Black legacy. If you’re a non-Black reader, I’m sure Woodson means you too.
I’ve spent enough time watching how publishing works to know what changes when readers show up consistently—and what quietly disappears when they don’t. So when I say that buying books strategically matters, I mean it in the most concrete way possible. It determines what gets written next.
Here’s what you can do for the next year to actually move the needle on what’s published in the next few years:
Preorder when you can. Books are available for preorder up to six months before they publish, and those early numbers signal real demand. A thousand preorders changes how a book gets stocked, promoted, and championed. It helps the author and their publishing team create buzz for their book.
Buy recent. Books published in the last two years are still in the performance window on a profit and loss statement that often determine whether an author gets to write the next one. That’s the book that needs you most right now. I hope that you close this reading, and look for books published in 2024-2026 to refresh your libraries with, whether printed, ebook or audio editions.
Ask for introductions. It tugs on my heart every time Oprah picks a classic for her book club. We publish so many debut authors who would love access to that sort of marketing power and readership. I love the classics too but ask your local booksellers and librarians about new authors. They are waiting for this conversation, and love to have it. Tell them what you like to read and ask them who they’re excited about. And then try out their recommendation. You can also browse the bookstore calendar in your area and check out a new author’s talk the way you would a live music. I’ve left certain book discussions so pleased that I’ve attended. However, you’d be surprised how many published authors we meet who haven’t attended a book event at a store. If you’re an author, this will only enhance your knowledge of what separates a good event from a stale one.
Go beyond the expected. I’m so happy that we’re publishing fiction because I was so jealous of my colleagues with their sweeping plots. However, if you really want to help wit diversity, purchase a nonfiction book by a Black author. It could be about business, health, science, self-development, etc. To make it easy to find, you can follow publishers, especially, imprints that specialize in certain areas like Legacy Lit, Balance, and New Press. Woodson’s vision was never about one month.
It’s was about making Black history a living practice — something we return to not because the calendar tells us to, but because we understand what’s at stake when we don’t.
One hundred years later, February was the culmination. March is the commitment.
10 Black and Beautiful Nonfiction Recommendations:
The Price of Exclusion by Nicole Carr
The Battle for the Black Mind by Karida L. Brown
The Conjuring of America by Lindsey Stewart
A More Perfect Party by Juanita Tolliver
Waiting for Dawn by Marisa Renee Lee
Malcolm in the Desert by Ilyasah Shabazz
10 Black and Beautiful Fiction Recommendations:
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
The Broken Hearts Agency by Clarence L. Haynes
If I Ruled the World by Amy DuBois Barnett
Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Campbell
Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite