Do You Want to be The First or The Best?

by Narzell Wise
April 2008

Are you tired of people who have nothing better to do than stand around and preach about how much they've accomplished and how much they know about this street lit industry? They talk about how they paved the way and how everyone’s books are nothing more than copies of the DNA of their books.

We all know them. The ones standing around wasting their time and energy: complaining, whining, and criticizing every one else instead of joining the race to chase their own dreams. They poke their lips out at your success, your desires, your goals and everything else that fuels your movement, all the while pointing their finger at you saying, "I started this, I was the first!" But have you ever stopped to wonder instead of preaching from atop their soap boxes why they wouldn’t start a hip hop literature consulting firm? Or better yet why no one knows who they are anymore?

Authors: if no one knows who you are then that's your own fault and if your books aren't selling that's your own fault too. You are the sole ruler of your world, the manager of your life. Take responsibility for your failures. Maybe your book cover wasn't attractive enough, maybe your book title was lame (Side note: Books named after songs that used to be popular are tired. I thought you were a writer? Let’s get creative.) Maybe your marketing plan was a wash. Maybe you self-published but didn’t have the art or the heart for hustling which is what’s needed in self-publishing.

But just how do you measure success and what does it take to be successful? Do you have to walk to Brooklyn to get cheesecake? Or do you think you've made it once your books arrive back from the printer and you are officially a published author? But remember to publish anything, only means that two people have to read it. I say this to say that you have to do more than publish a book to be successful; you have to put yourself out there, get in the race and start running, otherwise everyone will pass you by. Instead of sitting back and complaining about how no one respects you or asking why you didn’t make The Urban Book Source’s Top 10 Authors of All-Time list, run the best race you can, if not spare us and stay in your place under the radar. While you are complaining others are rising to the top. Authors like Wahida Clark and Kwame Teague have taken this street publishing industry by the horns, all while they have been behind the wall. Relentless Aaron, another formerly imprisoned author wrote over 15 books while incarcerated and shortly after his release had most of them published, inked a six-figure deal with a major publishing house and wrote for 50 Cent’s G-Unit books. If they could do it then so could you if you used your time wisely.

Like the saying goes “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.” We must all wake up and ask ourselves do we want to be the first or the best, because in the fickle world of publishing you are only as good as your last book. The fact that you've coined terms and published the first set of books in a certain genre doesn’t matter unless you grind hard enough and leave the industry with a lasting impression. DJ Kool Herc is widely known to be the founder of hip hop; however, artists like 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Nas, Eminem and Kanye West are now in the forefront and have been more successful than most hip hop artists before them.

We all honor and show respect to those who came and opened the door for us, but maybe that was their place in history. Maybe it was for them to open the door so others could enter; are we to live in the past and not strive and embrace our current success? My advice is to those of you who fit this mold is stop complaining about not making lists, or about being overlooked, disregarded or bypassed and in the words of Russell Simmons, “Do You!”

Narzell Wise is an avid reader; she graduated from New York University with a degree in Journalism.

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Therone Shellman :

Posted 136 days ago

As for what Poe mentioned about all black writers coming together to eat under one umbrella. Everyone is different, and everyone has their own views and reason to do what they do. It's really about being able to tolerate each other causes. You have some people, clicks, groups etc who will even go as far as to stop certain writers from getting in certain stores, or try to stop them from doing business with certain folks just b/c they don't like their views. The funny thing is it's not the new writers who resort to such foolishness. It's these writers and industry folks that you people respect b/c they come on the net and speak so politically correct and act like they do no wrong. But when their at events they are speaking about authors, creating drama and acting like a bunch of fools. But when they piss some body off and it really goes down trust they will be at the precincts signing that paperwork. It's like me owning a bookstore and saying I won't sell this authors books. Why? At the end of the day it's about my cause and I don't have to deal with an author personally to sell their books. And I don't have to agree with ones philosophies to have a business relationship with folks. As long as their not trying to stop what I'm doing then I'm good. (Note) As far as people who think they know everything. The bottomline is that there are more folks concealing what they know then willing to show a little (just a little to help someone else). I wrote The Secrets of Self Publishing. New authors are happy with it b/c it helps them out. Publicists and some seasoned authors are pissed like I did something to them. Some say he thinks he knows it all (none of them have the gall to email me or tell me to my face-so they say it to folks who think their full of it and turn around tell me anyway). None of these individuals who talk this crap would take the time to write something like this. So I'm a know it all b/c I took the time to put something out there that people need. It seems like these people who some look up to would like for new comers to make the same mistakes they made. Do they hate when they see these new cats doing it? Do they hate when they cannot put their name on something and say I helped her out.,or did this and that for him? I could go on and on but I'm not. I'm a end it with this note. There is plenty of room for anyone you wants to see their way in. One male writer told one of my lady writer friends at an event to not put her book out on a certain date as if he was just going to kill the market in sales..Let me tell you how big this market is. I have been selling my titles in Queens and LI for 3 1/2 years and have never seen any of his titles out here. So why would he think that no author can put out a book when he does? This is the type of craziness that is created in peoples minds by false imagery. It gets to the point where people really believe the hype. In his mind he's the BEST. And thats ok. But I also told that author to not pay him any mind and for her to do her thing b/c it's a big world with a lot of readers out there.

Therone Shellman :

Posted 137 days ago

I think as with all professions those who paved the way should always be acknowledged. So for those of you who claim to be urban writer enthusiasts you need to have some respect. But for me no one in this genre inspired me b/c I did not read Donald Goines until around 1990. But I had read Baldwin, Wright, Hughes and over about 100 black history and political books before I even came across Walter Mosley who has been and still is my favorite black author. This is so because he was the first black author that I came across who could write within many genres. He not only writes, but lives to expand the art. For me the pioneers are them writers who wrote in a time when they could of gotten killed for the political content of their work. I tell aspiring writers I meet to study, and find their own space. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing or the hype. The BEST in todays world of entertainment mainly has to do with slick marketing and publicity tactics. It really has nothing to do with the art. The literature that has done the most to help or bring about a change in people historically have been the books to be around decades later-so write what inspires you and push the book regardless of whats in. In the past literary content has always been the yard stick upon which black writers here in America have been judged upon. With titles coming out every other day and having an average 6-9 month lifespand there are no words needed to be said about the literary or social content. I have not had a title on the essence list but I have sold way more books than a lot of authors. I don't screw chics in book clubs so they can big me up, I don't resort to shadey publicity tactics, nor do I come online acting like I'm a reader using fake screen names. Nor do I care about titles. I say what I want to say and b/c of this some folks don't like me. But I'm about building and I'm one of the few independent black authors who's influence extends beyond the black book market. I have been invited by local politicians to speak here in Long Island, NY. I have done workshops for youth at local libraries. In Sept I will be conducting a creative writing course for students at a local library. I get paid for all these things, and most of the time it's white people who reach out to me. I said all the above not to big myself up but to show new writers that your writing should be a bridge to take you to other places. Don't pigeon hole yourself and limit yourself from the things you can do for yourself and others, and at the same time benefit from it all. And thats what being the BEST is really about. We just had the company site done so it's now an online bookstore as well. And we're opening a physical location in a few months. Some of you know I have been selling other publishers books for about 3 months. We will be selling urban fiction as I believe its important for people to read period. But I also will be aggressively pushing contemporary and non-fiction. INDEPENDENT Authors and Publishers can submit their titles to www.thirdeyepublishing.org The site and store will also sell healthcare products, for the skin, hair and nails...I expect to have it all together within 7 wks

Narzell Wise :

Posted 167 days ago

Poe: Thanks for taking the time to read my article. You couldn't have said it any better, keep striving.

Poe :

Posted 173 days ago

Literature as a whole is an an art form that has been transformed into an industry that is nothing more than a former shell of what it was intially created to be. Urban lit is exactly what it is. It is a subdivision of what mainstream literature pundints deem to be real literature. The question that should be asked in my opinion is, what are you doing as an author to promote literacy amongst African American's that are not likely to pick up a novel in the first place?
Although is may seem like more African American youths are reading, that is not exactly the case. Also, ask the question, how much of a dent in the granite statue known as literature have the "successful" Urban lit authors actually made? If you are not known outside of the black community for your literary efforts, then are you really known at all. Thats like the old saying, "Just because a man can knock down a small child, that does not make him powerful. How will that man fair once he is challenged by a bigger man?" Writers of the Harlem Ren. were known world wide for the stories of racism, poverty, social identity, sexualism, and homoeroticism. They wrote for us, but penned stories powerful enough to grip White America and make them stand and take notice. Saddly, we can not say the same, for evem the most hard hitting of African American novels today. And you can't say it is because of the content. Just ask Hip Hop.
We spend too much time running each other down as authors, or posting articles that run down the authors that run down other authors. All that does is widen the circle of negativity that noted authors in the literary world hang their hats on. Stories are cookie cutter copies of what has come out before hand. That is no secret, and most authors will not deny that. It is the same with rap music and R&B music today. There is nothing wrong with that. If that's how you make your bread, then keep eatin. Its all love. But for those that call them on it, I want you to write something better. It is easy to criticize another's work, when you do not have any work to show for yourself.
An author may feel the need to call him or herself the best because they may not have anyone else to champion their work. They may be in a situation where their friends and family have doubted them all through the process of them writing the book. For those that have written books, you know that your book is like your child. It is a creatioin that one must be proud of. Let them call themselves the greatest. C ... ius Clay did it, and he was by no means the greatest boxer of all time, but he believed it, and everyone else did too.
This all goes back to hate. We are like CMB. We all we got. I wish that we could all come together and eat from the same literature table. If not, this genre will go down in the same disco inferno.

Tone B. :

Posted 218 days ago

Preach, I can't stand a whiner.

Alecia J. :

Posted 218 days ago

You are so right! I can't tell you how many unknown authors I know. I want to support my people however, if your book title, cover or the first few pages don't grab me...I am done. Hmmm, should we say that you can judge a book by it's cover?

Narzell Wise :

Posted 219 days ago

E Joyce Moore:
Your right about that. These writer think that after they get the book published, the process is over. Thanks for your commentary.

E Joyce Moore :

Posted 219 days ago

Great article; need more of them. All of us believe that we are great writers, whether we are or not. In reality writing is only 5% of the process of being a successful published writer. It takes a lot of work and a lot of determined courage to get past the disappointments and keep pushing the pencil across the page. Thanks for your opinion.

Jameson Davis - Harlem NY :

Posted 220 days ago

I'm so glad someone had finally said something about this. You know just the other day, I p ... ed an author who was selling his books on 125th and the first thing this author said to me, was "check out my book, I started the street fiction genre and opened doors I'm the original," to be honest that turned me off. And I didn't buy the book, its no need for me to say the author name, he knows who he is. KUDOS, nice article.

Aimee :

Posted 220 days ago

I think some authors have on shades and are blinded by their "ego." Nice points Narzell.

Narzell Wise :

Posted 220 days ago

Also, please stop whining about the reviews you get for your books; everybody has a different opinion. Just because you think your book is so good, doesn't mean the next person will. Everybody is not going to like your book! Your book is not the best in the world. Stephen King has written trashy books.

I Get Money :

Posted 220 days ago

True story Wise! I agree with you on that. A lot of authors who think they paved they way for everybody is wasting time talking. Staying stuck in the past going nowhere fast! Get ya money and keep it moving.
You already know who it is, who it will be, and its gone be!

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