Today we’d like to introduce you to Gwen Richardson.
Gwen – please kick things off for us.
The National Black Book Festival (NBBF) was started in 2007 and is sponsored by Cushcity.com, a Houston-based company that specializes in marketing and retailing African-American literature. Cushcity.com was founded in 1998 by local entrepreneurs, Willie Richardson and myself. The National Black Book Festival was started as a result of the our interaction with African-American authors and publishers who were looking for additional ways to reach their reading audience. With the closing of most black bookstores around the country, opportunities for literary exchange among black authors, publishers, and readers has become more and more essential.
NBBF is held in late October every year and, for the last five years, the venue has been Fallbrook Church in Northwest Houston. The Festival attracts more than 100 authors from around the country, and features most of the best-selling African American authors in the nation. General admission is free and includes author exhibits, featured author sessions, and workshops. There are also four special events which are ticketed where food is served and most of the networking takes place. The 2017 Festival is our 10th anniversary.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with any endeavor, every year we learn from our challenges and improve for the next year. Getting the word out cost effectively has been our biggest challenge, but social media has been very helpful in that regard.
National Black Book Festival – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Cushcity.com, which sponsors the National Black Book Festival, specializes in marketing and retailing African-American literature. We provide marketing programs for authors to reach the African American audience cost-effectively.
Our company was launched in December 1998 and we have revised our business model over the years. We initially were 100% retail but, as the business evolved, more and more authors requested marketing services. The National Black Book Festival came to fruition as a result of the same requests by authors for exposure to the public. Now our business is 80% marketing (including NBBF) and only 20% retail.
Cushcity.com and/or its founders have been featured in Ebony, Essence, Black Enterprise, Entrepreneur, and the Houston Chronicle.
We are most proud of our consistency over the years. Many similar companies have come and gone, but we are still here providing professional services to the African American market. What sets us apart is the high quality of service we provide, our customer service, and accessibility.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
It is difficult to pinpoint one single moment that was the proudest for our company because there have been many. For me personally, one of my proudest moments was being nominated twice (in two consecutive years, 2015 and 2016) for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work for two books I have written. One of the books was co-authored with my daughter, who is a senior at North Carolina Central University, so we were both nominees and were able to share the experience at the NAACP Image Award festivities.
Pricing:
- The Full Festival Package, which includes four special events and four meals, is only $85.
- Author Vendor Tables are $350.00. (The pricing is lower during early and standard registration which ends May 31st).
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nationalblackbookfestival.com
- Phone: (281) 444-4265
- Email: info@nationalblackbookfestival.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nationalblackbookfestival/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/blackbkfestival
Image Credit:
Joyce Jenkins
Eleanor Alcorn
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