10 Ways The Self-Publisher Can Improve The Reader's Experience

Self-publishers overlook the reading experience when they design their books. What’s the reading experience? All the elements of a book that come together to make a book easy to read. Little things like fonts, illustrations, and page layouts can turn a memorable story into an enjoyable reading experience. When self-published authors focus on designing books that are as reader friendly as possible, customers are more eager to recommend them to others.

Here are ten areas self-publishers can work towards improve the reading experiences in their books:

Avoid small fonts Nothing aggravates readers more than having to read a page filled with little tiny letters in font sizes 10 or lower. Many self-publishers use these small fonts to condense pages and save money on short-term printing costs, but cost themselves long-term sales. A good size for fonts in a books interior are 11 for Garamond and Book Antiqua, and 12 for Times New Roman.

Avoid printing text in hard-to-read fonts Fonts like Arial and Courier New are frustrating for readers to sit through (and headache inducing) for long periods of time. When laying out pages, self-publishers should consider round serif fonts like Garamond, Book Antiqua and Times New Roman for blocks of text. These fonts are easier on the eyes and more comfortable to read during passages.

No white space Some self-publishers and POD companies try to reduce page counts by cramming paragraphs together. Again, this short-term attempt to save money on printing costs often cost a publisher long-term sales. Customers are more likely to leave a book with tightly packed paragraphs right on the shelf and buy a book that’s easier to read. Part of an enjoyable reading experience is giving the reader some room between the lines so they can rest their eyes and think about what they’ve read. If a reader can run a finger under the space between the lines, the page layout of the book has good white space.

Long rambling paragraphs This one can kill a book deader than disco. Nothing is more discouraging to a potential reader than spending an evening with a book filled with long blocks of dense text. Short simple paragraphs encourage readers to read more of a writer’s story and read it faster. Prose in a novel should be no longer than four or five lines. Seven to eight lines maximum. Any paragraphs longer than that should be chopped into smaller bite-sized paragraphs.

Too much detail Is it important to describe EVERYTHING to the reader? It’s not the writer’s job to explain everything. In a good story a writer gives the reader “just enough” detail to conjure an image in their heads and lets them make things up as they go along. Overly dense descriptions bore the reader and take them out of the story.

Good non-fiction has short paragraphs that state “just the facts.” This compels the reader to read more about a subject. If it’s not relevant to helping the reader learn more about the subject, leave it out.

Telling instead of showing A good story focuses on what characters are doing, not what they say. SHOWING is ACTIVE and describes what a character is doing NOW; this grabs the reader and gets them asking questions. Those questions give the reader an incentive to read more of the story and get the answers to their questions.

Telling a story on the other hand is PASSIVE and focuses on the action going on from a past tense. Telling a story leads to a flat dull reading experience that keeps the reader from asking questions and involving themselves in the story. Because the narrator is explaining everything to the reader, they have a harder time being drawn into the reading experience. Why should the reader look for answers in between the lines of the story when the writer is going to explain everything to them?

Awkward dialogue Oftentimes, dialogue in a writer’s head sounds great, but when read by other readers sounds clumsy. To avoid awkward and uneven dialogue, I read the conversations my characters are having aloud. By speaking my character’s lines I get a sense of whether or not it “sounds” like something someone would say in real life. If you find yourself stopping or struggling while trying so say your character’s dialogue aloud, then it’s bad dialogue.

Fancy fonts on a cover. Sure Vladimir Script looks great. Just not as the title of a book cover. For readers, fancy fonts are frustrating to figure out on a store shelf or on a computer monitor. If a reader can’t recognize title of a writer’s book is from six feet away, they’re not likely to pick it up. Before committing to a cover design, print out a copy of the cover and stand six feet away from it. If you can read the title from that distance, it’s a great cover layout. If not, it’s not working.

Covers that don’t tell a story. Most books are judged by the cover. Because most writers aren’t graphic artists, many don’t know how to create a single visual that grabs readers and tells their story effectively. In addition, budget issues often prevent self-published authors from being creative enough to tell a story in pictures that grabs readers. But there are a couple of ways to overcome this obstacle. A writer can find a great cover design for about $350 from a design service, or they can commission art.

If a writer wants to make their book stand out it’s best to spend a little extra towards a design that’s unique and distinct and will make their book stand out in the marketplace. A cover should be unique and distinct to a writer’s story, that’s why I don’t recommend using stuff like stock photos or clip art. I’ve seen too many stock images re-used for other products and even on other book covers!

Page counts that are WAY too long. Writers often think that War &Peace is 1,000 pages and Harry Potter is 900 pages so they can write books that are 500, 600 even 1000 pages long. WRONG! In the world of self-publishing smaller is better. There’s nothing more discouraging to a prospective reader than a long, dense book written by a complete stranger they’ve never heard of. Plus it’s frustrating to sit through a book that dense. A good length for a self-published fiction is under 200 pages minimum, 400 pages maximum. Nonfiction can go up to 500 pages if the subject matter is detailed and relevant. When it comes to self- publishing a title: KISS (Keep it Super Short) As a Self-published author, you’re trying to build a reputation with customers. Leave em’ begging for more!

Temptation Tidbits (Easter Eggs) in the Temptation of John Haynes

Here are some facts about my new novel The Temptation of John Haynes:

The novel was originally completed in 2006. It was actually written after The Cassandra Cookbook (2004) and before All About Marilyn (2007). So if you’re one of the handful of people who own all my books and you’re shelving titles in the order that they’re written, and not the order they published, it’s Isis, The Cassandra Cookbook, The Temptation of John Haynes then All About Marilyn.

Temptation was vehemently rejected by literary agents and small publishers when I submitted queries for it in late 2006. Many hated the premise. I mean REALLY HATED THE PREMISE. And many more felt it wouldn’t sell. I was told by the pros it didn’t grab them, I used too many big words in my sentences, I used too many adjectives and it wasn’t right for a commercial audience. If only my Dell Inspiron 2500 hadn’t died I’d share some of the more venomous e-mails I got during Temptation’s query process. I never felt a book get so much hate from publishing professionals in my life!

In the face of so many rejections, my original plan was to self-publish Temptation after The Cassandra Cookbook with a 2009 release date. Unfortunately, I had to scrap those plans because I hadn’t finished editing the manuscript. Because I had cover designs and page layouts ready for All About Marilyn, it was moved up in the queue and published first.

The original manuscript for The Temptation of John Haynes was over 121,000 words and 400 pages. Over five years, 30,000 words and two chapters were trimmed from that first draft to tighten the book to its published 93,300 word length.

The world had changed so much since 2006 I had to re-write certain details in the story during final revisions of the book in 2010. AOL had gone out of business, so that was omitted and replaced with plain ol’ Microsoft Outlook. While VCRs are no longer manufactured, but I kept them in the story because some people like myself still use em’ as clocks (And to watch the occasional program NOT on DVD like Static Shock). And Plasma TVs are no longer considered top-of-the-line, but I kept that in the story cause I was lazy.

Temptation is written in a revolving-first-person perspective. I went back to my traditional no-nonsense style of storytelling which is short on details and long on action for this book.

John Haynes is the main character from my failed first novel, The Changing Soul I wrote back in the mid 90’s. And he’s been around since 1990. The Temptation of John Haynes is actually my sixth attempt to write a story with John Haynes.

In old John Haynes stories like The Changing Soul, John was a contemporary African-American fiction character. I moved him over to the fantasy genre because he was on the shelf and I didn’t want to spend time creating a new character. Yep, Shawn was lazy. And the first five JH stories do suck that hard.

The Temptation of John Haynes ties in heavily to events in Isis. It’s not a direct sequel, but is linked to events in that book.

Temptation makes a reference to an event in The Cassandra Cookbook as well. In a chapter featuring e-mails during his job hunt, John is one of the candidates considered for a position at ITC Foods Product Management positions. This is ambiguous, hinting either that events transpiring in Temptation happen before The Cassandra Cookbook, or that ITC still hasn’t found that right person to manage their Frozen Foods Division.

Originally, Temptation was to feature a scene of John watching an old episode of Marilyn Marie’s TV show All About Nikki, but I felt too much continuity would get in the way of the storyline.

The cross-referencing of other titles I published was inspired by a business approach 1970’s-1980’s Marvel Comics editor Jim Shooter used to sell struggling titles at the time. Shooter used to have best-selling comic book characters like Spider-Man or The Avengers mention events transpiring in another heroes’ series like the X-men or Daredevil in their comics. This was done with the hope that readers would have the incentive to buy other titles, especially poor sellers like X-men and Daredevil at the time. Along with the new writers like Chris Claremont and Frank Miller putting a new perspective on the stories of weaker characters back then, cross-referencing sold a lot of comic books and pushed a lot of weaker midlist titles and characters to the forefront of Marvel Comics.

As it stands now, there’s sort of a “universe” between Isis and John Haynes where stories stand alone but are somewhat connected by a continuity of events. Will Isis make an appearance in the future? Will John make an appearance in an Isis story? Will there be a John Haynes sequel? I’m thinking about it.

Morris Phillips is inspired loosely by the Kraft Phillip Morris Corporation. And yeah, it’s a corporation that’s more powerful than the President.

The Morris Market is an amalgamation of the Kraft store  and Food Emporium, a supermarket where I had my first job.

The Marshmallow Cookies  and Chocolate Snaps mentioned in the chapter where John is shopping at the Morris Market were actual products made in the late 70’s to the 1990’s by Nabisco. And they were GREAT.

And yeah, I mentioned Marshmallow Sandwich Cookies and Chocolate Snaps because I want someone at Kraft Phillip Morris to bring em’ back into production along with Royal Lunch Milk Crackers and Crown pilot Cookies.

WGMS is inspired by Black-Owned WBLS-FM in New York City. WBLS and WLIB are the last two black-owned radio stations in New York City and I’m hoping they stay that way.

The movie “SWIRL” Halle Berry stars in Temptation is inspired by her controversial work in Monster’s Ball. And yeah, John’s disgust towards “SWIRL” mirrors my feelings towards Monster’s Ball. And yeah, I’d tell Halle Berry that to her face.

The Character of John Haynes is actually based on me. The name John Haynes is a play on Shawn James. If you didn’t know it, Shawn is just John in Irish. There are characters based on myself in all of my books with the exception of Isis.

John’s apartment #3C is a reference to the apartment number I used to live at when I was a kid. I try to reference this apartment number in most of my books whenever I can. I also try to reference the address of that old building number 3430, but so far it’s only been referenced in All About Marilyn.

The character of Lucifer was inspired by actor Keith David, DC Comics Character Darkseid, and The Emperor from Star Wars. Whenever I write Lucifer, I hear Keith David’s voice. I always felt Keith’s deep baritone voice would be a perfect fit for a cerebral villain like Lucifer who was a master strategist of psychology and world politics.

The character of E’steem was inspired by actress Salli Richardson and the Arthurian villain Morgan Le Fey. Whenever I write E’steem she sounds like Salli Richardson. I always felt Salli’s sultry voice and articulate speaking manner were perfect for portraying an intelligent sophisticated demoness with political aspirations. Moreover, she often plays her characters with such depth and humanity; that really inspired me to write a more complex human character.

The Gargoyles on the balcony in The Morris Phillips Penthouse are a sly reference to Disney’s Gargoyles. Disney’s Gargoyles was the first place I heard Keith and Salli’s voice work. And since both Lucifer and E’steem are inspired by actors Keith David and Salli Richardson I wanted to put a nod to that show in the book.

The demon character of Brent Morrison is inspired by actor Rene Abujernois. I felt his voice was perfect for a butt-kissing toadie with a dignified manner in Lucifer’s Legion.

The demon character Carol was inspired by actress Phlycia Rashad. Rashad has a cool sophistication that I feel would make her perfect for an old school business executive.

Lucifer’s Legion of corporate employees and the Lords of Hell are inspired by DC Comics Darkseid’s Elite.

The “Corporate Hell” of demons working at Morris Phillips is a tongue-in cheek joke making reference to how the cut-throat the workplace is.

The “Tempting Fate” featurette in the back of the book almost didn’t make it to final copy because it wasn’t costing out. I struggled throughout December of 2010 and made myself crazy trying to condense all my reasons for writing the story into five pages and keep the book on budget. Thankfully things worked out. Self-Publishing on a shoestring means I have to design the entire book so it falls under a certain price point. $15.00 is the threshold for what people will pay for a paperback at retail and I couldn’t afford to add any extra pages. The more pages a publisher adds over 400 the harder it is to turn a profit minus printing costs and retailer discounts. This book has one of the slimmest profit margins I’ve ever seen, but it meant a lot for me to get it to readers.

The cover used on The Temptation of John Haynes was not the one I wanted to use. First I wanted to commission a cover and spent $400 for an artist to draw a cover. It sucked.

Then I designed a cover using my concept art with a black background. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t print at Lightning Source due to some 300% density issue on the black. So I did some research and came up with a custom Midnight Navy background that was close to black.

I hope these tidbits will give readers an incentive to pick up the book. I’m also hoping that it doesn’t spoil it too much for those who haven’t read it.

OOSA Online Book Club's review of The Temptation of John Haynes

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/152401886

Deceptions,

John Haynes is a guy who is very humble. He is the type that you would take home to momma. John has goals and he’s determined to do it the right way. He is considered one of the good ones. Of course Lucifer does not like this one bit and he is making it his business to make sure that John does something that is not to God’s liking. Now enters beautiful and sexy E’steem. E’steem has been assigned to John so that he will fall. Even though she uses many tricks and is backed by Lucifer, this is a task that turns out to be bigger than expected.


Will John fall for E’steem or vice versa? Will Lucifer win? Or will good triumph again?
The concept of the “The Temptation of John Haynes” was very good and held my attention from the first page. There were a few typos, but not enough to hinder the story. I think Mr. James did a good job.


Reviewed by: Sophia

I was pretty floored when I read this. This is the first book I've written to recieve a five-star review I've ever recieved from a book club. I'm really excited about it! Hoping this is the start of something big for this book!

This Saturday I'll be revealing Easter Eggs hidden inside the pages of The Temptation of John Haynes and letting readers in on the long journey this book took from conception to print.
 
Get your copy of The Temptation of John Haynes at Amazon.com today!

The NAACP Image Awards Celebrate Mediocrity in Black America

I’m gonna go on record stating that the NAACP Image awards were a steaming bag of crap this year. Quote me on that. With this year’s Image awards the NAACP gave awards to the most popular celebrities and not the best work by African-Americans in 2010. By rewarding people based on who they are and not what they’ve done, the NAACP betrays what it’s supposed to stand for, the advancement of African-American achievement and excellence.


Looking at some of the winners this year it’s clear why the NAACP Image Award is TARNISHED:

Getting To Happy Best Fiction work? COME ON. Many in publishing called it the worst book Terry McMillan ever wrote and one of the worst of the year. Black book clubs across the country RIPPED IT in their reviews. Yet it wins an award for being Best Fiction with the NAACP. WTF?

Surely, if the NAACP opened itself up to many of the small press and self-published authors out there, maybe they could have found a more deserving candidate who could have given their award some prestige.

Frankie and Alice Best Independent Film? HELL NO. Another critically panned film that got an award it didn’t deserve. That award should have gone to Night Catches Us. But it being a small independent film with NO STAR POWER meant NO CHANCE with the NAACP.

Halle Berry Best Actress in an Independent film? HELL NO. That award should have gone to Kerry Washington for Night Catches Us. But Kerry isn’t as popular as Halle and her winning means the show wouldn’t get any ratings.

House of Payne Best Comedy? NOT IN A MILLION YEARS ON JUPITER. House of Payne is absolutely HORRIBLE. Boondocks Season 3 was the best African-American comedy PERIOD. The Winston Jerome episode OWNS everything Tyler Perry did in his WHOLE CAREER. But Aaron McGruder gets no praise from the NAACP for his work because Tyler Perry has FATTER POCKETS.

David Mann Best actor in a comedy? Dude gets upstaged by EVERYONE ON HIS OWN SHOW. No, that award should belong to Terry Crews on Are We there Yet? Crews commands that show and is a solid comedy performer. But Mann wins the award because of Perry’s FAT POCKETS.

Vanessa Williams for Best actress in a TV series for her work on Desperate Housewives? NO WAY. While I love Vanessa’s work in Ugly Betty and her body of work overall, the writing hasn’t been there on DH for her to work with. Seriously, she hasn’t even appeared in enough episodes for any critic to form a consensus of her work yet. No, that award should have gone to Salli Richardson-Whitfield for her YEAR of solid work in Eureka.

For Colored Girls Best Picture? WTF? Yeah, some of the performances were by some of the actresses were strong. But the movie itself was a TOTAL MESS. A puerile screenplay, horrible cinematography, inept direction, and terrible writing. It wasn’t the best Black film by a longshot. But with so many bad films last year I guess it’d be embarrassing to give an award for Best Picture to crapfests like Lottery Ticket or Our Family Wedding. Yeah, the Black movies were THAT BAD last year.

Tyler Perry Best Director. GOOD GOD NO! Perry is an abomination to film, the Ed Wood of Black Cinema who made TWO TERRIBLE films last year. Yet he clears multiple awards from the NAACP. Couldn’t the NAACP given this to the Hughes brothers for their strong work on Book of Eli? Or how about the Director of Night Catches Us? Both would have been more deserving of the award than the master of the cinematic hot mess, Tyler Perry.

Instead of taking the opportunity to elevate lesser known work from people who are truly talented in the Black community, the NAACP sunk its credibility to an all-time-low by focusing only on who was rich and famous. The entire Image Awards show was a big ratings grab for the NAACP and a circle jerk for the Black Elite.

And that’s what makes the NAACP Image Award a joke in the eyes of the Black Community and the rest of the world. It’s also what makes the NAACP a joke in the eyes of the Black community and the rest of the world. Watching a bunch of out-of-touch rich niggers patronize themselves for being mediocre isn’t entertaining. It’s embarrassing.

The sad thing about the NAACP Image Award is that it could have some merit if the NAACP imposed some standards for quality in their nomination processes. Instead of just nominating people for being Black, how about judging brothers and sisters work based on some criteria for content? With all the African-American film and book critics out there they should be able to form a consensus on what material deserves to be nominated, what needs to be rewarded, and what should be passed on. And from that consensus it would mean much more when African-Americans gave an award to other brothers and sisters for their work. By rewarding the best and brightest in the Black community it would give NAACP Image Award value and make it something brothers and sisters can aspire to achieve. Moreover, it would give African-Americans an incentive to try harder and step up their games and hone their crafts.

As it stands right now the NAACP Image Award is nothing more than a consolation prize given to Brothers and Sisters for just being Black, not being the best African-American in their craft. What kind of award is that to win? What standard is that for excellence? What kind of message does that send to brothers and sisters in the African-American community? What kind of message does that send to our children? Don’t try hard, just show up and be Black? Oh, and be popular. Are we really that shallow as a people?

That kind of reward doesn’t advance Black people, it sets us back. It’s a slap in the face to everything Dr. King and all those who participated in the Civil Rights Movement stood for. It’s the equivalent of telling Black people to settle for being Maids, Pullman Porters, and Janitors instead of aspiring to be business owners, managers, executives, and even President of the United States.

Seriously, I thought the NAACP was the National Association for the Advancement of All Colored People. But the NAACP Image Awards show was more like the National Association for the Advancement of Certain Colored People. Instead of inspiring brothers and sisters to advance to the next level by rewarding our best and brightest, the NAACP continues to enable mediocrity by rewarding Black people for poor and substandard work.

As long as organizations like the NAACP keeps rewarding African-Americans for settling for less, Black folks will never have the passion to do their best. And that’s going to hurt the Black community in the long run.

Dwayne McDuffie's Finest Work

With the passing of Dwayne McDuffie I wanted to share some of his best work. This is in no way a comprehensive list of his work, but these are movies, TV shows and comics I can highly recommend  out of his large body of work.

All images TM and (C) DC COMICS, Marvel Comics, Warner Brothers, Disney. Used for journalistic purposes only.

Dwayne's Best Comics (well, the ones I own)

Damage Control #1-5-A hilarious comedy about the employees who work at company that fixes all the damage caused by superhero battles. A great read that really needs to be compiled in trade paperback.

 

Hardware#1-The start of the series about Curtis Metcalf, the Black man inside the corporate machine of Alva Industries. Hardware is a complex series about how being Black in the White corporate world is colored in shades of gray, and how politics prevents things from being as simple as we think they are.

Icon #1- To get into this fascinating series about an alien who is forced to live on earth as a black man during and his reconnection to the modern day black community you have to start with the first issue. Icon is a deep and thought provoking series that takes a look at black society and black culture, and will have readers asking themselves what they stand for.

Blood Syndicate #1- A gang of superheroes protect their turf as an intrepid reporter seek to find out the truth about the conspiracy behind The Big Bang.

Static #1- The first appearance of Virgil Hawkins, the teen with electrical superpowers. I highly recommend readers start this series from the beginning because once you start, you’ll be compelled to read the entire run.

Static #2- The Origin of Static and the action packed conclusion of his battle with Hotstreak.

Static #3- Static vs. Tarmack. An awesome issue with lots of action.

Static #4- Static finds out who the big wheel in Dakota is- Holocaust!

Icon #5 and #6 - Icon and Rocket takes on the Blood Syndicate. And we learn more about the conspiracy regarding the Big Bang.

Shadow Cabinet #0- A new team of heroes and a major turning point in the Big Bang Conspiracy.

Icon # 10 – Icon Vs. Holocaust

Icon #13- The first Appearance of Buck Wild- A character that’s a parody and a tribute to Marvel Comics Character Luke Cage.

Hardware #15- The powerful climax of Hardware’s war with mentor Edwin Alva and a major change in direction for the series.

Hardware #16-The debut of Hardware’s new armor! Gatefold cover by John Byrne!

Worlds Collide #1-It’s actually a collaboration of all the writers of Milestone Media as they cross over into  DC comics, but it’s comic no one should miss. You can make your own cover with the re-usable stickers!

Icon #18- Icon vs. Mullet Superman. Nuff said.

Static #14- The conclusion to the Worlds Collide Storyline. Static Saves the Day!

Icon #20- The Secret of the Big Bang Revealed! Find out who is the mastermind of this Conspiracy!

 Dwayne's best work on Television and Movies (That I've seen)

I’d also love to recommend the Static Shock Television Series, but unfortunately Time Warner hasn’t released seasons 1-4 on DVD for some reason. But there’s a compilation of the first six or so episodes on DVD. Comic fans like myself need to start a petition to get this series on DVD. With all the Justice League and Batman Tie-in episodes, it's essential that the series be released NOW.

Justice League- Season One- The Animated Universe of Batman: The animated Series and Superman: The Animated series begins encompassing the entire DC Universe as a team of heroes forms to protect the world from villains on earth and beyond.

Justice League Season Two- Some of McDuffie’s best work is in 26episode season where he redefines the DC universe. All the storylines build up to the powerful Series Finale “Starcrossed”.

Justice League Unlimited Season 1- Actually this box set compiles the first two seasons of Justice League Unlimited. Over the course of 26 episodes we ponder if the Justice League will turn into their evil alternate universe counterparts the Justice Lords as they battle the government forces of Cadmus. It’s a fascinating storyline full of twists and turns and surprises.

Justice League Unlimited Season Two- The powerful finale to the Justice League Unlimited series.

Justice League: Crisis On Two Earths- McDuffie’s adaptation of a classic DC Comics story mixes touches of the Silver Age with the modern age and makes everything fresh to new viewers who never read a comic. This brilliant movie led to the later television series Young Justice.

A Tribute To Dwayne McDuffie

Dwayne McDuffie attends the West Coast premiere of
“All-Star Superman” at the Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles Feb. 17. (Warner Bros.)
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110226/ENT05/102260307/Comic-creator-Dwayne-McDuffie-s-legacy-is-work-for-diversity-and-kids--friends-say#ixzz1FLvXW4Gs

Last week comic Dwayne McDuffie passed away of complications from emergency heart surgery. He was only 49 years old.



The first McDuffie comic I
bought back in 1989.

Dwayne will be remembered by many for his work at Marvel and DC comics on titles such as Damage Control, Justice League of America, Fantastic Four. He’ll also be remembered for his s writing and producing most of the episodes of the animated series Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and Ben 10: Alien Force and direct-to-video movies such as Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths and All Star Superman. He was a brilliant comic book and Television writer with a vivid imagination, tremendous creativity and a great attention to detail.

But what I’ll remember him most for is his work as one of the founders of Milestone Media and his efforts to create positive images of Minority comic book characters.




A small sampling of the Milestone Comics in my collection.

 

I used to buy Milestone comics every Thursday back when I was attending college. McDuffie’s work at Milestone was a huge inspiration to me back then. His work at Milestone Comics made me believe that it was possible for African-American superheroes to be intelligent, complex and multi-dimensional. For the first time at the comic shops and at the newsstands I not only saw heroes of color on a regular basis, but a diverse array of viewpoints within the African-American community. Hardware was the angry man in the corporate machine, Icon was the disconnected alien who was forced to reconcile his place in a world he didn’t understand, Rocket the girl from around the way, The Blood Syndicate was a gang that fought to protect its own turf from predators of the outside world, and Static was the kid from the neighborhood. Milestone comics showed me that superheroes came in more than one shade of brown and that there was more than one black experience.



Back in 1994 after I graduated college, I was so enthusiastic about Milestone Media Comics that I actually sent them a resume and cover letter in hopes of getting a writing job. Unfortunately, I got no response. And much to my chagrin, a year after my college graduation, the comic book industry imploded. Milestone went belly up in 1995 or 96 along with my dreams of being a comic book writer.



But Even though Milestone went out of business, those comics McDuffie wrote had a huge influence on me years later. They were one of the driving forces that made me want to become a serious novelist. The Icon series heavily influenced my writing of Isis back in 1999. Reading about the Agustus Freeman IV, the brotha from another planet inspired me to use Egyptian mythology to make a commentary on race and culture in my tale of a lost woman who discovers her heritage and history as an Egyptian goddess.



I’ll also remember McDuffie for creating Static, one of my favorite superheroes. Static was a character who was a lot like me growing up in the South Bronx as a kid. A comic fan. A good kid who dealt with bullies, peer pressure and racial identity along with his super powers. It was a story that was rarely told in comics. I was eager to buy every issue when it hit the stands back in the day.

And even though I was 27 I always made time to watch Static Shock when it came on Saturday mornings back in 2000. I even taped every episode for four seasons straight. For an African-American comic fan like myself, Static Shock was a ground breaking series; The Cosby Show of Superhero programs. Not only was the show the first to feature an African-Anerican superhero in the lead, it won its slot for each of the four years it was on, and won awards for its tight writing of episodes like “Jimmy”.



Dwayne McDuffie’s work in comics and Television shaped the way a generation saw DC Comics Superheroes in the media with Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.  Static Shock  proved an African-American character could anchor and carry an animated program and hold an audence nationwide. He will be missed. I only wish I could have met him face-to-face and told him how his work influenced me as a writer and my mission to create positive stories about the African-American experience.

This Saturday I'll run down a list of what I believe are some of Dwayne's best work in comics and Television.







Afrika Owes Is NOT A Victim

Reverend Calvin Butts continues to state that Afrika Owes is a victim of the streets and her situation is similar to Patty Hearst. Sorry, but I wholeheartedly disagree with his interpretation of events. From what I’ve read, Afrika Owes was not taken against her will, nor was she under any duress when she acted as a member of the “137th Street Crew”. While I empathize for this girl, I also understand she must be made to take responsibility for her actions and face up to her crimes.

Afrika Owes is No Patty Hearst. Not by a long shot.

Nor is she a victim. Victims are people who have no control over what happens to them. Afrika Owes was in complete control of herself. While she was probably under a lot of peer pressure, she was acting of her own free will.

 

Don’t let Reverend Butts fool you, Afrika Owes had choices. She could have stayed the course at Deerfield Academy. She could have focused on her studies and stayed in The Church. And if she wanted to have a boyfriend, there were probably plenty of fine young brothas for her to date in the Youth ministry of the Abyssinian Baptist Church and the Student Leaders at Deerfield Academy.

But she chose to get involved Jaquan “Jay Cash” Layne. And she chose to be his boyfriend.

It was also her choice to get involved with the 137th Street Crew.

She chose to be a gun moll. No one forced her to carry Jaquan’s 9 millimeter pistol in her purse.

And it was of her volition that she willingly accepted gifts from Jay Cash knowing they were purchased with drug loot. Again, no one forced her to take the bling, clothes, and other stuff from this dude. Afrika Owes was no poor desperate chick from the hood that needed the money. This was a girl from a hardworking middle-class family that lived right across the street from the Abyssinian Baptist Church. In between her parents, the Church, and the prep school, she had a network of people who probably bought her anything she wanted.

It was also of her own volition that she chose to run drugs for the 137th Street Crew. Remember, she actually declined to sell drugs for Layne and the 137th Street Crew at her prep school at first, and then decided to do so later on.

Ultimately, it was the sum of her choices that led to her winding up in Rikers Island today.

Reverend Butts, Her Mother Karen Owes, and many in the Black community probably feel guilty. They feel like they’ve failed this girl. They need to stop feeling guilty because they haven’t done anything wrong. They didn’t fail anyone.

The only person who failed Afrika Owes is Afrika Owes.

From personal experience, I know peer pressure is rough. And I know a kid’s head can get messed up listening to the lies, false teachings and twisted propaganda preached by their friends and the media as truth while they search for their own identity. And in the ghetto those messages are not only telling a teenager that they not only have to “belong” but they have to be “Real” as they search for a true “Black” Identity.

But making excuses for Afrika Owes’ behavior isn’t gonna help her grow into a responsible young woman. She chose to get with this crew and sling the rocks and carry the nine. Now she’s got to face up to what she did and pay for her crimes, either with youthful offender status on probation or prison time.

While I support the future rehabilitation of this sista and I want to see her succeed in the future, I refuse to make excuses for her. Enabling her is only going to make her think she’s a victim of circumstances when she actually created her own tragic turn of events.