Nine years after selling his magazine to Time Inc., Edward Lewis reveals how Essence came to be in his new book, The Man From Essence: Creating a Magazine for Black Women (Atria Books). Mediabistro recently interviewed Lewis to discuss the beginnings of one of the first magazines devoted to black women and why now was the right time to write his book.
Essence was first published in 1970 with a modest 50,000 copies before growing to more than a million four decades later. That type of growth will keep anyone busy and it was the “day-to-day running” of Essence that stalled him from telling its story earlier on. Lewis says this was an important story to tell because:
I wanted black women to know that a group of men thought so much of them that we wanted to bring something into the world that would celebrate their beauty and intelligence. Other women’s magazines weren’t talking about black women and we wanted to fill the void in the marketplace.
To find out more on the early days of Essence and what the magazine was almost called, read: So What Do You Do, Edward Lewis, Founder of Essence Magazine?
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
I’m used to my own blog being quiet. People lurk and like it that way. I never give them a hard time about it.
But Don and I have always wished the comments here at the BBS reflected the number of folks actually visiting. Still, I don’t want to scare anyone away by making them feel they need to comment. But I would like you to speak up to Essence Book Editor, Patrik Henry Bass: patrikspicks at esssence dot com.
In the latest issue of Essence, he’s reviewed two children’s books -We Are The Ship by Kadir Nelson and Hotlanta, the new YA series by Denene Millner and Mitzi Miller. This is a great start, as Essence doesn’t review children’s lit with any regularity.
Now, it just so happens that We Are The Ship and Hotlanta are already hot literary commodities. So as excited as I am to see them given some shine, I’m more excited that Mr. Bass has asked readers to submit, to him, their favorite African American children’s book titles.
Here’s your chance to let the book editor of an African American lifestyle media mainstay know what you - librarians, teachers, parents and other influencers - are reading or recommending to young readers of color.
The number of children’s titles by authors of color was down in 2007. But that doesn’t mean we can’t pay homage to the authors who wrote some great literature for young readers by making Essence and Mr. Bass aware of them.
What I’m saying is - you don’t have to out yourself in the comments below, but drop Essence a line and let them know what your favorite African American children’s book is - be it one of our jewels (the vets) or hidden gems (newbies and midlisters).
Speak up for your fave.
If we escaped our everyday grind, could we finish our novels?
Right now, a creative vacation to a forest, beach, or French cafe sounds perfect. Where do you go to write? Should we flee to quiet, empty places to write or should we stay among normal people to write? If you have a clear idea of what you want to write next, but need the time to do it--you should check out the Alliance of Artist Communities.
It is a vast repository of grants and retreats for all kinds of artists. Maybe we can find a temporary escape from the dayjob, home, and everyday distractions that keep us from writing.
Is this escapism or essential? Click here to see the writing programs, and give it some thought. The site makes this bold claim:
"If you’ve been moved by music, captivated by a piece of art, inspired by a book, enthralled by a performance, or swept away by a movie, you’ve probably benefited from an artists’ community (they also go by the name artists’ colony, retreat, or residency)."
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