''Black Issues Book Review'' was a bimonthly magazine published in New York City,

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, in which books of interest to

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensla ...

readers were reviewed. It was published from 1999 until 2007.

History and profile

''Black Issues Book Review'' was founded in late 1998 by William E. Cox, Adrienne Ingrum, and Susan McHenry. Cox had been the publisher of ''Black Issues in Higher Education'', which ran a single book review in each issue. He wanted to expand its coverage of books, but after considering the large number of books aimed at Black readers, he came to the conclusion that a new magazine would be more appropriate. Ingrum was a book industry veteran, with nearly 20 years of experience in publishing and book-selling. McHenry had served in editorial positions at several magazines, including ''

Black Enterprise ''Black Enterprise'' is a black-owned multimedia company. Since the 1970s, its flagship product ''Black Enterprise'' magazine has covered African-American businesses with a readership of 3.7 million. The company was founded in 1970 by Earl ...

'', ''

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'', and ''

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Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practi ...

'' named ''Black Issues Book Review'' one of the 10 best new magazines of 1998. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that the magazine sold 40,000 copies of each issue in 2000. By 2004, according to ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', ''Black Issues Book Review'' had circulation of 75,000. In 2005, ''Black Issues Book Review'' entered into a partnership with ''QBR: The Black Book Review'', a quarterly book review founded in 1992 by Max Rodriguez, whose publishers also managed an annual book fair in Harlem. ''QBR'' was merged into ''Black Issues Book Review''. Target Market News purchased ''Black Issues Book Review'' in March 2006. Later that year, Target Market News announced that it would begin publishing ''Blacks & Books'', a monthly supplement for newspapers such as the ''

New York Amsterdam News The ''Amsterdam News'' (also known as ''New York Amsterdam News'') is a weekly Black-owned newspaper serving New York City. It is one of the oldest newspapers geared toward African Americans in the United States and has published columns by ...

'' and the ''

Philadelphia Tribune ''The Philadelphia Tribune'' is the oldest continuously published African-American newspaper in the United States. The paper began in 1884 when Christopher J. Perry published its first copy. Throughout its history, ''The Philadelphia Tribune' ...

'' that serve African-American readers. ''Blacks & Books'' was to be produced by members of the ''Black Issues Book Review'' staff. The September–October 2007 issue of ''Black Issues Book Review'' was its final issue.

Notes

External links

William Cox talks about ''Black Issues Book Review''
C-Span, June 1, 2001. * Troy Johnson
"What Happened to the Best African American Literary Magazines?"
AALBC.com, November 28, 2011. {{African American press African-American magazines Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Book review magazines Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1999 Magazines disestablished in 2007 Magazines published in New York City Newspaper supplements 1999 establishments in New York City