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BASIC BLAQUE AFTER DARK live every 1ST & 3RD FRIDAY · DA CREW Podcast

0:21
Speaker 1: Back when the lights go down, the real conversations begin.
1:12
Speaker 1: Welcome to Basic Black after Dark, hosted by Black Diamond,
1:16
Speaker 1: where truth, healing and growth takes center stage. This is
1:20
Speaker 1: the space where mental health, family healing, and personal growth
1:24
Speaker 1: are talked about honestly and without filters, featuring intimate interviews
1:30
Speaker 1: with authors and thought leaders who aren't afraid to share
1:33
Speaker 1: their journey, because every story told reminds someone watching you
1:38
Speaker 1: are not alone. Basic Black after Dark now streaming on
1:42
Speaker 1: the Crew platform.
1:44
Speaker 2: Tap in.
1:48
Speaker 1: When the lights go down the real.
1:53
Speaker 2: Hey everybody, this is Black Diamond and you're listening to
1:56
Speaker 2: Basic Black after Dark. This is the show that meets
1:59
Speaker 2: you with you are and give you what you ask for.
2:03
Speaker 2: We are tuned in here tonight and it's not just
2:07
Speaker 2: a conversation, it is a celebration. We are talking about legacy.
2:12
Speaker 2: We are talking about literature. We are talking about honoring
2:16
Speaker 2: the voices that shape culture, preserve history, and move generations forward.
2:22
Speaker 2: Because let me tell you something, authors don't just write books.
2:26
Speaker 2: They document movements, They challenge systems, They build world with words.
2:33
Speaker 2: And tonight we are sitting down with the visionary founder
2:36
Speaker 2: behind the Distinguished Authors Guild. That's the DAG Awards. It's
2:40
Speaker 2: a platform designed to recognize excellence, elevate impact, and celebrate
2:45
Speaker 2: authors while they are still here to receeed their flowers.
2:50
Speaker 2: This isn't just about awards. It's about recognition, it's about credibility,
2:58
Speaker 2: it's about culture. So if you are an author, an
3:02
Speaker 2: inspiring writer, or someone who believes stories have power, stay
3:06
Speaker 2: right here. You want to learn a lot. So let's
3:09
Speaker 2: welcome the founder of the Distinguished Author Skilled Awards, Gina Gadson.
3:20
Speaker 3: Thank you great introduction.
3:25
Speaker 2: No, I couldn't have the introduction without you. I couldn't
3:29
Speaker 2: giving it to anybody else. So it's so well, So Nina,
3:35
Speaker 2: before the awards, before the platform, there was a vision.
3:39
Speaker 2: Take us back to where the vision began.
3:44
Speaker 3: Well, the vision actually began when I had a daycare
3:49
Speaker 3: and it bloomed from the children that I was caring
3:53
Speaker 3: for that came through my door. I had this vision,
3:57
Speaker 3: and I had this prophecy that I would touch children
4:01
Speaker 3: in a way to help them learn. And so I
4:05
Speaker 3: got the idea from my books Alfa's Adventure from the
4:09
Speaker 3: children in my daycare. I had two children who could
4:12
Speaker 3: not read, and I knew if I didn't help those children,
4:16
Speaker 3: they would go through life and become adults with no
4:21
Speaker 3: ability to read. And so I took time and I
4:24
Speaker 3: sat down and I taught them how to read. And
4:26
Speaker 3: I wanted to touch children on a larger level. And
4:31
Speaker 3: the way that God sent it to me was to
4:34
Speaker 3: do it through books. Now I did that for I
4:37
Speaker 3: would say maybe five years while I was doing book fairs,
4:41
Speaker 3: and I was, you know, doing different things with my books,
4:46
Speaker 3: and God gave me a vision to take it even further.
4:52
Speaker 3: I experienced the roadblocks that every author goes through when
5:00
Speaker 3: they write a book. I wrote my books. When they
5:03
Speaker 3: came in the mail, I was very excited, and then
5:05
Speaker 3: I stood there and I said, what's next? How do
5:09
Speaker 3: I do this? And so I know every author who
5:13
Speaker 3: has written a book, they've been there. You get started
5:17
Speaker 3: on this journey and you don't know which direction to
5:19
Speaker 3: go in. And so I wanted to help authors to
5:22
Speaker 3: navigate through this process. I navigated. I hit a lot
5:26
Speaker 3: of brick walls. I stumbled, and I had to get up.
5:30
Speaker 3: And so I wanted to be that arm or that
5:35
Speaker 3: shoulder that was there, or even that push to get
5:39
Speaker 3: authors through this process, you know, and help them to
5:43
Speaker 3: understand how the process works, and so that was the
5:46
Speaker 3: vision given to me by God.
5:48
Speaker 2: So you were catching them young as little babies, you know,
5:51
Speaker 2: getting them to read and put just letting them know
5:55
Speaker 2: that it's more to than just the story books. It's
6:00
Speaker 2: this story that they can someday right as well. When
6:04
Speaker 2: did you first realize authors needed a platform like DAG
6:08
Speaker 2: And we say DAG because it's Distinguished Author.
6:10
Speaker 3: Skilled, Distinguished Author Skilled, And it was actually with myself
6:15
Speaker 3: and two other individuals. We came together and we decided
6:21
Speaker 3: we wanted to do something different than the average book
6:26
Speaker 3: sales and you know, peddling books and doing those types
6:30
Speaker 3: of things. We wanted to do more than that, and
6:32
Speaker 3: so we came together and we put our hands together
6:35
Speaker 3: and we came up with the Distinguished Author Skilled Award Show,
6:39
Speaker 3: where that night would simply be honoring authors because authors
6:43
Speaker 3: worked so hard to get those books out there. You're
6:47
Speaker 3: running to all kinds of stories, authors who have lost money,
6:53
Speaker 3: authors who were afraid to market their books or didn't
6:57
Speaker 3: know how to market their books, and so that one
7:01
Speaker 3: night that you just leave all that behind and have
7:05
Speaker 3: a wonderful time. It's like a reset. And so that's
7:10
Speaker 3: why we decided that that is the direction we were
7:14
Speaker 3: going to go in. And even though the two of
7:16
Speaker 3: them went in a different direction, God still led me
7:19
Speaker 3: to continue on with the Distinguished Author's guilt.
7:22
Speaker 2: We're glad that you did, because I was there last year.
7:26
Speaker 3: Yes, it was a pleasure of meeting you in person.
7:30
Speaker 2: It was. It was a pleasure meeting so many of
7:31
Speaker 2: the other authors that and that's one of the things
7:33
Speaker 2: about I guess the Distinguished Authors Guild and why you
7:36
Speaker 2: built it up the way that you did. We see
7:39
Speaker 2: each other over Facebook and other social media, and we
7:42
Speaker 2: talk and we tag, and we like and we give
7:46
Speaker 2: little emoji hugs and everything, but when you get in
7:49
Speaker 2: person with the individual, it's a totally different thing. It's
7:53
Speaker 2: like a family union. You haven't seen this person in
7:56
Speaker 2: a while. So for me, and I want to speak
7:58
Speaker 2: for me, it was wonderful to see some of the
8:01
Speaker 2: young ladies and some of the young men that were
8:03
Speaker 2: there that I spoke to but hadn't seen them in person.
8:08
Speaker 2: So to see them in person, it was it just
8:11
Speaker 2: kept the smile on my face, like, well, I actually
8:12
Speaker 2: met this person. To me, it was celebrity. I really
8:15
Speaker 2: met this person.
8:18
Speaker 3: It comes full circle, It comes full circle. You guys,
8:21
Speaker 3: you join together for six, seven, eight months out the year,
8:26
Speaker 3: and you know, you do all of these different things together,
8:29
Speaker 3: the book fairs and the sharing tips and information, even
8:36
Speaker 3: connecting each other with others who need help. And then
8:40
Speaker 3: you get to see that person. Yeah, seeing that person,
8:44
Speaker 3: it's like, Okay, now this is a whole person that
8:47
Speaker 3: I met and known for six to eight months, and
8:50
Speaker 3: I actually get to see them.
8:52
Speaker 2: It's not just the face. So what did distinguish truly
8:57
Speaker 2: mean to you? In the literary world?
9:00
Speaker 3: It means special something or someone that's special and deserve
9:09
Speaker 3: being treated, especially being treated as a king or being
9:13
Speaker 3: treated as a queen, extinguished.
9:17
Speaker 2: To what they are kings and queens, Yes, throughout. So
9:22
Speaker 2: what gap did you see in the industry that DAG fails?
9:25
Speaker 2: Because people do award banquets different types. Doesn't have to
9:31
Speaker 2: always be authors or literature, it could be many different types.
9:35
Speaker 2: What gap that you see in the industry in this
9:37
Speaker 2: industry that DAG fails.
9:41
Speaker 3: I see a gap where authors are trying to do
9:45
Speaker 3: it alone. They don't have anyone to help them, or
9:49
Speaker 3: they don't want to ask for help. And I tell
9:52
Speaker 3: authors all the time, you'll get there faster. If you
9:56
Speaker 3: ask for help, you may do it on your own,
9:59
Speaker 3: it's going to take a lot longer. Why not come
10:02
Speaker 3: to a community or come to individuals who can help
10:05
Speaker 3: get you where you want to be without having to
10:08
Speaker 3: take such a long time to do it. I'm the
10:12
Speaker 3: stringer to office. Guild is trying to fill that gap
10:15
Speaker 3: where you don't feel that you're out there alone. Some
10:18
Speaker 3: don't know they come in. They don't know an illustrator
10:22
Speaker 3: or a publisher, or how to market or how to
10:28
Speaker 3: how to promote themselves on social media, and we help them.
10:32
Speaker 3: You know, whether it's myself or any other authors in
10:36
Speaker 3: the group, it's just a it's a community that's there
10:40
Speaker 3: to help build each other up.
10:43
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I've been hearing that a lot that evening
10:47
Speaker 2: with some of the network, and that was going on
10:50
Speaker 2: throughout that evening that we were there last year. It
10:53
Speaker 2: was so much information that was given to well to
10:58
Speaker 2: me from talking to other individuals about not just where
11:03
Speaker 2: they got how they got started, who they're connected with,
11:07
Speaker 2: their journey throughout and it wasn't about being on a podcast,
11:11
Speaker 2: and there was just a regular conversation with real people.
11:14
Speaker 2: And I want anybody out there to know that because
11:16
Speaker 2: we have I guess the title of being an author.
11:19
Speaker 2: We're real people. We believe everybody else. We sobb like
11:23
Speaker 2: everybody else. We make mistakes like everybody else do. We're
11:28
Speaker 2: no different than anybody else. It's just that we just
11:31
Speaker 2: have something else added, like somebody's a police officer, somebody's
11:33
Speaker 2: a nurse, somebody's a doctor. People whole more than one title.
11:37
Speaker 3: So I say, that's exactly what I tell people. Authors
11:42
Speaker 3: do more than right books.
11:44
Speaker 2: Yes, they most certainly do then, and that's one of
11:47
Speaker 2: the things I tell them is that you have to
11:49
Speaker 2: learn to build your platform. You can't just sit back
11:51
Speaker 2: and just think the book is going to make your money.
11:53
Speaker 2: Because I don't know, maybe some others may be able
11:58
Speaker 2: to do that, maybe like JK. Rowlins. I don't think
12:03
Speaker 2: them won't be at that level. But if I can't
12:05
Speaker 2: get there, I'll be happy to be there. What has
12:08
Speaker 2: been most of the challenging part of building the DAG.
12:10
Speaker 3: Awards the most challenging in the six years that Dad
12:18
Speaker 3: has been in place, it's getting those doors open for
12:25
Speaker 3: not just the authors but myself as well, because I
12:27
Speaker 3: do have five children's books and not having and I
12:32
Speaker 3: just want to say. This is another reason that the
12:36
Speaker 3: Distinguished Author's Skilled platform was built built on being a community,
12:43
Speaker 3: because I know authors go out there and they have
12:45
Speaker 3: doors shut in their face. I know firsthand where I
12:49
Speaker 3: wanted to put my books somewhere and they said, we
12:52
Speaker 3: don't take those type of books. And that is very
12:56
Speaker 3: challenging because you know, you feel like every door should
12:59
Speaker 3: be open until you no matter what. But because it's
13:03
Speaker 3: a black or brown book, there's a lot of places
13:07
Speaker 3: that don't want to put them there. Myself, for example,
13:12
Speaker 3: my books are not in books in Noble or Walmart
13:17
Speaker 3: or any of the other bookstores because I decided to
13:20
Speaker 3: make my books small enough for children to hold them
13:23
Speaker 3: comfortably in their hand, and so they don't fit the
13:26
Speaker 3: standards that those places want your books to be. Is
13:32
Speaker 3: not the size that they are requiring your book to be.
13:36
Speaker 3: And I was okay with that because to me, what
13:40
Speaker 3: my focus was is to have the children have books
13:45
Speaker 3: in their hands. And if my books are small enough
13:49
Speaker 3: for those little hands to hold them by themselves comfortably,
13:53
Speaker 3: then I'm okay with them not being on Barnes and
13:55
Speaker 3: Noble and Walmart and all the other places.
14:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I go through there and sometimes I'm going to
14:02
Speaker 2: be honest. Sometimes I'll look to see my book in there.
14:08
Speaker 2: You can get it off of a Bond and Nobles
14:10
Speaker 2: and Walmart, but it's not in the store. And I've
14:15
Speaker 2: contacted someone. I'm gonna mention that the franchise. But I
14:20
Speaker 2: had put my book out there and they told me
14:23
Speaker 2: that my title was a little bit too racy for them.
14:27
Speaker 2: Racy as far as race. It was the title itself,
14:33
Speaker 2: and I took it was no mistake in what I
14:35
Speaker 2: had written. So I'm not going to change the title
14:38
Speaker 2: when I leave it as it is because it's this
14:41
Speaker 2: is a book that you cannot judge by the cover,
14:43
Speaker 2: and I'm for the better for it because now I
14:46
Speaker 2: know that this is what some entities will say to you,
14:51
Speaker 2: and I can pass that along that everybody's not gonna.
14:53
Speaker 3: Want your book, right, And it's that's the point. I
14:56
Speaker 3: just that's the point. It just made.
14:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's okay if you don't. If you the word
15:01
Speaker 2: person will, it is okay. So personally, what does this
15:06
Speaker 2: legacy look like for you?
15:09
Speaker 3: Legacy looks to me like people know when I leave here,
15:15
Speaker 3: people will say she helped me, she helped open help
15:22
Speaker 3: open this door. For me to walk into. That's my legacy,
15:27
Speaker 3: and that that's one that I feel that I'm building
15:30
Speaker 3: and I'm very proud of because people need that help.
15:37
Speaker 3: You need that. If I can give a person a
15:39
Speaker 3: leg up, if I can give an author a leg up,
15:42
Speaker 3: if I can give an entrepreneur leg up, I feel
15:45
Speaker 3: like I've done what God put on me to do. Right.
15:50
Speaker 2: So we have Maya Angelo, cisly Tyson, Tony Morrison, and
15:58
Speaker 2: I could just continue to go on and and name
16:00
Speaker 2: more and more. Why is it important that authors are
16:03
Speaker 2: recognized while they're still.
16:05
Speaker 3: Alive, because that's where the impact comes from. The impact
16:11
Speaker 3: comes from when you're alive, and the impression that you leave,
16:14
Speaker 3: the impression that you're making, those footsteps that you're putting
16:17
Speaker 3: down before you leave here, that's what people are going
16:20
Speaker 3: to remember. We don't remember Maya Angelo land in the coffin.
16:26
Speaker 3: We don't remember her, you know, being on a sick bed.
16:29
Speaker 3: We remember the things she did when she was a
16:31
Speaker 3: strong woman out here voicing and sharing her stories. And
16:38
Speaker 3: that's the same thing that authors have to do. They
16:42
Speaker 3: have to leave those footprints.
16:44
Speaker 2: I like that point that you made with not remembering
16:49
Speaker 2: her in the coffin and more so remembering her speeches
16:54
Speaker 2: took me, you know, a glance real quick about when
16:57
Speaker 2: they did a funeral. But that's not what I remember.
17:00
Speaker 2: I remember her standing at podiums speaking and I like
17:04
Speaker 2: that point that you made with that. So what does
17:09
Speaker 2: what makes DAG differ from other literary awards? Besides it
17:14
Speaker 2: being distinguished.
17:16
Speaker 3: We set ourselves apart from other award shows where we
17:21
Speaker 3: actually promote author's books throughout the time that they are
17:27
Speaker 3: that they sign up with Distinguished Author's Skill, We promote
17:30
Speaker 3: their books throughout, We put them on different platforms, podcasts,
17:34
Speaker 3: radio stations, virtual book fairs, libraries. I don't there may
17:41
Speaker 3: be other award shows that do that. I don't know
17:43
Speaker 3: of any, but we want to make sure that before
17:46
Speaker 3: we get to that night, they're recognized. When when individuals
17:50
Speaker 3: come in there, they'll say, oh, I saw you on
17:53
Speaker 3: Facebook or I saw your book on wherever, you know,
17:58
Speaker 3: because they we want we want that night to be
18:02
Speaker 3: about them. And so when people come in there, they're
18:05
Speaker 3: not strangers. They just, like you said, we get to
18:09
Speaker 3: meet face to face. Now I've seen your face and
18:11
Speaker 3: I've seen your books all over Facebook and all over
18:14
Speaker 3: these different podcasts and everywhere else, and now I get
18:18
Speaker 3: to put a face with the person.
18:20
Speaker 2: It was wonderful just to see some of them and
18:24
Speaker 2: to meet some new people. You've heard the names, but
18:26
Speaker 2: I couldn't put the face with it. Integrity, incredibility. How
18:31
Speaker 2: does Dad protect those things in the nomination process.
18:37
Speaker 3: Well, we separate. I separate myself from the judging process
18:45
Speaker 3: because throughout that process I've become very close with all
18:49
Speaker 3: of the nominees. If it was up to me, everybody
18:53
Speaker 3: would win. But everybody can't win, and so I separate
18:57
Speaker 3: myself from judging the books so that you know, people
19:02
Speaker 3: know that it's unbiased. There are individuals that are separate.
19:08
Speaker 3: They have never met any of the readers. They don't
19:11
Speaker 3: know who the readers are. The readers don't know the authors,
19:15
Speaker 3: so they can have an unbiased opinion when they read
19:18
Speaker 3: those books and give feedback. And that's the way it should.
19:21
Speaker 2: Be, Max. I've seen many of the nominees and the
19:26
Speaker 2: winners just about on every platform that I can think of.
19:30
Speaker 2: What impact have you seen DAG have on the authors
19:33
Speaker 2: and honors?
19:35
Speaker 3: Oh, my goodness, I've seen so much. I have authors
19:40
Speaker 3: who have had their books picked up in school systems
19:46
Speaker 3: a few of them. I've had authors who've had their
19:48
Speaker 3: books picked up in fraternities. I've had authors who are
19:52
Speaker 3: now writing their own magazine, who now have their own podcasts,
19:56
Speaker 3: who are now doing workshops and teaching other authors how
20:00
Speaker 3: to become an award winning author. And so it's really
20:06
Speaker 3: and and this is what the point I'm trying to
20:08
Speaker 3: make is really what you do with that night. If
20:12
Speaker 3: you stop that night, the night November and November when
20:16
Speaker 3: we have that award show, if that's as far as
20:18
Speaker 3: you go, that's as far as you're going to go.
20:21
Speaker 3: But if you take those tools and you keep on
20:25
Speaker 3: with what you've learned through Distinguished Authors Guild, it's going
20:29
Speaker 3: to elevate you. And that's what you want. You want,
20:32
Speaker 3: you know, if we all are doing this to be
20:34
Speaker 3: to elevate our stories, to elevate our books, to get
20:38
Speaker 3: them in the hands of individuals who need them or
20:41
Speaker 3: those who may be going through the same thing and
20:44
Speaker 3: this may be therapy for them. That's that's that's what
20:47
Speaker 3: we're trying to do. And so you don't want to
20:49
Speaker 3: stop with that night. You have to keep going. But
20:54
Speaker 3: as you know, once you become a member of the
20:57
Speaker 3: Distinguished Author's Guild. You you're stuck for life. It's not
21:03
Speaker 3: over that night, just like we're here now. We have
21:06
Speaker 3: the award show in November twenty twenty five, and now
21:09
Speaker 3: we're here, still connected, Yes we are.
21:13
Speaker 2: So what qualities do you believe separate good authors from
21:16
Speaker 2: impactful authors?
21:19
Speaker 3: Those who invest in their books are the impactful authors.
21:24
Speaker 2: Those who.
21:26
Speaker 3: Spend money to have the book edited professionally, to have
21:30
Speaker 3: professional covers, to make sure there are no errors in
21:34
Speaker 3: the books. Those are the ones who are going to
21:37
Speaker 3: make an impact. And if you are serious about being
21:42
Speaker 3: an author and an entrepreneur, because the two go hand
21:45
Speaker 3: in hand, you're going to invest in your work. You're
21:49
Speaker 3: going to invest in yourself and if you invest in
21:53
Speaker 3: it the way you should, you are going to see
21:55
Speaker 3: it grow.
21:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, investment, it can cost you, but in the end
22:02
Speaker 2: it pays off.
22:03
Speaker 3: It does.
22:04
Speaker 2: And it doesn't mean that it pays off financially. It
22:07
Speaker 2: pays off in recognition. So how can authors better position
22:11
Speaker 2: themselves for recognition?
22:15
Speaker 3: Get rid of the fear. And it's okay to be afraid,
22:19
Speaker 3: but don't let the fear stop you. Don't let the
22:21
Speaker 3: fear hinder you work with that fear, because when you're afraid,
22:25
Speaker 3: you come out fighting. You should come out fighting and
22:28
Speaker 3: you're gonna fall. But those roadblocks that you hit, they
22:35
Speaker 3: should only slow you down, they should not stop you.
22:39
Speaker 2: Right. I love it. I love it. So what mistakes
22:42
Speaker 2: do you see that emergent authors often make because they'll
22:46
Speaker 2: come in, Well, I'll let you explain it, because I've
22:49
Speaker 2: seen somebody. I'll let you explain it. What mistakes do
22:51
Speaker 2: you see emergent authors making?
22:54
Speaker 3: Not putting the time in a lot of you know,
22:57
Speaker 3: we don't, especially older individuals. I'm an older individual. We
23:03
Speaker 3: don't want to spend time on social media. We don't
23:05
Speaker 3: want to spend time promoting our books on different social
23:09
Speaker 3: media platforms. We don't want to take time out to
23:12
Speaker 3: you know, go to these different events and network and
23:15
Speaker 3: get to know people. But that's what you have to
23:18
Speaker 3: do if you want your platform to grow, you have
23:22
Speaker 3: to get out there and you have to meet those
23:25
Speaker 3: individuals who can push you up and help you or
23:27
Speaker 3: connect you with the people you need to be connected with.
23:31
Speaker 3: If you don't do that, it's going to be an
23:34
Speaker 3: uphill battle, even when it comes to social media. And
23:37
Speaker 3: I'm gonna tell you I am not one for social media,
23:41
Speaker 3: but I forced myself to be and I knew that
23:45
Speaker 3: that was the only way. Well, if that was one
23:47
Speaker 3: of the best ways that I was going to get
23:50
Speaker 3: the information out to the masses, that that was the
23:54
Speaker 3: only way that I can reach an audience that wasn't local.
23:58
Speaker 3: And if you know that the authors who come into DAG,
24:03
Speaker 3: they're coming from all over the country. They're not local authors.
24:07
Speaker 3: They're coming from all different states in the United States.
24:11
Speaker 3: And so the only way to reach them in that
24:16
Speaker 3: way is through social media. So authors have to get
24:20
Speaker 3: used to doing it. I tell them, take fifteen minutes,
24:24
Speaker 3: twenty minutes when you wake up or before you go
24:26
Speaker 3: to bed, or you know, schedule schedule those posts to
24:30
Speaker 3: go out. But your face should be seen consistently.
24:36
Speaker 2: So you mentioned social media, and I'm still trying to
24:39
Speaker 2: get through Facebook because I think that's one of my
24:41
Speaker 2: best friends. Instagram. I'm trying, trying, I'm trying. How important
24:48
Speaker 2: is community among authors? I'm sorry, go ahead, important is
24:54
Speaker 2: community among authors? Oh?
24:56
Speaker 3: It is very important. Like I said earlier, you you
25:00
Speaker 3: do need other people, and I know a lot of individuals,
25:05
Speaker 3: a lot of authors feel like I'll do it by myself.
25:09
Speaker 3: I'll get my book out there by myself. I'll connect
25:12
Speaker 3: by myself. But you need that community to help you.
25:16
Speaker 3: One of the things that taught me was the predators
25:22
Speaker 3: that are out here. You don't know who's serious and
25:26
Speaker 3: who's not. I've had so many authors call me up
25:29
Speaker 3: and say, hey, somebody reached out to me and told
25:32
Speaker 3: me they can get my book on television. Hey, somebody
25:36
Speaker 3: told me if I send them ten thousand dollars, they
25:38
Speaker 3: could sell a million copies of my book. Those predators
25:44
Speaker 3: are out there, and so you need a community of
25:46
Speaker 3: individuals that can help you. If you need an illustrator,
25:52
Speaker 3: if you need a publisher. I've reached out in the
25:55
Speaker 3: group today and said, hey, is there a publisher in
25:57
Speaker 3: the group. I know somebody who's looking to publish a
26:00
Speaker 3: book and they're looking for a publisher. Because I know
26:02
Speaker 3: the individuals in that group. If they raise their hand
26:05
Speaker 3: and say I'm a publisher, I know that they're legit.
26:09
Speaker 3: And that's what the community is all about. If one
26:12
Speaker 3: person in that group's need an illustrator and someone recommends
26:16
Speaker 3: an illustrator, or they say I'm an illustrator, you best
26:19
Speaker 3: believe they are legit.
26:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a hard knocks life to it, because I
26:25
Speaker 2: got caught up in that fraudulent act of someone posing
26:32
Speaker 2: as a well known company book company, and they had everything.
26:36
Speaker 2: They had the logo, they had, the name, they had
26:39
Speaker 2: the area code that they come from, and everything just
26:42
Speaker 2: seemed like it was so legit. And I bought into
26:45
Speaker 2: it all the way, and they were sending me back
26:47
Speaker 2: materials and everything was just lining up up until that
26:51
Speaker 2: one thing happened and I questioned it. And when I
26:56
Speaker 2: questioned it, I was correct and they were fraud and
26:59
Speaker 2: they got me for thousands of dollars. I'm going to
27:01
Speaker 2: tell you, but I got my money back. But but
27:04
Speaker 2: you had to go to go. It was It was horrible.
27:08
Speaker 2: If I had just started out being an author, the
27:13
Speaker 2: probably took me because I wouldn't have known what to do.
27:15
Speaker 2: But being in this business for over twenty five years,
27:19
Speaker 2: you know, I should have known better. But it was
27:24
Speaker 2: just some It was just those things that they had
27:26
Speaker 2: that made it look like it was so real. I'm
27:29
Speaker 2: talking about they had that even up to the color
27:32
Speaker 2: of the ink. It was just that good you and
27:36
Speaker 2: they got me for some money. But it was just
27:40
Speaker 2: that one question that I asked. That made me think
27:44
Speaker 2: something wasn't right, and I did some more digging and
27:47
Speaker 2: then I actually turned around and called that company. They
27:50
Speaker 2: had no idea who I was talking about. Yeah, do
27:57
Speaker 2: some homework. Everything stopped. I got to the bank, I
28:01
Speaker 2: sent them information. I got the company. I had them
28:04
Speaker 2: send information verifying that these people didn't work for them.
28:07
Speaker 2: It was a back and forth and whatnot. And when
28:10
Speaker 2: I got my money back, I just about crying because
28:12
Speaker 2: I said I should have known better. But I'm not
28:16
Speaker 2: going to say it's gonna happen to everybody. But you
28:19
Speaker 2: got to ask questions. You have to do a lot
28:21
Speaker 2: of research.
28:24
Speaker 3: But you know that they know that you have this desire,
28:28
Speaker 3: and they pray on that. All authors want their books
28:31
Speaker 3: on television, All authors want their books made into a movie.
28:35
Speaker 3: You know they know this. All authors would love to
28:38
Speaker 3: sell a million copies, and so they pray on that
28:41
Speaker 3: because they know that's a deep desire that you have.
28:45
Speaker 3: And a lot of times when you have that desire
28:48
Speaker 3: and you hear those words that someone can help get
28:51
Speaker 3: you there, you go for it. You know it about
28:55
Speaker 3: all the things that you know and all the things
28:57
Speaker 3: that you were taught. I was I was a victim
29:00
Speaker 3: as well, and I should have known better. And like you,
29:04
Speaker 3: I got my money back. I just wasn't standard for you.
29:07
Speaker 3: Walking away with my heart aren't money.
29:10
Speaker 2: It happens. You're not just talking to some people a
29:13
Speaker 2: couple of weeks ago about they're new authors and they're
29:16
Speaker 2: coming into it, and you know, I just explained to
29:19
Speaker 2: them you please be mindful. And you know, they know
29:22
Speaker 2: that you got your book out, They see that it
29:24
Speaker 2: just came out. They figured you're a new author. They're
29:27
Speaker 2: gonna come for you. Their sharks, and I'm gonna call
29:29
Speaker 2: it what it is, they're sharks. They're gonna come for you.
29:31
Speaker 2: They come for the old ones too, because sometimes, and
29:35
Speaker 2: I'll speak for me, you get tired and just figured
29:36
Speaker 2: that somebody else can do it for you and you
29:38
Speaker 2: can just relax a little bit more. But you don't
29:41
Speaker 2: really ever earned that, you know. I'm quite sure those
29:46
Speaker 2: who had been you know, like Langston Hughes and and
29:49
Speaker 2: everybody else, I'm quite sure they may have been through
29:52
Speaker 2: it too. You know, some people, probably because of who
29:56
Speaker 2: he was, probably still tried to go after him, you know,
30:00
Speaker 2: with his name or even use his likeness to say
30:02
Speaker 2: that I've worked with him, and I did this for him,
30:06
Speaker 2: So it happens. It happens. To just do some research.
30:10
Speaker 2: Don't be afraid to ask any questions, because if you
30:13
Speaker 2: don't ask the questions, you're going to get God. I
30:16
Speaker 2: can just about tell you that. So what has surprised
30:20
Speaker 2: you most about running an awards organization?
30:24
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, the tears and the joy. I didn't
30:31
Speaker 3: know would be as exhilarating as it is, and it
30:36
Speaker 3: really shocked me. I mean to see the authors come
30:43
Speaker 3: and have tears and tears of joy and feel so
30:48
Speaker 3: honored that night, and that's the whole point. We want
30:52
Speaker 3: you to feel honored, but to actually see it, it's
30:56
Speaker 3: so surreal, and it's a feeling that I never forget.
31:01
Speaker 3: It's always there and every time I think about it,
31:03
Speaker 3: it put a smile on my face.
31:06
Speaker 2: Yeah. For me, it was looking at everybody out there,
31:09
Speaker 2: whether I want or not, just looking at everybody out there.
31:12
Speaker 2: Everybody's dressed to the nines, everybody's sitting there waiting for
31:17
Speaker 2: anybody's name to be called. And it didn't even have
31:19
Speaker 2: to be their name that was called. It was just
31:22
Speaker 2: that brotherhood, sisterhood thing that we're out here for. One another,
31:26
Speaker 2: and that that's what made me feel good. Now, I
31:28
Speaker 2: don't know whether you notice or not, but I when
31:31
Speaker 2: it was time for me to say a speech, I
31:32
Speaker 2: had the wrong one because I was just so happy
31:35
Speaker 2: to see I was just so happy to see everybody.
31:39
Speaker 2: That was like, when I got off, I was like,
31:40
Speaker 2: that's not what I said I was gonna say if
31:41
Speaker 2: I had the choice of getting up here or even
31:44
Speaker 2: just saying the period. But I was just so happy
31:46
Speaker 2: and so pleased to see everyone out there and just
31:50
Speaker 2: looking and just beaming, and some of them were new
31:53
Speaker 2: and just saying, I got you, got to meet you.
31:57
Speaker 2: And that's the things that I wanted to say, but
32:00
Speaker 2: that's not what came out. So it happens. It happens.
32:04
Speaker 2: So what does expansion look like for DAG in the
32:07
Speaker 2: next three to five years.
32:11
Speaker 3: Expansion is going to be awarding more students scholarships. A
32:17
Speaker 3: lot of people don't know that Dad gives scholarships to
32:20
Speaker 3: college students, but the goal is to give one thousand,
32:25
Speaker 3: ten students one thousand dollars scholarship and more. And so
32:31
Speaker 3: that's my biggest ask is to give back to the
32:36
Speaker 3: students who are in creative writing. So that we can
32:39
Speaker 3: get more authors out here, young authors who continue to
32:43
Speaker 3: carry the baton. That's important to me, you know, to
32:48
Speaker 3: give a hand so that they can come up. They're
32:54
Speaker 3: going to be out there just like we are working hard,
32:58
Speaker 3: dodging the predators, you know, wondering if my book is
33:02
Speaker 3: good enough, afraid to get out there and talk about
33:07
Speaker 3: the book. They're going to be us. And so you know,
33:11
Speaker 3: giving back to them and being able to have those
33:14
Speaker 3: scholarships so that it can give some help for them
33:20
Speaker 3: through college. I know God has told me that it's
33:23
Speaker 3: going to get bigger. I mean, last year we gave
33:26
Speaker 3: out was the first year we gave out two scholarships,
33:29
Speaker 3: and I was excited about it, and it's going to
33:32
Speaker 3: continue to grow.
33:36
Speaker 2: I was pleased when I saw that, you know, those
33:40
Speaker 2: two individuals wanted the scholarships, and that you were doing
33:43
Speaker 2: that for young writers that want to pursue the literary
33:50
Speaker 2: world and just express themselves. Because whether we want to
33:56
Speaker 2: accept it or not, do youth have a lot to say.
34:00
Speaker 2: We may not like what they say. To tell you
34:02
Speaker 2: the truth, I won't even say we won't. We don't
34:04
Speaker 2: like what they say. We don't understand what they're saying,
34:09
Speaker 2: and our elders didn't understand what we were saying. So
34:12
Speaker 2: I'm going to say it, and I'm going to acknowledge it,
34:14
Speaker 2: just as I'm older now, and half the stuff they
34:17
Speaker 2: say I don't understand. But I what I do is
34:20
Speaker 2: I take the time and I ask them what do
34:23
Speaker 2: they mean by that? And I think they appreciate that
34:26
Speaker 2: more when you ask instead of judging them, because you know,
34:30
Speaker 2: when you're judge them, like these young kids, these little
34:32
Speaker 2: whip snappers or whatever you want to call them, they
34:35
Speaker 2: don't think that. They honestly don't just ask the question,
34:39
Speaker 2: what do you mean by that? I can tell you
34:42
Speaker 2: they will explain it to you if you ask, because
34:45
Speaker 2: they would be happy to explain it to you. They'll
34:47
Speaker 2: be happy to see that they're teaching you something exactly
34:52
Speaker 2: doing that. It's it's it's a bond that you can
34:58
Speaker 2: have with them. It's like.
35:01
Speaker 3: With them filling in that age gap.
35:05
Speaker 2: Oh yes, because I learned a lot from some of
35:08
Speaker 2: them that I said a little younger than me, I
35:12
Speaker 2: learned a lot from from teenagers. I've learned a lot
35:17
Speaker 2: of language from them. Now I'm gonna even go younger
35:20
Speaker 2: than that. My three year old granddaughter taught me something.
35:23
Speaker 2: I had no idea what she was talking about. She
35:26
Speaker 2: took her fingers and did this, and I said, what's
35:27
Speaker 2: going on with her? What's wrong with her? She said,
35:31
Speaker 2: clock this and I said what, Oh my god, little
35:34
Speaker 2: idea of what she was talking about. She says, Ma,
35:37
Speaker 2: this is what it means. I said, that said what
35:40
Speaker 2: I'm talking about? At that, wad it done? She said
35:47
Speaker 2: some other words too. That kind of caught me, and
35:48
Speaker 2: she was on point, and I ain't gonna say what
35:50
Speaker 2: she said, but in doing so, that taught me that
35:55
Speaker 2: I'm missing so much that I'm so busy word of
36:00
Speaker 2: about my generation and what's going on with them. It's
36:03
Speaker 2: going to go on no matter what, but I still
36:06
Speaker 2: need to keep up with what's going on with them,
36:08
Speaker 2: because those are the them that's going to be taking
36:10
Speaker 2: care of the these I need to know that you
36:15
Speaker 2: have the tools that you need to be able to
36:18
Speaker 2: take care of me. And I'm not saying as a
36:21
Speaker 2: child to take care of me. I'm talking about the doctors,
36:23
Speaker 2: the lawyers, the people out that that's going to be
36:26
Speaker 2: able to take care of us, and that's enriching our community.
36:29
Speaker 2: So those are the things that I'm talking about that
36:32
Speaker 2: when I say the youth, the younger ones, they do
36:36
Speaker 2: have a lot to say. And if you listen to them,
36:38
Speaker 2: there there are really some intelligent kids. Yes, really, all
36:42
Speaker 2: they want is the opportunity and all they want is
36:45
Speaker 2: the chance and to show you that I can do this,
36:50
Speaker 2: that I have given the chance, because I know I
36:52
Speaker 2: said that I wish I had the chance to do this.
36:55
Speaker 2: I wish I had the chance to do it. And
36:57
Speaker 2: what you're doing with giving them those awards, that's giving
37:00
Speaker 2: him that chance and that opportunity. So I amployed you
37:03
Speaker 2: for that.
37:04
Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you. It's a pleasure. I'm sorry, go ahead,
37:09
Speaker 3: I say it's a pleasure. And you know, every year
37:14
Speaker 3: I'm looking around and like how am I going to
37:18
Speaker 3: do this? And God always provides and he always opened
37:22
Speaker 3: the doors and send the people to me that helps
37:27
Speaker 3: me to make it happen. And so you know, I
37:31
Speaker 3: always wonder how can I do it this year? And
37:35
Speaker 3: He always makes a way.
37:39
Speaker 2: He will when you're doing good things, He's always looking
37:42
Speaker 2: and he's watching. He's watching every little thing that we do,
37:45
Speaker 2: and he knows the blessing that you need in order
37:49
Speaker 2: to bless someone else. Absolutely. So, if you could speak
37:55
Speaker 2: directly to an author who feels unseen right now, what
37:59
Speaker 2: would you say.
38:01
Speaker 3: You may feel unseen, but you are seen. There's a
38:05
Speaker 3: lot of people that are looking that don't say anything,
38:08
Speaker 3: They keep their mouths shut, but they see exactly what
38:11
Speaker 3: you're doing. So make sure that you're doing it correctly
38:15
Speaker 3: and doing it professionally, because once you make that mistake,
38:19
Speaker 3: that's when they'll open their mouth and you'll know that
38:22
Speaker 3: they see you.
38:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, well said Will said. So, if you believe
38:28
Speaker 2: your work carries impact, which I'm quite sure it does,
38:31
Speaker 2: intention and excellence, you're invited to submit your book for
38:35
Speaker 2: consideration for the Distinguished Author's Guild that's the DAG Awards
38:39
Speaker 2: Gina for our authors and inspiring authors who are watching tonight.
38:43
Speaker 2: Can you walk them through exactly how they can submit
38:45
Speaker 2: their books and what they need to know before applying.
38:49
Speaker 3: Yes, they can go on the DAG Facebook page. The
38:53
Speaker 3: registration is there, or they can go to the website
38:57
Speaker 3: which is Distinguished Authors Skilled dot org and complete the registration.
39:03
Speaker 3: There everything is lined out. Once you paid a registration fee,
39:08
Speaker 3: you'll see the packages there. You choose a package depending
39:12
Speaker 3: on how much promotion you would like to have, and
39:15
Speaker 3: then you mail in your book. The po box is
39:18
Speaker 3: listed in the app in the registration form as well,
39:22
Speaker 3: and you're on your way because we get we start
39:25
Speaker 3: promoting that book, getting it in front of people. And
39:30
Speaker 3: one of the things that you'll realize is once you
39:34
Speaker 3: become a part of DAG, you're now going to be
39:38
Speaker 3: in front of an audience that you would wouldn't have
39:40
Speaker 3: been in front of before. You now are going to
39:43
Speaker 3: be in front of people that you would not have
39:46
Speaker 3: been in front of if you had not been a
39:48
Speaker 3: part of DAG. So that's the beauty of it.
39:52
Speaker 2: So when you submit a book, can you submit more
39:55
Speaker 2: than one entry?
39:57
Speaker 3: You can submit more than one entry. There is a
40:02
Speaker 3: registration fee of thirty dollars for each book. However, if
40:05
Speaker 3: it's a series, the series is judged on all the books,
40:15
Speaker 3: so you can't submit the series. We've had authors who
40:19
Speaker 3: have submitted a series, but all the books are read
40:23
Speaker 3: and all the books will be giving feedback, so you
40:27
Speaker 3: have a one in one plus opportunity there where it
40:31
Speaker 3: could be nominated and it could not be nominated.
40:36
Speaker 2: You heard he she told you how to get to
40:39
Speaker 2: those books. I'm hoping that by the time we get
40:41
Speaker 2: off this call that you're going on that line. You
40:44
Speaker 2: could be doing it right now while we're talking, so
40:46
Speaker 2: you can start submitting your books. How far back through
40:49
Speaker 2: the books have to go? Is there a cut off time,
40:52
Speaker 2: like maybe within the last two three years the book
40:55
Speaker 2: have to be written.
40:56
Speaker 3: No, there is no cutoff time, but there is a
41:00
Speaker 3: page maximum that the books have to be three hundred
41:04
Speaker 3: and sixty five pages or less. And I tell all authors,
41:09
Speaker 3: I give here's the criteria, because if you don't meet
41:14
Speaker 3: the criteria, I'm not going to have you. I'm not
41:17
Speaker 3: going to take your registration I'm not going to take
41:19
Speaker 3: your registration fee. I'm going to tell you upfront the
41:23
Speaker 3: books have to be error free. I don't think anyone
41:28
Speaker 3: has ever picked up an award winning book and it
41:30
Speaker 3: has errors in it. And that goes back to what
41:33
Speaker 3: we talked about earlier. Black invest in your work, invest
41:37
Speaker 3: in yourself, make sure you hire a professional editor. The
41:42
Speaker 3: other criteria is does the book cover catch your attention?
41:47
Speaker 3: Now we talked about you talked about how many books
41:50
Speaker 3: are out there, how your book is buried in Walmart
41:53
Speaker 3: and the other one hundred thousands of books there's six
41:57
Speaker 3: million books on Amazon. Your cover has to catch the
42:01
Speaker 3: attention because if your cover don't catch the attention, they'll
42:05
Speaker 3: never know what's on the other side of that cover.
42:08
Speaker 3: So you have to have a cover that catches the attention.
42:12
Speaker 3: And the third criteria does your book keep the reader's attention? Man,
42:18
Speaker 3: I could tell you a lot of books that I
42:20
Speaker 3: picked up and did not want to put down that's
42:24
Speaker 3: an award winning book. Yours is one of them.
42:30
Speaker 2: I thought, I'm being honest. When I was asked to
42:32
Speaker 2: enter it, I said no because I said the title
42:35
Speaker 2: was going to tell them that this is too much.
42:38
Speaker 2: They won't accept this with this title, and I just
42:42
Speaker 2: said no, I wasn't going to do it, but I
42:44
Speaker 2: was encouraged by one of your ambassadors to go right
42:47
Speaker 2: ahead and do it. I said, okay, what could I lose?
42:49
Speaker 2: Just the word, you know, that's all I can I
42:51
Speaker 2: can get back. And I got that information from you
42:54
Speaker 2: and they said we accepted it, and I was like,
42:56
Speaker 2: yay me, yes, every pleason, I thank you and the
43:01
Speaker 2: committee for accepting my book and and the wind. So
43:06
Speaker 2: I do appreciate it, and I appreciate just everybody that
43:10
Speaker 2: was there at night it was just it was one
43:13
Speaker 2: of those nights that was truly, truly unforgettable. Well it was.
43:18
Speaker 3: And you know a lot of a lot of authors
43:20
Speaker 3: I don't know, but I have a library of books.
43:24
Speaker 3: I wait until after, you know, the nominations are done,
43:29
Speaker 3: and I purchased those books I have. I have your
43:31
Speaker 3: book in my library. I have a lot of the
43:34
Speaker 3: author's books in my library. And I even if I
43:38
Speaker 3: see a book that can benefit someone that I know,
43:43
Speaker 3: I'll purchase that book and send it out to them.
43:45
Speaker 3: I've had lots of books sent out to Vegas for
43:48
Speaker 3: my daughter. She loves to read, and I know the
43:50
Speaker 3: type of books that she liked to read, and so
43:53
Speaker 3: I'll have an author send the book out to her
43:57
Speaker 3: or other individuals that I know. I know a lot
43:59
Speaker 3: of people like to read, and so my library is large.
44:04
Speaker 3: You would not believe how many books that I have
44:06
Speaker 3: because I try to purchase. I try to purchase everyone's
44:10
Speaker 3: a book from every author or every nominee that is
44:14
Speaker 3: part of DA So most of the books that have
44:17
Speaker 3: been submitted from twenty twenty, I have a copy of Oh.
44:22
Speaker 2: Wow, So what what day is the nomination? Is the awards?
44:28
Speaker 2: This year? I know you said November. M hm, no,
44:32
Speaker 2: are you holding the date back?
44:34
Speaker 3: November fifteenth?
44:36
Speaker 2: Eight? Yes, at what time?
44:41
Speaker 3: It'll be four pm? This is on a Sunday. I
44:45
Speaker 3: think we've had Sundays before when we were in Vegas,
44:49
Speaker 3: Believing or not the Awards show. We were in Vegas
44:52
Speaker 3: for two years, and for two years it was on
44:54
Speaker 3: a Wednesday, and on a Wednesday, we had a huge
44:58
Speaker 3: turnout in Vegas. Yes, and so we're already talking about
45:07
Speaker 3: where it's going to be next year. Oh, thank Arizona.
45:12
Speaker 2: It's gonna be hot and all the sense of the
45:15
Speaker 2: word hot.
45:18
Speaker 3: But guess what. Everybody complained about it being cold in Chicago,
45:23
Speaker 3: so now it was somewhere hot.
45:26
Speaker 2: It wasn't well, I guess because I'm so used to
45:29
Speaker 2: the weather. It wasn't cold for me. It's just I've
45:32
Speaker 2: never been to Chicago when I was expecting the windy city,
45:35
Speaker 2: but I didn't get that. When I was there, the
45:39
Speaker 2: weather was fine. It's glad it didn't snow.
45:41
Speaker 3: But well, back after you guys left, we had a
45:45
Speaker 3: polar vortex. It was a negative five.
45:49
Speaker 2: Well we left right on time, left right on time.
45:52
Speaker 2: But you know what, the hotel was comfortable, as long
45:56
Speaker 2: as I have my little snacks I was, I would
46:00
Speaker 2: have been okay. I would probably had to call in
46:01
Speaker 2: the work and say, look, I'm stuck in Chicago, but
46:05
Speaker 2: I would have been fine. The weather would have been
46:06
Speaker 2: okay with me. And what I appreciate most about Tonight's
46:10
Speaker 2: conversation is that it reminds us authors are cultural shapers.
46:15
Speaker 2: They're historians, their healers, and their architects of perspective. The
46:21
Speaker 2: Distinguished Author's Guild Awards is not just about trophies. It's
46:26
Speaker 2: about honoring voices that refuse to be silenced. Gina, thank
46:30
Speaker 2: you for building a platform that celebrates excellence with intention,
46:35
Speaker 2: and to our listeners, if you are an author, keep writing.
46:39
Speaker 2: If you support authors, keep reading. Because stories change systems.
46:45
Speaker 2: This is Basicly Black after Dark, I'm Black Diamond, and
46:49
Speaker 2: remember your voice is valuable, your story matters, and your
46:53
Speaker 2: impact is not accidental. Join us March twentieth when we
46:57
Speaker 2: sit down with Salon. Leave another powerful conversation you won't
47:02
Speaker 2: want to miss, and as always, thank you for keeping
47:06
Speaker 2: it basic.