| First-Time Author Is Also
First-Time Publisher
This has been a year of debuts for Alicia Terry Henderson,
who has added "children's book author" and
"publisher" to her resume. The author, who
holds a Ph.D. in clinical social work and is a lecturer
of ethnocultural issues at New York University's Shirley
M. Ehrenkranz School of Social Work, self-published
Call Me Black Call Me Beautiful, illustrated by Jennifer
Kindert, in September. She operates her company, Royal
Regal Books, out of her home in Englewood, NJ.
Henderson's picture book, which centers on a boy who
is upset and confused when his white friend calls him
"black" since his skin is actually brown,
addresses the issues of self-esteem, racial identity
and racial pride. The story had its roots in the author's
own childhood experiences as well as those of her young
daughters. "As a teenager, I was bussed from Milwaukee's
inner city to a predominately white, suburban high school,"
she said. "This could have been a very difficult
experience had my mother not prepared me. As it was,
I was socialized to love being black and to be proud
of being black. I was prepared to exist in both worlds
and in a sense was bicultural. I have passed that on
to my own children. My daughter attends an independent
private school with a diverse student body, yet she
is the only African American child in her class. I have
helped her understand that although people are different
from one another they are all beautiful and she is now
comfortable in different environments."
Since Henderson suspected that larger publishers "wouldn't
recognize the significance" of her book, she followed
her husband's suggestion to start her own company. With
his help, she launched Royal Regal Books and went on
to print 2,100 copies of Call Me Black. Her marketing
efforts have included setting up a Web site (www.royalregalbooks.com),
sending out promotional postcards and arranging (through
Baker & Taylor) for the book to be available through
internet channels. The author has also sold her book
to Head Start programs in her area as well as to local
bookstores.
Among retailers that have had success with the title
is Hue-Man Bookstore in Harlem, where Henderson is scheduled
to sign books this month. Co-owner Clara Villarosa reports
that she took the book on consignment basis, as she
is wont to do with self-published books, and soon sold
all of the copies Henderson had delivered. "We
then moved the book from our consignment section to
the children's section and it kept selling very well,"
Villarosa said. She estimates that her store has sold
between 25 and 30 copies of the book, which she praises
for its "attractive cover and art, upbeat tone
and inspirational message."
Henderson anticipates she will soon order a second printing
of her book and says she plans to create additional
stories featuring multicultural themes.
-Sally Lodge
Publisher's Weekly
About the Author
Dr. Alicia Terry Henderson is a child psychotherapist.
She is also a lecturer of ethnocultural issues at the
New York University Shirley M. Ehrenkranz School of
Social Work. She has researched and written about the
social psychological factors related to individual and
black self-esteem development. Call Me Black Call Me
Beautiful is her first children's book, and the first
of her Multicultural Children's Book Series. She resides
in Bergen County, New Jersey with her husband and two
children.
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