Anita Diggs - Editor

 Acquired titles in areas ranging from biography, contemporary affairs to fiction.
 Critiqued, developed and edited over twenty-five fiction and nonfiction books per year.
 Managed ongoing relationships with 25+ literary agents and reviewed over 300 manuscripts and proposals per year; handled all negotiations, developed book ideas from concept to Production.
 Managed three full time staffers and five interns.
 Scheduled and coordinated all aspects of publication calendar in order to meet all applicable deadlines.
 Raised profile of the division through interviews with New York Times, New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, WABC-TV “Eyewitness News” and NY1 News.
 Frequent guest speaker/lecturer at writers workshops, conferences and seminars

 Acquired titles - fiction.
 Critiqued, developed and edited fiction .

Blame It on Eve

Philana Marie Boles

Shawni Baldwin has everything she has ever closed her eyes and wished for. She can wrap her arms around a devoted and very sexy fiancé, Bo Delaney, an entertainment attorney. She is living a glamorous life as a successful, jet-setting fashion model. But now, much to the dismay of her mother, Shawni has decided not to sign her next modeling contract. For beyond the pop of the flash bulb, beneat... read more

Shawni Baldwin has everything she has ever closed her eyes and wished for. She can wrap her arms around a devoted and very sexy fiancé, Bo Delaney, an entertainment attorney. She is living a glamorous life as a successful, jet-setting fashion model. But now, much to the dismay of her mother, Shawni has decided not to sign her next modeling contract. For beyond the pop of the flash bulb, beneat... read more

A Conversation with the Mann

John Ridley

What do you want?"I want the Ed Sullivan Show."At the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, like a lot of black Americans, comedian Jackie Mann wanted to be somebody. And for him there was only one way to achieve that: to make it big. Make it, no matter the cost: friends, family, one's own self-esteem and self-respect. This is the story of a young man's journey from Harlem to stardom, a story of ... read more

What do you want?"I want the Ed Sullivan Show."At the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement, like a lot of black Americans, comedian Jackie Mann wanted to be somebody. And for him there was only one way to achieve that: to make it big. Make it, no matter the cost: friends, family, one's own self-esteem and self-respect. This is the story of a young man's journey from Harlem to stardom, a story of ... read more

Grace: A Novel

Elizabeth Nunez

Justin Peters is a Harvard-educated professor of British and classic literature who reads Shakespeare to his four-year-old daughter, Giselle. A native of Trinidad and the product of a strict, English-style education, Justin and his focus on the works of “Dead White Men” receive little professional respect at the public Brooklyn college where he teaches. But whatever troubles he might have at w... read more

Justin Peters is a Harvard-educated professor of British and classic literature who reads Shakespeare to his four-year-old daughter, Giselle. A native of Trinidad and the product of a strict, English-style education, Justin and his focus on the works of “Dead White Men” receive little professional respect at the public Brooklyn college where he teaches. But whatever troubles he might have at w... read more

Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights

Tananarive Due, Patricia Stephens Due

Patricia Stephens Due fought for justice during the height of the Civil Rights era. Her daughter, Tananarive, grew up deeply enmeshed in the values of a family committed to making right whatever they saw as wrong. Together, in alternating chapters, they have written a paean to the movement—its hardships, its nameless foot soldiers, and its achievements—and an incisive examination of the future... read more

Patricia Stephens Due fought for justice during the height of the Civil Rights era. Her daughter, Tananarive, grew up deeply enmeshed in the values of a family committed to making right whatever they saw as wrong. Together, in alternating chapters, they have written a paean to the movement—its hardships, its nameless foot soldiers, and its achievements—and an incisive examination of the future... read more

Growing Up X: A Memoir by the Daughter of Malcolm X

Ilyasah Shabazz

“Ilyasah Shabazz has written a compelling and lyrical coming-of-age story as well as a candid and heart-warming tribute to her parents. Growing Up X is destined to become a classic.”–SPIKE LEEFebruary 21, 1965: Malcolm X is assassinated in Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom. June 23, 1997: After surviving for a remarkable twenty-two days, his widow, Betty Shabazz, dies of burns suffered in a fire. In t... read more

“Ilyasah Shabazz has written a compelling and lyrical coming-of-age story as well as a candid and heart-warming tribute to her parents. Growing Up X is destined to become a classic.”–SPIKE LEEFebruary 21, 1965: Malcolm X is assassinated in Harlem’s Audubon Ballroom. June 23, 1997: After surviving for a remarkable twenty-two days, his widow, Betty Shabazz, dies of burns suffered in a fire. In t... read more

Inner City Miracle

Greg Mathis

Millions have seen him on his nationwide TV show, dispensing justice in his own charismatic style. But Judge Greg Mathis’s own rise to success has been a trial by fire. In this truly candid memoir, his harrowing life on both sides of the law is revealed for the first time.It starts in Detroit—but far from the court where Greg would one day preside. Raised in the hell of the Herman Garden Proje... read more

Millions have seen him on his nationwide TV show, dispensing justice in his own charismatic style. But Judge Greg Mathis’s own rise to success has been a trial by fire. In this truly candid memoir, his harrowing life on both sides of the law is revealed for the first time.It starts in Detroit—but far from the court where Greg would one day preside. Raised in the hell of the Herman Garden Proje... read more

Back In The Day: My Life And Times With Tupac Shakur

Darrin Keith Bastfield

A legend after a bullet killed him at the age of twenty-five, Tupac Shakur was the most riveting rap musician of his day. Far from being the insolent "gangsta" the press put forth, Shakur was fiercely intelligent, fearless, and determined to make a mark. Darrin Bastfield grew up with him in a rough Baltimore neighborhood. In this vivid memoir, Bastfield reveals Tupac Shakur as the teenager he ... read more

A legend after a bullet killed him at the age of twenty-five, Tupac Shakur was the most riveting rap musician of his day. Far from being the insolent "gangsta" the press put forth, Shakur was fiercely intelligent, fearless, and determined to make a mark. Darrin Bastfield grew up with him in a rough Baltimore neighborhood. In this vivid memoir, Bastfield reveals Tupac Shakur as the teenager he ... read more

Burnt Bread and Chutney: Growing Up Between Cultures - A Memoir of an Indian Jewish Childhood (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

Carmit Delman

“From the outside, no matter what the gradations of my mixed heritage, the shadow of Indian brown in my skin caused others to automatically perceive me as Hindu or Muslim. . . . Still, I trekked through life with the spirit of a Jew, fleshed out by the unique challenges and wonders of a combined brown and white tradition.”In the politics of skin color, Carmit Delman is an ambassador from a wor... read more

“From the outside, no matter what the gradations of my mixed heritage, the shadow of Indian brown in my skin caused others to automatically perceive me as Hindu or Muslim. . . . Still, I trekked through life with the spirit of a Jew, fleshed out by the unique challenges and wonders of a combined brown and white tradition.”In the politics of skin color, Carmit Delman is an ambassador from a wor... read more

Long Road Outta Compton: Dr. Dre's Mom on Family, Fame and Terrible Tragedy

Verna Griffin

This is the story of Verna Griffin. A woman who gave birth to five children, losing two in infancy and one to gangland violence. Her surviving son is one of the most famous men in the world, and her daughter is a homemaker with children of her own. From Verna's turbulent childhood to her failed marriages and the problems that came along with Dre's fame, she has grown a thick skin and learned t... read more

This is the story of Verna Griffin. A woman who gave birth to five children, losing two in infancy and one to gangland violence. Her surviving son is one of the most famous men in the world, and her daughter is a homemaker with children of her own. From Verna's turbulent childhood to her failed marriages and the problems that came along with Dre's fame, she has grown a thick skin and learned t... read more

Bruised Hibiscus

Elizabeth Nunez

The year is 1954. A white woman’s body, stuffed in a coconut bag, has washed ashore in Otatiti, Trinidad, and the British colony is rife with rumors. In two homes, one in a distant shantytown, the other on the outskirts of a former sugar cane estate, two women hear the news and their blood runs cold. Rosa, the white daughter of a landowner, and Zuela, the adopted “daughter” of a Chinese shop o... read more

The year is 1954. A white woman’s body, stuffed in a coconut bag, has washed ashore in Otatiti, Trinidad, and the British colony is rife with rumors. In two homes, one in a distant shantytown, the other on the outskirts of a former sugar cane estate, two women hear the news and their blood runs cold. Rosa, the white daughter of a landowner, and Zuela, the adopted “daughter” of a Chinese shop o... read more

Don't Believe Your Lying Eyes (A Darryl Billups Mystery Book 3)

Blair S. Walker

Don’t Believe Your Lying Eyes is the third outing for intrepid African-American newspaper reporter Darryl Billups, whose previous escapades found him foiling a domestic terrorism plot and unmasking a cunning serial killer. In what just may be his biggest story yet, Darryl is called to cover a multiple homicide at a Baltimore storage facility. Authorities suspect the carnage is somehow linked t... read more

Don’t Believe Your Lying Eyes is the third outing for intrepid African-American newspaper reporter Darryl Billups, whose previous escapades found him foiling a domestic terrorism plot and unmasking a cunning serial killer. In what just may be his biggest story yet, Darryl is called to cover a multiple homicide at a Baltimore storage facility. Authorities suspect the carnage is somehow linked t... read more

In the Arms of One Who Loves Me

Jacqueline Jones LaMon

From fabulous new author Jacqueline Jones LaMon, a sexy page-turner that follows the lives of two young, black professionals as they navigate career and romance, ambition and heartbreak. Two paths that meet by serendipity.Nia Benson, a college graduate who dreams someday of running her own public relations firm, believes the world is her oyster. But Nia runs up against the harsh realities of c... read more

From fabulous new author Jacqueline Jones LaMon, a sexy page-turner that follows the lives of two young, black professionals as they navigate career and romance, ambition and heartbreak. Two paths that meet by serendipity.Nia Benson, a college graduate who dreams someday of running her own public relations firm, believes the world is her oyster. But Nia runs up against the harsh realities of c... read more

Satisfy My Soul

Colin Channer

I have called you here to reveal to you a truth that has been calling to you for many years. . . . Since then your soul has been seeking rest.Playwright Carey McCullough is a close guardian of his privacy, haunted by a recurring dream and a damaged past he would like to keep there. But some things he can never forget. And the more he pushes them away, the more uprooted he feels. The women he h... read more

I have called you here to reveal to you a truth that has been calling to you for many years. . . . Since then your soul has been seeking rest.Playwright Carey McCullough is a close guardian of his privacy, haunted by a recurring dream and a damaged past he would like to keep there. But some things he can never forget. And the more he pushes them away, the more uprooted he feels. The women he h... read more

Someone to Catch My Drift

Jacqueline Powell

Aspiring singer Nikai Parker is depressed. Her boyfriend has been sent to jail for dating an underage girl, and she feels abandoned and desperate. That is, until her best friend, Sheila, convinces her that a night of clubbing is exactly what she needs to forget her troubles and lift her spirits.

Aspiring singer Nikai Parker is depressed. Her boyfriend has been sent to jail for dating an underage girl, and she feels abandoned and desperate. That is, until her best friend, Sheila, convinces her that a night of clubbing is exactly what she needs to forget her troubles and lift her spirits.

The Devil and Dave Chappelle: And Other Essays

William Jelani Cobb

An unflinching collection of essays that takes on the subjects of Biggie Smalls, Three 6 Mafia, The King Family, and what it takes to be black at the turn of the twenty-first century.

An unflinching collection of essays that takes on the subjects of Biggie Smalls, Three 6 Mafia, The King Family, and what it takes to be black at the turn of the twenty-first century.

Bittersweet

Freddie Lee Johnson III

Clifford. Victor. Nathan. Three brothers as different as they come. Three lives that veer unexpectedly off course. One bond that heals them all. . . .Clifford sees his life as picture-perfect: two wonderful young sons, a fast-track career, and a solid marriage. But fresh back from a family vacation in Florida, Clifford is hit with a stunning blow when his wife Demetria declares that she is lea... read more

Clifford. Victor. Nathan. Three brothers as different as they come. Three lives that veer unexpectedly off course. One bond that heals them all. . . .Clifford sees his life as picture-perfect: two wonderful young sons, a fast-track career, and a solid marriage. But fresh back from a family vacation in Florida, Clifford is hit with a stunning blow when his wife Demetria declares that she is lea... read more