Mentoring in Medicine creates an online platform that shows middle school students how to write, publish, and sell their books during summer vacation

What did you do for summer vacation?

Well, for eons, that has been the first question students get asked when they return to school in the fall. And, thanks to Mentoring in Medicine, a nonprofit organization that provides young people in urban areas with exposure to medical careers, this summer many middle and high school students (and even their parents) will learn how to write and sell their own books without leaving home.

In the WRITE YOUR BOOK ONLINE SUMMER CAMP, Mentoring in Medicine will show students various techniques to create books in a variety of styles, whether it’s an interview-based, Top Tips, visual, interactive, and more, and the book can be fiction or, nonfiction.

According to Andrew Morrison, Mentoring in Medicine’s chief operating officer, the program will attract students from around the world who are interested in pursuing health-related or science careers in the future. Even some parents plan to participate along with their children.

Think about the competitive edge you or your child will have as a published author when applying to college or your next job or, for speaking engagements.

For more information about the Write Your Book Online Summer Camp, check out the Mentor in Medicine website. 

Troy Johnson, president and webmaster of AALB.com makes a case for creating a Black book ecosystem outside of Amazon

From the early days of the web, Amazon has grown to become a huge behemoth in the retail space. It started as online bookseller and has grown to become the largest Internet retailer in the world measured by revenue and market capitalization. With Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods, even Walmart, the world’s largest store in the world by revenue, is concerned about losing its market share. CVS, a large American retail pharmacy and health care company, it too is playing defense against Amazon by seeking to purchase Aetna as Amazon is increasingly threatening to enter the business of selling prescription drugs.

With all of these moves going on in the background, in this video, Ruth J. Morrison, CEO and Executive Producer, What's The 411TV; and Troy Johnson, President, and Webmaster, AALBC.com; are discussing Amazon's effect on the Black book ecosystem (Black writers, authors, book sellers, publicists, marketers, etc.) and how the algorithms of digital search has and is affecting Black web properties. Johnson believes for the salvation of the black book ecosystem that perhaps, Black people should abandon Amazon for books by and about Black people altogether.