Better Than Fiction
Bestselling author shares his story of success
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
On the eve of the ninth
annual Bookmarks Festival
of Books and Authors
(where he was slated to be
among the featured attrac
tions), bestselling author
Carl Weber visited
Winston-Salem State
University, where he shared
the novel-worthy story of
his own life.
Weber, who has penned
more than a dozen novels,
shares his passion for liter
acy with the world through
his own work, and through
that of countless other
authors, whose titles appear
in his two bookstore
chains, Urban Knowledge
and Beach Reads, and his
publishing company, Urban
Books. Though he has mas
tered the elusive art of find
ing financial success
through writing, Weber
said he never imagined he
would become an author.
"I wasn't trained to be
an author," he revealed. "...
I was trained as a business
person."
Weber, who holds an
MBA in marketing from
the University of Virginia,
spent five years working at
the KPMG tax firm before
opening his first bookstore.
From his post behind the
counter, Weber said he
learned some valuable les
sons, including what read
ers really want in books:
short "juicy" chapters.
"Every chapter needs to
be a story," he said. ".. .The
chapter becomes engaging
and it makes the person
want to read the next chap
ter."
During his Sept. 6
address, Weber offered
humorous cautionary tales
and pearls of wisdom
gained from his journey as
an author. The Long Island,
N.Y. resident told the audi
ence, - a collection of cur
rent and former WSSU stu
dents. faculty and members
of the community - that he
didn't consider writing
until the day the author of a
book Weber called "horri
ble" arrived at a book sign
ing in a brand new "candy
apple red" Mercedes.
"I'm looking at him,
I'm going, 'You got that car
from this book?' and he
said, 'Yeah.'" he related.
"That was the night I went
home to write a book."
Weber has enjoyed con
siderable success. He
recently released his 18th
novel, "The Man in 3B,"
which Weber says is the
story of "a thug you can
take home to your mama,"
and "The Family
Business." a saga he affec
tionately refers to as his
"black 'Sopranos,'" is soon
to be a television series,
starring Victoria's Secret
model Selita Ebanks. G
Unit's Olivia and Christian
Keyes. Many of his friends
and foes have made their
way into his books as char
acters. Weber says, and
some of his most negative
experiences have translated
into big sales.
"You piss me off, I will
write a book about you. My
baby mama pissed me off,
so I wrote a book about
her," he declared. "...That
book flew off the shelves,
man. Wal-Mart was order
ing it like it was crack."
Launching and main
taining a career as an
author is no easy task.
Weber said. In order to be
successful, writers must
first believe strongly in
themselves and the story
they are trying to craft, he
added.
"To be an author,
you've got to have an ego,"
Weber said. "...Writing
books is the absolute hard
est form of entertainment
in the world; you have to
believe in you more than
anybody else."
Those words resonated
with WSSU senior
Myiesha Speight, vice
president of the school's
Sigma Tau Delta
International English
Honor Society and an
aspiring author. Speight
added that lack of confi
dence isn't a challenge she
expects to face.
"If you have one person
believing in you, it has to
be you," commented the 21
year-old. "You have to be
the biggest person in your
corner."
Writing requires cre
ativity and perseverance,
Weber said.
"You have to sit at the
computer every single day,
even if you're working on
the same doggone para
graph, and that happens a
lot," he remarked.
"Don't think you have
an original idea - there's no
such thing as an original
idea when you're writing a
novel." Weber added. "It's
all been done before, but
it's all about how you do
it."
The best authors are the
ones who know how to take
the good with the bad,
accepting criticism as it
comes. Weber believes.
"You have to be able to
take constructive criticism
to the ninth degree if you're
going to be a good author,"
he said. "My book is read
by 20 people before it gets
to the publisher ... that's
how you put together a
book that people are going
to like because now you
know all the flaws."
Weber joined the world
of novelists during a time
that he considers a "golden
age" for African American
authors, a time when black
bookstores were booming
and publishers were clam
oring for new names to
populate the shelves of
those who catered to the
thriving niche market.
"This was one of the
few situations where we
were in a better position
than just about anybody
else in the world," he said.
"\Ve became the highest
paid group (of authors)
from 1996-2008, of any
ethnicity. Every publishing
company wanted their own
black person - it's the truth
- and they all went out and
signed somebody."
Tunes are harder for
black authors now, thanks
to the rise of e-books,
Weber said.
"There used to be
somewhere in the neigh
borhood of 600 black
bookstores in the United
States. Every major city
had one," Weber said.
"Now, you can probably
count the black bookstores
on your hands - maybe
there's 15 - and they all
went out of business
because of Nooks and
things, because if electron
ic books are being down
loaded, there's no need to
go and patronize the black
bookstores.
"You guys are at a dis
advantage because there
aren't as many bookstores
as there used to be, which
means you're going to have
to work twice as hard as
you did in the past." he
said.
Speight, a Maryland
native, said she believes
Weber's advice will serve
her well in the future
"I love hearing from
authors because it gives me
perspective of what I can
do when I start writing and
what I'm getting into," she
said. "...From what I read,
he is a really exceptional
author."
WSSU alumnus Nick
Gilchrist said hearing from
Weber was an empowering
experience for him.
"It was really inspira
tional," said Gilchrist, who
graduated in May. "Just
being this close to some
body who's been on the
New York Times
Bestsellers list and seeing
he's just a regular guy with
some good ideas, that lets
me know that it's not such
an unattainable goal."
For more information
about Weber, visit
wwwjcarl weberjiet.
Photo by Lay la Garras
(Top) Author Carl Weber
holds his latest book as
he speaks.
(Right) Nick Gilchrist
shows off a book Weber
gave him during the
presentation.
(Below) Sigma Tau Delta
(Theta Mu Chapter)
President Chani Ford
(left) and Vice President
Myiesha Speight.
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from page AI
just so many issues with
it."
State Rep. Evelyn
Terry, a Democrat who
chairs the Forsyth County
DSS Board, said she ini
tially spoke against the
bill but ended up voting
for it.
"The original lan
guage did not definitively
prevent a local DSS
worker from denying
benefits to somebody,"
she said. "...That's why I
spoke against it."
A revision of the bill
alleviated her concerns
and earned her vote.
"When it came
through with the markup,
it was fixed. 1 said,
'Okay, I'll support it, as
long as children and
those persons who need
benefits will not be
adversely affected ...
because I don't want
criminals to walk away
with benefits they
shouldn't have," she
explained. "It appeared to
be amended to not
adversely impact those
people who needed and
qualified for the benefit."
After voting "aye,"
Terry said she learned
that the bill was not nec
e s s a r y
because it
addressed
issues that
were already
covered under
existing state
and federal
regulations.
Nancy
Young, vice
chair of the
Forsyth
County Department of
Social Services Board,
said the agency already
has the ability to test
clients if drug abuse is
suspected, and that many
checks are already in
place in the system to
address breaches of the
government-issued funds.
"These are clients that
are interacted with on a
very regular basis, so if
there are issues, our case
workers are going to
notice that, our employ
ers are going to notice
that," said Young, direc
tor of Public and Media
Relations at Winston
Salem State
university.
"There are a lot
of safeguards in
place."
Young
likened the law
to "trying to kill
a flea with a
jackhammer."
"I personally
have an issue
with it because
II 9 aajrmg
you're guilty until proven
innocent," she stated. "It
just bothers me that they
would require that."
The American Civil
Liberties Union of North
Carolina believes the bill
is more than unfair; it
says it is likely illegal.
"It's very disappoint
ing that the legislature
put so much effort into
passing this cruel and
constitutionally-suspect
bill. HB 392 does nothing
to help those who test
positive for drug use get
treatment, but it does
allow the government to
conduct costly, unneces
sary and unreasonably
intrusive searches of
North Carolinians who
seek public assistance to
care for their families,"
Sarah Preston, ACLU
NC's policy director, said
in a statement. "...
Evidence shows that pub
lic aid applicants are no
more likely to use drugs.
than the general public,
and similar programs in
other states have been
found to be unconstitu
tional and fiscally waste
ful."
ACLU-NC also high
lighted a similar law put
in place by Florida legis
lators in 2011 that was
promptly ruled unconsti
tutional by a federal
court.
i
Ymmmg
I? 1
Photo by Todd Lock
Sen. Earline Parmons says the law is bad news.
At AT&T, we believe there's
only one thing to know
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- just don't do it. Not ever.
The AT&T "It Can Wait"
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That's why AT&T supports
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Rethink Possible'\
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