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About Us
The Reading and Writing SISTAZ (R.A.W. SISTAZ) Online Book Club was
founded by Tee C. Royal in September 2000 and focuses on reading, writing, and
discussing books primarily by African American Authors. We read three books a
month (one is optional) as a group: the Book of the Month (BOM), an
"Ole-school" book and an alternate book. Members vote via an online poll, the
alternate book is selected by the founder. We usually have an online chat with
the author of the BOM to further discuss the book and even offer other author
chats on most Tuesday nights of the month. See the Chat
Room schedule for more information.
History
The group was initially to be a small branch off of the SISTAZ (www.sistaz.org)
email loop, but because of the overwhelming interest from women outside the
organization, we decided on a separate entity to accommodate the incoming
requests for membership. We now have the main group and RAW4ALL, our literary
hang-out. The main group consists of approximately 50 women who are spread
across the globe reaching as far as Japan & England. RAW4ALL has the same goal
as the main group, but with fewer rules. Since the group is online, it offers
more than the normal meeting once a month to discuss books. We have active email
dialogue about books we've read, upcoming books, literary events, and we even
cross over into the writing arena. Some of the members are published authors
while some are aspiring to be authors and are encouraged to share their writing
tips and works for critique.
Our Goals
Our
Mission
To "Keep You In the Know"
by providing information to the African-American Literary Community
regarding books, authors, and other publishing industry news.
Vision
We offer our services and this site to promote
literacy amongst the African-American Community, to encourage our authors to
continue following their dreams and to encourage the open exchange of literary
information.
Primary Goal
To reach EVERYONE with an interest in the
African-American Literary Community
Motto
Our group is a great source of great books, following
dreams of being a writer, and motivates both the Readers and
Writers in the group. However, it is also a "home" for a lot
of us. We've established bonds with one another that allow us to call each
other "Sis" thus we've established the main motto of
"Combining Literature and Sisterhood."
**Our other motto used by our Founder and The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers is
"Keeping You in the Know Regarding the African American Literary Community." **
Accomplishments
We publish four literary newsletters: our monthly newsletter, The R.A.W.
SISTAZ Review, and our weekly reviews called: AA Books: R.A.W. Style. In
addition, we publish a daily Black Book Review and most recently, a weekly
newsletter for those interested in children's literature (RAW-Kidz Review). All
are packed with information geared towards the AA reader/writer and for those
who are lovers of reading...despite their race.
We have our own team of reviewers, The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers, and are featured
on many sites, in magazines, and have our own extensive database of reviews.
With our reviewers, you're guaranteed to get an honest assessment of a book in a
constructive way that we hope assists not only the author, but also the reader
as they make their reading selections.
RAWSISTAZ has been featured in Essence, Black Expressions Catalog, and other
literary sites and ezines.
Future Goals
We have major plans in the works to take RAWSISTAZ to the next level in
the literary industry. Stay tuned for more news in the upcoming months as we
showcase some of our new projects.
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