Alpharetta Author Wants To Make a Difference — $1.25 At A Time

ALPHARETTA, GA — Author Derek A. Brown Sr., a new resident of Alpharetta, wants to put his money where his mouth is and help families in need with a portion of the proceeds of his book sales.

As an entrepreneur, husband, and father of 3, Brown knows full well the struggles of trying to get by in day to day life. Born in the inner city of St. Louis, Missouri to a young, single mother and a father who drowned a few years after his birth, Derek has only really known one way of life. Struggle.

"I remember growing up and one of the places we lived only had radiator heat. One was in the kitchen and the other in the front bedroom where my mom slept," Brown said. "In the winter, since there was no heat in the rest of the apartment, if we needed to use the toilet, we would have to go in the bathroom fully dressed (coat and all). When we had to take a bath, we would fill the porcelain tub with all hot water to make the bathroom steamy. Then after you got done bathing, you would quickly dry off, get fully dressed again, exit, and start your day. We did this for years and it was in the 1980's."

Derek said that it is memories like those that have really fueled his desire to find a way to help people in need.

"Philanthropy has always been something I have aspired to do, but I have never really had the means. I have done it on a small scale, but never how I have wanted," he said. "If you have never been poor, you won't understand the seriousness of giving or the thankfulness of receiving." Brown plans to use his books as a launchpad for his philanthropy.

Brown began his journey as an author in 1998 after attending a poetry reading at a local jazz club in St. Louis.

"I only went for the girls," Derek said, but when he left, he didn't have a single phone number. He did, however, have a hot new relationship with poetry and 3 years later they gave birth to his first book under his publishing company Jet Brown Publications.

The book was titled "The Things Your Man Won't Say and Do...(but should). It was a love poetry book broken down into four chapters on how a man should approach, court, date and then marry the woman he loves without fear. To some, the book was a small scale success, but for Brown, it was a giant leap towards his vision.

The books sold in local bookstores as well as larger chains like Borders and Barnes and Noble. He also had books for sale on Amazon which allowed him to reach fans outside of St. Louis. Each year after that, for three years, Derek released a new book: "Words Can Explain", "XXXplicit Lyrics", and "Da Flip Side". All but the last book is erotica. He says he chose erotic poetry because "the world needs more love."

Sales were moderate and the cost of printing made it difficult for the independent author to remain stocked. Not to mention that he had just gotten married and a new addition to the family was on the way. Now the resources that were once allocated for books had to go towards taking care of his new obligations, so he reluctantly put his books on the back burner.

After taking a hiatus of over decade to deal with life and a painful divorce which left him homeless for a while, Derek has returned to the literary scene with 3 new books: Haiku's, Quotes, and Sh*tty Photograhy (coming soon as a coffee table book), "The 4P's: Basic Principals to Help Perspective Husbands" (which was written with his new wife), and his most recent release "Going Through the Motions...the plight of your average black man in America" (a compilation of blog and journal entries).

It seems as though Brown has not only regained his literary legs, he has also found a new affordable platform to stretch them out on. Electronic books. All of his work is now available in e-book format, which brings us to the purpose of this article.

Derek has set a goal to sell 1,000,000 downloads of his digital literature before the year ends. His prices start at $1.25 for a single e-book and up to $6.25 for a collection of four. He also has wallpapers, a 40 episode video series, audio tracks, and you can pre-order hard copies of his two most recent releases. There are even some free items available.

When asked why he marked his prices on the products so low, he said "I want people to be able to afford my work. What good is a great product if the people you want to have it can't pay for it?" He says he would make them all free, but he has to be able to provide for his own family as well.

From the sales of the digital products, Mr. Brown wants to use a large portion of the proceeds to help American families and local organizations in need. "There are far too many people in this country a paycheck or medical emergency away from disaster" says Brown. "I know first hand what that feels like because I have lived it" he continued. He says there is no worse feeling than needing to have money to pay your bills or feed your family and there is none.

"Have you ever put $.48 in your gas tank before when gas was almost $3?" he asked with a serious look on his face. "I have and it was nothing to laugh about," he continued. "There are philanthropists out there doing great things, but it's all overseas or going to causes that are not pertinent to the masses. We need to take care of home and our neighbors first, then we can branch out."

As a man who has experienced hardships on multiple levels, he says he wants to take his God given gifts and use them to make a difference. "Nothing makes me happier than to be able to give, even if it's nothing more than an encouraging word. Unfortunately though, as nice as encouraging words are, you can't use them to pay bills, get groceries or anything else only money can buy," says Brown.

His favorite quote is by Abraham Lincoln and it says "You can't help the poor by being one of them." Derek says that passage has forever changed how he views the positive power of money and wealth. "I will become a multi-millionaire and when I do, know this, I will not be selfish. I plan to share a great deal of it with people I see in need."

He went on to say, "I have calculated how my family and I can live comfortably and it doesn't take a million bucks a year." laughs Brown. When asked if he thought he would meet his goal, he simply said "there are 7.6 billion people on earth, I'm sure there has to be at least a few that will support my cause to help me help others."

To assist Mr. Brown in meeting his goal of becoming the #dollar25philanthropist and sell 1,000,000 downloads, visit his page at www.payhip.com/whoisderekandre and purchase a book or two. Also feel free to be social with Derek on his website at www.whoisderekandre.com, Instagram @i_am_derekandre, Facebook at Who Is Derek Andre, Twitter @derekandre1024, Art-O-Graphs Tees, and Youtube Who Is Derek Andre TV.

Derek Brown is also an award winning filmmaker, motivator and a popular Youtuber with over 15k subscribers.

Photo Credit: Karrian Brown