My name is Marissa Wells and I am a contributing writer for the Los Angeles Wave Newspaper, the largest group of community newspapers in Los Angeles. For the past five years I've coordinated the weekly column, "Book Corner," in the West edition of the newspaper where I highlight fiction and nonfiction books that empower, entertain, and educate consumers. Through the success of this column, I've built relationships with local authors and readers and would like to further strengthen this connection through the launch of Wells Read Book Club. Wells Read caters to young women, especially Black women, living in South Los Angeles. As a South LA native, I have a deep appreciation for authors in my community. Prior to the book column, I had no knowledge of all of our literary talent and I want to share it with our community. Wells Read will be an intimate platform for local authors to present their books to their community and for their community to have access to authors who pen content that directly relates to our lived experiences. Will you partner with us?