ESSENCE Kicks Off Its Summer Fiction Series With an Exclusive Preview of Terry McMillan's 'Waiting To Exhale' Sequel

NEW YORK, May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- ESSENCE kicks off its Summer Fiction Series with an unprecedented exclusive. Nationally acclaimed author Terry McMillan will feature a four-part preview to Getting To Happy—her highly anticipated sequel to the best-selling book, Waiting to Exhale. The first excerpt will be featured in ESSENCE's June 2010 issue and will continue through the September 2010 issue.

In Getting To Happy, McMillan fast-forwards 15 years and catches readers up on the lives of Exhale's four beloved characters—Gloria, Robin, Bernadine, and Savannah. Getting to Happy will be released by Viking on September 7, 2010.

"This is the publishing event of the year," said Patrik Henry Bass, ESSENCE senior editor. "ESSENCE is ecstatic that we are able to feature this preview from this highly anticipated sequel exclusively. This coup also speaks to ESSENCE's literary legacy for the past 40 years, as well as the extraordinary strength of the brand. We also know that ESSENCE readers will be in for a treat as McMillan shares the latest on their favorite characters."

For 40 years ESSENCE, the preeminent magazine for African-American women, has been the leading gateway for emerging African-American literary talent, celebrating established authors and reflecting publishing trends within the African-American community. McMillan joins a cadre of writers—including Bebe Moore Campbell, Gloria Naylor and many others—who first came to the attention of readers through ESSENCE's pages. She is also one of only a few authors who have been featured on ESSENCE's cover for its June 1996 issue. In 2008, McMillan was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award during The ESSENCE Literary Awards.

McMillan is known for her works that have brought her critical acclaim over the years—including Mama, Disappearing Acts and The Interruption of Everything. However, it was her blockbuster hit Waiting to Exhale—which has sold millions of copies—that marked the beginning of her ascent to literary stardom. Exhale was turned into a major film, as was McMillan's novel, How Stella Got Her Groove Back. While an undergrad in 1974, McMillan won ESSENCE magazine's first college essay contest for her piece, Black Men and Women: Are We Closer Together or Farther Apart?

The ESSENCE Best-Sellers List, which appears each month in the magazine and online, is the foremost measure of book sales within the African-American community. In 2006, ESSENCE also launched the ESSENCE Recommended Read Book Club, one of the largest book clubs of its kind with 4,000 members. Throughout the year, ESSENCE selects a recently released, classic fiction or non-fiction title by an African-American author to be highlighted.  Each selected title features the Essence Book Club Recommended Read logo on the book's cover. More often than not, a chosen Essence Book Club title shows an increase over an author's previous sales.

ABOUT ESSENCE COMMUNICATIONS INC.:

Essence Communications Inc. (ECI) is the number one media and communications company dedicated to African-American women.  With a multi-platform presence in publishing, live events, and online, the Essence brand is "Where Black Women Come First".  The company's flagship publication, ESSENCE magazine, is the preeminent lifestyle magazine for African-American women; generating brand extensions such as the Essence Music Festival, ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood, Window on Our Women (WOW I & II) and Smart Beauty I, II & III consumer insights, the Essence Book Club, Essence.com, and ventures in digital media (mobile, television and VOD). For 40 years, ESSENCE magazine, which has a brand reach of over 8 million, has been the leading source of cutting-edge information relating to every area of African-American women's lives.  Additional information about ECI and ESSENCE is available at www.essence.com.

SOURCE ESSENCE Magazine