Bonus Episode: Was the Fuss Worth It: A Conversation with Phil on Double Dutch Fuss

MINISODE: Faith, Diaspora & the Romance You Didn't Know You Needed ft. Unoma Nwankwor

Join Niccara as she welcomes Unoma Nwankwor, author of faith-filled Black romance with African spice, to the pod! We talk about her Rental Bae series, writing love stories rooted in diaspora identity and African cultural depth, and why her books aren't about converting anyone — they're about giving hope back to readers who've been doing life on their own for a little too long. Plus, she gives us the first exclusive look at her upcoming series Saints of the Father. Perfect for readers who appreciate Black romance with cultural richness, faith and redemption arcs, diaspora identity and belonging, swoony tropes done with intention, and stories that remind you joy is part of the African experience too. Make sure you check out Unoma Nwankwor's work wherever you get your books! Follow Us: @butmakeitbookspod [instagram.com/butmakeitbookspod] | @thebookishhottie [instagram.com/thebookishhottie] | bookishlyhealing.com [bookishlyhealing.com ] Follow & Find Unoma Nwankwor: unomanwankwor.com [unomanwankwor.com] | @unomanwankwor [https://www.instagram.com/unwankwor/] Shop With Us: Use our Mahogany Books link with code BMIB Don't forget to rate, subscribe and review! Keeping it real...but make it books. Peace y'all Mentioned in this episode: African Ancestry We are the pioneers of genetic ancestry tracing for Black people globally, reconnecting you to your specific African roots–the country and the people. Our scientists compare your DNA markers to the largest African reference database in the world in order to find your African origin up to 2000 years ago. African Ancestry [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/african-ancestry] The Seven Daughters of Dupree Pre-Order Offer  Nikisha Elise Williams, the host of the Black and Published podcast, is celebrating the release of her forthcoming novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. This historical fiction novel is about the secrets kept between mothers and daughters over the course of seven generations and is told backwards in time from 1995 to 1860. The Seven Daughters of Dupree will be released on January 27th, 2026, but is available for pre-order now at MahoganyBooks.com. Please consider pre-ordering The Seven Daughters of Dupree today. African Ancestry We are the pioneers of genetic ancestry tracing for Black people globally, reconnecting you to your specific African roots–the country and the people. Our scientists compare your DNA markers to the largest African reference database in the world in order to find your African origin up to 2000 years ago. African Ancestry [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/african-ancestry]

Bonus Episode: Was the Fuss Worth It: A Conversation with Phil on Double Dutch Fuss

Join Niccara as she welcomes author, filmmaker, and storyteller Phill to the pod for a conversation that starts with a little boy in Newark who just wanted to jump Double Dutch, and ends up somewhere deeply, beautifully human. We talk about his debut memoir The Double Dutch Fuss [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/doubledutchfuss], an unflinching exploration of Black masculinity, imagination, and survival, and what it costs when the world decides who you're supposed to be before you even get the chance to find out. We get into the surveillance state of Black boyhood, how men evade accountability while women carry everything, navigating love and intimacy when distrust is all you've ever been handed, the complicated road back to a father who wasn't there, and what forgiveness actually costs you — including in your other relationships. Plus: eating cereal at Stevie Wonder's kitchen table, listening to the Velvet Rope before the rest of the world, and still asking when is it my time. Perfect for readers drawn to honest, searching memoirs about Black identity, queer experience, masculinity, chosen imagination, and the slow, nonlinear work of learning to love yourself. Make sure you pick up The Double Dutch Fuss [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/doubledutchfuss] wherever you get your books — support indie if you can! Follow & Find Phil: @phillbranch [https://www.instagram.com/phillbranch] | phillbranch.com [http://phillbranch.com] Follow Us: @butmakeitbookspod [instagram.com/butmakeitbookspod] | @thebookishhottie [instagram.com/thebookishhottie] | bookishlyhealing.com [http://bookishlyhealing.com/] Shop With Us: Use our The Double Dutch Fuss [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/doubledutchfuss] with code BMIB Don't forget to rate, subscribe and review! Keeping it real...but make it books. Mentioned in this episode: African Ancestry We are the pioneers of genetic ancestry tracing for Black people globally, reconnecting you to your specific African roots–the country and the people. Our scientists compare your DNA markers to the largest African reference database in the world in order to find your African origin up to 2000 years ago. African Ancestry [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/african-ancestry] The Seven Daughters of Dupree Pre-Order Offer  Nikisha Elise Williams, the host of the Black and Published podcast, is celebrating the release of her forthcoming novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. This historical fiction novel is about the secrets kept between mothers and daughters over the course of seven generations and is told backwards in time from 1995 to 1860. The Seven Daughters of Dupree will be released on January 27th, 2026, but is available for pre-order now at MahoganyBooks.com. Please consider pre-ordering The Seven Daughters of Dupree today. African Ancestry We are the pioneers of genetic ancestry tracing for Black people globally, reconnecting you to your specific African roots–the country and the people. Our scientists compare your DNA markers to the largest African reference database in the world in order to find your African origin up to 2000 years ago. African Ancestry [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/african-ancestry]

The Stories We Tell Ourselves: A Conversation with Leslie Gray Streeter on Family & Other Calamities

Join Niccara as she welcomes Baltimore-born columnist, author, and truth teller Leslie Gray Streeter to the pod! We talk about her debut novel Family & Other Calamities — a sharp, funny, and deeply human story about a journalist who returns home to Baltimore to bury her late husband's ashes and discovers that the friend who stole her story 30 years ago is now making it into a movie, and she's the villain. We get into what it costs to leave and how your absence gives some license to tell your story, the danger charm and how that allows others to get away with too much, why being right doesn't mean your hands are clean, and how younger generations can hold us accountable. Plus: our shared Baltimore love, the Ivy Hotel, Marta brunch, and why you need to talk to your elders while you still can. Perfect for readers who love sharp, character-driven fiction about women reckoning with the truth: about the news, about their families, and about themselves. Make sure you pick up Family & Other Calamities wherever you get your books and then go read Black Widow because she's been doing this, and it shows. Follow & Find Leslie Gray Streeter: lesliegraystreeter.com [http://lesliegraystreeter.com/] | @lesliegraystreeter on Instagram, Threads & Blue Sky | Baltimore Banner Follow Us: @butmakeitbookspod [instagram.com/butmakeitbookspod] | @thebookishhottie [instagram.com/thebookishhottie] | bookishlyhealing.com [http://bookishlyhealing.com/] Shop With Us: Use our Mahogany Books link with code BMIB Don't forget to rate, subscribe and review! Keeping healing...but make it books. Peace y'all Mentioned in this episode: The Seven Daughters of Dupree Pre-Order Offer  Nikisha Elise Williams, the host of the Black and Published podcast, is celebrating the release of her forthcoming novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. This historical fiction novel is about the secrets kept between mothers and daughters over the course of seven generations and is told backwards in time from 1995 to 1860. The Seven Daughters of Dupree will be released on January 27th, 2026, but is available for pre-order now at MahoganyBooks.com. Please consider pre-ordering The Seven Daughters of Dupree today. African Ancestry We are the pioneers of genetic ancestry tracing for Black people globally, reconnecting you to your specific African roots–the country and the people. Our scientists compare your DNA markers to the largest African reference database in the world in order to find your African origin up to 2000 years ago. African Ancestry [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/african-ancestry] African Ancestry We are the pioneers of genetic ancestry tracing for Black people globally, reconnecting you to your specific African roots–the country and the people. Our scientists compare your DNA markers to the largest African reference database in the world in order to find your African origin up to 2000 years ago. African Ancestry [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/african-ancestry]

What We Pass Down: A Conversation with Nikesha Elise Williams on Seven Daughters of Dupree

Join Niccara as she welcomes award-winning author, journalist, and two-time Emmy Award-winning television producer Nikesha Elise Williams to the pod! We talk about her sweeping debut with Simon & Schuster, Seven Daughters of Dupree: a multigenerational saga tracing seven generations of Black women from 1860 to the present day, bound together by legacy, love, loss, and a curse that only a daughter can break. We get into the enslaved ancestor whose story sets everything in motion, why hair is both inheritance and survival in this novel, what secrecy truly costs the women of this bloodline, the intimacy Black people have always had to carry about white folks just to stay safe, and the quiet call of the land pulling Black people back to the South. Plus Nikesha reads from the prologue and we spiral beautifully into hot combs, Saturday nights, and every Black girl's sensory memory. Perfect for readers who love multigenerational Black family sagas, stories rooted in the Black South, and honest reckoning with what we carry, what we keep secret, and what we dare to pass on differently. Make sure you pick up The Seven Daughters of Dupree [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/7-daughters-preorder] wherever you get your books, and run it up! Follow & Find Nikesha Elise Williams: @nikesha_elise [https://www.instagram.com/nikesha_elise/?hl=en] | newwrites.com [http://newwrites.com/] | Black & Publish Podcast [https://www.instagram.com/blkandpublished/] Follow Us: @butmakeitbookspod [instagram.com/butmakeitbookspod] | @thebookishhottie [instagram.com/thebookishhottie] | bookishlyhealing.com [http://bookishlyhealing.com/] Shop With Us: Use our Mahogany Books link with code BMIB The Seven Daughters of Dupree [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/7-daughters-preorder] Don't forget to rate, subscribe and review! Keeping it real...but make it books. Peace y'all Mentioned in this episode: African Ancestry We are the pioneers of genetic ancestry tracing for Black people globally, reconnecting you to your specific African roots–the country and the people. Our scientists compare your DNA markers to the largest African reference database in the world in order to find your African origin up to 2000 years ago. African Ancestry [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/african-ancestry] The Seven Daughters of Dupree Pre-Order Offer  Nikisha Elise Williams, the host of the Black and Published podcast, is celebrating the release of her forthcoming novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. This historical fiction novel is about the secrets kept between mothers and daughters over the course of seven generations and is told backwards in time from 1995 to 1860. The Seven Daughters of Dupree will be released on January 27th, 2026, but is available for pre-order now at MahoganyBooks.com. Please consider pre-ordering The Seven Daughters of Dupree today. African Ancestry We are the pioneers of genetic ancestry tracing for Black people globally, reconnecting you to your specific African roots–the country and the people. Our scientists compare your DNA markers to the largest African reference database in the world in order to find your African origin up to 2000 years ago. African Ancestry [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/african-ancestry]

The Concessions We Make: A She Well Read x But Make It Books Collab

Join Niccara as she links up with Lana and Samra of She Well Read for a conversation that starts with a book and ends up saying everything. We dig into Amy DuBois Barnett's If I Ruled the World — a 90s New York story following a Black editor navigating ambition, power, and survival at the intersection of hip hop and high fashion — and we don't let it go without pulling the thread all the way through. We talk about what it costs Black women to be seen in industries that were never built for them, the misogyny baked into hip hop then and now, how we were raised on shame instead of power, and the quiet ways we make concessions just to stay in the room. Plus: natural hair, predators with platforms, men crashing out, and why Nikki at the end of the book is absolutely who you want to have brunch with. Perfect for readers who love stories about Black women's ambition and self-discovery, and for anyone reckoning with the 90s: nostalgia, rose-colored glasses and all. Make sure you pick up "If I Ruled the World" from where you get your books and stay tuned because it's becoming a TV show! Follow & Find She Well Read: @shewellread [instagram.com/shewellread] | TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@shewellread], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/shewellread] & Threads [https://www.threads.com/@shewellread?xmt=AQF0JX0IecwrklzJibu8atLO5n18g3TXuh2RC4Pp60zE018] Follow Us: @butmakeitbookspod [instagram.com/butmakeitbookspod] | @thebookishhottie [instagram.com/thebookishhottie] | bookishlyhealing.com [http://bookishlyhealing.com/] Shop With Us: Use our Mahogany Books link with code BMIB If I Ruled the World [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/ifiruledtheworld] Don't forget to rate, subscribe and review! Keep healing...but make it books. Peace y'all Mentioned in this episode: African Ancestry We are the pioneers of genetic ancestry tracing for Black people globally, reconnecting you to your specific African roots–the country and the people. Our scientists compare your DNA markers to the largest African reference database in the world in order to find your African origin up to 2000 years ago. African Ancestry [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/african-ancestry] The Seven Daughters of Dupree Pre-Order Offer  Nikisha Elise Williams, the host of the Black and Published podcast, is celebrating the release of her forthcoming novel, The Seven Daughters of Dupree. This historical fiction novel is about the secrets kept between mothers and daughters over the course of seven generations and is told backwards in time from 1995 to 1860. The Seven Daughters of Dupree will be released on January 27th, 2026, but is available for pre-order now at MahoganyBooks.com. Please consider pre-ordering The Seven Daughters of Dupree today. African Ancestry We are the pioneers of genetic ancestry tracing for Black people globally, reconnecting you to your specific African roots–the country and the people. Our scientists compare your DNA markers to the largest African reference database in the world in order to find your African origin up to 2000 years ago. African Ancestry [https://but-make-it-books.captivate.fm/african-ancestry]