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Black Authors You Need to Know - Nov. 1 is National Authors Day.  BET.com honors 10 award-winning, best-selling Black authors you need to know. —Dominique Zonyéé(Photo: Eddie Brady/Getty Images)

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Maya Angelou - When you think of groundbreaking Black authors Maya Angelou always comes to mind. Angelou’s 1969 autobiographical novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings continues to top reading lists. Nominated for a National Book Award in 1970, it remained on The New York Times best-seller list for two years.(Brett Le Blanc / Gainesville Sun /Landov)

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Langston Hughes - One of the many faces of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes is etched in American history as one of the best African-American poets, novelists and playwrights. His books My People, The Weary Blues and I, Too Am America have won several awards.(Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Teri Woods - Teri Woods was one of the first Black authors to create the “urban” genre.  Woods was working at a law office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1992 when she penned the New York Times best seller True to the Game. On the heels of that, Woods turned the electrifying novel into a trilogy.(Photo: Courtesy of Teri Woods Publishing)

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Toni Morrison - Toni Morrison is one of few African-American authors to win a Pulitzer Prize (1988) and Nobel Peace Prize (1993). She won both for her groundbreaking novel Beloved, inspired by the story of a slave, which explores rape and other social issues. It was banned in the past for content and Morrison’s colorful language.(Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

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Ralph Waldo Ellison - Ralph Waldo Ellison is best known for his novel, Invisible Man, which won the National Book Award in 1953. It tells the story of a Black man's struggles to find his place in White American society.(photo: Library of Congress via Wikicommons)

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Sister Souljah - Sista Souljah went from ‘80s female emcee to author. Her 1999 street “bible” The Coldest Winter Ever, provided a crutch for young girls growing up in urban neighborhoods across the nation. Although mainstream spectators originally overlooked the novel, the sequel Midnight: A Gangster Love Story, peaked at No. 7 on the New York Times Best Seller’s List.(Photo: Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Chinua Achebe - Nigerian author Chinua Achebe’s 1958 novel Things Fall Apart was bolstered by international success in the 1950s, although it was initially met with skepticism in his native country and in West Africa. Things Fall Apart explores clashes between colonialism and culture, through the eyes of conflicted main character Okwonko. (Photo/Craig Ruttle, File/AP Photo)

Photo By Craig Ruttle/AP Photo

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James Baldwin - Mentor and friend to Maya Angelou, essayist James Baldwin is best known for his 1953 autobiographical novel, Go Tell It On the Mountain. And not only was he a writer, he was also known as an activist for the African-American and gay communities.(Photo: Jenkins/Getty Images)

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Alice Walker - Alice Walker’s The Color Purple is an American classic.  The critically acclaimed novel won both a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize. (Photo: Dana Nalbandian/WireImage/Getty Images)

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Terry McMillan - Terry McMillan has a host of best sellers under her belt including the 1992 classic Waiting to Exhale and the 1998 novel How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Both novels were later adapted into films.(Photo: Bennett Raglin/WireImage/Getty Images)