L. Peggy Hicks
CEO of TriCom Publicity Inc. and TriCom Podcast Inc.

Ms. Hicks is the CEO of TriCom Publicity Inc., a Literary Publicity/Marketing and Internet Design company, which she founded in July 1995 and CEO of its new subsidiary, TriCom Podcast founded in 2006.

The marketing & publicity division of TriCom in has successfully worked with the 3-Day Novel Contest, Avalon Publishing Group, Avon Books, Ballantine Books, Basic Civitas Books, Black Expressions, Carroll & Graf Publishers, Dafina Books, Divas For A Cure Organization, Dutton Publishing, Fireside Books, Harper Collins, Harlequin, Hatchette Book Group, Hilton Publishing, I-Traffic, Judson Press, Kensington Publishing, MidWest Literary Festival, Nation Books, Kimani Press, New American Library, One World Books, Penguin Group (USA), Pinnacle Books, Plume Publishing, Random House Group, Time Warner Bookgroup, Touchstone, Simon and Schuster, Inc., St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's-Griffin, St. Martin's-Minotaur, Strapless Books, Strivers Row, Urban Books, Urban Soul, Villard, WalkWorthy Press, William-Morrow Publishing, Zebra Books promoting over 300 authors including mainstream, African-American and Latino. Her client list includes both New York Times best-selling authors and up-and-coming authors.

The latest subsidiary, TriCom Podcast Inc. was launched in April of 2006 to rave reviews from Publisher's Weekly, iTunes, MySpace.com and avid readers and bookclubs around the world after debuting its weekly, free subscription-based graphically enhanced podcast shows "Authors In Your Pocket" and "Bookclub In Your Pocket. TriCom Podcast's ground-breaking "graphically enhanced" podcasts are consistantly ranked in the top 50 Arts: Literature podcast downloaded by iTunes users around the world. Hicks is recognized as a leader in the literary PodCast revolution by using a target-marketing podcast approach to promote book sales, they capitalizes on the burgeoning explosion of digital entertainment use in the mainstream population. Her goal is to bring avid readers around the world active literary content about authors, books and bookclubs.

Winner of the Black Business Owner of the Year in 1996, and the Business Owner of the Year in 2001. She was recently named one of the 50 Most Successful African-American's in the Publishing Industry, One of the Powers Behind Black Books, and was honored by the Memphis Black Writers Conference & Southern Film Festival receiving the "Best Literary Publicist" Award in 2004. Hicks and her clients have been consistently featured in the New York Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Publisher's Weekly, Publisher's Weekly Dailey Buzz, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, Essence Magazine, Upscale Magazine, Ebony Magazine, Black Enterprise, Today's Black Woman, Black Issues Book Review, Quarterly Black Book Review, Library Journal, Kirkus Book Reviews, and countless newspapers and websites around the world. She continues to be an inspiration and mentor to readers, bookclubs and up-and-coming literary professionals.

Ms. Hicks is honored to be serving on the Literary Sub-committee for the 38th Annual NAACP Image Awards® to select the best African-American fiction title of 2006. The NAACP Image Awards® recognizes the artistic achievements of people of color, and honors projects and individuals that promote diversity in the arts. The winner will be announced at the televised Awards show in Hollywood which will be aired on Friday, March 2, 2007 at 8:00PM on FOX.

Email: Lpeggy@tricomweb.com

Jennifer Dyer
Executive Marketing/Publicity Analyst

Jenn has been with TriCom since 2000. She is currently working on her Associates in Art degree at Rock Valley College (3.2 GPA - Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society), and will continure school to acquire a Bachelors in Art, pursuing a career in photo-journalism. Jenn is also a partner and President of the new TriCom Podcast subsidiary. Her talent and vision as an artist and writing skills of a budding journalist, help her integrate the stunning visual aspects of TriCom's ground breaking "graphically enhanced" podcasts with skillfully written scripts.

Email: jdyer@tricomweb.com

Lauren Chapple
Publicity/Marketing Assistant I

Lauren is a 2003 graduate of the Auburn High School Academic Gifted and Performing Arts High School in Rockford, IL. She is attending Bay Path College, in Longmeadow, MA with an academic scholarship to pursue her degree in Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice Administration (3.8 GPA). She is currently serving as the President of the Class of 2007. Although she will no longer be with TriCom during the school year, she looks forward to interning during her breaks from school.

Email: Lchapple@tricomweb.com

Nikhil Prashar
Internet Development Analyst

Nikhil has been with TriCom since 2001. Currently, he is completing his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Aside from reading, his interests include transportation modeling and sustainable development.

Gerry Martin
Publicity/Marketing Assistant

Gerry is the newest addition to the TriCom staff and has over 25 years of customer service experience. She is an avid reader and loves working with people.

Email: gmartin@tricomweb.com

Jeanette Franco
Intern

Jeanette will be interning with TriCom this year. She is very excited about learning the business, and never fails to go that extra mile for our clients.

Ivon Valdovinos
Intern

Ivon will be interning with TriCom this year. She loves to read, and is very excited about working with our literary clients.

Candaleria Franco
Shipping/Receiving Clerk

A new hire since March '05. If you have received a package from TriCom, it has probably been sent by Candy. She always helps in improving our shipping and receiving methods, to better serve our clients.

Monica Valdovinos
Shipping/Receiving Clerk

A new hire since March '05, she is responsible for all bookclub mailings for TriCom. She and Candy are responsible for over 10,000 books sent to books clubs nationally each year.