What is Storymix Books and why are you launching it?
Over the last five years, Storymix has been creating and incubating high-concept, multi-award-winning inclusive fiction as a book packager.
We have worked with more than 50 writers and illustrators from the global majority in that time and the stories from our fiction studio have gone on to sell hundreds of thousands of copies that resonate deeply with families who rarely see themselves represented in books.
Storymix Books will be a micro-indie press that will sit alongside our packaging business. As a fiction incubator, we have seen incredible success, but we’ve seen a growing hesitancy to take on books featuring Black and brown protagonists over the past 18 months. I appreciate that it is a tough market. I appreciate the allure of “safe”, but I am not prepared to leave kids of colour off the bookshelves. Nor am I prepared to leave creators of colour out in the cold.
We’ll be starting very small and will be publishing one book next year. We’re partnering with UCLan Publishing for trade distribution but will also be experimenting with crowdfunding and selling directly to readers.
What is the story behind your first title, The Other Father Christmas?
It is time for a change. For decades, publishing has served up the same kind of festive story—a familiar “White Christmas” narrative that leaves so many families out of the picture.
The Other Father Christmas is about Mikey and his Gramps—a grieving grandfather from the Windrush generation. Once the heart of his community, running a Santa’s grotto every year with his wife, Gramps has lost his Christmas spirit since she passed away. Now, Gramps is on a wild adventure with Mikey to compete to become the next Father Christmas—and maybe, just maybe, find his way back to joy.
When Storymix did not sell this project to a publisher last year, I knew that it would not be the end of the road. The market is desperate for a more inclusive Christmas. You see it in the rise of brands like March Muses, which create diverse Christmas decorations and apparel. You see it in Christmas adverts that grab the headlines. Publishing might not be ready for a diverse Christmas, but readers are.
Co-written by Priscilla Mante and myself, and illustrated by the brilliant Shahab Shamshirsaz, The Other Father Christmas is filled with festive magic—and a whole lot of heart.
This post was originally published on here
