Official Tumblr of We Need Diverse Books

Walter Grants are open for submissions now through August 31, 2021! We will award 8 grants of $2000 to unpublished diverse writers & illustrators, including 3 brand new grants, thanks to donors Angie Thomas, A.M. Dassu, Margaret Owen, & Hanna Alkaf.

We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) will no longer use the term #OwnVoices to refer to children’s literature or its authors and we have removed mentions of #OwnVoices from previously published blog posts. Moving forward, WNDB will use specific descriptions that authors use for themselves and their characters whenever possible (for example, “Korean American author,” or “autistic protagonist”).

#OwnVoices was created as a hashtag by author Corinne Duyvis in September 2015. It was originally intended as a shorthand book recommendation tool in a Twitter thread, for readers to recommend books by authors who openly shared the diverse identity of their main characters. The hashtag was never intended to be used in a broader capacity, but it has since expanded in its use to become a “catch all” marketing term by the publishing industry. Using #OwnVoices in this capacity raises issues due to the vagueness of the term, which has then been used to place diverse creators in uncomfortable and potentially unsafe situations. It is important to use the language that authors want to celebrate about themselves and their characters.

We Need Diverse Books believes in supporting diverse authors and their books, and we will continue to uplift their voices through our programming.

[Image description: Graphic featuring a tiled background of diverse book covers, the WNDB logo, and text that reads, “Why We Need Diverse Books Is No Longer Using the Term #OwnVoices.”]

(Source: diversebooks.org)

Congratulations to the inaugural cohort of the Black Creatives Fund Revisions Workshop! They will receive training from a small faculty of esteemed Black authors to complete revisions of their manuscript and to submit their novel to a team of editors at Penguin Random House (PRH).

Read more about them here.

[Image description: Graphic featuring the headshot photos of the 2021 BCF Revisions Workshop cohort: Trae Hawkins, Erika J, Ashley Jordan, Ashton Lattimore, Ebonie Ledbetter, Ashleigh Martin, True Michelle, Latina Ramsey, Stephanie Raye, S.P. Rose, P.C. Verrone, and Alyn Wallace. The text reads, “2021 Black Creatives Revisions Workshop Participants”.]

(Source: diversebooks.org)

ONE WEEK left to apply for our Black Creatives Revisions Workshop with Penguin Random House! Black writers, here’s your chance to complete revisions on your manuscript with the help of instructors Jewell Parker Rhodes, Jason Mott, Karen Strong, Nic Stone, & Nicole Dennis-Benn!

Info & application: http://bit.ly/BCFRevision

(Source: bit.ly)

Help support Black creatives! This month 100% of the profits from this Out of Print design will go to our Black Creatives Fund, which aims to support new and existing Black writers and illustrators via mentorship, workshops, and community-building.

(Source: outofprint.com)

ICYMI — We’ve revealed some stunning book covers recently! Check ‘em out on diversebooks.org!

THE MIRROR SEASON by Anna-Marie McLemore (03/16/21) | art by @marlygallardo | design by Liz Dresner - “An unforgettable story of trauma and healing, told in achingly beautiful prose with great tenderness and care."—Karen M. McManus

MEET CUTE DIARY by Emery Lee (05/04/21) | art by @motekill​ | design byErin Ferdinand - ”[A] swoon-worthy, heartfelt rom-com about how a transgender teen’s first love challenges his ideas about perfect relationships.“

HEALER OF THE WATER MONSTER by Brian Young (05/11/21) | art by Shonto Begay - "A middle-grade chapter book about a young Navajo boy who gets lost in the desert and comes across a sick water monster from the Navajo Creation Story.”

LOVE & OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS by Misa Sugiura (06/08/21) | art by Hannah Good | design by Alison Klapthor - “[A] delightfully disastrous queer YA rom-com… When Nozomi Nagai pictured the ideal summer romance, a fake one wasn’t what she had in mind.”

JO JO MAKOONS by Dawn Quigley (05/11/21) | art by Tara Audibert | design by Andrea Vandergrift - “Jo Jo Makoons Azure is a spirited seven-year-old who moves through the world a little differently than anyone else on her Ojibwe reservation…”

FAT CHANCE, CHARLIE VEGA by @crystalwrote (02/02/21) | art by Ericka Lugo - “Coming of age as a Fat brown girl in a white Connecticut suburb is hard. Harder when your whole life is on fire, though.”

SISTERS OF THE NEVERSEA by Cynthia Leitich Smith (06/01/21) | art by Floyd Cooper | design by Catherine San Juan - “[A] modern take on J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, one that’s centered on its girl characters and told from a decidedly Indigenous point of view.”

FINDING JUNIE KIM by Ellen Oh (05/04/21) | art by Alex Cho | design by Joel Tippie - “[When] Junie decides to interview her grandparents, she soon uncovers their unbelievable tales of bravery as kids during the Korean War.”

HANI AND ISHU’S GUIDE TO FAKE DATING by Adiba Jaigirdar (05/25/21) | art by Nabi Haider Ali | design by Julia Tyler - “TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE meets LGBT romance in this funny, heart-warming rom-com about first love and identity.”

Writers and illustrators: applications for our 2021 Mentorship program are now OPEN! This year we’re selecting 15 Mentees to work with these amazing Mentors!

• Application
  
• Eligibility & Info
• Intro Videos
  

(Source: diversebooks.org)