How you can support greater diversity and representation in children’s books?

Invest in Independent Publishers

At this point, it is not enough to rely on mainstream publishers. 

The statistics are so dire, a two-pronged approach is needed: more authors of colour are needed in traditional publishing but through independent publishing, newer disruptive narratives can be quickly and effectively fed into the market.  Mainstream publishing is much slower to approve and create books but via the vehicle of Tallawah Publishing, high quality essential books can be catapulted into worldwide bookstores without the need to wait for older models to not only recognise the problem but rapidly transform.   

Fundamentally, black authors should not have to wait for the industry to grow receptive to their stories, the publishing industry needs to change.  Tallawah Publishing is a catalyst in the metamorphosis that is needed by offering a platform to unheard voices and inspiring mainstream publishers to recognise the need for diverse books.

Give Children More Diverse Books

Think for a moment about the books you read and enjoyed as a child. What characters are the most memorable? Did they look or act like you?

The enormity of the problem is clear. An estimated 30% of school children in England are from ethnic minority backgrounds. However, the voices and the world portrayed in UK children’s books are largely white.  A report by the Centre For Literacy in Primary Education revealed that although the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic protagonists in children’s books had increased from 1% in 2017 to 4% in 2018, there is still a long way to go to achieve representation that reflects the UK population.  

Books are a key part of culture and everyone deserves to feel reflected in the world around us.  Children, in particular, need to feel seen in order to build their self-esteem. 

Diverse books help children learn about themselves and feel like they have a valid place in the world.  Without adequate representation, children from minoritized communities may feel invisible or inferior.  When we continue to fill bookshops and libraries with stories demonstrating a singular narrative, we silently communicate those who do not fit this mould do not belong.  Imagine the detriment this message has upon children who are beginning to form a sense of self and considering just starting to think about themselves in society.

Books help young readers develop empathy for communities, cultures and experiences they may not otherwise encounter.  If there are more books mirroring the world’s population, children can learn respect for multitudinous identities and histories at an earlier age.

We do not hold the quantity nor quality of books we must expect from our diverse world.  Tallawah Publishing aspires to contribute in redressing the balance in the hope the publishing industry will eventually become a microcosm, reflective of the world we experience.

Support Black Writers and Artists of Colour

 It is not enough for characters from diverse backgrounds and cultures to be represented.  It is essential these narratives are represented by individuals in their own voices.  It is time creators of colour had control of their own stories.

It fuels concern that less than 12% of published creators of children’s books are people of colour, according to BookTrust researchers in 2022.  Ralph Ellison’s quote from his seminal 1952 work The Invisible Man continues to ring true for the positions of creatives of colour:  

“I am an invisible man. No I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allen Poe: Nor am I one of your Hollywood movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids, and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, simply because people refuse to see me.  Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me.”

Whilst given the time period, we would prefer for this quotation to prove anachronistic, this notion of being unseen continues to hold significance.  Several recent prestigious awards have also been won by black writers, including Bernadine Everisto (Booker Prize) and Candice Carty-Williams who won book of the year for Queenie at the British Book Awards. Although proud of her achievement, she was also, in her own words, “sad and confused” on discovering she was the first black author to win this award in its 25-year history. 

Whilst firsts must be celebrated, they also shine a light on publishing’s systemic practices, which have maintained inequalities and under-representation for black, Asian and minority ethnic writers and illustrators. Despite awareness of its shortcomings and years of debates and initiatives (diversity schemes, blind recruiting practices and manuscript submission processes) the industry has generally failed to achieve lasting change.

A growing body of research in this area has found that this is because they fail to address wider inequalities faced by people of colour, which compounds the lack of representation in the industry.  A key barrier, for instance, has been the engrained perception among industry decision-makers that there is a limited market for diverse books. This is a belief that books written by black and diverse authors or featuring non-white characters just don’t sell.  For instance, a third of English primary pupils are from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background. However, a report by the Centre For Literacy in Primary Education revealed that although the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic protagonists in children’s books had increased from 1% in 2017 to 4% in 2018, there is still a long way to go to achieve representation that reflects the UK population.

Reliance on “traditional routes” to publishing also disadvantages black authors. Mainstream publishers attest receiving high volumes of submissions and heavy workloads, meaning they rely on established writers rather than seeking new, diverse talent. This has the impact of narrowing the pool of authors from which books are published.  Authors, illustrators, editorial assistants and agents widely also maintains that a lack of cultural understanding leads to the view that diverse books are a riskier investment. This explains how limited promotion and marketing budgets often results in lower sales, reinforcing perceptions of limited demand.  These interconnected factors (among others) contribute to what BookTrust’s Ramdarshan Bold described as a negative cycle, which perpetuates the lack of representation of minorities across all parts of the sector. This includes the lack of authors of colour being nominated for prizes and awards.

Tallawah Publishing is committed to raising the profiles and providing platforms to writers, creators and illustrators from diverse backgrounds through employment.  By hiring book professionals of colour we demonstrate a need for their points-of-view and market for diverse books.  We are devoted to spotlighting the accomplished works and creativity of black writers and artists of colour.