The stigma around Self-Publishing and how it can help deal with the Lack of Diversity in Children’s Books.

Diversity is a prominent issue within Children Publishing. There are many cases where children feel discouraged to read because they do not relate to any of the characters. Statistically, only ‘1% of British children’s books featured a black or minority ethnic main character’. (Flood, 2019) Fingers are pointing to Publishing Houses for being responsible for this as ‘for a decade in the UK, fewer than 2% of all children’s book creators… were British people of colour’. (Flood, 2019) Still influential gatekeepers. However, self-publishing enables authors to swerve past approval of Publishing Houses and literary agents to create authentic relatable books for children. The film and music industry are getting to grips with including a variety of people into their projects, but aren’t the Publishing industry lagging?

Lagging indeed but consumers are taking matters into their own hands. Crystal Swain-Bates is a self-published children’s book author who wrote successful books including ‘Big Hair, Don’t Care’ and ‘Naturally Me!’ to boost children’s self-esteem who are being ridiculed for being ‘different’. She chose to self-publish with Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) to retain greater ‘creative control’. La Tasha Mason self-published her book ‘Zana the Brave’ where the main character combats fat-shaming and bullying. But even parents are taking up the responsibility to self-publish their stories to try and explain specific issues that are not relatable to every family. For example, an ex-military soldier wrote a book to his daughters, attempting to explain his PTSD. (Li, 2019) Although it is a great idea, Publishers wouldn’t see any profitability in producing a book with such a specific topic which would only market to a niche audience.

There is no doubt that self-publishing opens the door to endless stories that will be suitable for all types of children. However, the outlets by which these self-published books can be accessible is limited. Kindle Direct Publishing is excellent at allowing authors to write and publish their work. However, only sells the book on Amazon. Although Amazon may be useful to market books to their secondary target audience (parents) children are not going to be exposed to it. Self-published books are harder to find in school libraries and bookstores. La Tasha Mason has also self-published via KDP but as they only print paperbacks. She dipped into her expenses to publish in hardback to appeal to ‘schools, libraries and youth organisations’. (Blodgett, 2019) Crystal Swain-Bates was so successful that she opened her own Publishing Company named Goldest Karat! She sells her books alongside merchandise. And of course, allow underrepresented authors to gain an outlet for their books.

But Publishing houses like Penguin Random House have departments purely dedicated to marketing and promoting a book, so how can self-publishing compete? Well, unlike huge publishing companies self-publishers can take more risks when they don’t have the head of the company looming over their shoulder 24/7. All of what they do comes out of their pocket. Yet one thing that self-publishers cannot grasp is the integrity that comes with a book once it has been stamped with a Publishing Houses logo.

However, BookTrust, the UK’s largest children reading charity, has formed a great initiative to get around this! It entails a 3-year project which will support and subsidise authors and illustrators of colour to promote their work and reach more readers through events in bookshops, festivals and schools! Self-publishing can be scorned upon by big publishing conglomerates due to its lack of integrity. BookTrust allows authors and illustrators to gain integrity without the approval of a Publishing House, which will also appeal to parents who may be concerned about the quality of the book.

All-in-all, the lack of diversity, is not due to the lack of authors wanting to write. Particularly as parents are taking matters into their own hands. There is a gap in the market that current Publishing Houses are not taking advantage of when it comes to Children’s books, as they are afraid to take risks. The last thing that we, as a society, would want is for children to stop reading. Luckily thanks to individual organisations and companies, self-publishing are welcoming authors regardless of their background and current sales value to write whatever they want.

Blodgett, S. (2019). Writer Gives Advice on How to Self Publish Kids’ Books — Black Enterprise. [online] Black Enterprise. Available at: https://www.blackenterprise.com/how-to-self-publish-kids-books/ [Accessed 9 Oct. 2019].

Flood, A. (2019). Fewer than 2% of British children’s authors are people of colour. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/15/fewer-than-2-of-british-childrens-authors-are-people-of-colour [Accessed 9 Oct. 2019].

Fox, M. (2019). How To Build A Successful Writing Career Through Self-Publishing. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/meimeifox/2019/05/14/how-to-build-a-successful-writing-career-through-self-publishing/ [Accessed 9 Oct. 2019].

Li, J. (2019). Military Dad Writes Children’s Book to Help Daughters Understand His PTSD. [online] Inside Edition. Available at: https://www.insideedition.com/military-dad-writes-childrens-book-to-help-daughters-understand-his-ptsd-56486 [Accessed 9 Oct. 2019].

Millcitypress.net. (2019). Top 5 Facts About Self-Publishing a Children’s Book. [online] Available at: https://www.millcitypress.net/author-learning-center/top-5-facts-about-self-publishing-a-childrens-book [Accessed 9 Oct. 2019].