Tag Archives: diversity in publishing

The Joy of Inclusion – An Intern’s Perspective

For generations children’s literature has captured the hearts of generations of readers, but what sets it apart? Imagination? Charm? Humor? Heart? These are strong contenders, but it goes without saying that the genre’s continual effort to lend a voice to the voiceless and make room for those who usually feel unseen attract readers of all ages. My love for kidlit has not only fueled my passion for reading, but it lead me to LEE & LOW BOOKS where my passion for this amazing genre only blossomed.

Continue reading

The Lee & Low Books Brochure: Everything You Need to Know

Did you know that Lee & Low Books has a new brochure that tells you everything you need to know about us? If not, now you do! Today, we’re giving you a quick overview of the brochure and how it can aid you in building a diverse and inclusive space in your home and/or classroom.

Continue reading

The Diversity Gap in Children’s Book Publishing, 2018

In February, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) released its statistics on the number of children’s books by and about people of color published in 2017. In 2016, we witnessed a substantial increase in the number of diverse books being published. Diversity remains an ever-evolving topic in publishing when it comes to books as well as the diversity among the authors and illustrators creating them.

So what has changed since last year? Continue reading

Diversity in Publishing: A Closer Look at LEE & LOW’s Staff

In our earlier blog post, Diversity in Publishing: How Diverse is LEE & LOW’s Authors, Illustrators, and Staff, we shared a mini breakdown of our authors and illustrators as well as our staff. In the past, we’ve received a few questions asking about the percentage of authors/illustrators of color we publish as well as the percentage of people of color on our staff. And we hoped that this post would answer a few of those questions.

After posting the percentage, we received a few more questions: what is the breakdown per department? What is the breakdown by race and ethnicity? How many members of your staff are LGBTQ+ identifying, and/or disabled?

Continue reading

Diversity in Publishing: How Diverse is LEE & LOW’s Staff, Authors, and Illustrators?

At the beginning of 2015 we conducted our Diversity Baseline Survey to measure the amount of diversity among publishing staff across the industry. The numbers told us something we already knew: publishing suffers from a major lack of diversity, not just in books but also in staff.

But we’ve also received this question: How diverse are the authors and illustrators that Lee & Low publishes? And how diverse is our Lee & Low staff?

As the largest multicultural children’s book publisher in the United States, we think this information is important to share. Below you’ll find our demographic breakdown of our authors and illustrators as well as our staff. Continue reading

Press Release: Simmons College Awards First Lee & Low and Friends Scholarship

We are excited to announce that Simmons College has awarded its Simmons College logofirst Lee & Low and Friends Scholarship to Luisiana Duarte Armendáriz. The scholarship, a partnership between the Simmons College Center for the Study of Children’s Literature and children’s book publisher LEE & LOW BOOKS, was created to provide opportunities for students of color to enroll in a prestigious children’s literature graduate program. Continue reading

#DVpit is Back on October 5th and 6th!

After the success of the first #DVpit event in April, #DVpit is back for another round of Twitter pitching fun on October 5th and 6th! If you’re unfamiliar with this event, #DVpit is a Twitter pitch contest created to showcase pitches by marginalized voices and help connect them to agents and editors.

While the number of diverse books is increasing, the number of new diverse authors entering the field remains low. Significant barriers remain for authors of color, Native authors, disabled authors, and other marginalized voices. With that in mind, we are excited to share information on this special Twitter event! The information below is cross-posted with permission from literary agent Beth Phelan’s #DVpit website.

Continue reading

#DVpit: A Twitter Pitching Event for Marginalized Authors

While the number of diverse books is increasing, the number of new diverse authors entering the field remains low. Significant barriers remain for authors of color, Native authors, disabled authors, and other marginalized voices. With that in mind, we are excited to share information on this special Twitter event, #DVpit, created to showcase pitches by marginalized voices and help connect them to agents and editors. The information below is cross-posted with permission from literary agent Beth Phelan’s website.    Continue reading

Required Reading: Top Ten Responses to the Diversity Baseline Survey

Diversity in Publishing 2015It’s been just over a month since the results of our Diversity Baseline Survey came out, quantifying diversity among the book publishing workforce. Since then, we’ve been thrilled to see the many turns that this conversation has taken: different ways of considering the problem, different ways of interpreting the data, different solutions offered. The study has been covered more than 40 times in major news outlets including The Washington Post, The Guardian, New York MagazineForbes and Salon. Here are ten of our favorite responses that offer thoughtful commentary and ideas on how to look at the problem of diversity in publishing from a new angle: Continue reading

Behind the Scenes of Publishing’s First Diversity Baseline Survey

diversity102-logoOn Tuesday, January 26, 2016 we will release the results of the Diversity Baseline Survey, the first major study to look at diversity among publishing industry staff. The Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS) focuses on four different aspects of diversity: race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability. The goal is to establish a baseline that shows where we are now as an industry, and that will help us measure progress moving forward.

The DBS was inspired by a similar movement in the technology industry, led by Pinterest engineer Tracy Chou. Tracy pointed to tech’s lack of diversity—and lack of data—and was able to galvanize the entire industry to release staff diversity figures in 2014. We posted a study on our blog called The Diversity Gap in Silicon Valley that breaks down the problem and the responses. After the tech industry released their statistics, several new initiatives were announced to encourage recruitment and retaining of diverse new talent. We wondered, could publishing do the same? Continue reading