Tag Archives: authors of color

New Voices/New Visions Award

New Visions Award FAQs

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New Visions Award seal

Note: The New Voices and New Visions writing contests are currently on a temporary hiatus. A follow-up announcement will come in 2024.

The New Visions Award is open to all authors of color and Indigenous authors who have not previously published a middle grade or young adult novel or graphic novel. The winner receives a cash prize of $2,000 and our standard publication contract, including an advance and royalties. An Honor winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000.

In general, we are looking for middle grade and young adult novels and graphic novels with a strong voice, a commercial hook, great school market appeal, and an entrancing plot. Check out the archives of our webinar on preparing your manuscript for more specific information on what we’re looking for in the craft department.
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Awards, Diversity, Diversity, Race, and Representation, New Voices/New Visions Award

Authors of Color: Submit Your Manuscript to Our Writing Contests

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Summer is officially here, which means lots of warm weather, longer days, and receiving submissions for our New Voices and New Visions Awards! Our annual awards encourage writers of color to submit their work to a publisher that takes pride in nurturing new talent. As the number of diverse books increases, LEE & LOW BOOKS is dedicated to increasing the number of authors of color as well. Continue reading →

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The Diversity Gap in Children’s Publishing, 2015

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This 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 2014. The issue of diversity in children’s books received a record amount of media coverage last year, in large part due to the success of the We Need Diverse Books campaign. Many people were anxious to know if the yearly CCBC statistics would reflect momentum of the movement.

The biggest takeaway from the new statistics was positive: in 2014 the number of books by/about people of color jumped to 14% (up from 10% in 2013) of the 3,000 to 3,500 books the CCBC reviews each year. Though not as high as it should be, the number shows definite improvement.

But looking at this number alone doesn’t show the whole story. In 2012, we kicked off our infographic series with information about the diversity gap in children’s books. Here is the updated infographic, which reflects statistics through 2014: Continue reading →