The Crown Publishing Group partners with Storehouse In A Box to launch Storehouse Voices™, a new imprint committed to elevating Black voices

The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, announced the establishment of Storehouse Voices™, a new imprint committed to elevating Black voices.

Developed in partnership with award-winning entrepreneur and philanthropist Tamira Chapman, Storehouse Voices will issue books across a broad range of nonfiction categories and fiction genres, promoting the richness of Black storytelling through intentional acquisitions and hiring efforts, strategic partnerships, and authentic, equity-minded community outreach. Founded with a mission of bridging the representation gap of authors of color in the publishing industry, Storehouse Voices is informed by a deep understanding of the unique cultural and historical contexts of the Black experience in America and committed to ensuring that literary works by underrepresented authors are presented authentically, respectfully, and powerfully across the publishing and media landscape.

The founder and CEO of Storehouse In A Box, LLC (SIAB), a global merchandising company that in 2022 was recognized as the eighth-fastest-growing woman-led enterprise globally, Mrs. Chapman has an established reputation for developing and delivering content that reflects the values and interests of the audiences and communities she serves. Through her multiyear association with Penguin Random House, she has supported numerous publications by hosting large-scale virtual events with authors such as Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. Mrs. Chapman will serve as Publisher of Storehouse Voices.

Porscha Burke, who most recently served as Senior Editor and Director of DEI Strategy for the Crown and Random House Publishing Groups, has been named Associate Publisher of Storehouse Voices, effective immediately. She will work closely with Mrs. Chapman in shaping the imprint's publishing program and mission and in leading the imprint's community engagement initiatives. Ms. Burke brings more than twenty years of experience in the publishing industry and has acquired and edited works by Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Jon Meacham, among other authors. An inaugural board member of People of Color in Publishing and PRH's DEI Council, she has long championed diversity in the industry. She will report to Mrs. Chapman.

Jennifer Baker, a widely respected publishing professional who previously served as Senior Editor at Amistad Books and who most recently was Senior Program Manager at Narrative Initiative, has been appointed as Editorial Director of Storehouse Voices and will join the company on February 10. A versatile editor whose interests include fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and graphic novels, Ms. Baker has acquired and published works by debut, critically acclaimed, and high-profile authors such as Jenifer Lewis and Tiffany Haddish, among others. She is the creator, host, and producer of the long-running Minorities in Publishing podcast and a former contributing editor to Electric Literature. Ms. Baker will report to Mrs. Chapman.

Also joining the Storehouse Voices editorial team will be Chelcee Johns, who has been named Executive Editor, effective February 3, reporting to Ms. Baker. With fifteen years of editorial and digital content strategy experience spanning book publishing, digital media, and online magazines, Ms. Johns brings a passion for and belief in impactful, entertaining books to help shape and create culture. Currently a Senior Editor at Ballantine, an imprint of Random House, Ms. Johns has acquired and edited numerous critically acclaimed and bestselling nonfiction and fiction titles, including Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera (a New York Times Editors' Choice selection), Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah (an NAACP Image Award winner), and Sisterhood Heals by Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, host of the award-winning Therapy for Black Girls podcast. Previously, Ms. Johns was an Associate Editor at 37 Ink/Simon & Schuster.

The blueprint for Storehouse Voices developed from the success and community engagement demonstrated by the Women & Words program, a collaboration between Penguin Random House and SIAB: a series of virtual workshops and unprecedented networking sessions pairing literary agents with aspiring authors. Designed to amplify the stories of underrepresented women and demystify the publishing industry and its processes, Women & Words had more than 10,000 Black women register within thirty days, thousands attend each online session, and numerous authors finally succeed in securing agent representation. The overwhelming success and the community's demand for more inclusive publishing opportunities directly led to the establishment of Storehouse Voices.

In keeping with its roots in Women & Words, Storehouse Voices will include an innovative community-based author incubator program in addition to acquiring books from literary agents. Five writers who participated in the Women & Words program have already been signed to book deals by Storehouse Voices, including Nia Gilliam (memoir); Cheryl Polote-Williamson (inspirational nonfiction); Temple Day Smith (historical fiction); Marie Sutton (biography/memoir); and Michael A. Tinsley (YA/fantasy).

They join celebrated playwright, director, and author David E. Talbert, whose book Everything I Know (I Learned from a Woman) was acquired by Storehouse from Albert Lee at UTA; Arian Simone, award-winning entrepreneur, author, and venture capitalist, best known as the cofounder and CEO of the Fearless Fund, which invests in women of color–led businesses, whose book Freedom to Be Fearless was acquired by Storehouse from Meredith Miller at UTA; and Demond Martin, whose inspirational memoir Friends of the Good was acquired by Storehouse from Gail Ross at WME. An investor, a philanthropist, and the cofounder and CEO of WellWithAll, an innovative health and wellness company that pours a significant portion of its profits into health equity for Black, Brown, and underserved communities, Mr. Martin is a former partner at Adage Capital Management and a member of the Board of Directors of the Obama Foundation.

Further details about Storehouse Voices' inaugural roster of authors and works can be found at www.storehousevoices.com.

As part of its unique publishing proposition, Storehouse Voices offers a comprehensive ecosystem designed to support emerging authors by showcasing their work, providing feedback, and connecting writers with literary agents and a vibrant network of book lovers. Storehouse's digital platform, storehousevoices.com, will enable authors to create detailed profiles to showcase their work, connect with readers and agents, and participate in community conversations and events. The platform includes a dedicated portal for manuscript submissions, tracking tools to monitor submission status, and integrated review and ratings systems to provide feedback. Additionally, authors can provide book updates, publish blogs, share reviews, and offer sample chapters to engage directly with early readers of their works.

Said Tamira Chapman of Storehouse Voices: "We're creating a home for Black voices and celebrating the richness of diverse storytelling. I'm deeply grateful to the tens of thousands of Black women whose passion and dedication to excellence in literature made this moment possible, and to David Drake, Porscha Burke, and Penguin Random House for their leadership and belief in the importance of amplifying Black voices. Diverse authors have a home here, and we call on the brightest talent in publishing to join us in reshaping the narrative. Together, we will tell bold, inclusive stories that honor our experiences, amplify our voices, and redefine the future of storytelling for generations to come."

Said David Drake, President of the Crown Publishing Group: "As a visionary entrepreneur and industry disruptor with a relentless focus on achieving excellence, Tamira Chapman has long demonstrated an unwavering commitment to developing content that speaks to the experience of the audiences she serves and that fosters an authentic sense of community. Crown is honored to partner with her and the talented team at Storehouse Voices to break some publishing molds that have long needed to be broken to better serve diverse authors and readers."

Said Porscha Burke of Storehouse Voices: "It is not lost on me that Toni Morrison, as an editor at Random House, still needed to get the approval of others in order to acquire books for her list. The curatorial power Tamira and Storehouse will enjoy—and our collective deep roots in both reader communities and traditional publishing structures—is the fruit of such incredible ancestors' labor. It is an honor to be able to expand the impact of their work in such fresh and exciting ways."

Said Jennifer Baker of Storehouse Voices: "For many of us, books are our lifeblood as well as our life's work. Storehouse Voices represents an innovative way to share stories of the African diaspora; Storehouse's mission also speaks to so much of what I've loved about the arts and its many intersections. I mentioned to Tamira [Chapman] and Porscha [Burke] that they're a true powerhouse, and I meant it. Their leadership and combined expertise, the bounty of amazing stories to be told and championed, and the support from David [Drake] and Crown will further foreground our perspectives and stories. It's a true honor to collaborate and dream with this team."

Said Chelcee Johns of Storehouse Voices: "Storehouse Voices is answering a felt need in the industry for both authors and readers alike while making innovation and authenticity key cornerstones. I look forward to being a part of the foundation-building of such an imprint and bringing books to the world that impact, uplift, and entertain." 

Author Angela Flournoy Signs Seven Figure book Deal

For seven figures, Angela Flournoy, best known as the author of The Turner House sold The Wounded Wilderness to Mariner’s Rakia Clark in a two-book, North American rights deal. Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group represented Flournoy, a National Book Award finalist and contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine. Mariner said Wounded Wilderness, a novel, follows four Black women over the course of 20 years of friendship, examining “how gender expectations, race, class and the shifting dynamics of city life” affect them. The second book in the deal, the memoir When Will I See You Again?, is about the author’s first pregnancy, which coincided with her mother being diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Angela Flournoy has also been a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, a Summer 2015 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, a May 2015 Indie Next pick and a New York Times Sunday Book Review Editors' Choice. Her fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, and she has written for The New York Times, The New Republic and The Los Angeles Times.

Michelle Obama's "Becoming" is best selling book of 2018

Michelle Obama's memoir "Becoming" has become the best selling book of the year in the United States, surpassing Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury" and others.

Wolff's "Fire" was a publishing world sensation when it came out in January. To date it has sold 1,008,088 hardcover copies, according to NDP BookScan data.

All year long, it was the year's No. 1 political book. Its closest competitor was "Fear," by Bob Woodward, which came out in September and has sold 872,567 hardcover copies to date.

But "Becoming" outpaced them both in just a couple of weeks. BookScan shows 1,122,618 hardcover copies of Obama's uplifting memoir have sold since its November 13 release date.

That makes it No. 1 for the year. The year's No. 2 book in terms of hardcover sales is "Magnolia Table," a cookbook by TV star Joanna Gaines. "Fire and Fury" now ranks No. 3, followed by Rachel Hollis' self help book "Girl, Wash Your Face" at No. 4 and "Fear" at No. 5.

Obama's publisher, Penguin Random House, said Friday that "Becoming" "sold more than 2 million units in all formats and editions in the U.S. and Canada during the first 15 days of its publication."

The hardcover edition of "Becoming" is now up to six printings, meaning the publisher has had to order more and more copies to keep up with demand. By the end of the sixth printing, there will be 3.4 million copies in print in the U.S. and Canada, well-timed for the holiday book-buying season.

[SOURCE: CNN]

A New Generation of African-American-Owned Bookstores

After a steep decline, the number of black-owned independent bookstores is growing.

When Troy Johnson began tracking the number of black-owned bookstores in the U.S. in 1999, there were more than 325. By 2014, that number had dwindled to 54, a decline of 83%.

“They were closing left and right, and the major ones were struggling,” said Johnson, who runs the African American Literature Book Club, an online book database. Today, Johnson estimates, there are at least 108 black-owned independent stores, a number of which have opened in the past six months, marking a substantial reversal. “Last year was the first year I added more stores to the list than I took away,” he noted.

The surge in black-owned indie bookstores is notable at a time when both bookselling and publishing are wrestling with issues of workforce diversity.

Ramunda and Derrick Young, wife-and-husband owners of the newly opened MahoganyBooks, looked for a physical location for years, but a wave of gentrification in Washington, D.C., left them with few promising options. That changed in early 2017, when they found a location in the Anacostia Arts Center, in the historically African-American neighborhood of Anacostia in Southeast D.C. Ramunda, a former general books manager of the Howard University Bookstore, said opening a store was a logical step toward diversifying the couple’s business after having run a books website serving predominately African-American readers for a decade.

MahoganyBooks opened in February and is the first bookstore in Anacostia in 20 years. The 500-sq.-ft. store has an adjacent events space for large readings. With tablets for readers to locate books online while they browse, the store fulfills the couple’s vision of “a bookstore 2.0,” Derrick said.

“Bookstore 2.0” is shorthand for the Youngs’ effort to integrate the physical store and the long-standing digital operation, creating independent sources of revenue that stand alone but point to one another. In-store technology points to the website, and the website now points to the physical store’s events. “We thought, if there were another big crazy economic downturn, how would we prepare ourselves so that we would have multiple streams of income?” Derrick said.

Read more: A New Generation of African-American-Owned Bookstores

President Obama to write another book after leaving office

During a recent sit-down on CNN with his former campaign manager David Axelrod, POTUS confirmed he'll release a book following the official end of his second presidential term.

"I'm gonna start thinking about the first book I want to write," he told Axelrod while speaking on his plans once he's no longer president. Although the current Commander-In-Chief will for sure be looking to get a head-start on his upcoming literary venture, he has something else in mind to focus on for the immediate future.

President Obama's upcoming book will be the latest of several he's penned in recent years, including 2004's Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance and The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, which was released in 2006.

[SOURCE: ESSENCE.COM]