Lee & Low Acquires Tu Publishing
A few months ago, I blogged about a new indie publisher called Tu Publishing. Their goal was to offer us multicultural characters in speculative fiction, their books aimed at middle-grade and young adult readers.
The founder managed to raise over $10,000 in donations in order to get the ball rolling, her efforts catching the attention of Lee & Low, another indie publisher that specializes in multicultural fiction for children.
Tu Publishing founder Stacy Whitman began the press in 2009 to address the need for more books featuring diverse characters and inspired by non-Western cultures, a need that she had seen as both a reader and an editor of fantasy and science fiction.
Supporters met Whitman’s project with great enthusiasm and donated funds via the online organization Kickstarter to help launch the company. Through many small donations, Tu Publishing surpassed its $10,000 goal, catching the attention of LEE & LOW.
“The fact that Tu was able to raise so much money indicates that there is a real need for this,” says Low. Since Tu will now become an imprint of LEE & LOW, all money will be refunded to donors.
“The outpouring of support on the Kickstarter project and from children’s book professionals validates my mission, and the opportunity to join forces with LEE & LOW, with its vast experience publishing diverse children’s books, will allow me to accomplish my goals even beyond what I could have expected,” Whitman explains. Read more
This is fantastic news, of course, as Tu Publishing is now an imprint of an established press, which means greater marketing potential for them.
It’s also really exciting for us writers who want to flex our muscles in genres we’ve never even tried before. I’d love to write an Asian main character in a steampunk world, and I’ve been wracking my wee little brain for a good folktale that I can “rewrite” into something steampunk. Of course, the character has to be GLBT.
