New Publisher Looks for Submissions

A new book imprint, Tu Books, is looking for manuscript submissions. A division of Lee & Low, Tu, which means "you" in many languages, is specifically looking for middle grade and young adult fantasy that features characters of all different cultures.

Imprints like Tu Books are welcome in this day and age when some publishers create bookcovers where the main character looks caucasian, when in reality, they are a person of color. Fantasy books, as the Tu Books website points out, seem to have the fewest multicultural characters of any genre.

My current novel is ethnic in the sense that the characters are Croatian. Though they wouldn't look very different from "typical" fantasy characters, I don't believe there are many fantasies set in this beautiful country. To see a couple of pictures, click here.

For an interesting discussion of ethnicity in novels, check out this post (read through the comments).

Also, for writers of fantasy short stories, Port Yonder Press is collecting manuscripts for two different anthologies. One focusing on elves, and the other showcasing dragons. Check out the submission guidelines.

To read more on the "white-washing" of book covers controversy, see these articles: #1  #2  #3  #4

Do you have any ethnic characters in your stories?