"Mixing Your Palette: Why and How to Add Authentic Diversity to Your Stories"
We Need Diverse Books and countless other voices are pushing for more diverse characters and settings in children’s literature. Most children’s authors accept and celebrate this movement. And yet … most children’s authors are majority race (read: white American). Is it right for majority race authors to include characters of color? You bet it is! That’s the world our readers live in. Is there a way to create authentic characters who are of a different race, setting, or socioeconomic background than yours? Also yes. This webinar lays the groundwork for why all children’s authors need to include more diverse characters in their books and presents some practical methods for developing these characters into authentic, believable people.
About the Presenters
Randall Bonser is a children’s writer living in the Atlanta, GA area. He is the proud holder of a master’s degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University. He has ghost written several adult books, and authored children’s books for Capstone and Heinemann. He is presently working on a nonfiction book for teens called Comics, Graphic Novels, and Manga: The Ultimate Teen Guide (Roman & Littlefield) and a middle grade graphic novel of his own.
Karl Jones is an Associate Editor at Penguin Random House. He has worked in the editorial division of Grosset & Dunlap for five years. His first acquisition, Just Jake, the first in a series of books by kid author, Jake Marcionette debuted on the Middle Grade New York Times Bestseller list in 2014. Karl edits middle grade and early YA fiction, as well as picture books, unique activity books and licensed projects.
WISH LIST: I love what I call “in between” stories, narratives about characters that aren’t the obvious choice for a protagonist in a given situation. Among unlikely protagonists for children’s books are characters addressing their own otherness and learning to cope and celebrate their uniqueness. I’m looking to acquire middle grade and early YA fiction.
Options: You have the option to register for Webinar Only or Webinar + Critique.