Fantasy and science fiction, mystery and historical fiction—these genres draw in readers like no other. Yet it is in these genres that readers of color might feel most like an outsider, given that such a large percentage features white characters (when they feature human characters). It is the goal of Tu Publishing to publish genre books for children and young adults that fills this gap in the market—and more importantly, this gap in serving our readers. By focusing on multicultural settings and characters in fantastic stories, we also open up worlds to all readers.
The word “tu” means “you” in many languages, and in Ainu (the language of Japan’s native people), it means “many.” Tu Publishing is dedicated to publishing fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical fiction for children and young adults inspired by many cultures from around the world, to reach the “you” in each reader.
Kids who love to read do better in school. One way to encourage that love of reading is to provide stories that readers can identify with. By increasing the number of books that feature multicultural characters and settings, we can influence the multicultural world of tomorrow.
Books can be both a mirror and a window to other worlds for readers. Tu Publishing hopes that by publishing books that feature multicultural characters and settings and books with worlds inspired by all the many non-Western cultures in the world, we might shine a mirror on you and open a window to many.
Tu Publishing's editorial director Stacy Whitman has worked as an editor at a trade magazine, at Houghton Mifflin's school division, and at Mirrorstone, an imprint of Wizards of the Coast, where she worked on children's and young adult fantasy. In her current day job, she is the publication manager for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series. She holds a master's degree in children's literature from Simmons College. 
Congratulations, Stacy! I plan to spread the word right now.
Excellent news! I expect great things from you.
Interesting how we all come from different places. But I get the idea from reading this that one is either a fantasy fan or they’re not. I mean, when I first picked up LOTR at the library, I was a 12 year old girl. What did an ancient man, a 100 year old dwarf and a bunch of 50 year old hairy footed hobbits have to do with me? Not much even if their skin was the same color as mine. I just loved the story to the point of obsession.
I had a happy childhood. I wasn’t escaping. I think I would have the same reaction if I’d picked up The Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon. I would have loved the story and become a fantasy fan even though I’m not Chinese. I hear a lot about no black people in fantasy, but I honestly never thought about skin color. Frodo was a hobbit. If his skin had been black or brown or green, it wouldn’t have mattered. I also always loved books with talking animals, too. Dragons talk. Narnian animals talk. Star Wars characters sometimes look like animals. Sometimes they are humanoid but blue. None of it makes a big difference to me. I think of them all the same as I do the white characters. They feel, they think, they have adventures. Why is it so important to people of color?
Yes and no. Often, I think, especially in fantasy with human characters, “white” is the default. Even Frodo is a “white” hobbit–not brown or tan or black. When you’re talking about animal creatures or aliens, certainly–but there’s still a cultural influence, a white privilege, that often comes with such stories. If you haven’t read Justine Larbalestier’s excellent post on white privilege, I’d suggest that as a starting point for thinking about this issue: http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2009/10/01/the-advantages-of-being-a-white-writer.
(Also, be sure to read the comments of that post, which go beyond the advantages of being a white writer.)
Thanks so much for pairing up with LaTonya! She’s such a fierce advocate for literacy and diversity in literature—and she’s tireless in her efforts to promote *quality* stories that truly reflect the range of experiences of all POC. I’ll make sure to link to this at my blog–my followers know about LaTonya, but they also need to know about you & Tu, Stacy!
It’s so important to draw attention to reading, and attract reluctant readers to it,especially boys. In fact, I’ve recently completed a feature magazine article on this subject that came out in October, “Help for Struggling, Reluctant Readers.”
I grew up as a reluctant reader, in spite of the fact that my father published over 70 books. Now I write action-adventures & mysteries, especially for tween boys, that avid boy readers and girls enjoy just as much.
My blog, Books for Boys booksandboys.blogspot.com is dedicated to drawing attention to the importance of reading.
Keep up your good work.
Max Elliot Anderson
Wonderful interview!
I agree with Susan. A big reason as to why I was never interested in fantasy when I was younger was because I didn’t see any characters who looked like me. Where were the Asian witches and wizards, African American vampires, Latina werewolves? Once I started my blog, I came across more diverse sci fi/fantasy reads (A Wish After Midnight, Silver Phoenix, Asleep. Those are only the ones I’ve read. There are so many others like Magic or Madness, Nancy Farmer’s books, and other titles that are escaping me at the moment). Unfortunately, these titles aren’t being promoted in bookstores or libraries and we as consumers need to change that. I make even more of an effort now to BUY books by poc and I usually don’t regret that choice, even if I didn’t like the book. After all poc readers deserve their own versions of Harry Potter, Twilight, Gossip Girl, etc.
“My job is to plant seeds. It doesn’t matter if I see them become full trees.” – I love that.
There would be less reluctant readers in the world if there were more people like Susan and everyone of given a fair chance to see themselves represented in stories they read.
Some more fantasy stories I’ve enjoyed that fit the criteria:
Diane Duane’s So You Want to Be a Wizard.
Anne Ursu’s The Shadow Thieves.
DC Comics’s Blue Beetle, vols. 1-4.
Great interview for an excellent book!
Great interview! Packed with information. Your book cover is amazing. I absolutely love it.
Another awesome interview, So thanks for that Stacy
Cindy I loved the Shoes series (Ballet Shoes, Circus Shoes, etc.) by Noel Streatfield as well! Silver Phoenix is a fantastic book, it was one of the first fantasy books I read in general, as well as one of the first with a poc.
i love those books, i do!
i think i read as many as i could
from theatre to circus. =D
and thank you for reading my debut–
i’m so glad you enjoyed it. esp given
the fact you don’t usually read this genre!
I’m so glad you’ve started Tu Publishing and I can’t wait to see what books you guys have to offer
The gap in multicultural sci fi/fantasy really does need to be addressed and Tu Publishing is a great first step. Thanks for the list of recommended reads, I hadn’t heard of some of the titles so I’ll be sure to check them out.
Hello Stacy,
Good luck in your new endeavor. I can only imagine how much work it must entail to start up a new business.
It’s always great to hear about an new publisher of children’s books.
Barbara Bockman
I actually just took the challenge to read something out of my usual genre… went with a great fantasy fiction book titled, “Sea Clearwater,” written by Selene Cardenas. I was very pleasad… almost every chapter contains important and exciting events! I will definitely read another book of this genre thanks to the good example that Sea Clearwater showed.
I haven’t ever been too big on reading fantasy fiction either, but was mystified by a book that my daughter brought home from school to read… “Sea Clearwater” by Selene Cardenas. The first thing that caught my attention was that the author was 13 years old when she wrote the book, in addition the cover looked interesting, so I decided to give it a try. I absolutely loved the book characters.. (wizards, fairies,water benders, and many more). It turned out to be a very exciting book and I plan to read more books in this genre in the future.
Tor has done the best to keep me engaged through a combination of fresh material from fave authors on their site, free e-books and stories, and periodic emails that don’t seem too much like spam. It’s resulted in a couple of purchases from me so far.
I’ll have to ask CatGirl about her e-reader habits. She listens to a lot of audiobooks (including the Old Kingdom trilogy!) and I think she read Little Brother as an e-text.
young adult speculative fiction and emphasizing stories inspired by cultures from around the world… sounds like something i would be interested in reading!! i will spread the word in hopes of more people pledging!!
Another phenomenal interview. I especially liked reading Cynthia’s tips for writing a characters in fantasy.
I agree that when writing about a culture that is not your own, do your homework. Too many times I’ve read books with “exoctic” African characters (this also happens in movies all the time to various ethnic groups).
My hope is that through Tu Publishing, Cynsations and other blogs/websites, more books will be read and promoted featuring poc so the publishing companies will start publishing more diverse books.
great interview cynthia and stacy!
thanks for the shout out cynthia,
i love how multi-cultural your chracters
are. truly awesome.
It’s great to see a publisher that is focused on bringing new and diverse voices into print. I look forward to submitting my novel come January 1st.
Fabulous interview! I have always wanted to write a YA fantasy book. I recently read a book called Sea Clearwater which was written by author Selene Cardenas at the young age of thirteen.
I couldn’t put it down. It has a great message – Whenever you are facing evil and danger, it’s okay to be afraid, but learn how to control that fear to overcome it.
I found the website for Selene;s book, Sea Clearwater.
http://www.clearwaterseries.com/
The niche audience of African American authors, is thanks to publishers. Our stories are the same. Though this market Black authors to Black readers only has a lot to do with the popularity of Urban lit. Publishers make serious money off of Urban, with little effort, money or time.
Usually many of the authors are formally self published so they already know how to do their own PR. The books are word of mouth sellers so there is no need to place any ads. There doesn’t seem to be much effort into editing.
Even with all those easy sales, publishers can’t be bothered to promote African American authors who don’t write urban lit to a wider audience. (Sorry venting just a little)
Thankfully, there is no racial division in childrens or YA. It will be nice to see more diverse fantasy.
Though as it is I wish children’s books, no matter the genre was more inclusive. It doesn’t make sense for a book with several main characters not to have people of color in the book.
I am not talking about as MC, though its about 2010 its foolish to think all groups of friends are diverse. It doesn’t always happen. However those friends have to go to school, work etc. So, I think it makes sense that a few of these MC will run into poc in their daily lives.
Mutlicultural doesn’t bother me. I saw the Shen video on interculturalism. It was great.
I think think the term “multicultural lit” has always suffered from misinterpretation. Multi means many, so multicultural should mean many-cultured, books with a diversity of cultures represented. And yet the way the Cooperative Children’s Book Center defines multicultural lit is fairly standard: “At the CCBC, we define “multicultural” literature as books by and about people of color: African and African Americans, American Indians, Asian/Pacific and Asian Pacific Americans, and Latinos.”
If we were to go back into the mindset of those who coined the term (and I could research this, but am being lazy) we would probably see that the term was conceived not in terms of the single book, but in reference to a body of literature, multicultural meaning inclusive: that the body of children’s books published in this country should be reflective of the multicultural nature of the reading population—both in terms of who’s writing it and in terms of which races are represented between the covers. At the time this term was coined, we were looking with dismay at what Nancy Larrick referred in her 40 year old essay of the same name as, “The All White World of Children’s Books.” Everybody knew this had to change.
So this led to a flurry of “mutliculturalism” in children’s books and it got people worrying about political correctness (are enough races represented?) It made writers try to include a multicultural cast of characters in their books and it led publishers to actively seek books that could be considered multicultural. This was all well and good, at the time. It drew attention to a dangerous disparity and went a long ways towards correcting it. It did lead to problems of authenticity and accuracy in representation, but these were all good things for us to have to think about. Now the problem is that there is this ghetto called “multicultural” that constrains these books and tells us how we are to perceive them and we need to get past it. Multicultural has become like cod liver oil: here, take this. It’s good for you. Ho Hum. I don’t want people saying of my books—Hey, if you like Eskimo books you’ll love this one. Thanks but no thanks. What’s a kid going to say if you hold up Harry Potter and tell him—hey here’s one that will take you right into the heart of the world of white English boys. Ew.
I like the term People of Color, although it has an unfortunate acronym. Color has good, inclusive implications, I think. I love the blog called “Reading in Color.” How cool is that? It’s like hey, quit reading in black and white and come into the world of COLOR.
Interculturalism is intriguing. Not as catchy but I really like it. And I love TU’s vision.
Oh, how splendid! I’ll certainly spread the word.
To be honest, when I saw the word “multicultural,” my first response was to recoil. I even got a little angry (just stay with me a second), because as a white girl from the deep South (Georgia in fact), my experience has been that when something, a story for example, is supposed to be multicultural, it is usually “white people are evil” WHETHER THAT WAS INTENDED OR NOT! In school, I had to read a lot of books that were supposed to be “multicultural” but were mostly about how some people or other are better than whites and many stories that excluded white culture all together, as though being the majority of a few countries in an entire world makes us no longer exist as a culture. For pity’s sake, even Crayola’s multicultural crayon pack didn’t have a color pale enough to use for a picture of a fair-skinned redhead (made family pictures a bit of a challenge), and after a while a word like “multicultural” starts to feel like an attack even if it is supposed to just mean involving or going between multiple cultures. Because of this, when I have to read a “multicultural” story, I can’t enjoy it because I’m just waiting for an attack, and I rarely read them voluntarily anymore. I have the impression that this isn’t the feeling you want to get across, so I think you should try putting it a different way. I think asking for stories of different backgrounds is nice.
I’m sure this is some effect of my own hidden personal bias or something, but I don’t see what all the fuss is about. When I read Harry Potter, I imagined him as a kid like myself. I don’t think it would be any different if my skin were brown or kind of yellow-ish, or whatever. Why does it matter what race the main character is? I don’t think it’s ever even specified that Harry is white – it’s just assumed because he’s in Britain.
So again, why does it even need to be mentioned? A character can be white, yellow, pink, or blue, and, in my head, he or she will be just like me.
William,
Characters are an important part of any story, but from what I understand (based on reading this website) Tu Publishing wants to publish not only fantasy novels with characters of color, but stories that move away from the traditional European/Norse mythology. Ever since Lord of the Rings and Narnia, the fantasy genre has been dominated by European-based worlds. These worlds are often inhabited by elves, dwarves, and other mythological creatures that have their origins in this culture. The industry rarely sees fantasy worlds based on traditional African folklore or the cultures of the Middle East. All kids, no matter what their race, may be intrigued by worlds that step away from the stereotype of the genre. Also, it can be difficult to predict how you might feel if you were a person of African or Hispanic descent, having no books to read that feature characters of your race. Overall I think Tu Publishing will fill an important niche that has been neglected over the past few decades.
William, I don’t know what your own background is, but often that attitude comes from white people, who automatically come from a place of privilege: we assume that a character is “like us” because for white people, often “white” is assumed to be the default. It isn’t like that for people who are of different backgrounds.
I don’t find the word “multicultural” to be an attack on me (and I’m very much a white girl from a small town in the Midwest). Perhaps I’ve been enough on the outside culturally, if not racially (farm girl in the city, Mormon girl, geek girl, etc.) that I can sympathize, if not put myself in someone else’s shoes.
But re: “just like me”–I think that’s important. We all have a whole lot more in common than we have differences. We are all much alike in the essentials–emotions, etc.–and I think it’s important that we recognize that characters from all backgrounds have the potential to be just as interesting and emotionally resonant as Harry Potter, to use the huge example. Yet there will be cultural differences as well, which we can all enjoy exploring.
I love the ideas you guys have come up with, especially text interviews with authors (how cool!), the hisory of YA lit, folk and fairy tales from around the world, really everything. Giveaways are a huge attraction factor too (maybe once a month, a contest sort of thing?).
I’m not a fan of e-readers. I think they are convenient and (in the long run) more affordable, but there’s something so wonderful about holding a book in your hands, curling up with a good book (I mean curling up with a machine? bleh). It’s good though that you guys offer e-book readers.
Can’t wait to see the books being offered and the new and improved site!
C
I have been aware for some time of the negative connotations that seem to have become attached to the word multicultural – and I think it is partly to do with the political take-up of the term, whereby boxes are ticked by catering for “multiculturalism”: and Mary Fitzgerald’s reaction to the term seems to exemplify all that is misguided and wrong with that. I find that deeply saddening – and annoying – for two reasons. One, for me the term “multicultural” means exactly that: multi cultural, as Debbie Dahl Edwardson says above; and two, the word “multicultural” embraces that all-encompassing vision of windows and mirrors: it’s just that we need a greater variety of cultural voices (including disaporic voices) in order to present them authentically. I suppose I also see the term as intrinsically pluralistic – so I am happer talking about multicultural books than I am about referring to an individual book as multicultural. But yes, although I sometimes feel I need to explain our take on “multicultural”, I am happy with it! And looking at it from an author’s point of view, Grace Lin wrote a great personal View for us a couple of years ago – http://www.papertigers.org/personalViews/archiveViews/GLin2.html
I seem to have waffled on but this is something that I have been pondering for a while!
Will Tu publishing be releasing any books in 2010?
I am wondering: If a Fantasy story is based on non-English-speaking countries like France, Germany, Italy, Slowakia, Russia, Poland, and if the main character’s skin color is in no way mentioned, and if one of the more important secondary characters is of color would it qualify?
Doret, we’re hoping to release our first two books in 2010, but it does depend on the quality of submissions we get/how ready the chosen books are for publication. (The editorial process can take months.) We’re hoping for 2 books by fall 2010.
Katharina, it depends. As we said above, most fantasy is already based on Western European culture, and so we’re not looking for stories that do what other books are already doing well. Eastern Europe, however, might be interesting. There is a confluence of cultures in certain areas of Eastern Europe (Turkish influences, Muslim influences) that is interesting. With Eastern Europe, I’d take it on a case-by-case basis. Something set in western Russia, for example, might be more Western than something set in Siberia. Something set in (or inspired by) the former Czech Republics or Albania would be really interesting, I think, because these are cultures that we don’t see written about very often–and the characters featured there could also be people of color, depending on the character you choose. Gypsy culture might be another interesting culture, if it’s handled in a way that doesn’t resort to stereotypes.
However, if the race of the main character isn’t mentioned, yet the race of other characters is, you are then in the position where the reader assumes the “default” skin color is white. See this post by Bookavore about that: http://bookavore.com/2009/11/30/in-which-i-get-frustrated-and-plead-with-authors/. This is not what we’re looking for.
What an exciting venture! As a high school counselor, I see evidence of the need for YA multicultural fantasy every day, and I (and my students) will welcome your additions to our libraries. My current novel doesn’t fit your wish list, but two members of my writing group have pieces in progress which very well may. I’ve sent them the link to your site. Best wishes for a successful and productive 2010!
Would your company be at all interested in a YA historical fiction that meets your multi-cultural standards?
Hi Michal,
Please see our latest blog post, which will hopefully answer your questions in further detail, but we do like historical fiction and if it’s a time period that isn’t covered much, we’d be interested in seeing it, but we’d like our launch books to be science fiction/fantasy rather than realistic.
> “there are no “Asians” in Middle Earth, for example, because there is no Asia”
Nope, no Asians by name — just flat-faced, slanty-eyed evil furriners who are allied with Mordor, in a world where “East” is the direction of ultimate evil. *facepalm* Can I just say how glad I am that Tu Publishing exists? You guys are just what the doctor ordered for the world of fantasy! *cheers you*
Goodness, yes. I’d forgotten about them–I was just pulling Tolkien out as a random example.
If an author has to ask is if their book is multicultural I am guessing the answer is no.
I loved Devil’s Kiss – I included it in a recent post called – Color The New Reality
http://thehappynappybookseller.blogspot.com/2010/01/color-new-reality.html
I’m thinking so, as well, but I wanted to give people who aren’t as familiar with it tools to make their own judgment. Hopefully that will raise awareness at the same time.
Congratulations on your getting started, while I was not able to contribute I was cheering from the sidelines. You have piqued my interest, I am by birth one quarter French Armenian Basque (gypsy). My grandmother was born in a gypsy wagon and left on the porch of the neighboring home. I will have to dabble and see if I can come up with something. I definately am not going to negatively stereotype my own heritage.
I hope for your wild success.
Glad to hear you guys are getting submissions! I wish I was a college student
(although I don’t live in Utah either). Hope you get some interns, looking forward to what Tu does next 
Ari, hopefully we’ll come to a point where we can take emailed submissions, which will make internships easier long-distance. Also, once we’re a little further along in the editorial process, I’d love to create a teen reading group to give us feedback—you’re our target readers, after all—so stay tuned.
Hi,
I tried to send you guys a cover letter and resume using the address provided, but got an email saying my message failed to deliver…any idea what might have happened? I’m pretty sure I spelled everything right…
Thanks!
Good question. I’m working on it. I’ve been wondering why I haven’t gotten any email there since posting this. It’s currently an account that forwards to another one, but I’m going to go fix that now so that it’ll work correctly. Thanks for letting me know!
I received an email from the department at BYU that gave me a link to this website. I would be interested in helping out if I could, since I’m in training to be an editor myself. I’ve got some experience from high school and with BYU’s “Leading Edge” magazine.
Hi Tyler,
Please follow the directions in the post and email us your resume. Thank you!
Hi, I believe my novel fits your project really well since it is cross-genre (scifi/fantasy) plus multicultural, I used non-Western folklore. The problem is that I am from overseas and it costs a fortune to mail. Will Tu Publishing not open up for email subs?
Thanks!
We’re working on it. We need to be sure that the emails don’t get lost first!
Hopefully by next month we’ll have an organizational system set up to handle e-submissions.
Gee thanks for replying!:)