are hardly any discussions about what they look like or where they are from. The company motto is ‘everyone loves a good story’ and we really work to keep this in mind before everything else.” Beyond Alanna Max and a handful of other publishers, he thinks authors from diverse backgrounds would do well to focus on what they can do for themselves and understand what barriers might be ahead of them. There are opportunities for authors in other areas, often made possible by new technologies as well as good old-fashioned face to face meetings. Ken said: “The publishing supply chain is always improving because in a way it has to if businesses are going to keep making money. It is much easier to see where its weaknesses are and at the moment it is in the relationship between sales, marketing and book outlets. There are many reasons why a new author might not make it in today’s publishing world, so it is hard to generalise. But it is now accepted that all creators are better off doing more to meet others and to publicise themselves in the best way they can so they can grow their careers. Yes, publishing is not as diverse as it could be, but there are still enough publishers who are keen to take on good high-quality stories. Perhaps the diversity issue is one they have to tackle if and when they make the decision to take on an author from another background.”


Afronaut Ken’s focus on his own personal goals and ideas have helped him find diversity and equality agendas to pursue in his role as a publisher. This is the recently launched Afronaut project. Ken said: “Many African children see more poverty and hardship than European or American ones. As a result, they are used to harder stories, in general. Also, a number of children aren’t in school, or their parents are not literate, so any books produced for them have to take their existence into account, especially when the price of book might be the same as a meal, for instance.”


These potential readers will not be easy to reach but they are the audience that Alanna Max Afronaut is primarily aiming for. “We will publish material, distribute books with the help of partners and offer design and editorial services to communities or organisations who work in African countries,” he said. The project is also looking at creativity and aims to “help creators get published through workshops and mentoring” Ken says, adding: “We have been talking to African writers and illustrators since spring 2019, collecting stories.” But Ken’s hope is that the project will revolve around collaboration to reach and provide for readers. “So we are always looking for charities, NGOs and other organisations to partner with especially if they work with children and families and need books. Afronaut is a non-traditional publishing project where readers are put first. It therefore has fundraising, partnership and advocacy built into it which might slow the processes down a bit, but can end up being quite rewarding. The project aims to gather information and measure change, according to the relevant Sustainable Development Goals SDG4 – access to education, SDG1 – no poverty, in conjunction with the appropriate NGOs and agencies.” PEN&INC.


Spring-Summer 2020 PEN&INC. 9


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