and Jane Link

What makes Formy Books different is that they are an independent, family-run CIC (Community Interest Company). The core team consists of Editorial Director, Curtis Ackie, and their partner, Ebony Lyon serving as Head of Marketing. Since launching in 2020, they have published several well-received titles, including A Grand Place.

What does ‘Formy’ mean?

We just wanted to read representative books to our youngest. It started off as a project for Miko and Yari. Now we make books for us, for you, for me.

Formy Books was born during the height of the pandemic in 2020. How did this publishing company come to be?

It happened when Curtis decided to make a book about their family. They noticed a gap in the market: there weren’t any books about an Afro-Caribbean family featuring a stay-at-home dad and a mum who went to work. Our first title started out as a surprise for me and the children. Curtis did it all alone, also because they didn’t want to go down the traditional publishing route. They didn’t want to have our stories, experiences, and words changed and filtered.

Formy Books is a CIC because its priority is making a difference, not a profit.

Yes, we created this publishing house to produce beautiful picture books that redress the lack of black representation in stories. But we’re also really concerned about who creates the books. The statistics are always about increasing representation in terms of who the books are about, but we also need to measure who is making these books. The two metrics need to be run alongside one another to really understand what is happening in the industry.

We want to work with our local community in Luton. We want to amplify emerging black creative talent because we know that it is just phenomenal. I think it speaks volumes that all of this happened off the back of one book that was written as a surprise for our family. We don’t choose what to publish based on what would be perceived as good by a typical publishing audience, but that audience still enjoy our books. I think that’s something we can take a lot from. We don’t have to filter our stories for them to be enjoyed.

There certainly is a wealth of untapped artistic talent in the community. Which children’s authors and illustrators do you dream of working and growing with?

We do want to grow, but when I say grow, I don’t mean in the number of books we put out. We’re never going to put out more than 3 to 4 a year. We’re never going to be one of the major publishing houses. What we do want to do is hone our craft. That means that in terms of authors and illustrators we dream of working with, we’re just focused on emerging talent. We want to work with voices that aren’t necessarily heard or artists that are not necessarily seen. That’s the issue that needs redressing.

When those making key decisions within the industry remain homogenous, we’re not getting fresh voices: we’re getting fresh faces. Everyone is being filtered through the preferences of those who are in charge. The teachings are the same, the agents are the same, the publishers keep doing the same. I believe that authentic representation comes with who’s writing, illustrating, producing, marketing, and editing the books.

I think it’s hard to publish stories you do not understand, and that means publishers keep telling a certain type of story they find it easier to work with.

My children want silly. They want fun, adventure, or dinosaurs. I’m not saying serious stories aren’t needed, because they are. I grew up in a majority white area in the 80s where I was the only non-white child in my school for years. I could have really, really benefited from books that embraced my hair and my skin. But that’s one part of my story.

We just want children to be children. We want to focus on incidental inclusion, you know, the main character or characters just happen to be black. We want to ensure there is no ‘othering’ or positioning whiteness as the ‘norm’. Sure, we’ll put in snippets of culture that come from the writers and the illustrators because we want them to have that freedom of expression.

As you say, there seems to be a trend in terms of what gets published. You must, as Toni Morrison said, wonder who it’s all for. I do feel uncomfortable if I know that the whole team behind a book, other than the writer, is non-black. Or if the book has been marketed using black trauma as a selling point. I know when books have been written for me. I can see the edited bits that try to explain me to myself.

Do you have any advice for people wanting to set up a publishing company dedicated to Black representation? 

Have a vision and stay firm with it, even when it isn’t necessarily fashionable or profitable. I’m not from a publishing background and people found that weird. I think every industry needs new ideas and publishing is no different. We can’t continue with this who knows who.

Everyone is being filtered through the preferences of those who are in charge. The teachings are the same, the agents are the same, the publishers keep doing the same.

Let’s think about the state the industry is in with rapidly increasing paper costs and small indie bookstores facing huge pressure from giants like Amazon where picture books sometimes sell for 5.99. How is anyone who hasn’t come from money supposed to think this is a career for them? We aren’t available on Amazon and thus our books may be more expensive than others, but that’s how we value them. We also try to donate as many books as we can which helps to balance things out for those who can’t afford them.

We have this romantic idea that if you love your art, you will graft and suffer for it. I don’t think that you should suffer for your art. I think you should be paid and compensated for your art. The industry is trying to find undiscovered talent with all these schemes, but there’s a huge pool of phenomenally talented people who won’t even apply. You’ve lost them already. You’re asking them to produce pieces of art or writing as part of their applications when they may not have the time, energy, or resources. Publishing professionals just don’t understand that because they don’t understand what it’s like to be poor.

We’ve all seen the dire statistics of who makes up the publishing industry, whether we’re talking race, sexuality, ability, and so forth. How many black disabled creators are there within children’s literature? How many black working-class people are within publishing? Not even a single percentage point.

FORMY BOOKS is an independent family-run publisher, creating a diverse range of beautiful and inclusive children’s books. Their mission is to increase positive black representation across all genres in children’s literature. They are passionate about platforming and amplifying black creative talent in publishing. Their titles include Later and A Grand Place. Find them on their website and on Twitter @formy_books.

JANE LINK is the founder of bigblackbooks. She is also a publishing professional holding two master’s in literature from The University of Edinburgh and SOAS. Find her on Twitter @verybookishjane.