The Crown Publishing Group partners with Storehouse In A Box to launch Storehouse Voices™

Storehouse Voices
Storehouse Voices

The Crown Publishing Group partners with Storehouse In A Box to launch Storehouse Voices™

Storehouse Voices™ to offer a fiction and nonfiction publishing program with titles sourced through a community-based incubation model and marketed through customized initiatives and dedicated partnerships

NEW YORK, PRNewswire -- The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, announced today the establishment of Storehouse Voices™, a new imprint committed to elevating Black voices.

Developed in partnership with award-winning entrepreneur and philanthropist Tamira Chapman, Storehouse Voices will issue books across a broad range of nonfiction categories and fiction genres, promoting the richness of Black storytelling through intentional acquisitions and hiring efforts, strategic partnerships, and authentic, equity-minded community outreach. Founded with a mission of bridging the representation gap of authors of color in the publishing industry, Storehouse Voices is informed by a deep understanding of the unique cultural and historical contexts of the Black experience in America and committed to ensuring that literary works by underrepresented authors are presented authentically, respectfully, and powerfully across the publishing and media landscape.

The founder and CEO of Storehouse In A Box, LLC (SIAB), a global merchandising company that in 2022 was recognized as the eighth-fastest-growing woman-led enterprise globally, Mrs. Chapman has an established reputation for developing and delivering content that reflects the values and interests of the audiences and communities she serves. Through her multiyear association with Penguin Random House, she has supported numerous publications by hosting large-scale virtual events with authors such as Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. Mrs. Chapman will serve as Publisher of Storehouse Voices.

Porscha Burke, who most recently served as Senior Editor and Director of DEI Strategy for the Crown and Random House Publishing Groups, has been named Associate Publisher of Storehouse Voices, effective immediately. She will work closely with Mrs. Chapman in shaping the imprint's publishing program and mission and in leading the imprint's community engagement initiatives. Ms. Burke brings more than twenty years of experience in the publishing industry and has acquired and edited works by Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and Jon Meacham, among other authors. An inaugural board member of People of Color in Publishing and PRH's DEI Council, she has long championed diversity in the industry. She will report to Mrs. Chapman.

Jennifer Baker, a widely respected publishing professional who previously served as Senior Editor at Amistad Books and who most recently was Senior Program Manager at Narrative Initiative, has been appointed as Editorial Director of Storehouse Voices and will join the company on February 10.

Also joining the Storehouse Voices editorial team will be Chelcee Johns, who has been named Executive Editor, effective February 3, reporting to Ms. Baker. With 15 years of editorial and digital content strategy experience spanning book publishing, digital media, and online magazines, Ms. Johns brings a passion for and belief in impactful, entertaining books to help shape and create culture.

The blueprint for Storehouse Voices developed from the success and community engagement demonstrated by the Women & Words program, a collaboration between Penguin Random House and SIAB: a series of virtual workshops and unprecedented networking sessions pairing literary agents with aspiring authors.

In keeping with its roots in Women & Words, Storehouse Voices will include an innovative community-based author incubator program in addition to acquiring books from literary agents. Five writers who participated in the Women & Words program have already been signed to book deals by Storehouse Voices, including Nia Gilliam (memoir); Cheryl Polote-Williamson (inspirational nonfiction); Temple Day Smith (historical fiction); Marie Sutton (biography/memoir); and Michael A. Tinsley (YA/fantasy).

Further details about Storehouse Voices' inaugural roster of authors and works can be found at www.storehousevoices.com.

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