Ah, the holiday season: the perfect time for all of us to slow down, listen closely as the autumn leaves crunch beneath our soles, savor our sips of hot cocoa, and truly reflect upon the things that we truly cherish most.
The holidays tend to spark a sense of utmost gratitude and compassion, leading us to donate to children’s toy drives, volunteer at shelters, or simply bring a homemade pie to our next-door neighbor.The Season for Giving: Two Black Woman-Owned Businesses That Are Giving
This year, and for years to come, two Black businesswomen are spreading magic and holiday cheer to their communities:
My Young Life Matters: The Next Generation Speaks — Antionette Mutcherson, BFF Publishing House
In 2020, BFF Publishing House made history and gifted 100 children from all over the United States an opportunity to express themselves in My Young Life Matters: The Next Generation Speaks, an anthology centered around racism, police brutality, social injustice, and Black empowerment. My Young Life Matters: The Next Generation Speaks is a collection of essays, short stories, and poems written by children ages 6 to 17 years old. These 100 children are now bestselling authors!
“As an adult, it’s difficult to process what’s going on right now in America—imagine how our children must feel,” says Mutcherson. “I am humbled that we reached our goal of providing a platform for 100 Black American children to express themselves and learn the art of storytelling as they share their feelings and thoughts about police brutality and social injustice at no cost to the authors.”
Readers of My Young Life Matters will experience the optimism and future aspirations that our authors still have in these unprecedented times. Through their prose, the authors expressed vexation for the disdain that plagues the Black community and offered pathways to a nation that can truly be considered the “land of the free.”
Through the 2020 My Young Life Matters initiative, Black American children had the opportunity and platform to express themselves, learn the art of storytelling, and become authors while doing so.
This year, Toni and her team are doing it AGAIN! 100 more young Black authors will be published in My Young Life Matters: The Next Generation Speaks Vol. II.
My Young Life Matters: The Next Generation Speaks Vol. I is now available to order in the BFF Publishing House bookstore. Order your copy today to show a young Black child in your life that their young life matters, and encourage them to apply to share their powerful story in My Young Life Matters: The Next Generation Speaks Vol. II!
Holiday Publishing Grant for Mothers and Young Readers — Amiyra King, Journal Joy Publishing
If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming a published author—even if you just daydreamed about it for the first time while reading this sentence—now’s your chance! If you wrote a book back in the day, but never got around to editing and publishing it due to the demands of motherhood, we’ve got you covered. If you have a story to tell, but are nervous about navigating the writing process, we’re here to help! If your child, or a child you know, wants to become a published author, we can make their dream come true.
This holiday season, Journal Joy Publishing is giving away two publishing grants: one for a mom and one for a young reader! All genres are welcome! Every step of the publishing process is covered by this grant, including editing, proofreading, illustrating, formatting, publishing, and printing—what a steal!
Applications are being accepted until December 4, 2021. Awardees will be announced on December 15, 2021 on Facebook Live and Instagram Live.
An author information kit will be provided to both winners. Winners’ manuscripts will be due on January 2, 2022, and the publishing process will begin thereafter.
Tell a friend, tell a student, tell a mom, tell a child, or submit an application yourself! You deserve some holiday cheer, too.
Best of luck to all applicants!
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This holiday season, we thank Toni and Amiyra for their contributions to not only the publishing world, but to mothers, children, and the Black community, as well. Follow BFF Publishing House and Journal Joy Publishing on social media:
BFF Publishing House:
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