Bloomsbury Children’s Books announced a partnership with Cocoa Magazine to show children the career paths available to them in publishing. A competition will also be made available for a child to have their story and cover idea turned into a book.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Bloomsbury to bring one lucky Cocoa reader the chance to see their own short story in print!” Serlina Boyd, the founder and editor-in-chief of Cocoa Magazine, said, according to The Bookseller. “We want to encourage our readers to consider a career in publishing and this is something as a brand we have wanted to do for a long time. We are so glad to be working with Bloomsbury on this partnership.”
Boyd launched the magazine to elevate the voices of Black children and provide those between seven and 11 years old an education about Black culture. The founder was inspired by her daughter, and the magazine now counts schools in the UK as its subscriber base.
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Cocoa Magazine will feature informative content about publishing in each quarterly issue starting this month. The goal is to show children they can turn their love of reading into a career by focusing on various aspects of the industry, including fields such as editorial, design, sales, marketing and publicity. Each issue will also feature short Q&As with Bloomsbury staff, authors, illustrators and books to show young readers that “there are people who look like them in the publishing industry.”
“This one of a kind partnership initiated by the children’s marketing team at Bloomsbury signifies a significant step towards fostering diversity and inclusion within the publishing realm,” Annie Muyang, the senior diversity and inclusion manager at Bloomsbury, said. “We are enthusiastic about the opportunity to inspire and mentor the next generation of talent, breaking barriers and creating a space where Cocoa readers can envision a future in the world of literature.”
