Create With Us
Once a project, and its storyline, is developed in-house, Storymix works collaboratively with Black and Minority Ethnic writers and illustrators to bring our exceptional stories to life. We are always looking for distinctive voices and styles that will delight and entertain children and teens.
Working with Storymix
Storymix is seeking to collaborate with racially-minoritized writers and illustrators on stories full of joy and adventure. Whether you are an experienced writer or illustrator looking to return to the industry, an established creative keen to try your hand at a new genre or age range, or a new writer or illustrator seeking to develop your craft, Storymix wants to hear from you.
Agents: If you have a writer with a voice that leaps off the page, or an illustrator with a style that wows, and are looking for the perfect concept to show off their talents, get in touch to see if we can collaborate!
Apply to become a Storymix Creative to kickstart your publishing career today.
Storytelling often involves an intoxicating mix of ingredients, from the first spark of an idea added into the mixing bowl, to the cherry on top, the perfect title for a novel.
Storymix’s signature blend of storytelling is brewed in-house. Our talented team of editors work together to prepare a feast of fiction, and the final, and most essential ingredient, is you. Your words and your art will bring our stories and characters to life.
Storymix is dedicated to meaningfully increasing the number of diverse titles published each year. Every child should see themselves in the books they read, and in the people that create them.
Once you have been selected as a writer or illustrator on a Storymix project, we will nurture and support your progress every step of the way. For new writers and illustrators, our unique apprenticeship model serves as on-the-job training, allowing you to gain experience, network with industry professionals, and develop your craft while being paid for your work. You will be assigned a skilled in-house editor who will provide you with invaluable editorial feedback and/or art direction.
Our ultimate goal is to equip our writers and illustrators with the skills necessary to kickstart their own careers. It is our hope that your collaboration with Storymix becomes a launchpad, allowing you to secure your own independent publishing deals, thereby changing the landscape of the publishing industry for the better.
"Working with Storymix has been a great experience. It’s given me exposure to writing to brief, the editing and re-writing process, and overall what it takes to develop a piece so it’s ready for publication. Storymix has encouraged me in promoting myself as an author also, organising author events and school visits that hone my presentation and engagement skills. I’m proud to have worked with them!"
Isaac Hamilton-McKenzie
How it works
Step 1: Send Storymix a sample of your work through Submittable.
Step 2: Based on your sample material, we will contact you when we think you might be the right fit for a project on our development slate. An introductory phone call may be scheduled.
Step 3: If you are a writer, you will be paid to write chapter samples based on an original storyline produced by Storymix. Think of your chapter sample as an audition – at this stage, it is imperative that you let your voice shine through. How do you take the brief and make it REALLY sing?
Your work must also showcase an ability to execute a brief and work to a deadline. If you are an illustrator, we may ask you to produce character development sheets as your sample; if this is an illustrator-led project, we might ask you to do sample spreads.
Step 4: Storymix will send you editorial feedback on your chapter or illustration samples.
If you are a writer, we will assess how you respond to our editorial feedback and build on your first draft.
If you are an illustrator, Storymix will provide art direction on your sample material before it is ready to be showcased to publishers.
Once your sample chapters and/or illustrations are as strong as possible, they will be used as part of our submission when we pitch the project to publishers.
Step 5: If a project is picked up by a publisher, we will commission you to write the rest of the manuscript. For illustration-led projects, a similar process will take place.
Step 6: Storymix, the publisher and the creative(s) will work together to produce the final manuscript.
NOTE: Storymix owns all rights to the concepts they have conceived and developed. A share of the royalties and advance from a sold project will be shared with the writer or the writer-illustrator we commission to deliver a book.
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