Pan Mac and Afrocenchix launch year-long partnership
Pan Macmillan and all-female, Black-owned hair product company Afrocenchix have announced a year-long partnership that will see three of the publisher’s books included in 200 quarterly subscription boxes.
A pilot book club box and event was launched last November and has paved the way for a longer-term partnership that will comprise 12 titles, four events, content-sharing and festival appearances across 2022.
Book boxes will include titles selected from across all of Pan Macmillan’s divisions, including a special box focused on children’s titles. There will be a family activity day at the publisher’s offices during the summer.
The first box of 2022 will include The Attic Child by Lola Jaye (Macmillan), Stronger by Porna Bell (Bluebird) and What Happened To You? by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce Perry (Bluebird). Book club members as well as influencers across the worlds of books and beauty will be invited to attend an exclusive event with authors and people from both Afrocenchix and Pan Macmillan.
Rachael Twumasi-Corson, c.e.o. and founder of Afrocenchix, said: “Our community has been asking for a book club for years and I’m delighted to finally make that happen with Pan Macmillan. Sara [Lloyd, communications director at Pan Macmillan] and the Pan Mac team have shared our enthusiasm from the start of our conversations and it’s been a joy to work with them on bringing the idea to fruition. Our engaged audience of over 65,000 people is mostly made up of Black women and they’ve often expressed feeling forgotten by the publishing industry. The Afrocenchix and Pan Macmillan partnership is designed with inclusion at the forefront. Our initial theme of ’Holistic Strength’ is an important starting point for our community in the wake of news stories like Child Q, which evoke painful memories. I’m moved by the way our first three books explore trauma in a refreshingly hopeful light and I can’t wait to go on this literary adventure with our community.”
Lloyd said: “When I met Rachael through the Black Writers’ Guild I knew immediately I wanted to find a way for us to work together more, and exploring together the overlap between Afrocenchix’s loyal customer base and a keen book-reading and purchasing segment, we both became even more excited by the possibilities of a really strong creative partnership. Rachael and the whole Afrocenchix team are such an impressive and inspirational bunch of women.”
