Richards teams up with Scholastic for new Afrofuturist series

Jasmine Richards knew her pitch for Future Hero, the Afrofuturist series that came from her inclusive fiction studio Storymix, was strong when she came up with the idea in 2019. The first book, Future Hero: Race to Fire Mountain, will be published by Scholastic in May but there was a nine-way auction for the property, which explores magic, mythology and the African diaspora. All titles in the series will be published under the pseudonym Remi Blackwood.

“I pitched it as ‘Black Panther‘ meets Beast Quest,” says Richards. “That was really helpful for publishers, everyone understood what the proposition was… Lots of publishers said they needed something on their list that felt fresh and different for those kids who aren’t ready for those big, age nine to 12 books, almost literary middle-grade. That’s why it went to a nine-way auction.”

Richards will work with a number of Black British writers on the series and the first book will be written by Chiemeka Nicely (Scholastic has hired Alicia Robinson to illustrate). The series is about a boy called Jarell who is launched into magical adventures through the mirror in his cousin’s barber shop, and the first book is essentially an origin story: the barber is revealed to be a trickster god who has been banished to our world, and Jarell finds out that he is a descendant of a great warrior. 

Richards had a number of things in mind when coming up with the idea and was inspired partly by taking her younger brother to the barber shop. It was also around the time that the “Black Panther” film was released, which led to the author doing research on Afrofuturism, and she was interested in exploring the stories of people from the African diaspora. 

“The idea of a boy discovering he is the descendant of an amazing warrior... that is my way of connecting children of the diaspora with their cultural roots.”

Book two will follow in the summer, with books three and four coming in 2023, and Richards is, as with all her projects, committed to helping young writers develop their skills. “There is a ton of talent but it’s about finding routes to market. With Storymix we are building that story muscle and the writers are getting used to being edited, but we also have conversations about school visits, even explaining [to pupils] what a royalty is, what an advance is. It’s practical learning.”

She is “delighted” to be working with Scholastic, especially because Scholastic US acquired North American rights as well, and is proud of how far her business has come since launching only two years ago. She has a background in IP development and knew that an IP business could help solve the problem of representation in children’s books.

By chance, this was around the time that the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education started published its Reflecting Realities report into diversity in children’s literature (its first report showed that only 4% of children’s books published in 2017 featured Black, Asian or minority ethnic characters), which meant Richards had data to back up what she was saying about the lack of representation.

The business has now signed eight deals in total, including the upcoming Lizzie and Belle Mysteries series with Farshore, and earlier this year Richards won Creative Business of the Year at the Precious Awards, which celebrate women of colour who grow innovative businesses. 

Looking to the year ahead, Richards wants to focus on investment to build the business, as well as look at working in toys, games, and film and TV, where there is also work to be done around inclusivity, she says. She also wants to continue to help writers have long-term, sustained careers. “I want to make sure that these [writers] aren’t one-hit wonders. We are going to nurture people and explain this crazy business we are in. Let’s make sure [their work] is not a flash in the pan.”

Photography: Karen Ball.