The FUTURE: Akashic Books Launches New Imprint, Open Lens

Johnny Temple, publisher of Akashic Books, has announced

a collaborative partnership with Open Lens, a new imprint specializing in quality fiction and non-fiction that will be launched in September with the publication of MAKEDA, a novel by bestselling author, Randall Robinson. Says Johnny Temple, "When Marva first contacted me about the possibility of collaborating on an imprint, I was immediately intrigued. Little did I know that she had recruited Marie, Regina, and Janet to join her in this very promising endeavor! Needless to say, I can think of no more effective way of launching the imprint than with a new novel by Randall Robinson!"

The co-founders of Open Lens are Marva Allen, managing partner of Hue-Man Bookstore, and literary agents Regina Brooks, Serendipity Literary Agency LLC., and Marie Dutton Brown, Marie Brown Associates. Janet Hill Talbert former Vice President and Executive Editor of the Doubleday imprint Harlem Moon served as the first guest editor for Open Lens’ inaugural title. The imprint intent is to not have a dedicated editor, but use guest editors that are most suitable for the multicultural content of the works they will publish.

Open Lens, as envisioned by the founders and Temple will offer readers and writers literary options that are vastly limited in today’s book publishing marketplace. The imprint continues in the Akashic tradition of focusing on quality writing by writers of color, whose work in recent years has been consistently limited or ignored by trade publishers. By recognizing this obvious limitation, the founding publishing professionals believe that the imprint will broaden the vision of readers and authors by adding a layer of insight and new ways of viewing and gaining a deeper understanding of our ever-shrinking world.

Further elaborating on that phenomenon, Marva Allen states that, “Open Lens will provide authors of world literature a literary platform from which they can share their diverse literary vision and rich cultural perspective. Undoubtedly, we will publish African American and Caribbean authors but we also hope to broaden our reading choices, offering readers a panoramic and an expansive global experience. The Open Lens titles will be aimed at readers of all colors who appreciate and applaud quality work from diverse literary voices.”

Open Lens plans to publish 2-3 books a year.

Marva Allen: The Woman Behind Hue-Man Bookstore