When Bethany Shedrick was six years old, she started writing books, stapling the clip-art filled stories together and giving them to her loved ones. Now the 24-year-old Chula Vista native is fulfilling her life-long passion for writing and publishing by starting her own company, Shedrick Publishing.
Throughout her time at San Diego State University, where Shedrick majored in Africana studies, she was submitting her work to mainstream publishing houses.
“When I would send manuscripts to literary agents and publishers, they would always say this was a really beautiful piece, but it doesn’t really fit our theme,” Shedrick said.
After getting rejections rooted in her content about race, Shedrick decided to start her own publishing company with the mission of changing the face of literature by centering ethnically diverse authors and characters who lack representation in mainstream literature.
The first publishing industry diversity baseline survey was released by Lee & Low Books in 2016, and confirmed a lack of diversity in publishing, with findings that the publishing industry was 79 percent white, 7.2 percent Asian/Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 5.5 percent Hispanic/Latino/Mexican, 3.5 percent Black/African American, 2.7 percent multiracial/biracial, 0.8 percent Middle Eastern and 0.5 percent Native American/Alaskan Native.
At her publishing company, Shedrick aims to reflect characters of color in a wide variety of genres such as suspense thrillers and romantic dramas.
“White people are usually the default, I want to also portray Black people and brown people in different lights,” Shedrick said. “We can see ourselves as the heroes of the story.”
Shedrick will publish her first book “A Godless Night” Oct. 1. The novel is a thriller that tells the story of a young Black couple who get invited to a luxurious yacht party and find themselves in survival mode when a gunman appears.
“The idea from this novel was adapted from a nightmare that I had. When I had this nightmare I should’ve been afraid, but I was actually entertained,” Shedrick said. “When I woke up I was like wow, this might make a really good story.”
The novel will be published under the pseudonym Cessany Lee in an effort to keep Shedrick’s book separate from her other entrepreneurial ventures. When writing the novel, Shedrick said it was important to her to include ethnically diverse characters and realistic dialogue.
“Some of the characters speak in Ebonics, I really want to normalize that… With mainstream publishers, they will write modern novels, but the dialogue doesn’t reflect how people really talk,” Shedrick said.
Ebonics is also known as African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
In addition to “A Godless Night,” you’ll find “The House Behind the Cedars” listed on the Shedrick Publishing website, a novel about passing as a different race in the Victorian era written by Charles W. Chesnutt, an African American author known for his work exploring race and identity.
The novel was originally published in 1900, but Shedrick said she chose to republish it because of its timeless themes surrounding racism and colorism, in an effort to make sure the book is not forgotten.
Shedrick Publishing submission guidelines can be found online along with information about individualized services offered such as book cover design and book reviews. Shedrick Publishing submissions are open for unsigned authors; no literary agent is required.
“We strongly prefer works that contain protagonists and central characters with diverse, ethnic backgrounds, and plots that are refreshing, non-cliche and intriguing,” the Shedrick Publishing website reads.
In the future, Shedrick hopes to start publishing 12 novels per year and eventually open up her own office space. She also plans to start offering branding packages to help authors develop their websites and curate their image.
Her advice for young writers of color is to keep pushing forward.
“We can’t dim our shine for anybody, we shouldn’t feel pressured to whitewash our writing at all,” Shedrick said.
