“What’s Your Story?” is a guest post feature on BCBA’s blog. Indie/Self-Published authors are invited to write about their books, writing journey, creative process, inspiration, rewards and challenges of publishing, etc. They can go in whatever direction they choose. We are excited and grateful for their willingness to share, and we hope you enjoy Jacquelyn Randle’s story. Go here for more WYS? posts.
My fondest memory as a child was my family’s weekend visits to the local library. At that point in time, the library was a key place in almost every neighborhood. My grandmother, mother, brother, and I would all walk around the corner; march up what seemed like gigantic steps, and push past the heavy wooden doors that led to a world away from all the noise of the city. I would immerse myself into the children’s books and slowly wander over to the older section—my eyes always caught the colorful spines and covers displayed. By the 2nd grade, I was reading at a 6th-grade reading level, working my way through “Classic Literature” like Shakespeare and then tackling the selected speeches of Black leaders.
Those moments of my youth helped me evolve into a novice writer in my teens. I wrote everything from poems, short stories, scripts, and even a song or two. My sophomore English teacher took notice of my work and recommended that I submit a piece for publication. I didn’t think much of it and sent over a piece I mulled over in one of the numerous notebooks I had. To my surprise, I was selected along with about 25 other area teens in the St. Louis area. It was a surreal experience to see our work honored and even printed for distribution. It was even more surreal to see the publication still on the shelves at an area school I worked at.
After this, I continued to write into my college years and one day just stopped. The desire to write or read for recreation was sadly trumped out by academic reading. Once my degrees were complete, I slowly began to read and eventually found the inspiration to write again. Notebooks began to fill again, and writing became therapeutic in a way. The reading side was not as exciting. I recall looking for a particular book that should have been located with the Sci-Fi section but was merged between the Urban Lit section due to being written by a Black writer. This really grinds my gears. I understand and appreciate the easy identification of books by writers of my color but felt they shouldn’t technically be segregated, especially if it’s located in the wrong section.
As I began to sit with the idea of our work being segregated, I also thought of how Black writers are assumed to only write Urban Lit or Romance novels. I wanted to change this, and once I had my daughters, I really sat out to change this because, at that time, every book that featured a Black child either focused on hair or skin color. I appreciated the representation, but we are so much more than those two things, and our children should be able to see regular stories featuring Black leads doing day-to-day things like them.
This was my push to write my children’s book I’ll Love You Wherever You Go. A book where my daughters could see themselves and highlighted love for siblings as they grow together. My eldest daughter loved the idea and was hands-on from the selection of the pictures featured, colors chosen, artist selected, and even book styling. Once written, edited, drawn, and published, it took off. Within the first year, I moved over 1,000 copies worldwide completely independent and without the aid of larger retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, or Target and placement in subscription-based book boxes.
Eventually, my services and team morphed into a hybrid company that assists indie writers by getting their stories out to the world but still controlling most, if not all, the profits and design of their projects. One of the things I strive to offer is transparency in the process to authors and fresh quality content that shines a light on Black and female perspectives of the world. Currently, our works include a heavy focus on self-reflection.
Jacquelyn Randle is an author born and raised in the St. Louis area, with her first publication at 15. With an extensive background in education and community outreach, she provides viewers with a refreshing take on today’s world and events. Not only does she give audiences a new voice to listen to, but she provides a level of transparency that hasn’t been seen in years. “If my story and work can inspire just one person to reflect and to grow in their own life, then I can change the world.” Wearing many hats, she is also the lead editor and consultant at C & E Reflections Inc and helps other aspiring authors get their narratives on the page and published.
Connect with Jacquelyn Randle and C & E Reflections Inc.
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