Uplifting Latino Voices in Literature
Awards Winning Books Directory: A collection of Award Winning Books from the International Latino Book Awards with the goal to spread visibility for Latino literature. This program helps open doors for national and international authors in the publishing world in the United States. This online listing project was accomplished thanks to the support of Amazon Literacy Partnership. Thanks to them this directory will continue to grow from here and provide book profiles from numerous books. This directory provides authors a platform where they can see their book listed with description and author biography. We hope this listing becomes a place where many people, organizations, schools, and librarians can find more Latino books to read, share and help educate others.
Latino Reads: 40% of the authors involved in our programs do not have enough online information about themselves to properly promote their books and develop their career as an author. The problem here is content production and digital support. During the past six years, our team including volunteers interviewed authors, filmed, and collected materials from the authors such as their photos, book covers, author biography, and marketing statements. Up to date, the organization has collected hundreds of video interviewes but lacks available funds to cover the editing, promotion, and distribution of all these pieces. We believe this is critical in the process to uplift Latino voices in literature; therefore, we will continue producing the interviews and seek support to maintain this effort.
ISLA Latino Publishing University: An education program to support author growth, to provide a setting to network, and to increase publishing success. The core of this program a series of workshops in English and Spanish targeting topics that authors and small publishers often ask about. The types of workshops can include Finding a quality translator; How to get an agent; Finding the right illustrator; How to get an editor; Metadata for Latino themed books; Book distribution for consumer and library markets; Marketing; Book design elements. Print on demand made simple; and Trends in Latino book publishing.
Award Winning Author Tour: Every year, after the Book Awards Ceremony, our efforts continue with another of our programs, the Award Winning Authors (AWA) Tour. This is a program that provides authors with opportunities to attend community and publishing events around the country at a fraction of the cost. It provides an opportunity for authors to network by attending events such as the American Library Association Convention, the Latino Book & Family Festivals, CABE Convention which is the largest convention of diverse educators in the United States, La Cosecha Dual Language Convention, UnidosUS Convention among others. Many of these events are happening as hybrid events. From such events, authors have sold their book rights, gotten meaningful contracts, have networked with librarians and publishers, and found translators. These success stories make us feel proud of the support we provide to Latino authors.
