Kaleidoscope is an anthology of diverse contemporary YA fantasy & science fiction stories, which will be edited by Julia Rios and Alisa Krasnostein, and published by Twelfth Planet Press. Too often popular culture and media defaults to a very narrow cross section of the world's populace. We believe that people of all kinds want to see themselves reflected in stories. We also believe that readers actively enjoy reading stories about people who aren't exactly like them. We want see more stories featuring people who don't always get the spotlight, so we're gathering a wonderful variety of:

* YA fantasy stories [Update: As of 10/23 we are also open to science fiction]
* Set in the modern world
* Featuring teen protagonists from diverse backgrounds

The main characters in Kaleidoscope stories will be part of the QUILTBAG, neuro-diverse, disabled, from non-Western cultures, people of color, or in some other way not the typical straight, white, cis-gendered, able-bodied characters we see all over the place.

That said, these aren't going to be issue stories. The focus here is contemporary fantasy, and while the characters' backgrounds will necessarily affect how they engage with the world, we're not going to have a collection of "Very Special Episode" stories about kids coming to terms with their sexuality/disability/mental illness/cultural identity, etc. We want to see protagonists from all sorts of backgrounds being the heroes of their own journeys.



Julia: I'm half-Mexican and bisexual. Growing up, I didn't see a lot of characters who were like me, and I was sure that my very existence was at best, not ideal, and at worst, very wrong. I believe that showing characters from different backgrounds helps everyone accept that people come in all sorts of varieties, and that's a good thing.

Alisa: As a publisher and editor, I'm driven by several objectives. The first and foremost is to publish fresh, original, well written work that seeks to interrogate, commentate, inspire and provoke thought. The second, is to advocate for diversity in fiction. I want to see myself in at least some of the stories I read and I want that for other readers too. I especially want that for young adult readers - for them to know that there are other people out there like them, who know and understand what it's like to face the world from the perspective that they do.

But don't take our word for it! Here are some reasons diversity matters to other people:




Sofia Samatar, Ken Liu, Vylar Kaftan, and Jim Hines have already given us stories featuring a fantastic variety of main characters, including people of color, QUILTBAG characters, and non-neurotypical characters. We're very excited about the shape of Kaleidoscope so far, and this is just the beginning. When we reach the halfway point of our funding goal, we'll put up our general submissions call, and the open reading reading will begin. We're aiming to acquire about 100,000 words of original fiction for Kaleidoscope, and if you have a story to share, we'd love to see it.

Stretch Goals

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Delays in editing and/or production are always a possibility, of course. Our ultimate goal is to provide you with a quality product. We will keep backers in the loop during the entire process, and if any problems crop up, we will let you know, and tell you what we're dong to resolve them.

We already have a few authors lined up, and their stories are the beginnings of what promises to be an excellent anthology. This anthology is not filled yet, though. While we anticipate making our final selections in early 2014, and launching the book at LonCon3 in August of 2014, it's possible that the launch could be delayed if we don't have the right balance of stories in time. We're committed to excellence overall, so even though we don't think this will be a problem, we want to reserve the right to take a little bit longer if that's what it will take to deliver something amazing.

Alisa is also having a baby in November, and while we don't think that will affect Kaleidoscope's production timeline, there's always the possibility of unforeseen complications in the life of a new parent. Julia is prepared to take on more of the work if necessary, and Alisa doesn't work entirely alone at Twelfth Planet, so we are confident that even if the project launch ends up needing to be delayed a bit, we will be able to deliver it eventually. Again, we'll be sure to let backers know as soon as we know if there is a change in the production and launch schedule for Kaleidoscope.