INCLUDAS Kids (INCLUDAS Press)
Disability learning made easy! Discover something inclusive on every page. This 84-page multi-cultural book has interactive inclusion lessons, dyslexia-friendly large text for easy reading, and a fun cast of diverse characters. There’s everything from word search puzzles to dot sticker pages!
The Includas Superheroes need your help to keep the Exclusion Monsters away! Complete each Includas Mission in Levels 1 and 2 to get your own Includas Superpowers. Use your drawing, writing, sharing, and performing skills to learn how to be diverse and inclusive. #IncludasPowers
Luda is excited to make friends in a new city! She can’t wait to make silly faces and play outside. But when the other kids make fun of her wheelchair, Chairsy, Luda feels discouraged to play with them. Will she ever be able to make new friends?
Kendra is excited to perform at her dance recital! She works hard on her dance poses, but she’s not perfect as her friends. Even when she follows their every move, her dancing feels wonky and stiff. How can her routine become perfect in time for the recital?
Kevin draws and writes to bring something magical and silly into the world. He has paranoid schizophrenia and wants his sons to grow up in a world that doesn’t stigmatize differences.
Kendra is a fashionista who loves bright colors and sparkle. When she’s not sharing her story, she’s working as a marketing communication specialist or helping with a fashion show. She has Mucopolysaccharide Type VI and hopes to write more books.
Carrie is a debut illustrator who enjoys making art by hand. She has painted theater sets for her daughter’s performances and murals in a nursery. She’s also interested in photography and travel.
Tasha has a big birthday present for her friend, Sam. Or at least it’s a big gift until the other guests start bringing even bigger ones. Tasha can’t let her present be the smallest because it has to be just as big—no, bigger—than Tasha and Sam’s friendship. But how can Tasha find something that big? And what if the other friends continue to bring bigger and bigger presents?
The Biggest Gift of All celebrates diversity in its charming watercolor-style illustration and heart-warming story as Tasha learns what it means to be a true friend.
Luda is a curious adventurer at heart who is not afraid to create her own path and persevere to make change happen. She has muscular dystrophy, has served on many DEI committees, currently serves on a Board of Directors for BookTalk, and conducts research on disability representation in media.
Melquea enjoys illustrating stories and playing with animation that relate to her experiences. When not illustrating, you can find Smith watching the latest cartoons and animated movies, practicing her Salsa steps with her cat Kilala and giving her other cat Bumblebee pit-pats on her super fluffy tummy.
INCLUDAS Teen
First kisses ruin everything. No matter whose lips Abigail Maria Panashe touches, her life becomes plagued with disaster. But Abby won’t give up on that real romantic kiss she has dreamt of. Planned for. It just can’t be with her best friend, Theo Winthers, because that would be weird. Especially since they’ve played as kids in her late Papi’s cabin and pretended to dance for the debutante ball together, even perfecting the routine to her wheelchair moves. Now, kissing Hudson Giordani, the next-door neighbor hottie, that would definitely be weird. Abby has to choose between the best friend who gives her a shoulder to cry on and the crush who still gets her heart racing to be her escort for this summer’s debutante ball. Because her next kiss will change all her plans.
He’s all about change. She’s not. Senior year—not the biggest deal in the world, right? Except that it is, because everything is changing. Most seniors worry about their dates for school dances, soaking up final memories with friends, and planning life after graduation. Seventeen-year-old Dinah Finaylson has other worries, like students brushing against her and her autism service dog, Higgins; like winning board game matches in the disability classroom; and like opening up to a new student, Maverick Wright. Maverick asks too many strange questions and Dinah is scared of everything that could go wrong by letting this mysterious guy become part of her routine. That is, until he becomes her first best friend. But the moment Dinah makes Maverick part of her schedule, he disappears, changing everything in Dinah’s life and sending her into a downward spiral. Was the risk of letting change enter her life worth it? Now that senior year is ruined forever, Dinah can’t possibly imagine braving the halls of high school for one more day, let alone finishing senior year—or can she?
LS loves going on hikes, hanging out at the pool, and collecting all sorts of antiques. She has social anxiety and muscular dystrophy. Her advice to writers: Start from a blank page once in awhile. Don’t hold anything back, the pages should be yours truly.
Emily has imagined all kinds of stories since grade school. When she’s not writing stories that are true to her heart, she enjoys playing video games and spending time with her two daughters. Emily has a genetic mutation called SCN1A, which causes neurologic and mood disabilities.
Brides in Wheelchairs Project
Brides in Wheelchairs Wedding Planner
This informative wedding planner is filled with worksheets, contact management, statistics, advice, and so much more! We’ve got you covered in all the normal wedding planning details, like budget, rehearsal dinner, honeymoon planning, transportation, and flowers. But we also add the awareness of doing it all while in a wheelchair. This covers everything from dress adjustments to wheelchair decorations to venue accessibility, all while making your dream wedding come to life!
Check out the Brides In Wheelchairs website for complimentary wedding planning sheets, wedding-related event planning tips, and informative blog posts.
Jessica Oddi is a disabled Canadian freelance creative with 10+ years of graphic design experience. She specializes in accessible design, disability representation, and projects that empower marginalized communities.
Submissions
At INCLUDAS Publishing, we are all about disability visibility in the book world. This means that we are dedicated to supporting disabled authors/illustrators and stories that include disability+ representation. We can’t wait to read your words, whether it’s a picture book or a young adult novel. Thank you for your interest and good luck. Fiction only. At this time, we are looking for all types of young adult, middle grade, and picture books. Our submissions ask for details including chapter samples, a synopsis, and a query letter. Submissions are closed until summer 2024.
Great! Now go write your idea down! This is the perfect time to stretch your creativity and imagination to build something awesome. No matter the genre, character agency and world building are fundamental elements of any story. Remember, it’s important to read other books inside and outside your genre.
Awesome! Now that you’ve researched the marketplace and crafted a story from your ideas, it’s time to get feedback on it. Get to know and interact with other authors writing in your genre. Use writing resource blogs, writing workshops, critique groups, beta readers, and professional editors to help improve your story.
Congratulations! Now that you’ve had your story critiqued, edited, and rewritten, it’s time to consider publishing. When it comes to publishing a book, it’s important to know what that means. This way you can figure out if you would like to self-publish, submit to an agent, or be accepted into a small press. If you are not sure what this means, ask your fellow writers and join organizations. You can also check out The Key Book Publishing Path by Jane Friedman.
If you have a polished manuscript, submit to us!
For unagented submissions, we REQUIRE each manuscript be edited by at least one professional developmental/manuscript critique editor in the chosen genre PRIOR to submission.
Check out our 10 Tips On Writing Books For Kids to avoid the common mistakes we see in submissions. Please make sure the story and language fits with the genre, writing style, and target audience. You can also visit our blog’s comprehensive list of resources and databases for authors looking to get published.