Why INCLUDAS Publishing?
Hello! Want to know more about INCLUDAS Publishing and why it was started? Read on!
Growing up and even now, the founder, Luda Gogolushko, rarely saw anyone in a wheelchair (or muscular dystrophy) play a positive role (or any role for that matter) in a movie, T.V. show, or book.
So we want to change this by spreading the magic of diversity and inclusion and exude the stories and characters many people can relate to. Have you ever thought of what life would be like without books, movies, songs, or plays? Would anything exist? We seem to live and breathe for the entertainment industry, fueling it and having it fuel us. Such power.
Our Purpose:
INCLUDAS Publishing aims to bring disability inclusiveness and diversity into the book world by publishing books with Disabled fictional characters—from children’s books to young adult novels. Authors and illustrators can create a feeling of inclusion for everyone through the art of stories, the power of images, and the movement of design. This is not just a press that prints books. This is a forward-thinking press that only publishes books that leave a lasting impression and teach readers to be includas allies. We put disability inclusion first.
Vision for the Future:
We are bold dreamers! We want to innovate the book world through new ways of encouraging physical, emotional, and mental engagement— such as tactile braille graphics and accessible interactive ebooks. We hope the future can allow readers to experience reading in various ways. Even if a child is not blind, braille can become a norm to start introducing inclusion into a family’s home. Additionally, we dream of creating diverse ways of crafting inclusion and accessibility in how a reader interacts with a book, whether through touch, sight, sound, or shapes and colors, etc.
Our Goals:
Our goal is to create a culture for change and to serve as a seed of creative inspiration for writers so that they will share stories that represent themselves and promote social justice.
Diversity in stories is less than 10%, according to “Where Is the Diversity in Publishing? The 2015 Diversity Baseline Survey Results,” and disability inclusion in publishing is practically not existent. The need for inclusion is now, which is why this press is important for everyone. Disability should not be portrayed as something to hide, but something to be engaged in—not something to fear, but something to adapt to. That is why we celebrate disabilities with everyone here at INCLUDAS Publishing.
Being Resilient:
Images and stories cater to perception, as well as thinking. When the media and entertainment industry produces the same dehumanizing views on people with disabilities, those perceptions become realities and put an umbrella of invisibility on people with disabilities. People learn through communication, and the messages coded in words are what shapes reality. So if there are no stories, there are no realities. If there is no inclusion, there is no change. If there is no access, there is no opportunity.
And this is why INCLUDAS Publishing will always fight for disability visibility by creating authentic books that move people one page at a time.
