Jelani Memory needed a creative break from his other startup. So he wrote a book for his children: “A Kids Book About Racism.”
The little ones dug it, and his friends and colleagues encouraged him to write more.
So last year he launched a D2C publishing platform called A Kids Book About.
Huge sales weren’t the goal
Memory wanted to help parents have straightforward talks with their kids about tough topics.
The company can write and distribute books within 45 days (traditional publishers take 18 months) and pays its authors a 10% cut (the industry standard is 6%).
There are currently 25 titles covering issues like bullying, divorce, and cancer.
One day this summer, they took off
The day after the death of George Floyd, the company sold a month’s worth of product. The next day, sales doubled. And they doubled again the next day.
Within 10 days, A Kids Book About had made $1m+ in revenue. Memory was already in talks with investors when sales spiked, and he raised $1m in seed money.
Meanwhile, “A Kids Book About Racism” was adapted into a digital production featuring a collaboration of 37 children’s theaters.
