The Storymix:Craft and Conversation podcast is back

Seven episodes. Seven years. Seven Storymix authors talking about the books they've just put into the world.

Storymix: Craft and Conversation returns for Season Two on 13 August, the same day Usborne publishes Siren Knight's Princess (Apparently) — one of seven titles explored this season. Storymix founder Jasmine Richards takes the host's chair this season, sitting down with a different Storymix author each episode to talk about how their book began, what changed between the first idea and the finished copy, and what it actually takes to build a creative career in this industry.

Why now

Season One landed in 2023, on the back of an industry that was making loud, public commitments about who it wanted to publish. Three years on, our founder, Jasmine, is looking at a different landscape — one where marketing and PR attention has quietly thinned, and nowhere faster than around books by creators from minoritised backgrounds.

Season Two is a direct answer to that.

"In my experience, publishing is in a very different place from when we launched Season One. There is less noise, less marketing support, and brilliant books are being left to find their audiences on their own. We can be vexed about that, or we can make some noise ourselves. Season Two puts writers and illustrators and their work at the centre of the conversation, and gives space for them to talk about the craft of making books."

"So many of the writers and illustrators we work with came on this journey when the industry was making very different promises about whose stories it wanted to champion. I want to make sure their work is seen, heard, discussed and celebrated. Craft and Conversation is how we take some agency back, and choose who gets amplified."

Who's on this season

Each episode is built around a question that grew out of the book itself:

Episode 1: Siren Knight, Princess (Apparently) (Usborne, August 2026) Usborne's first collaboration with Storymix. A sliding-doors premise — a Caribbean monarchy founded in the 1700s, still standing today — plus mixed-race identity, first love, and what Knight's day job as a teacher taught her about how badly adults underestimate teenagers.

Imagine Differently: A. M. Ellis, I Feel Your Pain (Penguin Random House, June 2026) A YA dystopian romance set in a city where big pharma transfers physical pain from the rich to the poor. Who gets heard, who profits from suffering, and who gets to imagine a different future —on and off the page.

On Your Own Terms: Scarlett Li (pen name for Lui Sit), The Lucky House Detective Agency (Storymix Books, June 2026) A middle-grade mystery set around a 1990s family Chinese takeaway. Jasmine and Lui on the rollercoaster of republishing The Lucky House Detective Agency after Knights Of went into liquidation, Lui resisting the pressure to "Chinese-ify" a story, and her childhood dream of becoming a detective.

What Access Looks Like: P. J. Killburn, Dead Yard: Deep Trouble (Little Tiger, September 2026) Book two in a fast-paced middle-grade supernatural series, illustrated by Markia Jenai, with children vanishing near the Thames. The West African and Caribbean folklore behind the water deity Mami Wata, the pacing and humour children's horror demands, and what access means for diaspora kids uncovering fading traditions.

Power of Names: S. R. Krish (pen name for Savita Kalhan), The Lost Name Society (Fox and Ink, September 2026) Dark academia gothic horror, in which Andy (Aniruddha) hides his South Asian name to fit in and accidentally shields himself from a demonic force. The meta irony of publishing a book about names under a brand-new pen name, plus Kalhan's stint as a 1990s book smuggler.

Who Gets to Ride?: Nicci Johnson, Stableheart: Helping Hero (Simon & Schuster, June 2026) A contemporary horse story illustrated by Keith Robinson. A veterinary ophthalmologist on walking away from full-time vetting to write inclusive fiction, weaving kinship care and Caribbean heritage into a four-book series, and why representation matters even in the most specialised sub-genres like pony books!

The Dream Job: Adeola Sokunbi, Destiny Ink: Talent Show Magic (Nosy Crow, US, Autumn 2026) Book two lands in the US this autumn. Sokunbi's route in started with a giant doodle on her mother's kitchen wall that caught Jasmine's eye on Instagram. Juggling software engineering work with writing and illustrating, plus the realities of multiple revenue streams —and her upcoming graphic novel series, Doodle World.

Click to order the books from the podcast

A different shape this time

Season One, co-hosted by Maame Blue and Azi Farni, ran to ten episodes and walked listeners through the process of getting published — submissions, agents, writing for different age groups — with guests including agent Davinia Andrew-Lynch and author J.T. Williams.

Season Two takes the microphone behind the scenes and talks to the authors about the process of making these seven books .

Storymix: Craft and Conversation Season Two launched on 13th August 2026 on all major podcast platforms. New episodes drop weekly. Make sure to subscribe and we'd love to hear what you think.