We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Justine A. P. Louis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Justine below.
Alright, Justine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
I officially created VivLiv Books, my publishing company, in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. At VivLiv Books, we want our young readers as well as their families to go on a journey through our books and to experience all the beauty that Caribbean countries have to offer. Our mission is to foster the teaching of Caribbean culture through books. I started VivLiv Books for a variety of reasons. I strongly believe that representation matters. It is so important that our children feel valued and seen in media, books and more. In my practice, I work with many children and families from all over the world, including the Caribbean and Haiti. Often times, children and families search for books, resources, materials, languages and even characters that represent them or books that can allow them to learn more about another culture. With the knowledge and experience that I have from living in Haiti for my entire childhood into my teenage years, and with my love for books and writing, I felt that my calling was to create cultural books for children. With the diverse communities that I work with, I wanted to become part of the author community in order to provide authentic, helpful and cultural resources for children from the Caribbean and Haiti. My dedication to promoting Caribbean languages and culture, as well as my drive to expand on Haitian children’s literature have inspired me to write children’s books and to launch my own publishing company.
Another source of inspiration for my children’s books is the fond and cherished memories of my childhood in Haiti and the nostalgia that I get from those memories. As I reminisce about my childhood, I find inspiration to write new stories to share with my audience. Thus, my children’s books do reflect my childhood memories and experiences while growing up in Haiti. A fun fact about my books is that many parts and aspects of my childhood are included in my works through the diverse characters, settings and plots. Through my experiences, my goal is to also share the positives and beauty of our culture and language with little ones.
My children also inspire me to write and to create more stories. I want them to know about their Haitian heritage and to also learn Haitian Creole. I was motivated even more to write bilingual stories for my children as I am raising them to be multilingual. Books are a great way to teach children about languages and culture. Books also allow them to travel without leaving their homes. They can go on a cultural journey with mommy’s books! My children take so much pride in learning Haitian Creole and all things related to the Caribbean from me and also through my books!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am Justine A. P. Louis and I am an author, speech language pathologist, educator and mother of two wonderful children. I am also the founder of VivLiv Books which is a company that focuses on increasing and promoting diversity as well as bilingualism in children’s books. At VivLiv Books, we highlight Caribbean culture in books, including Haitian children’s literature. My books tell stories of Caribbean and Haitian culture in a fun, magical and adventurous ways through diverse characters.
I was raised on the Caribbean island of Haiti where I experienced its rich culture firsthand. My journey as a writer started at a very young age. I was inspired by my family’s storytelling routines in Haiti. Almost every night before bedtime, my family gathered around and narrated popular Haitian folktales, stories, and we told jokes to each other. My grandmother was also a great storyteller. I enjoyed listening to her stories the most. These storytelling routines eventually led me to pick up a pen, and to create my own stories. I had such a huge imagination as a child and I wrote so many enjoyable poems and stories that I vividly recall my father saying that I will become an author one day! I was always so passionate about writing and becoming an author, that I worked tirelessly to make this dream possible throughout the years.
I am excited to have accomplished this goals and to have created my own books and publishing company: VivLiv Books.
Since starting VivLiv Books, we have published a variety of children’s books including: Luke Visits Jacmel, Dalia Explores the Haitian Creole Alphabet, Queen of Dominoes, The Magical Kite, Dalia’s Bilingual Day, The Mermaid of Grand’Anse, Little Happies, and more. We also created book companions, coloring books, merchandise, writing journals for kids, etc.
VivLiv Books also offers publishing services to authors. Our services include: book coaching, editing, structural editing, developmental editing, proofreading, and more. Our services are primarily geared to children’s book authors looking to self-publish their work. I truly enjoy coaching authors through the publishing process and being their guide. The satisfaction that indie authors get from publishing their books with our services bring me great joy! I genuinely enjoy helping others accomplish their writing goals and becoming new authors.
VivLiv Books has also participated in a variety of events and partnered with many organizations such as the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Haiti Cultural Exchange, Haitian American Alliance of NY, Caribbiz Network, Independent Book Author Experience’s (IABX) Children Festivals, Drip BK, Scholars of Tomorrow Publishing, and many more. These events have been integral in spreading the word about my business and in sharing my work with a wider audience. We also partnered with many organizations and non-profit organizations to host community events and giveaways. We always stress the importance of literacy, education and community empowerment through our events.
One thing that I am proud of is my partnership with Scholastic on their Haitian Heritage Month Collection. My book Dalia Explores the Haitian Creole Alphabet was selected to be part of Scholastic and is currently available in a variety of classrooms and libraries. This was a dream come true! With their worldwide distribution, this will allow more access to rich literature on Haitian culture for children. I look forward to partnering with Scholastic on more projects!
I am also excited to share that some of my books have been selected to be part of the Brooklyn Public Library. Many libraries in Brooklyn now carry my books and this allows more access to culturally appropriate texts for children in school across many districts in NYC.
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Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I always knew that I always wanted to start a business, have ownership, use my creativity and center my practice around helping others.
I tried starting my independent practice for in-person services. I began the registration process for my business and even secured a location in Brooklyn. However this was met with obstacles faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. I was also pregnant and expecting my dear son during the pandemic. Therefore I had to sadly end this business venture.
I then switched to remote work, and researched more about starting a business. I also took online business courses and publishers’ courses during the pandemic from a University that offered remote instruction. With the knowledge that I acquired, I chose to take a leap of faith and started a business based on my hobby and what I enjoyed doing, which was writing.
I learned more about started a publishing company and eventually started my own business later that year!
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I am driven and motivated by the many children that I work with as well as my two little ones. I want to surround children and families from all over the world with rich literature. I also want to keep Caribbean and Haitian culture alive through books.
As previously mentioned, I want my young readers as well as their families to go on a journey through my books and to experience all the beauty and positivity that Caribbean countries have to offer.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vivlivbooks.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vivlivbooks/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@vivlivbooks4143
