NEW Reads Publications
When I founded my imprint, NEW Reads Publications, in 2017 it was only as a means to self-publish my own novels. However, the opportunity soon presented itself to publish other authors. They trusted me with their work and I didn’t take that trust or respect lightly. It is always my goal to publish books with excellence whether for myself or others.
NEW Reads Publications was established to publish great writers who weave compelling narratives that intrigue, foster conversation and debate, and urge people to action.
I believe literature can both enlighten and entertain; provide a point of escapism as well as a mirror for our lives and our world. I believe everyone has a story to tell, and those who sit down to write it, should be allowed the space in the marketplace to have their voices heard.
Authors
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K E Garland
K E Garland is an award-winning creative nonfiction writer and blogger based in Florida. She uses personal essays and memoir to de-marginalize women’s experiences with an intent to highlight and humanize contemporary issues. Her work has appeared in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, I'm Speaking Now: Black Women Share Their Truth in 101 Stories of Love, Courage and Hope, All the Women in My Family Sing: Women Write the World—Essays on Equality, Justice, and Freedom, and other anthologies. She’s married with two adult daughters and is an associate professor at a community college.
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Jacksonville Arts & Music School
The visual art students of JAMS’ House Savage, named in honor of Harlem Renaissance sculptor and educator, Augusta, Savage, wrote, illustrated, and designed the epic tale that is the The Book of Lost Magic. Jacksonville Arts & Music School is an arts and youth leadership focused after school program whose mission is to empower the creative leaders of tomorrow.
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Ebony Payne-English
Photo: Blue Franswa
Ebony Payne-English is an author, performer, playwright, and educator from Duval County, Florida.
The author of graphic novel, The Random Happenings, as well as the award winning poetry collection, Secrets of Ma’at, Ebony’s discography includes 7 albums including Bits & Pieces (2022).
Her first short film titled after her 6th studio album, Kuongoza, is the winner of Best Artistic Film at the 2021 Detroit Black Film Festival.
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Angel G. Henry
Angel Henry has a passion for diversity in the field of IT with over 20 years IT experience, primarily in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries and over 15 years in the project management discipline. She has become a recognized thought-leader on the topic of the Agile Mindset which fosters an environment of innovation and productivity.
Angel is also a sought-after trainer and speaker as well as an Adjunct Instructor in Indianapolis. Dents in the Ceiling is Angel’s first book.
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Mbinguni
Photo: Cheryl McCain
Mbinguni is a natural storyteller. An avid reader, she began composing her own narratives as a small child in grade school. With roots in West Africa and the Gullah-Geechee region of Georgia's barrier islands, Mbinguni began writing, Looking for Hope, as a labor of love. She has a background in education and has channeled her technical know-how into her creative passion. Looking for Hope is her debut novel. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @Mbinguni.Life.
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Monica M. Brown
Monica M. Brown is a deeply accomplished and results-driven senior executive. She has worked for several Fortune 500 companies and has received multiple awards for her contributions to the IT Industry.
Monica has also served as a mentor for multiple organizations including The Information Technology Senior Management Forum (ITSMF). She has two daughters, Keva and Madison, and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Her hobbies are golfing, shopping, traveling and writing.
“Only One” is her first book.
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Jessica Lynn
Jessica Lynn is a proud HBCU graduate. She began her career teaching elementary school and worked as an educator for over a decade.
In 2014, she published, Love, Like Water in a Basket, a compilation of poetry written over the course of 13 years. Jessica began writing Kissing Frogs: The Thirteenth in 2017, after the birth of her son, Jameson. Many details are in tribute to her mentor and favorite author, Leslie Esdaile Banks, who encouraged her to keep writing during her early twenties.
Jessica is a Chicago native, now residing in Washington, DC.
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Nikesha Elise Williams
Photo: Toni Smailagic
Nikesha Elise Williams is a two-time Emmy award winning producer, an award-winning author, and producer and host of the Black & Published podcast. Her forthcoming book, Mardi Gras Indians, will be published by LSU Press on October 5. Nikesha’s latest novel, Beyond Bourbon Street, was awarded Best Fiction by the Black Caucus of African-American Librarians in the 2021 Self-Published eBook Literary Awards. It also received the 2020 Outstanding Book Award from the National Association of Black Journalists. She lives in Florida with her family where she is working on her next novel.
Books
In Search of a Salve: Memoir of a Sex Addict
— by K E Garland
In Search of a Salve is the written personification of what it means to stare the truth of yourself in the mirror and accept it wholeheartedly. In stories tender and raw, K E Garland invites readers on the journey of her life as she discovers herself, her sexuality, and subsequent sex addiction.
The Book of Lost Magic
— written and illustrated by the Jacksonville Arts & Music School students of House Savage
In The Book of Lost Magic, four teenagers from different worlds find themselves on a hero’s quest to find a book that will take them home. Mira is from Earth. Super-powered twins Kai and Kam are from the Kingdom of Aeolus. After falling through a portal, the three find themselves transported to Pollutio, a world forged from trash, where they run into a lonely orphan named Bash.
Bits & Pieces: After Therapy for Black Women
— by Ebony Payne-English
Bits & Pieces: After Therapy For Black Women, is a deep dive into the myriad of emotions experienced in love, sex, and relationships. The 32 poem collection by award-winning author and poet, Ebony Payne-English, expresses many unvoiced sentiments surrounding the trauma of loving, losing, and learning to love again.
Dents in the Ceiling: Tools Women & Allies Need to Breakthrough
— by Amelia G. Henry
Dents in the Ceiling is a first-hand account from more than 30 African American women working in tech and Corporate America about their experiences navigating sexism and racism, forging allies, and rebounding resiliently throughout their careers.
Looking for Hope
— by Mbinguni
“Grief has a way of cementing our feet to the ground wherever we’re standing when it hits us. It takes hard work to get unstuck from that place, but we have to be willing to dig in.”
In this coming of age tale, Mbinguni weaves a narrative about Hannah “Mouse” Maynard and her transformation from a shy, quiet, girl into a strong and assertive woman.
Beyond Bourbon Street
— by Nikesha Elise Williams
How does a couple survive when the one thing that brought them together threatens to tear them apart? In Beyond Bourbon Street, Nikesha Elise Williams weaves a story of home and family in New Orleans’ still recovering lower ninth ward.
Only One: How to Be a Bad Ass Boss in Corporate America
— by Monica M. Brown
Monica M. Brown’s Only One is the no-nonsense guide women need right now to help them climb the corporate ladder from recruit to senior executive positions within major industries around the world.
Lessons We Were Never Taught
— by Nikesha Elsie Williams
Lessons We Were Never Taught is author, Nikesha Elise Williams’s first collection of storytelling through lyrical prose and spoken word pieces. Through poetic exploration, Lessons We Were Never Taught delves deep into topics on life, on love, and on healing.
Adulting
— by Nikesha Elise Williams
Naomi Grace is determined to lay hold of the life she’s always wanted. In her vision room is where she manifests her dreams of love, career, and finance, into tangible goals she can tackle one day at a time. But with a dream must come determination.
Kissing Frogs: The Thirteenth
— by Jessica Lynn
Jessica Lynn's first novel in a series, Kissing Frogs: The Thirteenth follows Journey Richards’ quest for love and the friends and lovers she makes (and loses!) along the way.
Love Never Fails
— by Nikesha Elise Williams
When it comes to marriage nothing is guaranteed. Not even when you marry your best friend. Jolene Walker is disenchanted with her nearly seven-year-old marriage, but her husband, Mosiah doesn't know how she feels.
The Appeal of Ebony Jones
— by Nikesha Elise Williams
Guilty. Not Guilty.
Those are the only options facing Ebony Jones. She is standing trial in the death of Judge Barker Gordon. A crime she says she did not commit.
Four Women
— by Nikesha Elise
What happens to four strangers when the present meets the past and the whole world is watching?
This is the story of four women. Soleil St. James, Dawn Anthony, Ebony Jones, and Dr. Jonelle “Johnnie” Edwards all live, work, and love in Jacksonville, Florida.