When I founded Path To Publishing on December 21, 2000, the odds were stacked against me...
...few Black female entrepreneurs make it past the fifth year in business...
I am proud to say that 21 years later, Path To Publishing is still going strong.
Our vision of giving a voice to and empowering the unheard, marginalized, and underserved continues to drive our success.
Becoming the CEO and Founder of Path To Publishing has been a long journey that started when I got my hands on one of my auntie's "grownup" books, Black Girl Lostby Donald Goines.
It was the first book I'd ever read with main characters that looked, walked, talked, and thought like me. I remember sneaking the book out at night and reading it while lying in bed.
I was so deeply enthralled that I felt like I became that Black girl who was lost. I remember closing the book upon the final chapter and saying to myself, "One day, I'm going to write a book that does that to people...that will teleport them into another world."
Not only that, I felt the book gave the voiceless a voice. Someone actually cared about the Black girl being lost.
I, too, wanted to be the person who gave the voiceless a voice, starting with myself.
Even as a child, I discerned that women didn't always have a voice. Even if they did, not many listened (or wanted to listen).
Maybe it was Charlie Brown's teacher and her "Wha, wha, wha, wha, wha."
Maybe it was Edith Bunker being told to "Stifle!"
Whatever it was, there was embedded in my spirit a belief that if a woman wanted to change HIStory, she needed to write HERstory.
That idea stayed with me and it's still with me.
I am grateful and proud every time I see: The first Black woman hired as... The first Black man chosen to... The first African American this... The first African American that...
I am proud to say that Path To Publishing with its current MBA in Publishing Program is the first African American woman-owned literary education and publishing institution with an author assistance and literary service branch and its own publishing imprint that also operates as a social enterprise, empowering the unheard, marginalized, and underserved to share their stories, make their voices heard, and build profitable businesses with their intellectual property.
For those who are interested in getting on the path to sharing their story and making their voices heard, visit https://www.joylynnmross.com/path-to-publishing-co... to learn more about what it takes to achieve literary and financial literary success as an author.
Or visit https://www.pathtopublishing.com/services to find out more about what Path To Publishing can do to help those with stories to tell get on the path to becoming a profitable published author.