Our Books.
Featured
Coming Soon.
Launching in 2025!
Everything Is Fine, I’ll Just Work Harder: Confessions of A Former Badass
By Cara Gormally
Call Me Emma: One Chinese Girl Finds Her Way in America
By Makee
Punk Like Me
By JD Glass and Kris Dresen
Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir
By Tom Hart
We Should Meet in Air: A Graphic Memoir on Reading Sylvia Plath
By Lisa Rosalie Eisenberg
Who we are.
At Street Noise we make books that combine words and images in a powerful way, as in nonfiction graphic novels and memoirs. Our books have a radical, intersectional feminist, queer and inclusive vision, and seek to provide a platform for the voices of marginalized people.
Photo credit: Ananeya Abebe
“You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world.
And you have to do it all the time.” —Angela Davis
What we believe in.
Truth and authenticity.
The power of human creativity.
The awesome power of love.
Giving a damn and taking a stand.
Fighting the powers of racism and oppression.
Our duty to protect the earth.
Freedom from gender norms and stereotypes.
Respecting each other and appreciating our differences.
What we’re thinking about.
We hope to be a part of the authentic, thoughtful and emotionally honest life that our readers are building for themselves. As part of a greater community of creative, engaged and free-thinking people, we are empowered to effect change, and to build the world we want around us.
Liz Frances
Publisher + Founder
Why I do what I do.
I love books. I love how reading opens my eyes and stretches my brain. And I also love books as objects. I love the power of the typography, the illustrations, the cover design, and the way books feel in my hands.
I love working with talented, creative people and helping to bring their thoughts and stories to life.
I love making books for young adults because I believe they have the vision to create a better tomorrow.
For the past fifteen years, I have worked as an art director and book designer in the big publishing houses of New York City. I've enjoyed collaborating with many gifted writers, illustrators, graphic artists and editors. In the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, I have become passionately driven to advocate for the power of love and compassion in the face of hate and oppression. I am creating Street Noise Books to provide a platform from which truth can be told, a place to share our stories, to foster community, and a means to build a future where all people are free and respected.
Press.
IBPA Member News. June 25, 2020
IBPA: Can you offer a few tips for other independent publishers about how they can seek more diverse authors?
LF: I think it really has to come from their heart. They shouldn’t see authors as “talent” to be discovered. Authors are people with stories to tell. If other publishers are interested in working with people from diverse backgrounds, they need to do the work themselves to engage with those populations. They should educate themselves and really listen to those voices. They should watch more movies, read more books, follow social media accounts, attend more lectures and theater and concerts, all by people from marginalized communities. It has to come from a place of authenticity and passion, not from some sort of abstract, disconnected aim.
The New York Times Book Review. Sept 3, 2020
Often quite funny, “Spellbound” is charming when it recounts, in colorful panels with black line art, Anjali’s goth-obsessed childhood, “old school” Indian family and romance troubles. . . . The layers of identity and story in this memoir . . . and Som’s fluid approach to representing the self, feel impressively easy, unbelabored.
Broken Frontier: Exploring the Comics Universe. Oct 15, 2020
AO: Obviously, the work you’re covering is the kind of material that needs to reach as wide an audience as possible but is there a specific target readership you are particularly looking to reach?
FRANCES: Young people are going to change the world. I have great confidence in that. I believe in their ability to think creatively and to act with compassion. Every generation makes an impact, but I am very excited by what I see coming from what is being called Generation Z. This next generation, frankly, is horrified by the mess that we in older generations have made of the environment and of society. And they know how to reach massive numbers of people through social media to create awareness and to facilitate change.
When I see the passion, commitment and eloquence of the students from Parkland High School in Florida as they formed a powerful movement for gun regulation, or the passion and commitment of Greta Thunberg and the incredible young people who have spearheaded the school climate strikes in Europe and the UK, my heart is full of hope. This is the future. This is where we will go as a people and as a nation. It is the job of people in my generation to support young people and give them the tools they need, and then to step aside as they turn this world upside down and undo all the wrongs and make the world a better place. Street Noise is committed to publishing nonfiction books that will serve as tools for social and environmental justice. By creating a platform for truth to be told, we hope to be part of the authentic, thoughtful, and emotionally honest lives that our readers are building for themselves.
Publishers Weekly. May 15, 2019
Street Noise Books, a new independent publishing house specializing in graphic memoir and illustrated nonfiction for young adults, will publish its first list in January 2020.
Street Noise Books founder and publisher Liz Frances told PW the new publisher will launch with six books with plans to publish six to eight books annually. Frances is a 15-year publishing veteran who has worked as an art director and book designer, most recently at Scholastic. She said her list will focus on books that reflect a radical, feminist, queer, and inclusive social vision.
Frances said she was motivated to launch Street Noise Books by the 2016 presidential election and inspired by the growth of the graphic novel category. The new company’s tag line, she said, will be to produce books that are “unapologetic, authentic, and politically relevant.”
“I am launching Street Noise Books to create a means from which truth can be told, a place to share our stories, to foster community,” she said.
Connect with us.
Photo credit: Ananeya Abebe
Submission Guidelines
Street Noise Books uses the traditional publishing model, not self-publishing or a hybrid. And we are currently happy to consider unagented submissions from people with a fresh voice or perspective. We are looking forward to hearing your ideas, but your time and energy are precious, so before you consider submitting a proposal, please familiarize yourself with our overall mission to make sure we would be a good fit for your project. Then, if so, please send us the following:
A page or two that describes the purpose and main themes of the book.
A tentative table of contents, with a short summary of each chapter.
A one to five page sample of one of the chapters of the book.
Samples of illustrations or artwork, where appropriate.
Information about any comparable titles, already published or to be published.
Your bio, including any publishing credits or experience relevant to the book.
Your intended writing timetable.
We like either digital submissions or paper submissions by mail, but we cannot return materials. So, please do not send originals, or anything you want back.
Where we are.
Send actual mail to:
Street Noise Books
702 Monroe Street
Brooklyn, NY 11221
Send emails to:
liz@streetnoisebooks.com
And hey, don't you want to be on our mailing list?