Ohio Migration Anthology, Volume 2: (Everything Is) Cells and Bodies

Armenia and the Great Migration of African Americans. Canada, Greece, and Strongsville. Japan and Mauritania. Cleveland and Turkey. Bhutan, El Salvador, Guinea, and Columbus. Hungary. Singapore, Slovakia, and Indonesia. What do these places have in common? Find out as you read (Everything Is) Cells and Bodies, Ohio Migration Anthology (Volume 2). Each story, essay, painting, and poem in this anthology is rooted in at least two worlds—the physical place where its creator lives, today, and the place from which they and their ancestors came.

Volume 1 of the Ohio Migration Anthology was published in 2021, with reviews in the Columbus Dispatch, Arts Fuse, and Ideastream Public Media, among others. Volume 2 will be published in summer 2023 and include story quilts from members of the Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers; digital art from a woman with roots in India, Singapore, Canada, and now Ohio; poetry from a Hungarian-Slovakian-American; and parenting tips from a mom born in Indonesia. 

The goal of the series is to open Ohioans' hearts and minds to people of different backgrounds, races, religions, and countries of birth. That is not a one-way street. In addition to introducing white, U.S. born people to BIPOC and immigrants, we are also building understanding between white and Black Ohioans, Black Ohioans and immigrants, and among immigrants themselves. This will help build a stronger, more cohesive, state.

With Volume 2, we are branching out beyond written content to include audio and video elements, and an ADA-accessible project website. We have an audio and written story from a single mom who fled domestic abuse in El Salvador. Life updates from two Ohio men who were deported to Africa will be presented in both transcript and audio format. Video of a Senegalese griot, drumming in his friend's backyard and explaining his role as storyteller, is also in the works. These audio and video components will be presented inside the book via QR codes and posted for free on the new project website. 

These additional content formats and accessible website engage more of the senses and facilitate a deeper connection between the reader/viewer and the artists. They also provide ways for people who don't know how to read in English, have visual impairments, or cannot afford to purchase the book to absorb some of the anthology's message. 

However, adding these elements increases our production costs. And to reach more people, we need to do more promotional book events and strategic online advertising. That is where you come in!

Now through February 2023 - solicit more submissions for consideration

February through May 2023

• Review, select, and edit submissions
• Get contributor bios, headshots, W-9s 
• Pitch long-lead media stories
• Share manuscript draft with Foreword writer
• Build out publication media plan

May 2023

• Prepare final manuscript and book cover
• Purchase ISBNs
• Copyright registration
• Library of Congress registration
• Goodreads and Amazon author pages
• Advance copies to reviewers and journalists 
• Promotional materials
• Upload manuscript to IngramSpark

June through December 2023

• Publish and promote!

The goal of this project is for people to find connections to each other across differences, and shift public opinion to a more welcoming attitude toward newcomers. Research into strategies for shaping public opinion shows that a personal connection or experience is more impactful than any amount of explanation or facts. By adding video and audio content to Volume 2 of the series, we will be able to introduce the viewer to the artist or speaker in a more personal way than reading words on paper.