Interview with the Eisner Award-winning comic anthology editor, publisher, writer and comics creator Taneka Stotts | Kickstarter Boost

TANEKA STOTTS is an award-winning Black queer comics creator and animation writer who wishes to see a better future. Her many achievements and creative works include ELEMENTS: FIRE, a daring, diverse and expansive anthology that won both an Eisner and Ignatz award. Her current Kickstarter is funding the next installment in the series, ELEMENTS: EARTH. Back it by clicking HERE, then come back and read her interview.

You seem to have an irrepressible DIY spirit. Could you share your approach to your work?

My DIY spirit comes from my experiences through slam poetry, which is where I cut my teeth in editing. It allowed me to create chapbooks and zines before I eventually entered into comics publishing. I began to develop a lot of my business senses, though my collaborative nature already existed as I was a theater kid who had worked as both cast and crew. So when I entered into further collaboration projects as a writer working with an artist, these experiences were all key to shaping me. While I continue to work on myself and grow as an editor, I keep finding new it an opportunities to continue to grow. I can’t really say there is a hard part of my job, because challenges are meant to be overcome.

As an editor, I find the secret of my own writing is to never try and edit myself. I love editing, but to edit yourself is to be insular. You’re narrowing your scope of a very broad world that is trying to help you tell the best story, so I would never limit myself for that.

The Elements series seems to find the perfect balance of a “themed” work that still gives individual creators a lot of latitude. What do you feel are the rules for creating a good anthology topic?

I find that themes are like rules: they can point you in the right direction, but they’re also meant to be broken. When I give a theme I’m looking for people who take them and give me something wildly out of the box that represents what that theme means to them. For instance, with ‘Fire’ I was given a story about the passion of one’s kindness and that meant so much to me and to many people who have enjoyed the book.

ELEMENTS’s success in general has been the most surprising factor. I did not expect to reach goal. I did not expect it to be so well received, but yet here I am with a book that has gone on to win an Eisner award and to change and ignite the careers of the many creators who reside within its pages.

As various mainstream media platforms stumble and fumble towards more inclusion, you are found tremendous success (and major awards) in showcasing marginalized voices. What is your approach, and what do you think everyone else is missing – both in finding creators and in pitching your books to the public?

My approach is that I’m a queer and Black creator. My secret is literally that I represent myself and people like me. Diversity is my default as I live and breathe it every day. For the companies that continue to whitewash narratives, or just grab ‘diverse’ projects like a bingo card, there is no heart in them and they fall flat. Creators of color are EVERYWHERE and have been for a very long time. However, because publishing houses were used to the status quo, they kept creators of color from finding success. So a great change is removing those people from publishing to allow new life to actually create books I want to read and to make actually diverse books by actual diverse creators!

If you could get rid of one problem or impediment to your life and/or work, what would it be?

Racism can go. It’s one of the most tiring and pathetic issues that exist in comics. In a place where we make cartoons, there sure are a lot of racist and idiotic leaning people who work in comics and like to double down when their racist ideals are confronted instead of examining themselves and trying to grow and learn.

I see you are about to launch your website, you have multiple ongoing series, you are in the middle of a Kickstarter that seems to be going like wildfire, you clearly have more anthologies on the way… what is the best way to continue to support you?

Hey hey, so the best way to continue supporting me would be to follow me on Twitter and Instagram (both: @tanekastotts), delete your Facebook, and read my free webcomics, Love Circuits and Casual Hex.

Links:

ELEMENTS: EARTH KICKSTARTER
TanekaStotts.com