ESPN’s Andscape to Launch Book Imprint With Disney This Fall (Exclusive)
ESPN’s Andscape, the newly rebranded media network previously known as The Undefeated, will launch a book imprint this fall with Disney Publishing Worldwide.
Books published under the imprint will focus on the narrative non-fiction and memoir genres, in addition to a line of young adult and children’s titles. The first book to launch from the imprint will be written by the NFL journalist Jason Reid about the history of Black NFL players. Titled Rise of the Black Quarterback: What it Means for America, the book will be published on Aug. 2.
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Other forthcoming titles are Maya Moore and Jonathan Irons’ memoir 23: Win With Justice, which in part explores Moore’s decision to pause her WNBA career to help free her husband Irons’ wrongful conviction and prison sentence; R. K. Russell’s memoir The Yards Between Us, which traces his story becoming the first openly bisexual NFL player; Tre’vell Anderson’s exploration into the history of trans representation in TV and film; Lonnae O’Neal’s Bibb Country, in which the author comes to terms with family history of enslavement; and Grace Harry’s The Joy Strategist, which shares the former music executive’s advice on rediscovering joy in life.
The imprint will also release two curated collections, Love Letters to Black Women and BlackTold. Love Letters will be curated and introduced by SportsCenter anchor Elle Duncan and BlackTold will feature the best essays published on Andscape.
While Andscape Books will publish up to eight titles during its inaugural year, the imprint will seek to publish 30 books each year in the future. Jennifer Levesque, the editorial director of Disney Publishing, will lead, acquire and edit for the Andscape Books imprint. Disney Publishing’s executive editor, Kelli Martin, will also acquire and edit works for the imprint, and both executives will collaborate with Raina Kelley, the editor in chief of Andscape.
“Andscape is excited to come together with Disney Publishing Worldwide to publish books that shed a light on the power of Black and everything,” Kelley said in a statement. “We seek to reach those readers in search not just of inspiration and hope, but also of stories that displace dusty thinking in favor of new paths, new opportunities and new solutions.”
