Judging by the Cover--A Bookstore will host a grand opening and ribbon-cutting celebration on November 1 at 1029 F Street, Fresno, Calif., inside the Chinatown Pop-Up Place, a project by city's Chinatown Foundation designed to help small businesses establish physical storefronts.
Founded by Ashley Mireles-Guerrero and Carlos Mireles-Guerrero, the queer- and Latine-owned bookstore has officially moved from a pop-up operation to a bricks-and-mortar location committed to elevating voices often underrepresented on bookstore shelves, including BIPOC, queer, feminist, neurodivergent, and disabled authors. The store will also offer a curated selection of titles from independent presses and feature bilingual and non-English books "that reflect the rich diversity of Fresno and the Central Valley."
"Our goal is to celebrate historically marginalized voices and create a space where everyone in the Central Valley can see themselves in the books they read," said Ashley Mireles-Guerrero.
Judging by the Cover is part of the inaugural cohort of the BincTank Small Business Incubator Program by the Book Industry Charitable Foundation.
The store's founders are both children's book authors who have more than a decade of book industry experience. Carlos Mireles-Guerrero is an award-winning book designer and the current art administrator for the publisher Familius. Ashley Mireles-Guerrero serves as the director of sales and marketing at Familius, is a board member of the Independent Book Publishers' Association, and was a 2022 PW Star Watch Finalist.
They founded Judging by the Cover in 2023 with a commitment "to uplifting historically marginalized voices in literature" and will continue to engage with the local community through events and pop-ups.
"I love Fresno and I want to see it thrive. I want kids who grew up here to see opportunities in writing, designing, and selling books," said Carlos Mireles-Guerrero.