Denene Millner

Last updated
Denene Millner
DeneneMillner2.jpg
Born (1968-10-21) October 21, 1968 (age 55)
Education Hofstra University (BA)
Occupations
  • Writer
  • editor
  • host

Denene Millner (born October 21, 1968) [1] is an American author, editor, television and podcast host, and journalist. She has authored more than 30 books, including six New York Times best sellers. She is the creator and director of Denene Millner Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, and MyBrownBaby.com, a critically acclaimed blog that examines the intersection of parenting and race. [2]

Contents

Early life

Millner grew up in Bay Shore, New York and graduated with a B.A. in communications from Hofstra University. [1]

Career

Millner was a reporter for the Associated Press and a political and entertainment reporter for the New York Daily News . She served as Executive Editor at Honey and Articles Editor at Parenting , [3] where she later worked as a columnist. [4] In March 2011, Millner was chosen by Black Voices website as one of 40 Influential Black Female Writers. [5] and in 2017 Forbes named her a top influencer in the parenting sector. [6]

Millner has written and collaborated on over 30 books of fiction, non-fiction, and youth literature including co-authoring six New York Times best sellers: Act Like a Lady,Think Like A Man (in paperback and hardcover), [7] Straight Talk, No Chaser (both with comedian Steve Harvey), [8] I Am Charlie Wilson with R&B performer Charlie Wilson, [9] Around the Way Girl with actress Taraji P. Henson, [10] and Believing in Magic with Cookie Johnson. [11]

Millner's other books include the young adult novel Miss You, Mina, written for Scholastic; the humor book, The Angry Black Woman's Guide To Life, [12] and the novel The Vow, both written with Angela Burt-Murray and Mitzi Miller; and the three-book teen series Hotlanta written with Mitzi Miller. In 2015, The Vow was turned into a movie on the Lifetime network, called With This Ring, starring Jill Scott, Regina Hall, and Eve. [13] Millner co-wrote three novels and three books of non-fiction with her former husband Nick Chiles, [14] including Love Don't Live Here Anymore and What Brothers Think, What Sistahs Know, both Essence best sellers. [15] In 2007, Millner wrote the novelization of the screenplay for Dreamgirls and in 2012, the novelization for Sparkle . [16]

In 2019, Millner began hosting Speakeasy with Denene, a Georgia Public Broadcasting podcast that uses "art, culture, and entertainment to explore the beauty and humanity of blackness," [17] and served as executive producer on the made-for-TV movie Angrily Ever After. [18] Millner co-hosts the GPB television show A Seat at the Table, that focuses on issues affecting black women. [19] Millner's multigenerational epic novel, One Blood, was published by St. Martin's Press in 2023. [20]

Denene Millner Books

In 2016, Millner became an editor at Bolden Books with her own imprint, Denene Millner Books. [21] Three years later, Millner moved the imprint to Simon & Schuster. [22] The imprint publishes titles by African-American authors and illustrators, for readers of all ages. Millner describes her imprint as "a love letter to children of color who deserve to see their beauty and humanity in the most remarkable form of entertainment on the planet: books." [2] In 2017, while still under Agate/Bolden, the imprint published the children's book Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut , which received a Newbery Honor, an Ezra Jack Keats Book Award, Caldecott Medal, two Coretta Scott King Awards, and the Kirkus Prize for Best Children's Literature. Following the move to Simon and Schuster, the imprint published a number of acclaimed books including Me & Mama by Cozbi A. Cabrera, recipient of a Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor Book award [23] and Just Like A Mama, nominated for an NAACP Image Award. [24]

Selected Titles

  • Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James (2017)
  • Early Sunday Morning by Denene Millner, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton (2020)
  • If Dominican Were a Color by Sili Recio, illustrated by Brianna McCarthy (2020)
  • Just Like a Mama by Alice Faye Duncan, illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow (2020)
  • Me & Mama by Cozbi A. Cabrera, illustrated by the author (2020)
  • My Brown Baby: On the Joys and Challenges of Raising African American Children by Denene Millner (2020)
  • My Rainy Day Rocket Ship by Markette Sheppard, illustrated by Charly Palmer (2020)
  • There's a Dragon in My Closet by Dorothea Taylor, illustrated by Charly Palmer (2020)
  • What Is Light? by Markette Sheppard, illustrated by Cathy Ann Johnson (2020)

Personal life

Millner was formerly married to journalist Nick Chiles, [1] with whom she has two children.

Selected works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon & Schuster</span> American publishing company

Simon & Schuster LLC is an American publishing company owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins and Macmillan Publishers, Simon & Schuster is considered one of the 'Big Five' English language publishers. As of 2017 Simon & Schuster was the third largest publisher in the United States, publishing 2,000 titles annually under 35 different imprints.

Free Press was an American independent book publisher that later became an imprint of Simon & Schuster. It was one of the best-known publishers specializing in serious nonfiction, including path-breaking sociology books of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. After a period under new ownership in the 1980s of publishing neoconservative books, it was purchased by Simon & Schuster in 1994. By 2012, the imprint ceased to exist as a distinct entity; however, some books were still being published using the Free Press imprint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kadir Nelson</span> American painter, illustrator, and author

Kadir Nelson is a Los Angeles–based painter, illustrator, and author who is best known for his paintings often featured on the covers of The New Yorker magazine, and album covers for Michael Jackson and Drake. His work is focused on African-American culture and history. The New York Times describes his work as: "sumptuous, deeply affecting work. Nelson’s paintings are drenched in ambience, and often overt symbolism. He has twice been a Caldecott honor recipient and won the 2020 Caldecott Medal for his book The Undefeated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skyhorse Publishing</span> American book publishing company

Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. is an American independent book publishing company founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City, with a satellite office in Brattleboro, Vermont.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon M. Draper</span> American childrens writer and educator

Sharon Mills Draper is an American children's writer, professional educator, and the 1997 National Teacher of the Year. She is a five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for books about the young and adolescent African-American experience. She is known for her Hazelwood and Jericho series, Copper Sun,Double Dutch, Out of My Mind and Romiette and Julio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea Davis Pinkney</span> American writer (born 1963)

Andrea Davis Pinkney is the author of numerous books for children and young adults, including picture books, novels, works of historical fiction and nonfiction who writes about African-American culture. In addition to her work as an author, Pinkney has had a career as a children's book publisher and editor, including as founder of the Jump at the Sun imprint at Hyperion Books for Children, the Disney Book Group. She is vice president and editor-at-large for Scholastic Trade Books.

Macmillan Inc. was an American book publishing company originally established as the American division of the British Macmillan Publishers. The two were later separated and acquired by other companies, with the remnants of the original American division of Macmillan present in McGraw-Hill Education's Macmillan/McGraw-Hill textbooks, Gale's Macmillan Reference USA division, and some trade imprints of Simon & Schuster that were transferred when both companies were owned by Paramount Communications.

Threshold Editions is an imprint of book publisher Simon & Schuster, a division of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, specializing in conservative non-fiction. The imprint was co-founded by Mary Matalin, serving as its first editor-in-chief, and Louise Burke, who served as publisher until 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Siegel</span> Cartoonist and publisher

Mark Siegel is known both as an author, illustrator, and as the editorial director of First Second Books, a Macmillan imprint which publishes graphic novels for all ages. He grew up in France until the age of 18, after which he moved back to the United States where he presently lives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penguin Random House</span> American multinational conglomerate publishing company

Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was originally founded in 1935 and Random House was founded in 1927. It has more than 300 publishing imprints. Along with Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins and Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House is considered one of the 'Big Five' English language publishers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Chiles</span> American journalist

Nick Chiles is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of 20 books. He writes primarily about African-American life and culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claire Legrand</span> American writer of childrens and young adult literature

Claire Legrand is an American writer of children's and young adult literature, including novels and short stories. She is best known for her New York Times bestsellingEmpirium trilogy, published by Sourcebooks Fire.

<i>Emergency Contact</i> (novel) 2018 young adult novel by Mary H.K. Choi

Emergency Contact is a 2018 young adult novel by Mary H.K. Choi. It is her debut novel and was published on March 27, 2018 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Emergency Contact is a love story conducted primarily by text message, with Penny, a Korean-American freshman at the University of Texas at Austin, giving Sam her number after she happens to be passing by as Sam has his first panic attack.

Anica Mrose Rissi is an American author of children's books and young adult novels. Her first book, Anna, Banana, and the Friendship Split, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2015. Her nonfiction pieces have been published by the New York Times and The Writer magazine.

<i>Three Women</i> (book) 2019 non-fiction book by Lisa Taddeo

Three Women is a 2019 non-fiction book by Lisa Taddeo. It is her debut book and was published on July 9, 2019, by Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. It covers the sexual and emotional lives of three women from different backgrounds and regions of the United States. It debuted at number one on The New York Times non-fiction best sellers list and received mostly positive reviews from critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracey Baptiste</span> Childrens horror author from the Caribbean

Tracey Baptiste is a children's horror author from the Caribbean who uses folk stories in her novels.

<i>Legendborn</i> 2020 fantasy novel by Tracy Deonn

Legendborn is a 2020 debut young adult fantasy novel by Tracy Deonn. Called "a modern day twist on Arthurian legend", it follows a black teenage girl who discovers a secret and historically white magic society. The book is the first in the Legendborn series. It was released on September 15, 2020, and it was published under Simon & Schuster/McElderry. Legendborn received the Coretta Scott King Award/John Steptoe Award for New Talent as well as a nomination for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

<i>Me & Mama</i> 2020 picture book

Me & Mama is a 2020 picture book written and illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera and published by Simon & Schuster under the Denene Millner Books imprint. The book won a 2021 Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Award Honor for illustration. The book celebrates the relationship between a mother and her daughter.

J. Elle is an author of children's and young adult fiction.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Harris, Janelle (March 6, 2013). "SO WHAT DO YOU DO, DENENE MILLNER, CO-AUTHOR OF ACT LIKE A LADY, THINK LIKE A MAN?". Mediabistro. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Introducing Denene Millner Books". simonandschusterpublishing.com. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-08. Retrieved 2010-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Kershaw, Sarah (19 January 2018). "Talk about race? Relax, it's o.k." The New York Times.
  5. "Black News, Entertainment, Style and Culture - HuffPost Black Voices". www.bvonbooks.com.
  6. "Denene Millner". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  7. "Paperback Advice & Misc. Books - Best Sellers - Books - May 27, 2012 - The New York Times". The New York Times . 2021-02-08. Archived from the original on 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  8. "The New York Times Best Sellers". The New York Times.
  9. "The New York Times Best Sellers". The New York Times.
  10. "Celebrities Books - Best Sellers - Nov. 13, 2016 - The New York Times". The New York Times . 2020-10-16. Archived from the original on 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  11. "The Best Sellers: Filed Under Sports - The New York Times". The New York Times. 2020-11-08. Archived from the original on 2020-11-08. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  12. Gorce, Tammy La (19 January 2018). "IN PERSON; Anger Management? Not for These Women". The New York Times.
  13. "With This Ring". 24 January 2015 via www.imdb.com.
  14. "Snellville's Denene Millner penned books by Steve Harvey, NeNe Leakes".
  15. "Best-selling Books". ESSENCE. Vol. 31, no. 7. 2000-11-01. ProQuest   223148247 . Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  16. Dodes, Rachel (10 August 2012). "How Whitney Houston Got Her Last Chance to 'Sparkle'". Wall Street Journal.
  17. "Introducing "SPEAKEASY WITH DENENE"". Georgia Public Broadcasting. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  18. Vaughn, Terri J. (2019-09-21), Angrily Ever After (Comedy), Jasmine Burke, Ta'Rhonda Jones, Tyrone Marshall Brown, Terayle Hill, Octet Productions, May 3rd Films, retrieved 2021-01-29
  19. "A Seat at the Table". Georgia Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  20. "Book Deals Week of June 22, 2020". www.publishersweekly.com. 19 June 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-07-19. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  21. "Introducing Denene Millner Books". AGATE. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 2018-02-20.
  22. Kantor, Emma (2019-02-28). "Denene Millner Brings Imprint to S&S". www.publishersweekly.com. Archived from the original on 2021-01-24. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  23. Cabrera, Cozbi A. (25 August 2020). Simon & Schuster: Me & Mama. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   9781534454217.
  24. "2021 Nominees". NAACP Image Awards. Archived from the original on 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2021-02-08.