Vickie Stringer

'''Vickie Stringer''' is an American novelist from [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]].<ref name="unorthodox">{{cite news | last = Smith | first = Dinitia | title = Unorthodox Publisher Animates Hip-Hop Lit | newspaper = [[New York Times]] | location = New York City | date = 2004-09-08 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/08/books/08stri.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1365620972-FkQr0I0yPA3Usugw8wgFxQ | access-date = 2013-05-17}}</ref>[[File:VICKIE STRINGER 076.JPG|thumb|Vickie M. Stringer, Author, Entrepreneur]]

==Early life== Stringer grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Her mother was a schoolteacher and her father was an electrical engineer for [[General Motors]].<ref name="unorthodox" /><ref name="didit"/> She graduated from the prestigious [[Cass Technical High School]] in 1985.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url = http://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/romancing-the-hood/Content?oid=2181799|title = Metro Times: Romancing the Hood|last = Cunningham|first = Johnathan|date = 2005-06-22}}</ref> She briefly attended [[Western Michigan University]] in [[Kalamazoo]] and was in the process of transferring to [[Ohio State University]] when she became romantically involved with a drug dealer. The two had a son in 1992, after which Stringer and the boy's father separated.<ref name="didit">{{cite interview | title=How I Did It: Vickie Stringer, CEO Triple Crown Publications | date=2006-05-01 | access-date=2013-05-17 | last=Stringer | first=Vickie | interviewer=Patrick J. Sauer |url=http://www.inc.com/magazine/20060501/qa-stringer.html | publisher=[[Inc. (magazine)|Inc.]]}}</ref> In order to support herself and her son, Stringer then turned to dealing drugs herself, and also worked as a manager of an escort service.<ref name="unorthodox"/>

In September 1994, Stringer was arrested on federal drug trafficking and money-laundering charges after selling two- kilograms of cocaine to a police informant in [[Columbus, Ohio]].<ref name="didit"/> She pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering and received a seven-year sentence in a federal prison.<ref name="fromthestreets">{{cite news | last = Barnard | first = Anne | title = From the streets to the libraries | newspaper = [[New York Times]] | location = New York City | date = 2008-10-23 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/world/americas/23iht-23fiction.17184899.html |access-date = 2013-05-17}}</ref>

==Writing career== While in prison, Stringer wrote her first novel ''Let That Be The Reason''. She was released from prison in January 2001, and began working as a bartender. Stringer attempted to interest publishers and agents in her manuscript and was rejected twenty-six times.<ref name="queen">{{cite web | last = Spavlik | first = Janet | title = Vickie Stringer: The Queen of Hip-Hop Lit | publisher = Book Business Magazine | date = 2007-11-01 | url =http://www.bookbusinessmag.com/article/from-prison-prayer-publishing-ceo-triple-crown-publications-talks-her-path-success-she-lovesand-8212-and-hatesand-8212-about-publishing-business-82974/1 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20100709072021/http://www.bookbusinessmag.com/article/from-prison-prayer-publishing-ceo-triple-crown-publications-talks-her-path-success-she-lovesand-8212-and-hatesand-8212-about-publishing-business-82974/1 | url-status =usurped | archive-date =July 9, 2010 | access-date = 2013-05-17}}</ref> She borrowed money from her family and had a printer make a small number of copies of her book, which she then marketed and sold on her own. Sales were so good that Stringer soon had enough capital to found Triple Crown Publications - named after her drug crew - to publish her works and those of other writers, principally in the [[urban fiction]] genre, aimed at a demographic largely ignored by major publishers.<ref name="unorthodox"/> [[Publishers Weekly|Publishers Weekly Magazine]] named her, "The Reigning Queen" of Urban fiction and Book Magazine name one of the "Most 50 influential Women" in publishing. Additionally, her novel has been translated in Japanese for worldwide distribution and acclaim.

Stringer's second novel, ''Imagine This'', was purchased by [[Simon & Schuster]] imprint [[Atria Books]] as part of a six-figure two-book publishing deal. As with her debut (''Let That Be The Reason'') novel, ''Imagine This'' spent more than a two years on the ''[[Essence (magazine)|Essence]]'' paperback bestseller list.<ref name="didit"/> [[Simon & Schuster]] [[Atria Books|Atria]] offered Stringer additional publishing deals which resulted in more best-sellers as her well-received "''Red Series": [http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Vickie-M-Stringer/22448943 Dirty Red, Still Dirty, Dirtier Than Ever, Low Down & Dirty and Dirty Love.]''

== Entrepreneur == Until the company re-branded in 2022,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20221011200159/https://casetext.com/case/in-re-stringer-7 In re Stringer, 586 B.R. 435 | Casetext Search + Citator]</ref> Stringer was the publisher of Triple Crown Publications, one of the most successful African American book publishers in the U.S. and abroad. She has been featured in such prominent news media as The New York Times,<ref name="unorthodox" /> [[Newsweek]], [[MTV News]], [[Publishers Weekly]], [[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]], Millionaire Blueprints, Writer's Digest, [[Black Expressions]], [[Essence (magazine)|Essence]] and many more.

In its 20th year in business, Triple Crown Publications has broken barriers and launched the carriers of the biggest literary names in the urban fiction genre. As a literary agent, she is responsible for brokering over {{USD|3000000}} in book deals for her clients.<ref>"Stringer, Vickie." Contemporary Black Biography. 2007. ''Encyclopedia.com.'' 11 October 2022. https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/stringer-vickie</ref>

== Awards== Stringer has won [[Ball State University]] Entrepreneur of the Year (2007) by the [[Miller College of Business]].

== Research and studies == Stringer has participated in the [[John Jay College of Criminal Justice]]: Facilitating Re-entry Venturing Beyond the Gates<ref>Nicole Lindahl, with assistance from Debbie A. Mukamal, Venturing Beyond the Gates: Facilitating Successful Reentry with Entrepreneurship, New York, NY: Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2007.</ref> to study the theory of using entrepreneurship to reduce recidivism. Stringer's success story was used as an example of this possibility. California psychologist, Dr. Sonnee Weedn, wanted to know what it was about these women that allowed them to overcome the hindrances of racism, both overt and internalized, as well as sexism, which can undermine the success of any woman and interviewed Stringer.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.manyblessingsbook.com/press.html|title = Many Blessings by Dr. Weeden|last = Weeden|first = Sonee}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20160315170104/http://triplecrownpublications.com/ Triple Crown Publications (archived)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stringer, Vickie}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:20th-century American novelists]] [[Category:21st-century American novelists]] [[Category:African-American novelists]] [[Category:Writers from Detroit]] [[Category:20th-century American women novelists]] [[Category:21st-century American women novelists]] [[Category:Novelists from Michigan]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:20th-century African-American women writers]] [[Category:20th-century African-American writers]] [[Category:21st-century African-American women writers]] [[Category:21st-century African-American writers]] [[Category:African-American women novelists]]