Vickie Stringer: The Queen of Hip-Hop Lit

… I just took a chance. … I thought [to myself], “Nobody gave you a chance.” And I saw myself in [these writers], and they saw their hope in me … and giving them that chance, it’s the best self-fulfillment. I was just meeting with my editor-in-chief, and [we] signed three new authors. … That’s the best. ... [But] now I don’t get to do the only job I love to do here, and that’s call people and tell them I want to give them a book deal. [My editor-in-chief] gets to do that now.

So now the best part of my job is when a new book comes in. … My warehouse staff will bring me, as soon as the box comes in, the first book out of the box. It’s like seeing a baby [for the first time].

• Out of all the submissions you receive, how do you decide which authors to go with?
Stringer: It’s truly a gut feeling. … That gut feeling makes a difference, I believe. If you over think it too much, you’re going to lose it.

• To what do you attribute the growth and success you’ve had with Triple Crown?
Stringer: Just God. It’s a miracle. I want you to write that I’m smart and just a super entrepreneur, but I think it’s so much God’s grace. … I’m a big believer in preparation-meets-opportunity, and that if you just prepare to be in the right place at the right time, timing is going to kiss that opportunity and make it so perfect. The reason why I really believe this is because … [people say] I invented hip-hop fiction. I invented this? The genre is not new. … But for some reason, Vickie Stringer got on the bus at the right stop at the right time.