IN BRIEF

STEPHANIE STOKES OLIVER is the author of four books of nonfiction: The popular DAILY CORNBREAD: 365 Secrets for a Healthy Mind, Body, and Spirit; SEVEN SOULFUL SECRETS for Finding Your Purpose and Minding Your Mission; SONG FOR MY FATHER: Memoir of an All-American Family; and most recently BLACK INK: Literary Legends on the Peril, Power, and Pleasure of Reading and Writing. Formerly the editor of Essence magazine, founding editor-in-chief of Heart & Soul, and VP of Unity Publishing, she started her magazine career at Glamour. Stephanie is currently a featured author of the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau, and curator of the Anguilla Lit Fest.

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THE DETAILS / VITA

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AUTHOR

STEPHANIE STOKES OLIVER is the author of four books: DAILY CORNBREAD: 365 Secrets for a Healthy Mind, Body, and Spirit (Doubleday), SEVEN SOULFUL SECRETS For Finding Your Purpose and Minding Your Mission (Doubleday), and SONG FOR MY FATHER: Memoir of an All-American Family (Atria/Simon & Schuster). BLACK INK: Literary Legends on the Peril, Power, and Pleasure of Reading and Writing (37 Ink/Atria Books) was recently released to critical acclaim in O, The Oprah Magazine, Essence, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, among others.

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EDITOR

Upon graduation from Howard University with honors in journalism, Stephanie won Glamour magazine's Top Ten College Student Contest and began her career at Glamour as beauty and fashion merchandising editor, traveling the country producing retail-store promotions.

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She originally joined Essence as senior editor of the lifestyle section. During her 16 years at Essence, when the magazine reached the milestone circulation of 1 million, she rose to West Coast Editor, and to the second-in-command position of editor of the magazine. 

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In 1994, Stephanie was recruited by Rodale Press, the health-and-fitness publisher of Men's Health and Prevention, to become the founding editor-in-chief of Heart & Soul magazine. During her four years at the helm the magazine won numerous awards, including a Best New Magazine nomination from FOLIO.

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In 1998, she formed SSO Media, Inc., a publishing and digital content consulting firm in the New York area, contributing as guest beauty editor to O, The Oprah Magazine, as consulting editor to start-up Lifetime magazine, and serving as a literary scout for the Atria Book Group. Currently SSO Media conducts authenticity reads for authors and provides co-writing services. She is also a featured author of the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau.

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In 2000, she became the founding editor-in-chief of NiaOnline, the first digital magazine for Black women where she served for two years and wrote a monthly blog for six years. In 2004, Stephanie was asked to assist in the merger of Essence Communications with Time Inc., returning to the company for the second time, as editor-in-chief of Essence.com. From 2007-2013, she provided leadership as the VP of Unity Publishing, where she also served as the editor of Unity Books. 

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Pursuing post-graduate studies, Stephanie completed the magazine publishing program at New York University. In 2008, she graduated from the Stanford University Professional Publishing Course for Executives with a concentration in magazine, book and digital publishing.

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Stephanie now works remotely writing books and running SSO Media from Seattle, her high-tech hometown, and Anguilla in the Caribbean, where she relocated from the New York City area, and serves as author curator on the board of the annual Anguilla Lit Fest, held each May for readers, writers, and thinkers.

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