My Story

New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist Denene Millner is a highly respected and sought-after writer, whose captivating books, columns, and essays have secured her place in the entertainment, parenting, book publishing, and social media worlds. Denene was chosen by Black Voices website as one of 40 Influential Black Female Writers in 2011 for good reason: she has had huge reach with dozens of novels, non-fiction titles, celebrity memoirs, and children’s books to her credit. A veteran author who has written and collaborated on 31 critically acclaimed and bestselling books, Millner is a prolific author whose work is in high demand. She is best known for co-authoring Steve Harvey’s two #1 New York Times bestsellers: Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, named the bestselling book of 2009 by Nielson, and Straight Talk, No Chaser. Both books became hit feature films—Think Like a Man and Think Like a Man Too. The original Lifetime movie With This Ring, based on Millner’s co-authored book, The Vow, debuted in January 2015. She is the co-author of Charlie Wilson’s memoir, I Am Charlie Wilson (2015), and Jessye Norman’s memoir, Stand Up Straight and Sing (2014). Memoirs she wrote with Cookie Johnson, Believing in Magic, and Taraji P. Henson, Around the Way Girl, appeared on the New York Times bestseller’s list simultaneously when they were released in fall 2016. In 2019, Millner penned Fresh Princess, a children’s picture book written with Will Smith and inspired by The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Millner’s passion for children and the books they love led her to partner with Simon & Schuster to create her own children’s book imprint, Denene Millner Books. The imprint is dedicated to publishing titles by African American authors and illustrators that celebrate the everyday humanity of Black children. Denene Millner Books published Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, which received a Newbery Honor, a Caldecott Honor, and a Coretta Scott King Author Honor; Me & Mama, by author/illustrator Cozbi Cabrera, which won a Caldecott Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor; Keep Your Head Up, by Aliya King Neil, winner of the Southern Book Prize; and the instant New York Times bestseller Wings of Ebony, among many more. Millner has four new books forthcoming. Her forthcoming novel, One Blood, which sold for more than seven figures in auctions worldwide, is due out from St. Martin’s Press in Fall 2023.The children’s book, When Alexander Graced the Table, co-written with James Beard Award-winning chef Alexander Smalls, will publish with Denene Millner Books in 2024. She has also penned a children’s book on a Marvel character. And The Queen’s Move, co-written with Steve Harvey, is due out soon.

Denene has been a frequent contributing writer for some of the nation’s top magazines, penning high-profile cover stories for Essence, Women’s Health, Glamour, and other celebrated publications on everyone from hit filmmaker Tyler Perry and “Scandal’s” Kerry Washington to superstar George Clooney and “The Walking Dead’s” Lauren Cohan. She’s also written high-profile essays for NPR, the New York Times, Yahoo and The Huffington Post.