You may not be able to see it, but Ashley Antoinette Coleman’s literary superhero cape is tailored, tiered, and mauve-pink — a color she’s branded on social media. BALDWIN talks to the literary tour de force about, well… everything
Truly, if Black beauty could be imagined as its own world — its creator free from apprehensions and personal insecurities, that world would be authored by Ashley Antoinette Coleman.
Her pen is a masterful weapon of retribution she uses to get justice for misappropriated stories — our stories.
Coleman crafts narratives that are not only relatable, but as it turns out… popular.
But popularity isn’t new for the urban lit or street lit genre — a literary space Coleman was thrust in with her husband (also a bestselling author), JaQuavis Coleman. While her literary works extend beyond the genre, it was this movement of words, that first introduced to audiences, her literary prowess. Like Iceberg Slim, Donald Goines, and Sista Souljah, Coleman uses her own experiences to create entire worlds. But it was one such experience that launched her career.
She’s 34 now, but even when she was a child growing up in Flint, Michigan as an avid reader, she used books to visit several worlds long before she had aspirations to be a writer.
Writing a book is like birthing a child, they say. There’s the outlining, the cold writing, the editing — that’s all part of the pregnancy. The release is the date of birth.
Ironically, writing became the outlet to which Coleman used as a therapy — so-to-speak. She was pregnant for real. And losing a child was much more painful, and devastating than losing a contract, or having a shelved book that didn’t sell.
“I was a baby myself, I was so young and I couldn’t handle those emotions,” Coleman says in a settled voice, blessed with a mature closure.
But nobody knows you like the love of your life. In that grief, that moment — he challenged her. Who could write the better book? Both writers, both competitive, it was just what she needed. Towards the end of the contest, both forgot about the wager.
“We merged books and we were forgetting to eat because we were so engrossed. A year later, Dirty Money was on shelves in 2005.”
“Dirty Money” became their first bestseller.
Ashley and JaQuavis — the writing duo, became a literary brand. The New York Times declared them the most successful literary couple, ever.
Bad reality tv has shown us what happens when couples work together — very little good, too much bad, and a lot of ugly. That’s not the case with Ashley and JaQuavis.
“Our process hasn’t changed. My husband and I are both alpha personalities.”
How do two alpha’s run a project, especially when history shows the inevitable failure of things when more than one person takes the lead? Simple — both submit at times, both lead at times, both respect each other and their individual brilliance.
“He is one of those men who supports and love his strong Black woman and he encourages me to be that. In our creative process, we don’t shrink one another. We let our expertise shine off the page,” Coleman says. “We don’t try to override one another — there isn’t an ego trip.”
To that, Coleman has Aspire-Con, an annual even that brought in 200+ people last year. The empowerment conference brings together her fans, and lovers of words throughout the country.
“I’m sharing my personality at this point. I’m giving them glimpses of my life. Ultimately, it’s an even exchange. They show me love and I give them love back.”
Ashley and JaQuavis’ series, “The Cartel” has sold millions of copies and is the literary bread and butter for the two. But her “Ethic” series is her tribute to Black love. “It teaches love lessons on the pages,” she says of the series.
Character development is one of Coleman’s strengths. Being a Black woman, she writes seamlessly about the nuances to the always beautiful, sometimes struggle.
“As a young woman, I subscribed to the stereotype that Black girls are taught to endure and earn our love. As I grow as a woman, I don’t want to have to be super-human and present this hard exterior to the world.”
Through her work, she gives her readers permission to do the same.
Coleman and her husband have produced over 40 books together. She has the conferences, but she’s also a literary agent.
“That’s a new avenue for me. I decided to tap into the agenting side of the business. Most of the editors at major houses, they saw me grow up in this business. It was time for me to leverage that expertise and help authors identify narratives.”
Coleman is an agent at Europa Content. One of her clients is Black activist Tamika Mallory.
“She has something to say, and it’s historical,” she says of Mallory. “And with the resurgence of this Black Lives Matter Movement, I was determined to have her as a client and things began to fall into place.”
Within just 3 weeks of the two meeting, they began work on a developing project.
The Book Lovers App is her latest project.
“As a writer, there’s a lot of chefs in the kitchen and I’m moving into a space where I am taking more control of my brand. I am in a creative process where I have direct access to my brand.”
The app curates amazing writing chosen by Coleman and seasoned literary editors bringing the content directly to her fanbase in an innovative way.
“I’m building my own table,” she says.
The app is subscription-based and priced at $6.99 a month — but that price includes all the content on the platform. The writing from Coleman, and other voices will be all-new.
The app, which is still in development, originated as an e-mail list with a demand that was overwhelming.
Of advice to new writers, she keeps it simple — “Discipline to finish the manuscript is what’s most important when starting out.” She then adds, “Being prepared to do it for free or little money is secondary — that, and passion. Consistency of content builds a fan base.”
Coleman’s voice is self-assured and confident without being intimidated. Few reach the level of success she has. Still, it’s with that success, she arms herself a breastplate of literary Black righteousness.
“Who knew that words could be so powerful!”
To list each of Coleman’s projects would require an endless amount of space. But follow her on Instagram here. Shop her Manifest Journal here. Purchase your ticket to Aspire-Con here. Sign up for her mailing list and stay up-to-date on all things Ashley Antoinette Coleman here.