Meet Miasha Coleman | Writer, Filmmaker, Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Miasha Coleman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Miasha, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve always had a desire to live a life of leisure and luxury. And I realized early on that having those combined required me to be my own boss. So when it came to starting any of my businesses, I considered two things 1) being able to work from anywhere in the world and 2) being able to make money in my sleep.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My God given gift is being able to write creatively. I started writing poetry at nine years old. My dad saw one of my poems and he submitted it to the Philadelphia Daily News. They published it in the paper and when I saw my name in print I made my mind up that I wanted to be a famous writer. In college I took every class that had anything to do with writing from Writing for Fiction to Advertising Copy Writing. By graduation, my plan was to secure a career writing copy for ads at a major marketing firm. But after hearing best selling author Karen E. Quinones Miller speak at my college graduation, I decided to bypass that plan and follow my true dreams of becoming a famous writer. I wrote my first novel immediately after graduating then I emailed Karen for advice on self-publishing it. She advised me to try to get a deal first and let self-publishing be my last resort. So I packaged the project and sought a deal, Teri Woods who was big in the urban lit space at the time offered to buy my book outright and sign me to a 5 book deal. I was elated at the opportunity to sign with someone I looked up to. But I felt unsure as I did not yet know the business aspect of being an author. I did not know what’s considered a good deal and what’s not. I emailed Karen again letting her know that I took her advice and sought a deal and now I have this offer on the table. She sent me her phone number. That phone call changed my life. Not only did she advise not to sell my book outright, she connected me to her agent. Her agent, who is now my agent as well, admitted that she had planned on reading a few pages and not being interested in representing me but would at least be able to tell Karen she considered it. She ended up loving my books (I had two written at the time) and getting them in a bidding war between three of the biggest publishers in the country, Simon and Schuster won and I signed a six-figure deal with them, going on to put out two books a year and given my own month company wide. That process taught me to trust God’s timing and my gut because had I signed with Teri Woods, my book Secret Society that got me the deal that launched my entrepreneurial journey, would not have belonged to me. Furthermore, I would not have been able to make the groundbreaking movie that I’ve made based on the book and have the financial freedom I enjoy as a result of the movie’s success. If you take away anything from my story, I want it to be that patience is protection. When things don’t go the way you wished they would, don’t be discouraged. Don’t give up. God is working it out so that it happens when the time is right for a bigger better payoff.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Karen E. Quinones Miller will always get a shout out from me for the part she played in me getting my six figure book deal that kicked off my entrepreneurial journey and filmmaking career.

Website: miasha.com and secretsocietymovie.com

Instagram: miashaofficial and secretsocietymovie

Youtube: Miasha Productions