- 1 hour ago
The former editor-in-chief of Ebony and Honey magazines sits down with Essence Features Editor Bridgette Bartlett Royal to talk about her debut novel If I Ruled the World — a sharp, glamorous, and deeply personal story set in the late '90s New York City publishing world. Equal parts ambition and survival, the book follows a Black editor fighting to save a hip-hop magazine in an industry that wasn't built with her in mind. Think The Devil Wears Prada — but Blacker, bolder, and with a soundtrack to match. Barnett draws from her own journey through the corridors of power, weaving together themes of race, ambition, and what it really costs to hold your ground in a boys' club. The result is a novel dripping in '90s nostalgia, industry glamour, and hard-won truth.
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00:05Hey New Orleans! How's everyone doing? Thank you all so much for being here and joining Amy and I
00:14for this conversation. Amy and I have known each other for a long time and just to formally
00:24introduce her, Amy DuBois Barnett. She's the author of If I Ruled the World. Yes, yes, yes. Let's give
00:34her her flowers. And so we're going to chat about the book. We're going to chat about what informed
00:38the book, Amy's marvelous career trajectory, which I was fangirling over backstage. Seriously, I was.
00:46We'll get more into that. But Amy, so let's just talk. Let's just start with your career in media
00:52and the fact that you've worked in media for about 30 years, close to. But this is your
01:04first novel. You've written a book, you had written a book before. More of a, you know, the mic isn't.
01:13Is it on now? Now I think it is. Is it on now? Perfect. Okay, there we go. But why
01:19this novel now?
01:23Oh my gosh. Okay, so there's so much that goes into that. First of all, my novel, If I Ruled
01:28the World,
01:29is inspired by my experience as an editor-in-chief. And I actually started this book when I was still
01:38an editor-in-chief. I left corporate media a few years ago after many positions that we should maybe
01:42talk about. But, and, you know, I started this book when I was still editor-in-chief back in the
01:49early
01:492000s. And I, you know, I wrote about 100 pages. And then I put it aside. I put it aside
01:55for a bunch
01:55of reasons, in part to write my, I wrote an advice book for black women, an NAACP Image Award
02:01nominated advice book for black women. So I wrote that. And then my career really took off. And I
02:08didn't have the creative bandwidth to finish this book, right? So I put it aside for about 15,
02:12or according to Bridget, 30, 40 years. And then I picked it back up. And when I picked it back
02:19up,
02:20I realized the themes I really wanted to explore, right? And the story never left me the general plot.
02:25But then all of a sudden the themes became more urgent. And I realized I wanted to write about this
02:29era.
02:30So my book is set in the late 1990s in New York City, right? At the intersection of music and
02:36magazines and a little bit of fashion. And we all know, you know, from hearing about the reckoning
02:41that happened in the music industry, right? And everything that went on during that era,
02:45we all are starting to understand what that era was like. And so I wanted to write about what it
02:51was
02:51like as a smart, ambitious young woman navigating the music industry, navigating urban publishing in that
02:58time, the misogyny, the sexual violence, because it was a sexy and glamorous and fun time. Do not get
03:04me wrong. I had a full two hands in the air blast. But beneath all the glamour, it was a
03:09perilous time
03:10to be a woman. And I wanted to explore that. And I also want to explore the cost of ambition,
03:14right?
03:15What it's like for black women to find our voice and, and find our path and be independent and really
03:22become empowered. So that was like a big theme that I wanted to explore as well. And all that just
03:26felt
03:26really urgent for me when I picked this book back up. Right. And I kind of buried the lead, which
03:32we
03:32say in the industry, but Amy has receipts. So she, she downplayed, oh, I was editor in chief. So let
03:40me
03:40run them a little bit. Okay. She served as the first black woman editor in chief of a mainstream
03:48publication, teen people. Correct. Okay. She also held executive positions at Essence. We're going to
03:57get back to that. Y'all didn't know that. Some of y'all didn't know that, right? This is a
04:00little bit
04:00of a homecoming. I was the fashion and beauty features editor of Essence back in the day. A little bit
04:03of a
04:04homecoming. Harper's Bazaar. I was the deputy editor in chief of Harper's Bazaar. What did you do?
04:12Was it LeBron's? There was something. What, what, tell us. LeBron's cover? No, no, no. The website,
04:19you, the things you've done in digital media. Can you just quickly tell us a little about that as
04:23well? So I was editor in chief of Honey Magazine. Got some Honey girls here. So I was EIC of
04:28Honey.
04:28I was editor in chief of Ebony Magazine. Okay. And then I was deputy EIC of Harper's Bazaar,
04:36right? And then I pivoted to go into digital. So I helped ESPN launch The Undefeated, right?
04:43Which was a culture and sports site. And then I went on to become the chief content officer for
04:47The Griot. And then I ran digital for BET. And then I was chief content officer for...
04:53Lex. Okay.
04:55For another company called Outside Inc, where I ran 16 brands across sports. And then that's when I
05:00left corporate media to return to my original dream of being a novelist and write If I Ruled the
05:04World. So that's what it was. A lot of lessons in that. Yes. Yes. A lot of layers, right? You
05:11don't
05:11have to, you can put something down and come back to it. Yeah. 30, 40 years later.
05:19So if I Ruled the World, which you touched on, is filled with glitzy fashion. It's set in New York
05:25City. So come on. Steamy sex, which we enjoy reading about too, or having, or both. Delicious drama
05:36and fierce ambition. Why do black women deserve this type of escape?
05:42Oh, I love that question. Thank you. Because one of the reasons I really love that you asked me that,
05:47because the tone of this book is really intentional. It's a fun book. It's laced with humor. It's sexy.
05:57I want it to be an escape for black women. Exactly that. I wanted you guys to have, and black
06:01men
06:02too. This isn't just for black women. I wanted it to be a fun read, but I also wanted it
06:08to be smart
06:08and layered, and to explore some really urgent themes. But above all, I really did want to be
06:13an escape, and I thought we deserved it. Because honestly, you know, I think that, I mean, we already
06:20know. We are holding everything down. And I love the fact that we have all kinds of escapes in the
06:25romance book world. We've got all kinds of escapes in the romantic book world. I read all those books
06:30myself. Don't get me wrong. But I thought in the literature world, we could use another type of
06:35escape. And so that's what I was really just trying to give us, you know, while we explored
06:40these themes. So it's a fun read. Yes, and you did. So you're working with director-producer
06:48Lee Daniels. Yes, another flex, to bring this book to Hulu.
06:56I know, brother! Sweet! I keep answering your questions before you ask them.
07:04So when you were writing If I Ruled the World, did you envision it on the screen? And if so,
07:10on the small screen or the large screen, and why? Okay, so, I mean, first of all, you guys,
07:16right? I'm working with Oscar-nominated Lee Daniels on the television adaptation of my debut novel.
07:24Like, is that not crazy? It's, I'm still like, you know, you know, tripping over it. But, and I'm
07:29writing it myself. So I'm with him. So I'm the, a writing executive producer. So I'm writing the
07:35pilot, which is another insane, I'm so excited. I can't even tell you. So when I was first writing
07:42my book, right, you know, back when I started it, I did not envision it on screen at all. It
07:46never
07:46entered my mind. But then when I picked it back up, and I really started to get into it, and
07:51I started
07:51to really sort of near the end of the editing process. I was like, I was just seeing, I'm a
07:56visual person, and I'm visual, very visual writer. And I could just see the scenes like playing out
08:01across my, my mind's eye, you know, and I realized that this should be on screen. Like, I just felt
08:06it
08:06in my gut. And I manifested a TV show versus a film, because I feel like there's at least two
08:15seasons
08:16in the book itself. And then because it's inspired by my experience as an editor-in-chief, I have so
08:20many
08:21stories in my mind. Although I'm gonna say this, though, I don't know if you're gonna ask this
08:24question. Because some of y'all be reading this book, like it's a memoir. This is a work of fiction.
08:30I am not the protagonist. Okay. Just, you'll understand what you start getting into the book.
08:37But you know, it's inspired by it. This is not my personal story. Okay.
08:42There's a reason why we're chuckling up here.
08:44Right, right, right. So that's a perfect segue. Your protagonist, Nikki Rose, is super smart,
08:51driven, which you obviously are as well. She's a little bit messy, but we love that. We like our
08:57characters to be a little messy, because it makes them more relatable, because we're all a little
09:03messy, or a lot, depending on, you know, when you talk to us in life. But what do you hope
09:10that
09:10readers learn from Nikki?
09:13So, yes. So Nikki is, she's messy, right? She's on a journey. I really wanted readers to kind of see
09:22her in this moment of transition. So she is 29. Well, when we first meet her, the story starts when
09:28she's 29, right? And for so many of us, at least for me, and so many women I know, that
09:33kind of 29 to
09:34early 30s was when we really were adults, but we came into our womanhood, right? We really started to
09:39kind of figure out how we wanted to walk through the world as women. And so Nikki's, like, at the
09:44precipice of that journey, right? She's trying to, she's on one hand very smart, very driven, and very
09:48capable, but she's also, you know, making questionable decisions and figuring out who she wants to be.
09:55And so we follow her on a journey where she ultimately becomes, you know, who she feels
10:01comfortable being. She becomes herself. And it's only when she becomes empowered, she finds her voice,
10:08that things fall in place for her, both professionally and personally. And that's the
10:12lesson that I want. I really want it because it's inspiring. And I wanted women to understand that
10:17it's through our own independence, it's through our own empowerment, that we're going to find things,
10:23you know, that will, that things will fall in place for us. So that was my ultimate message.
10:27Okay. Now, you mentioned the book is set in the late 1990s, or, you know, starts in the late 1990s.
10:35There is such an affinity right now for everything 1990s. Like, the youngins are, like, buying out all
10:45the, like, at all the thrift shops and the secondhand, it's like a thing, y'all, you know. Yes. So
10:52why do you think there is so much, so much fascination? And for the young Gen Zers, but also for
11:03those of us who are a little older, I guess that are, like, you know, this nostalgia for us,
11:07why do you think that is? And because you, you, the timing is perfect. Like, I don't know if you
11:13planned it. No, how could you? I mean, for those of you who don't know the traditional, first of all,
11:17I started this book in 2004, right? So there's no way I could have possibly known. And then the
11:24traditional publishing process is so long, you guys. I finished this book in 2023. It went to
11:30auction in 20, a little flex. It went to auction at the top of 2024. And it was acquired by
11:36my
11:37wonderful publisher, like, in January, February, 2024. And then it came out in January of 2026.
11:43So the publishing process is so long. I mean, I would have been some kind of a alchemist witch if
11:48I
11:48had somehow planned. You know, I had no idea. I think that the 90s are really fascinating for so
11:55many reasons, in part because, I mean, it was such a, you know, it was the heyday of magazines.
12:01It was the golden era of hip hop. Music was so great. But also, it was one of the last
12:07periods
12:07of time when we were all so present everywhere we were. We didn't have our phones everywhere,
12:12right? I don't know if any of you guys were, like, partying in New York City at that time,
12:17but it was the most fun I've ever had in my life because we were just present.
12:20We partied. People partied at the party, right? Because you were just there. And people went to
12:26concerts and were just at the concert. You know, you went to events and you were just at the event.
12:29You weren't recording everything. And I'm not, you know, I know I sound like a Luddite and I don't
12:33mean to sound that way, but it's just that there was a level, a different level of presence,
12:38I think, at events that made everything feel really authentic and really fun in a different kind of a
12:44way. And I think we all yearn for that a little bit, you know, as we sort of get swept
12:48through this
12:48next wave of sort of mass communication and AI.
12:53I hadn't thought about all those.
12:55The fashion.
12:55The fashion. Yes. I hadn't thought about it that way. It's touched on so many, you know, accurate points.
13:02Um, another point, the, uh, Nikki is a magazine editor. She's working her way up the mass head.
13:11You know, I think I've seen you touch on this on social media, the success of The Devil Wears Prada
13:17and then the sequel. We love it, right? I went to see it. Uh, the sequel, you know, went to
13:24see the
13:24first one, like the first night, the first weekend it came out. But we really appreciate that you wrote
13:32this book also because our stories aren't told in the same way, like nothing against
13:37The Devil Wears Prada, but we need to share our stories, which is why this room has, this space
13:42has been filled all weekend. Like we need to feel seen. And you made so many, so I guess this
13:49is more
13:49of a comment, but please, please, uh, um, add to it or speak on it. You made so many black
13:56girls and
13:57black women that work in publishing feel seen. Um, so yeah, was that part of that? Was that a, a,
14:06a yearning of your, your, your own? Because again, I saw you, you know, post about The Devil Wears Prada.
14:12No shade, but shade. She said no shade, but shade. I mean, you know, I, a, a through line throughout
14:22my career in media. Um, I mean, of course it's been representing the black community. I've, it's
14:27been the honor of my career and my life, frankly, to have represented the, you know, black folks across
14:32so many different media brands for so, so many different, so many years. Um, and, but a real
14:39through line for me is I'm representing black women, right? Like this is my heart, you know?
14:42And, um, and so telling our stories in every possible way has just been, again, the joy of
14:49my life, you know? And so I did it as a journalist for decades. Um, and now to be able
14:54to do it as a
14:55storyteller in this particular way is just incredible. You know, I just, and I, I, you know, I just
15:00appreciate us so much. I appreciate the diversity of who we are. I just, and I also appreciate, I mean,
15:06I've always appreciated us, but you know, more than ever, I really, we were talking about this
15:09backstage, how really we all, we got sisters, like this is, we all, we got, like we have got to
15:16circle the wagon, support each other. I mean, you, you already know, like, and I don't want to,
15:21you know, we have to get political, what have you, but, um, I just really have been very personally
15:26appreciative of the way in which, um, black women have shown up for me in my book, my Delta
15:30soars, don't know if we have any soars here have shown up for me. Hello. Yeah. I showed up for
15:34me in my book. Um, and I just, it has really been very heartwarming. Um, and I think reflective
15:42of how we roll in general as a community, um, and also reflective of, I think also, you know,
15:47some of the, the, the things I've done within the community. So I've just been, I'm talking
15:51all around it, but so, yeah, so if you like all this to say, if you like the devil wears
15:56Prada, but wish it were blacker, more hip hop, right? Then yes, then this is your book.
16:03And no, I love everything you said, because even if you're, you know, you work in the
16:07medical field, you work in the law field, you work in, um, uh, politics or a non-for-profit,
16:13you know what that's like. You know what it's like to be the only black woman in the conference
16:19room or in the break room. Or I remember when Barack Obama was elected the first time and
16:25I was talking to a friend because at essence we were watching the inauguration. We watched
16:29everything like in the conference room, we were all in. And she said she worked someplace
16:34where her, her director demanded that no one watch it anywhere in the office. Like, you
16:41know, they're, they're, they're common spaces. So it's, it's, it's, it's heavy when you think
16:46about the work that, you know, you're doing to ensure that people, that women like us feel
16:51seen.
16:52Especially when they're trying to erase us, when they're trying to erase our history,
16:56erase our stories, make sure we're not seen, disempower us, make sure that we have no future.
17:02Sorry.
17:03No, no, no, no.
17:06Suck your stuff, Amy. Um, so, you know, I mentioned that you were, uh, at essence as fashion and
17:13beauty features editor and then lifestyle, right?
17:15Oh, yes. Yes. I got promoted. Um, so what does it feel like to be here this weekend?
17:23Oh my God. I mean, essence always feels like home, you know, it's, I mean, when I was, so
17:28when I was in my twenties, I got a, um, uh, an MFA, a master's in fine arts and creative
17:33writing. And I won a, uh, an award for a short story that I wrote. And the person who presented
17:39me with the award was the then editor in chief of essence magazine. And, you know, we stayed
17:44in touch because I had worked in, um, uh, fashion prior to getting my degree. I'd worked
17:48in, um, I've worked, I've reinvented so many times. I was working in, um, media to, you
17:53know, support myself through while I was getting my, my master's. And because I had done that
17:57when I graduated from my program, the then EIC of essence offered me the role of fashion
18:02and beauty futures editor. And so that was how I got into the kind of the magazine business
18:07in a major way. Essence was my first major magazine that I'd ever worked for. And of course
18:13it was like, you know, I mean, like it just, I'm obviously an incredible experience to,
18:18you know, walk into the essence offices back in the day. I mean, it was a different experience
18:22because it was again, the heyday of magazines. It was a huge team, you know, and it was just
18:26such a gorgeous experience. And so I really, um, I loved it very much and I love being back
18:31here now. It feels like a full circle moment for me. I'm really appreciative.
18:35Awesome. So let's have some fun because if I ruled the world, of course the song now,
18:42Nas is like my favorite rapper of all time. So tell us like maybe three or four, however
18:50many you can think of off the top of your head. If you created a soundtrack for the book,
18:55like what other songs would be on it?
18:59That's fun, right?
19:00Okay. I mean, obviously if I ruled the world, although I have to tell you, I love Nas into
19:05my soul. I literally named my book if I ruled the world, right. But I've never been more
19:09sick of a song in my life. I didn't process that when I was, you know, every social media
19:15post. Anyway, um, probably Dirt Off My Shoulder by Jay-Z. Um, I used to now, I DJed very poorly
19:25and very briefly in New York City, like a couple of times, but the first song I would every,
19:31well, no, it wasn't Dirt Off My Shoulder, my bad. I'm sorry, I'm saying it wrong. That's
19:34my, that's my, that's my go-to on the dance floor. Um, no, the first song I used to play
19:39would be Hypnotized by Biggie. That's true. So my first song from all my sets, every time
19:44Hypnotized by Biggie, and then I would end with Rock and Roll by Most F. Okay. So anyway,
19:50but I think I feel more comfortable talking about like artists than like specific songs.
19:53Definitely Aaliyah, definitely Jill Scott, obviously Lauryn Hill, Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown, MC Light,
20:02Queen Latifah, Nas, Jay-Z, right? Biggie, right? Most, and then, you know, Arrested Development.
20:10We got to get up in there, right? You know what I'm saying? Um, I'm wearing my blanket on the
20:14name. I can see the name of this, the, the album. Anyway, so yes, all of that.
20:20Well, thank you, Amy. And you all know there's an Aaliyah tribute here, um, during festival this
20:26weekend. So, okay. Well, that's our time. We have to go, but thank you all so much for coming.
20:34Please, please, please know that Amy's book is available for sale. Are you signing copies?
20:40I'm signing copies. My book's available for sale. To the left. In the for sale area,
20:45wherever that is. Sorry, y'all. Wherever. Please go, please come buy my book. Yes, say hi. And if
20:52you love it, I do want to just say this one thing. Um, book marketing is so very hard, you
20:56guys. So,
20:57um, if you don't like my book, y'all could just be quiet. But if you do like my book,
21:03please recommend it to your friends, to your book clubs. Please do leave me a review on Amazon because
21:08that impacts the, the way in which the book is presented to prospective readers. I would, if, again,
21:13if you, if you love it, if you buy it and love it, I would really appreciate that. Thank you
21:17very
21:17much, sisters. I appreciate you. Thank you all.
21:22Oh, they gotta go. They gotta go. They're lucky.
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