Urban Reviews: Give us a brief synopsis of Exclusive and Privacy.
Yasmin Shiraz: Exclusive is about Tisha, a lonely entertainment journalist who gets the interview of a lifetime with Shout, the hottest rapper in the game. She wants sparks to fly but he’s skeptical of every person that he meets and for good reason – the entertainment business is full of snakes. Exclusive follows Tisha and Shout’s journey through the world of music, family drama, and cut throat executives. Privacy continues their story but you get up close and personal inside of J&J’s Pussycat lounge- a legal brothel outside of Vegas. Juicy, one of the main character’s, gets to step up her game as owner of the brothel, head of recruiting, and a vindictive former prostitute. And did we mention...she likes girls? Shout and Tisha’s journey evolves with death threats, gunplay, and the judicial system.

Urban Reviews: In Exclusive and Privacy, you give the readers an insiders view into the music business. How did your own professional background influence the development of these two novels?
Yasmin Shiraz: The idea for Exclusive came after an extensive meeting with Damon Dash, former CEO of Roc-A-Fella Records. Some of the things that had happened to me as a magazine publisher, and an entertainment marketing executive, I thought that people would want to know about. Exclusive and Privacy gave me the opportunity to share my real life entertainment experiences.

Urban Reviews: What brought you to the decision of self-publishing your novels?
Yasmin Shiraz: I had seen what Teri Woods, Zane and Vickie Stringer had done as independent publishers. I admired their hustle and I wanted to see if I could make the same kind of success happen with Rolling Hills Press.

Urban Reviews: Do you have any future projects in the works?
Yasmin Shiraz: I write 2 -3 three manuscripts a year. So, I have a lot of stuff in the works.

Urban Reviews: You also run your own company The Signals Agency. Tell us more about it.
Yasmin Shiraz: After I closed Mad Rhythms magazine, I had so many colleagues come to me wanting to hire me to give them advice and marketing consultations. So, I created The Signals Agency so that I wouldn’t have to turn my colleagues away. The Signals Agency is a marketing and events firm. We’re hired by corporations to build brands and hired by companies to create events. The Signals Agency also markets and books all of my Blueprint for My Girls empowerment tours, workshops and lectures.

Urban Reviews: What is the biggest lesson that you've learned about the book industry?
Yasmin Shiraz: Readers want good books no matter who publishes it. Many writers believe that the bigger the publisher is, the bigger the doors that will open for you. That’s not necessarily true.

Urban Reviews: Who are some of your current favorite authors in African-American fiction?
Yasmin Shiraz: Victoria Christopher Murray, K’wan, Brandon Massey, Pearl Cleage.

Urban Reviews: What advice would you give to someone who wants to self-publish their novel?
Yasmin Shiraz: Realize that writing and publishing it is the easiest thing. Your HARDEST WORK is promoting and marketing.

Urban Reviews: If you could change anything in the book industry what would it be?
Yasmin Shiraz: Allow authors to keep more of their royalty.

Urban Reviews: What do you want the world to know most about Yasmin Shiraz-the person?
Yasmin Shiraz: I embrace challenges with my sleeves rolled up.