Chandra Sparks Splond is an inspirational speaker, editor, and award-winning journalist, author, and blogger. In 2022 and 2024, her coordination of the Black History Month edition of The Birmingham Times won several national and state awards. Splond was named to the 2022 Star Power List by Victorious by Design magazine as an amazing author who owns a publishing company and to the 2021 Star Power List by Victorious by Design magazine for her must-read books.
Splond’s young adult novel Make It Work was named Alabama’s Great Read 2017, Spin It Like That was chosen as a Popular Paperback for Young Adults by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), and The Pledge was a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. Black Pearls Magazine honored Splond as a Legends & Leaders for 2017 for her blog, Book of Splond (formerly known as Magic City Momma). She is a 2019 recipient of the Orlean Beeson School of Education Learning for Life award and has been spotlighted several times as a positive black sister by the Positive Black Sisters social media platform.
She is the owner of West End Publishing, LLC, and Live Life Creations, LLC, a personalized gift and party boutique. In addition to working for Kensington Publishing as the consulting editor for BET Books/Arabesque romance, Splond has also done work for HarperCollins Christian, Random House, Moody Publishers, Kimani Press (formerly known as BET Books), and Hyperion. She has edited books for several New York Times, USA Today and Essence bestselling authors.
Splond has interviewed New York Times bestselling authors Karen Kingsbury, Kimberla Lawson Roby, the late Eric Jerome Dickey, singer Tamela Mann, and actress Meagan Good. She has also worked for Good Housekeeping, Black and Married with Kids, Brides Noir, Weddingpages, Newsday, The Morning Call and Romantic Times.
Of all the titles she has held, Splond’s most important remain child of God, wife and mom. Splond graduated from Ramsay High School in Birmingham, Alabama, and the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa with a degree in journalism. She received her master of science in education degree with a focus on instructional design and technology from Samford University. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and resides in Birmingham with her family. They are members of Forty-fifth Street Baptist Church.
A Letter to My Reading Friends
When I was fourteen, I had this crazy dream I wanted to write books, but having grown up in Birmingham, Alabama, I didn’t know how my dream was going to come true. It wasn’t until after the birth of my daughter in 2004 that I actually sat down to write a book and follow my dream. Up until that point, I’d had a pretty successful career in various aspects of publishing, and even though I still work in publishing, I quickly learned with the publication of my first book, Spin It Like That, in 2007 that writing books is what fuels me.
One frequent refrain from attendees at the many schools, churches and organizations where I’ve spoken is I “get it”—my inspirational stories cover themes of self-worth and the importance of pursuing dreams and are real and relevant to today’s youth. I’m honored that adults and kids leave my presentations not only excited about reading, but also believing their wildest dreams can come true.
While I am committed to writing quality stories that will get you excited about reading, I know what I do is so much bigger than me. God put a dream in my heart when I was a kid, and by His grace, it came true. Let my life be an example to you. If God can make the dreams of a little black girl from Birmingham, Alabama, come true, He can make your dreams come true too. That doesn’t mean it will happen overnight. It took 22 years for my dream to come true, but it never would have happened if I would have given up. That’s my ultimate message to you: Trust God, work hard, pursue your dreams and never give up.
It is my sincere prayer that your wildest dreams will come true.
Chandra Sparks Splond
