Abbey Lincoln

Biography

Early Life
Abbey Lincoln grew up in the small riverside town of Brookhaven, Mississippi, born in 1985 to a librarian mother and a community organizer father. From her earliest days she was surrounded by books of every kind—picture books her mother read aloud at bedtime, local histories her father collected, and the well-worn volumes stacked in the town’s tiny public library. Even as a child she would slip into quiet corners to lose herself in stories of distant places and remarkable people.

Education
After graduating top of her class at Brookhaven High School, Abbey won a full scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English with honors. She wrote for the campus literary magazine and spearheaded an initiative to digitize local oral histories, bridging traditional storytelling with emerging technologies. Four years later she completed an MBA in Publishing and Media Management at New York University’s Stern School of Business, focusing her thesis on sustainable business models for independent presses.

Early Career
Abbey’s first job out of business school was as a junior acquisitions editor at Meridian House Press, a mid-sized trade publisher in Manhattan. There she learned the nuts and bolts of editorial evaluation, contract negotiation, and the logistics of print and digital distribution. Within two years she was promoted to senior editor, championing debut authors writing on topics from urban gardening to contemporary poetry. Her knack for identifying fresh voices and building close author relationships earned her a reputation as both a mentor and a deal-maker.

Founding Lincoln Publishers LLC
In 2014 Abbey took the leap to launch her own venture, Lincoln Publishers LLC, from a shared workspace in Brooklyn. Her vision was simple but ambitious: create a hybrid model that combined the editorial rigor and design quality of a traditional press with the transparency and revenue shares usually reserved for self-publishing. She assembled a lean team of editors, designers, and digital marketers who believed in giving authors both professional support and a fairer split of royalties.

Impact and Innovations
Under Abbey’s leadership Lincoln Publishers grew rapidly. By 2018 the company had published over ninety titles spanning memoir, narrative nonfiction, and fiction. Abbey pioneered an author dashboard that let writers track sales in real time, review marketing performance, and participate directly in cover and layout decisions. She also negotiated partnerships to offer audiobooks and interactive e-book editions, positioning Lincoln Publishers at the forefront of digital storytelling.

Philanthropy and Industry Leadership
Abbey is deeply committed to widening access in publishing. She established the Lincoln Creative Fund in 2017, awarding grants and mentorship to first-generation and underrepresented writers. She serves on the board of the Independent Press Association, advocating for fair contracts and open data standards. Each year she hosts free writing workshops in underfunded schools across New York and Mississippi, believing that every voice deserves a chance to be heard.

Personal Life and Passions
When she’s not immersed in manuscripts, Abbey can be found hiking the Catskills with her rescue dog, Winston, or hosting monthly salons where poets, journalists, and novelists read from work in progress. She practices mindful writing—an approach she developed that blends journaling with brief meditation sessions—and often leads retreats for Lincoln authors to help them overcome creative blocks.

Vision for the Future
Looking ahead, Abbey is expanding Lincoln Publishers into multilingual markets and exploring immersive storytelling formats—think augmented-reality exteriors or narrative podcasts that extend beyond the page. Yet at its core her mission remains unchanged: to build a publishing house where writers feel both empowered and celebrated, and where each new title reflects the diversity, resilience, and creativity of its author.