Kimberla Lawson Roby
New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author, Speaker, Podcast Host, and Founder of Successful Women of Faith – The Sisterhood
Kimberla Lawson Roby has published 30 books, including THE WOMAN GOD CREATED YOU TO BE: Finding Success Through Faith—Spiritually, Personally, and Professionally; its Companion Workbook & Discussion Guide; and novels such as SISTER FRIENDS FOREVER, BEST FRIENDS FOREVER, A CHRISTMAS PRAYER, THE PRODIGAL SON, THE PERFECT MARRIAGE, THE REVEREND’S WIFE, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR, SIN NO MORE, CASTING THE FIRST STONE, and her debut, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. Originally self-published through Lenox Press, her work has sold more than 3 million copies and appeared on bestseller lists including The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Essence, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and more. She also hosts The Woman God Created You to Be Podcast.
Over the years, Kimberla has spoken to thousands of women at churches, conferences, luncheons, libraries, colleges, and universities. She shares her personal journey from the heart and is passionate about helping women become all whom God created them to be.
Her honors include the 2013 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction for THE REVEREND’S WIFE; the 2014 AAMBC Female Author of the Year award; the 2017 AAMBC Christian Fiction Author of the Year award; the 2017 SOAR Radio Trailblazer of Honor award; the 2017 Southwest Florida Reading Festival Distinguished Author award; multiple African-American Literary Awards Show Female Author of the Year awards; and the Blackboard Fiction Book of the Year Award for CASTING THE FIRST STONE. USA Today named her one of 100 Black novelists readers should know in 2020. In 2024, she received the Rockford Area Arts Award for Literary Excellence and currently serves on the YWCA Northwestern Illinois Foundation Board and the Friends of the Coronado Foundation Board. She is also an inductee of the Rock Valley College Alumni Hall of Fame.
Kimberla’s books explore Christian, family, and moral values; women’s empowerment and sisterhood; marriage, single motherhood, health, caregiving, church life, workplace discrimination, and addiction. Her stories offer hope, redemption, forgiveness, and the realities of everyday life. Kimberla resides in Illinois with her husband, Will.