OUR HISTORY

Award-winning publisher Melanie Houston launched Alabaster Box Media Group in the spring of 2013 with the release of her first book, Rivers of Grace: Poems of Redemption & Restoration. In the fall of 2013, she published When the Devil is Beating His Wife: A Christian Perspective on Domestic Violence & Recovery with co-author Dr. Iris A. Cooper. An accomplished grant writer, Houston has more than 30 years of management and business consulting experience across several disciplines with profit and nonprofit organizations.

Houston began an elite publishing career as an executive editor with Purpose Magazine and Ella Coleman, publisher. There, she wrote feature stories and edited articles penned by the late Dr. Myles Munroe and other national figures. Houston expanded her publishing and editorial footprint as the executive editor for Who’s Who Publishing Company under the ownership of C. Sunny Martin. Cutting-edge and enterprising, Who’s Who broke publishing ground by celebrating the achievements of African American leaders, celebrities, and professionals in more than 25 urban markets from Los Angeles to New York. 

With Martin as her mentor, Houston honed her skills and managed a staff of editors and freelance writers across the United States. Of Martin’s 64-plus publications, Houston edited 55. Frequently, Houston was tapped as a ghostwriter for associate publishers such as the late Yolanda Reynolds of Atlanta and state Supreme Court justices. It was common for Houston to interview historic leaders and civil rights icons such as the late Dorothy Height, Walter Fauntleroy, Willie Barrow, the late Lerone Bennett and Linda Johnson Rice. 

Houston completed her third and most anticipated publication, My Afrikah Hair, which is illustrated by world-renowned Bahamian artist, Philece Roberts. To date, My Afrikah Hair has received three awards: the Children’s Literary Classics Seal of Approval, the National Indie Excellence Award, and the Illumination Christian Book Award, Silver Medal. All awards are in the motivational/inspirational category.