Ann Sophia Stephens (March 30, 1810 August 20, 1886) was an influential American novelist and magazine editor, credited as the progenitor of the dime novel genre. Born in Derby, Connecticut, she was raised by her mother's sister after the early death of her mother. Stephens began writing at an early age, and in 1831, she married Edward Stephens, a printer from Plymouth, Massachusetts. They relocated to Portland, Maine, where they co-founded Portland Magazine in 1836, with Stephens as editor. She later moved to New York City, where she continued her literary career, working with several periodicals including The Ladies Companion. Under the pen name Jonathan Slick, she became known for her serialized novels and short stories. In 1854, she published her first novel Fashion and Famine. Her best-known work, Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter (1860), was a significant milestone in American literature and is regarded as the first dime novel. This work led to the establishment of the dime novel genre, which became a defining feature of American popular literature in the mid-19th century.
