Three years ago I published my first short romance.
Then things got rough.
I never imagined that my writing would be the thing that saved me.
Interestingly, the whole “write short romances” thing began as a fun experiment… a way to prove that my coaching worked.
Today, I want to share with you some of what I’ve learned.
I used to think that circumstances had to be “just right” to create a successful author career. (Or any kind of success, really…)
I thought I needed…
- more money
- quiet time
- a special work space
- better connections
- to be more physically attractive
But girl, A LOT has happened since early 2020—as an author, as a coach, and as a person.
I’m going to share just some of it below, partially to celebrate my progress, but mostly to show you that if I can do it, you can do it too. 💜
As an author, I went from zero to:
- Published over 40 books
- Earned well over $150,000 in royalties
- 7,000+ newsletter subscribers
You can make money with your books while going through your darkest days.
It turns out your life doesn’t have to be perfect to become a successful author.
Since I published my first book, I’ve had these challenges in my personal life:
- Two grandparents passed away
- Went “no contact” with my mother
- IVF didn’t take
- Moved to Boise
- Father-in-law passed away
- Separated from my husband
- Lost & mourned my chance to have children
- Consumed hundreds of Krispy Kreme donuts
- Moved to North Carolina (Jan ’23)
- And, of course, the pandemic
I feel really vulnerable telling you this, but for the sake of transparency you should know that I haven’t published anything—and done almost zero marketing—since December 2021; mostly so that I could focus my energy and attention on helping other authors.
[Note: Even without ANY marketing or new releases in over a year, I still earn about $2k per month from my backlist.]
As an author coach, I was able to help:
- Author L.D. increase royalties from $200 to $3000 per month in less than 4 months
- Author E.J. publish her first stories & earn $2k/month within 4 months
- Author S.H. build a 5k+ newsletter with a 40% open rate & and join her first group series
Each of these authors was going through their own challenges; obviously, the pandemic affected everyone. But they were dealing with other things too:
- Author L.D. was living off her dwindling savings and had to make this author thing work.
- The pandemic hit Author E.J. hard financially, her hubby was an EMT (very scary in early COVID), & she had two kids under 4 years old.
- Author S.H. sold her house, moved to a temp house, bought & moved into a new house, & started a new job.
These women taught me so much, but mostly…
You don't need to "fix" your life so you can become an author; sometimes becoming an author is the thing that will "fix" your life.
Three years ago I had no idea that the money I made with my 10,000 word short romances would be exactly what I needed to cope with the all the personal challenges in my life.
Today, I am so very grateful I decided to “experiment.” I don’t know what I would have done without everything my author career has provided—the income, the friendships, the meaning.
And thank you so much for letting me share my journey. 🥰
