The Legally Blind, Six-Figure Supernatural Romance Author

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Oh my gosh, I love today's story. I'm so glad you are listening to this one because I think you're gonna like it too. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is side hustle school. I'm telling all kinds of stories of people who find a different way to invest in themselves, maybe create a whole career change, but if not a whole career change, make extra money, increase their dependence on themselves, reduce their dependence on other people, other companies, et cetera, that's what it's all about. But hey, no more preamble, this is pretty cool.

Today's story says, I earn multiple six figures a year, self-publishing stories about vampires and witches. And I speak online and all over the world about how authors can find their audience and build a badass writing career through self-publishing. This person is also a self-described heavy metal maven traveling to concerts worldwide. She is also legally blind. In a previous side hustle, she ran an online sock website called the Asocalypse.

Isn't that amazing? I actually wanna go and buy some socks from the Asocalypse right now. But hey, we're talking about self-publishing vampire stories today. That's what this is about. She actually writes six to eight books a year, which led me to wonder, is this person actually five people in one?

How does she do it all? Well, I'm gonna tell you, or at least I'll tell you a little bit about how she made it happen. The legally blind, six-figure, supernatural romance author. That story is coming up after this. Shout out to our sponsor.

You definitely don't wanna miss it. [Music]

New Zealander Steph Green spent years studying to be an archeologist. In addition to countless hours spent in the library, she volunteered at every museum and excavation she could. But after graduating, she had no luck finding a job. She was repeatedly told she was a health and safety risk.

You see, Steph is legally blind. And while capable of the work, that put a bookmark in her archeological story. She vowed to one day be in a position where no one could say there was something she couldn't do. But now wasn't the time. She had to be realistic, and that meant finding a steady day job as a braille transcriber.

It was something she could do with her eyes closed, literally. So once she was earning that steady paycheck, she took some time to think about what she really wanted. Ever since childhood, Steph had written stories about characters she created and the worlds they lived in. She took it so seriously that she had four full-length science fiction novels to show for her time in high school and university. That youthful passion was still with her, so she decided to put pen to paper on becoming a professional writer.

She just had no idea how to go about it. So like some of us might do, she went to Google, searched how to make a living from your writing, then proceeded to try everything listed. She pitched articles to magazines, started a blog, and even wrote product descriptions. Soon, she got her first check for $10.50, then another 25, then 50 and more. She learned not to accept rejection and keep going when the world told her, "You can't do that." And even more relevant to our story, Steph brushed off one of her old novels.

She cleaned up the narrative a bit and ended up pitching it to an editor at a writer's conference. That editor worked with Steph to try to get something published, but she quickly learned that interest is not the same as a book deal, and it took nearly five years for one of her manuscripts to be accepted. Her dream of becoming a science fiction writer was about to materialize. Someone had finally told her, "You can do that," until she couldn't, because Steph's editor retired before the book was published, and all the books in her pipeline were canceled. You Can turned into You Can't almost overnight, and Steph was sick of it.

By now, she had regular freelance clients, and it switched jobs to working as a copywriter for a tech startup. The job was demanding with a long commute, and it soon pulled her further away from her dream of writing fiction. But around that time, she first heard of self-publishing, where writers can sell their own books on Amazon, and she decided to edit and create a cover for one of her old novels and put it up for sale. When it sold around 100 copies and made a few hundred dollars overall, Steph was hooked. She loved that she could find an audience, even a small one, and that no one told her she couldn't do it.

She soon published another book, and between them she was selling 10 to 20 copies per week. Around the same time, 50 Shades of Grey was gaining in popularity. On the day of a friend, she decided to write something else in secret under a pen name. She crafted a 30,000-word epic about a fox shapeshifter named Ryan, who lived as a reclusive artist, and the gallery curator who brought him out of his shell. She spent around $50 on a cover design, and soon after, in April 2015, The Art of Cunning by Stephanie Holmes, her pen name, was released.

Well, guess what? The Art of Cunning sold 8,000 copies in the first week. Steph couldn't believe it. She even got herself a tattoo to celebrate. It was by far the most popular work she'd ever shared, and it seemed clear that she could write more in that genre.

Over the course of the next few years, Steph published dozens more stories based around supernatural romance. Whatever she published, her audience soaked up, an audience she kept building through a personal newsletter and a Facebook page. By the time 2018 rolled around, she was making enough money from her books and freelance writing gigs that she didn't have to work a day job anymore. So she quit, and since then, the pages have kept turning. Steph has seriously upped her output and now has 35 books published and is making the sort of money she only dreamed of.

Earning six figures a year for telling stories is like a fantasy come true. Her success has led to her starting a new blog and speaking at events worldwide, telling anyone who will listen about the benefits of self-publishing. Her goal is to let as many people as possible know if she can do it, maybe they can too. Well, there's just so much to love about this story. A supernatural romance writer who happens to be legally blind from New Zealand, who has also done a bunch of other stuff and published what was that, 35 books or something.

That is pretty incredible. I mean, I think some of them are relatively shorter word count than some traditional books, but nevertheless, I mean, that's still amazing. Whatever word count, whatever output she has in this short period of time is beyond prolific. It's just amazing. So congratulations, Steph.

Thank you for letting us share your story. She says there's probably some easier ways to make a living than being a writer. If you're in this for the money, then become an investment banker. But my rule is that I always have to be having fun. If I'm not having fun and I'm in a risky industry, then that's just silly.

But fortunately I am having fun and I'm glad I've been able to make it work. Well, I'm glad for you too, Steph. And I'm also glad for myself. I love being a writer, although I don't have 35 books yet. So I got to catch up.

Maybe I need to start writing that supernatural romance. You never know. All right, listeners, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. What are you going to do? What are you going to take away from this?

How is this going to help you in your journey? Today's show notes, including links to all of Steph's work are at sidehustleschool.com/1256. That is episode 1256. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. Much more is coming up.

My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]

From the "Onward Project."