Today’s guest on Mitlin Money Mindset™ is author Jennifer Probst. She is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of sexy and erotic contemporary romance. Jennifer wrote her first book at 12 years old and has not stopped since. Her book The Marriage Bargain spent 26 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list. Jennifer’s work has been translated in over a dozen countries, sold over a million copies, and was dubbed a “romance phenom” by Kirkus Reviews. If that was not enough, she has penned Wright Naked. A book to help other authors succeed. It has been described by other authors as an effortless read and tremendous help. I’ve had the opportunity to know Jennifer through my involvement with the romance author community and I am excited to share our conversation with you.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in…
- Jennifer’s path to becoming a bestselling author [2:10]
- An overnight sensation 30 years in the making [6:32]
- Why Jennifer is drawn to contemporary romance [8:42]
- How writing has exposed Jennifer to so many career experiences [10:48]
- How has writing and being an author changed over the years? [15:44]
- Juggling writing and all of the other aspects of business [21:03]
- How Jennifer is giving back to the industry [23:20]
- What has being an author given Jennifer that she never expected [27:34]
- What Jennifer did today that put her in the right mindset for success? [30:11]
Why is Jennifer’s focus on contemporary romance?
Jennifer’s draw to romance always goes back to her belief that love drives everything. She says it’s not money, greed, ambition, not even power. It really is love. Unfortunately, she says it could be the love of those things. But, if you think about your entire life and all the relationships that you have that drive you, they’re not just romantic love and her books show that. She says there’s always a romantic character because who doesn’t think about a first kiss or the butterflies, the pain of that first breakup, and all of those passionate intensities that you had when you were young. But she goes deeper because there’s the love of kids, your best friends that are like sisters or brothers to you, siblings, and even rescue dogs.
Jennifer thinks people need to look beyond contemporary romance and remember that everything in their life is driven by relationships. To her, it’s endlessly fascinating and she could write about that forever.
Experiencing characters careers in real life
Jennifer often talks about how writing has given her the chance to experience so many other careers from the inside perspective. As a young reader, she was fascinated with characters who had interesting careers and she went through ‘what I want to be when I grow up’ stages from owning a horse rescue farm to being a yoga instructor. To Jennifer by diving deep into her characters and their experiences with their careers she gets to experience them herself. To bring her characters to life and give them depth she has to do research. She talks to people in the field and studies the way they speak and see things. Essentially she takes on that career for a while. How cool is it to be able to delve into another person’s ideals and life and bring it to the page?
Not JUST a writer anymore
We’ve seen a lot of changes in writing and being an author. Some due to business, some due to extraneous circumstances. How has writing and being an author changed over the years? Jennifer says she remembers when you just wrote the books. There were gatekeepers, you didn’t email an editor, and readers never knew who you were on camera.
Then self-publishing became huge and blew the gatekeepers open and the big six (publishers) became the big five, and now the big four. As with any changes, there are good and bad that come with it. It’s just a matter of how you look at it and adjust. Now you have to be a business person, you can’t just write the books. You need to garner a very solid presence in social media and with your brand. Because every Tuesday is released day and they’re pumping out hundreds and hundreds of new books. You can write a book, self-publish, and say hey I’m an author. But it matters little. Sure, you wrote that book, but writers cultivate an audience. They brand, they write multiple books, and create their own world. It’s not about just one book. You need to run your own business. Jennifer says she is the CEO of her own company, she has employees, and has to be everything, not just the writer.
Connect with Jennifer Probst
- The website
- On Instagram
- On Twitter
- On Facebook
- On Pinterest
- On YouTube
- On Book+Main Bites
- On Goodreads
- On Bookhub
Jennifer Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. She holds a masters in English Literature and lives in the beautiful Hudson Valley in upstate New York. Her family keeps her active, stressed, joyous, and sad her house will never be truly clean. Her passions include horse racing, Scrabble, rescue dogs, Italian food, and wine—not necessarily in that order.
She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of sexy and erotic contemporary romance. She was thrilled her book, The Marriage Bargain, spent 26 weeks on the New York Times. Her work has been translated in over a dozen countries, sold over a million copies, and was dubbed a “romance phenom” by Kirkus Reviews. She is also a proud three-time RITA finalist.
Guests on the Mitlin Money Mindset Show are not affiliated with CWM, LLC, and opinions expressed herein may not be representative of CWM, LLC. CWM, LLC is not responsible for the guest’s content linked on this site.
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