I was 23, broke as hell, and hungry.
Not "aesthetic latte & vision board" hungry, real hungry.
Hungry like I was skipping meals so I could pay for Canva Pro. Hungry like I was still formatting my own books in Google Docs with a prayer and a free stock photo I found on page 17 of Unsplash.
And during one of my late-night scrolls through a writing forum (you know the kind, the ones filled with beige avatars and thousand-word debates over the Oxford comma), I asked a question.
I said:
“Hey, I’m trying to build my author career, any advice from people who’ve been doing this a while?”
And one of them, you know the type: white dude, 47, two self-pubbed books, thinks Terry Pratchett is God and his wife just doesn’t understand his genius, slides in with a whole dissertation.
He says, and I quote:
“If you want to make a real living as an author, here’s what you need to do:
- Only pursue traditional publishing.
- Only write in real genres (sci-fi, literary fiction, high fantasy).
- Write slowly, ideally one book every 18 months.
- Don’t post on social media: it makes you look desperate.
- Definitely don’t write erotica: it’s not real literature.
- Don’t write under pen names. It’s shady.
- Don’t market your own books. Let the work speak for itself.”
Y’all.
I damn near printed it out and framed it. Not because it was good advice...but because I knew I was going to do the exact opposite and prove him wrong.
So, What Did I Do Instead?
Let me tell you what I’ve actually done these last ten years.
- I self-publish exclusively.
- I write taboo, urban, erotic romance.
- I’ve published over 300 books. (Yes, three. hundred.)
- I write under multiple pen names.
- I post on social media 5-10x a day.
- I sell direct through my own site.
- I built my own subscription service.
- I made a career, a real living, off the books people swore wouldn’t work.
I built an empire off the exact thing people told me would fail.
And what I’ve learned is this:
Success doesn’t come from following the rules.
It comes from knowing why you’re writing, who it’s for, and showing up for them every damn day.
Vulnerability Check: Was It Easy?
No.
There were days when 3 books sold.
Nights when I was too tired to write, but still opened my laptop.
Mornings when I saw someone mocking authors like me, authors who write “smut,” who promo too loud, who don’t “respect the craft.”
But then there were days when I released a book and woke up to 100 sales.
Days when readers sent me messages saying they’d never felt seen until one of my messy-ass, wrong-but-real characters showed up in their life.
Days I looked at my Stripe payout and thought:
“This started as a Google Doc and a dream.”
So Why Am I Telling You This Now?
Because some of y’all are still waiting for permission.
You’re sitting on gold. You’re sitting on heat. You’re sitting on a whole catalog of stories and just watching other people pass you by.
And the wild part?
You're doing it because someone told you:
- You’re too loud.
- You’re too messy.
- You write the wrong thing.
- You don’t market right.
- You don’t look like an “author.”
You’re doing it because of that same dude in the forum who told me what success should look like.
Forget him. Write your way. Sell your way. Promote like your rent depends on it, because sometimes it does.
The CTA? Here It Is:
If you’ve been holding back?
If you’ve been second-guessing your genre, your voice, your approach?
If you’ve got ten books in your drafts and you’re still scared to drop one?
Let this be your sign.
Get messy. Get loud. Get to work.
And if you need proof that the “wrong” way can work?
I’m sitting in it.
Writing it.
Banking from it.
And loving every minute of it.
Let them keep talking about “real” literature.
We’re building “real” freedom.
You with me?
Drop your next release in the comments or tell me what you’re cooking up.
📚
– Sydney Feron
The girl who posts smut and profits daily.
Inspired? Inspire your ass back to my website and read some books.
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