We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Moorman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?

As simple as this answer is, I would have believed in myself sooner. I would have trusted my calling to be an author and not doubted where my focus should be just because of what others expected or believed a “real job” looked like.

Jennifer, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a published author who balances a successful writing career with a full-time job as a senior editor for HarperCollins. I’ve worked in the publishing industry for more than fifteen years. I’ve always felt called to write, but I wrote as a hobby, not yet believing I could make a career out of it. Many people I encountered early on were very doubtful that anyone could make a living writing books, but in contrast, we all know people make money in the arts. I always asked, “Why not me?”

I started in publishing right out of college, and I continued to write little stories here and there. Finally, one day I realized that if I called myself an author, I needed to write and finish a book. I needed to get serious about something I felt in my heart was my calling. So I did. I wrote and finished a magical realism novel, and every year I wrote another one.

I didn’t believe in myself or my career as a writer immediately, but my confidence and my belief grew more every year. Now I have two published novels, both successful and well-loved, and I have two more publishing soon—one in September of 2023 and the next in January of 2024. It’s been beautiful to see my dreams unfolding and spreading wings to fly.

My novels are Southern women’s fiction in the magical realism genre. They offer readers an escape into an enchanted feel-good story, full of love, hope, and happy endings. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, how my novels uplift people, and how they connect us all together in a supportive community of readers and writers.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an author is having someone read my book and say it spoke to their hearts, that it found them at the exact moment when they needed it most, and that it uplifted them, inspired them, or made them believe that everything would be okay again.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

For me the key to building a social media audience is patience and kindness. In order to build a community, you need to be part of it, to be present in it, and to encourage, support, and engage with others in a genuine way. People care about you when you care about them. Kindness goes a very long way in creating a healthy, happy, and inviting environment. The key, I believe, is being authentic and being you. You can look at your mentors and peers and gather ideas for content or images, but you need to take what you see and learn and make it YOU.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jennifermoorman.com
• Instagram: jenniferRmoorman
• Facebook: jennifermoormanbooks
• Linkedin: jenniferRmoorman

Image Credits
Matt Andrews Photography