From Unemployment to More Than a Million Books Sold: The Unstoppable Jen Lancaster

LEAVE YOUR MARK: Freshly Brewed Career Advice with Aliza Licht

Aliza Licht

Business, Careers

5.0 • 585 Ratings

🗓️ 17 April 2024

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In a world brimming with stories of success and determination, few are as captivating, hilarious, and inspiring as that of Jen Lancaster. Best known for her candid memoirs and inventive novels, Jen's journey from corporate vice president to bestselling author embodies resilience, wit, and an unmatched knack for storytelling. She is the New York Times bestselling author of nine memoirs, five adult novels, and one YA book. Jen has sold well over a million books. After a corporate layoff in 2001, down on her luck, and stuck selling off cars, jewelry, and designer purses [which she says sucked, FYI] Jen launched a website to air her frustrations about unemployment. She began detailing her descent from designer clothing and spa visits to the unemployment line on her blog jennsylvania.com. Her acerbic wit quickly won the blog a massive following. Jen’s first memoir, Bitter is the New Black, was published in 2006. Since then, she has published [at least] one book a year, and her memoir The Tao of Martha was optioned for a sitcom by FOX. In this episode, she shares insights into her creative process, advice for aspiring writers, character development and the shift from non-fiction to fiction, her experiences with traditional and Amazon publishing, and the importance of personal branding and marketing in an author's career. Additionally, she discusses her recent projects, including her latest book 'House Moms', her work as a ghostwriter, editor, and her lessons learned along the way. Fun fact: Jen edited my latest book, On Brand!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Elisa Likt, and this is Leave Your Mark the podcast, where I brew fresh
0:05.4	career advice with some of my most inspiring and successful friends.
0:09.5	It's professional advice that you can action immediately, whether you're just starting out
0:13.8	in your career or well on your way.
0:16.4	With a massive to-do list and a large cup of coffee, I promise that you can get it all done and still
0:22.5	have time to post about it.
0:25.9	I don't normally just read the straight up bio of my guests, but Jennifer Lancaster,
0:33.4	this bio on your website is so good that I'm just going to read it because it shows your personality and your personal brand so well.
0:41.8	Jennifer Lancaster is the New York Times bestselling author of nine memoirs and five adult novels and one young adult book,
0:48.8	parentheses and possibly less lazy than I claim. She has sold well over a million books, maybe more. I should
0:55.5	check, also in parentheses. Jen has appeared on the Today Show, the Joy Bearer Show, and Fox News
1:00.4	Live. And after a corporate layoff in 2001, down on her luck and stuck selling off cars, jewelry
1:06.6	and designer purses, parentheses, which sucked FYI, Jen launched a website to air her frustrations about
1:13.5	unemployment. She began detailing her dissent from designer clothing and spa visits to the
1:18.2	unemployment line on her blog, jensylvania.com. Her acerbic wit quickly won the blog, a massive
1:24.5	following, and Jen's first memoir, Bitter is the New Black, was published
1:28.4	by the Penguin Random House imprint NAL in 2006. Since then, she has published, parentheses,
1:35.1	at least one book a year, and her memoir, The Tao of Martha, was optioned for a sitcom by Fox.
1:40.9	Jennifer Lancaster has a new book coming out called House Moms. And Jennifer, welcome to
1:47.1	leave your mark. I am so excited to have you on the show because first and foremost,
1:52.8	Jennifer was the editor for my latest book on brand. So that is how we met. And you also introduced me
1:59.6	to the wonderful Liz Elting, where you are her writing partner for Dream Big and Win. So now we have all these things in common. So welcome to the show. I'm so excited to have you here. I'm so excited to be here. This is the first time I think I've actually looked nice when I've talked to you because it's usually just. I mean, I feel like you're always, anytime I've seen you on Zoom, you've always been put together. You've always had a full face
	...

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