Most people know that I designed the original covers and worked for the publishing house that first published the Fifty Shades trilogy. Many people don't know the journey that started it all and how my life was changed. In 2019, I was a student at Mountain View College and decided to enter an essay contest, the DCCCD League for Innovation Literary Competition. The result was a personal essay detailing my experience with the publishing house and the changes in my life. I was excited to place 2nd in the essay category. My winning entry was supposed to appear in the annual publication, The Lion's Roar. Unfortunately, the previous year's publication was the last, and my essay was never published. Many friends and family have requested to read my award-winning essay, so I've added it to my blog. Enjoy!
Fifty Shades of Change
Hi, I’m Jennifer, and I’m a fangirl. If it has been more than thirty minutes since I have obsessed over a book, movie, or television show, then I’ll have set a new personal record. I currently have ten book boyfriends and over twenty fictional best friends. Now, you may be asking yourself, what in the world is a fangirl, and why does it matter? A fangirl is someone who loves something almost to the point of obsession. My fangirl tendencies have taken me on a life-changing journey that resulted in amazing experiences, one of which allowed me to contribute to the best-selling phenomenon Fifty Shades Trilogy. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go to the beginning.
My journey started in December of 2007. My niece told me about this amazing young adult book series about vampires. She was so excited and spoke about this series with such passion that I finally told her to give me the first book, and I would give it a try. Despite her interest, I just could not get into the book, so I set it down on the table, and it sat there for four months.
In April, I was looking for a new book to read, and sure enough, Twilight was still sitting on my table. I felt bad that I hadn’t given it a fair chance, so I started reading it again from the beginning. Once I got past the first ten pages, I was hooked. I spent an entire weekend devouring the book. The edition I read included the first chapter of the second book of the series, New Moon. This chapter ended on a ridiculously crazy cliffhanger. I made my husband take me to our local bookstore immediately to buy New Moon and the third book, Eclipse.
Seven days after I picked up Twilight, I had finished reading all three books and was desperate for the last book in the series. Unfortunately, the last book, Breaking Dawn, was not due to be released until August. It was April, and I had no idea how I could wait four months to see how this series ended. Desperate to find any teasers for the last book, I started to search the internet. This search led me to a discovery that would change my life, fanfiction.
The dictionary defines fanfiction as “Fiction written by a fan of, and featuring characters from, a particular TV series, movie, etc.” My search for information on the final book in the Twilight Saga led me to Twilight Fanfiction. I found thousands of stories created by fans that showed how they thought the last book should be written. Some of the stories were well-written and planned. They followed the flow of the first three books and could easily be mistaken for a book by the author. Other stories, well, let’s just say they were less than stellar. I would get lost for hours in so many different stories revolving around my beloved characters. If I didn’t like the direction one of the stories was going, I could easily stop and start a new one because each story was free and readily available on one website. I was in heaven.
The unique aspect of being a part of the fanfiction community is leaving reviews for each chapter and authors being able to reply to the reviews. Authors who replied to reviews were my favorite. I found myself leaving detailed reviews, letting the authors know what I liked and did not like and why. The authors were appreciative of the praise and constructive criticism and would ask to contact me outside of the review system. This led to me developing friendships with people I had never met in person. These friendships would result in some major changes in my life, although I did not know that yet.
A big part of success in the fanfiction community is marketing. An author wants their story to get thousands of likes and reviews. In order for this to happen, their story needs to be advertised. A main source of advertisement is a story banner. This banner serves the same purpose as a movie poster. It visually depicts the story and lists the title and author. Thanks to a previous job, I had a little experience with digital media, so I started creating story banners for my favorite authors and stories. This led me to meet Amanda, an author who would completely change my life.
Amanda was a bored housewife from Australia. Her obsession with Twilight led her to write fanfiction while her children were at sports practices. I discovered her story and started writing my usual detailed reviews for each chapter and creating story banners and teaser images to promote her story. Amanda and I would spend at least four hours a day chatting using instant messenger services. We would talk about her stories and Twilight in general, but we also got to know each other. We talked about our husbands and children. It was hard to believe that we were close friends yet had never met in real life.
Fanfiction.net was the main website where you could find any type of fanfiction at the time. In early 2009, many Twilight fanfiction authors were having their accounts suspended for violating site policies. The stories contained too much graphic sexual content; therefore, the stories were being removed, and the author's account suspended. Many of the most popular stories were disappearing, and the authors were looking for new places to post. The purge impacted Amanda’s work, and she approached me for help. I set up a blog for her story, ensuring the page was visually appealing and easy for her to maintain. Word quickly spread of what I had done for Amanda, and I spent the next few months creating blogs for authors to post their stories.
Even though the blogs were a hit with the authors, their readers were not happy. They liked the convenience of searching for stories from multiple authors and reading and reviewing on one site. Amanda then asked me to find a way to create our own site like Fanfiction.net. After researching various platforms, The Writer’s Coffee Shop Library went live on January 27, 2010. The TWCS Library was wildly successful, but we quickly had to move to a dedicated server because our site traffic and file storage had outgrown the typical small site plan.
June was about the time Amanda got another crazy idea – she wanted to start a publishing house. It was widely agreed that most fanfiction authors were extremely talented and should be publishing their own stories.
Amanda spent the next two months talking to fanfiction authors about publishing their stories and setting up the legal paperwork for the business. I spent that time researching how to create eBooks, print files, and cover files. This was a challenge for me because I was not a strong researcher. With time, I was able to enhance these skills and successfully present plans for file creation. By August, we were ready. It was time to start publishing books.
The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House released its first two books in October 2010. There was a lot of trial and error with those first two books. By the fifth book, I had finally mastered creating eBook files that would even be accepted by Apple, which is infamous for being the hardest retailer when it comes to getting files approved. We were not getting paid, but the company was breaking even on production costs with the sales. We were in need of a big seller to turn things around.
When a reader is new to fanfiction for any fandom, the first question they seem to ask is, “What is the one story I must read?” The answer to this question for Twilight fanfiction is Master of the Universe by Snowqueens Icedragon. This is the number one read and reviewed story, so we knew it had to be published. After much negotiation, Amanda finally got a signed publishing contract for this story, and Fifty Shades of Grey was set to release in May 2011. It would be the first book in a trilogy to be released over the next nine months.
Fifty Shades of Grey was a bigger success than we could have imagined. The book was available for preorder in May, and the sales were astronomical. I do not have hard figures to report, but we had to have “shipping parties” toward the middle of May to package the preorders. Our houses were overtaken by orders of the first book, ready to be mailed on May 26, 2011. At this point, the sales were simply from readers of the fanfiction story.
TWCS was a small publishing house and did not have a large marketing budget. Marketing usually consisted of blog tours and word of mouth. Fifty Shades of Grey was truly a word-of-mouth phenomenon. People would read, review, and recommend the book on Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter. The response was overwhelming. Readers wanted the next book now. We knew we had to make this book better than the first.
Fifty Shades Darker was set to release on September 11, 2011. A new editing team was put in place to make the second book even better than the first. After a crazy summer of editing, the second book was released and received the same praise from fans. Preorders had been just as crazy for the second book. We once again found ourselves spending weekends preparing orders to be shipped on release day. Word of mouth was once again crucial to the ongoing success of both books.
By the end of 2011, word of mouth extended the readership outside of our typical fanfiction circle. The books had gained the attention of the Divalysscious Moms, or Diva Moms for short. The Diva Moms are a social network of moms from New York, and they wanted to host a launch party for the third and final installment of the trilogy, Fifty Shades Freed. The book was released on January 19, 2012, and major traditional publishers were already negotiating with James and TWCS to purchase the print rights for the trilogy.
March was the pinnacle of success for our little publishing house. The trilogy had sold over 7,000 print copies and 250,000 eBooks. These numbers pushed Fifty Shades of Grey to the top of the New York Times eBook best-seller list. On March 18, 2012, Fifty Shades of Grey, published by The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House, hit number one on the New York Times Best Seller Fiction List. It would remain there under our publishing house until March 31, 2012. On April 1, 2012, Vintage Books took over publishing rights for the series.
That was a crazy time in my life. I went from working a dead-end job that kept me just above the national poverty line to working a dream job from home that paid me more than anyone in my family has ever made. I had friends worldwide and could travel to places I never dreamed of, like New York, Los Angeles, and Australia. The best part of the experience was that I designed the covers of the Fifty Shades books, and I would forever be tied to this publishing phenomenon.
Sadly, the publishing house did not survive the indie-author movement. Our authors slowly started self-publishing instead of signing new books with us. By the end of 2013, my full-time position with the publishing house had gone down to part-time, and I had to start looking for a new job.
The job search was harder than I thought. Nine months of “We regret to inform you” emails and phone calls really weighed heavy on me. I realized that my experience with fanfiction and the publishing house changed who I was. I would not be content to work simply to earn a paycheck. I needed a career that I connected with emotionally. My husband reminded me that besides the publishing house, my job at a private school was when I was my happiest. I started applying for any job I could find in education. I finally received the call for an interview as an administrative assistant at a community college. I nailed the interview because I had confidence in my skills and abilities and was not afraid to mention the publishing house and the part I played in the crazy phenomenon of Fifty Shades of Grey. I have spent the last four years in a career, not just a job. I have an emotional connection with my college and enjoy the work I do.
Thanks to my experience working with the publishing house, the confidence I have gained in my abilities and all that I have to offer have made me more successful in every endeavor I pursue. I have excelled in my career and had the courage to pursue a new position as an instructional technologist. For the last year, I have loved my new position and found my passion for teaching others.
My time working with the publishing house has better prepared me for my current role thanks to my improved research, organizational, time management, and leadership skills. I was responsible for creating a publishing timeline for each project. I had to ensure all necessary tasks were assigned to individuals and deadlines were created to ensure we met publication dates. Now, I am able to effectively research, organize, plan, and lead new initiatives within not only my department but the institution as a whole.
I have been using my graphic and cover design skills to create cohesive designs for business forms, presentations, and marketing pieces for my department. These skills have also been key in my role as an officer for Phi Theta Kappa (PTK). My fellow officers have depended on me to design any marketing piece needed for the organization.
My research, organization, and design skills have enabled me to create stunning presentations. I have researched the presentation topic, organized an outline, prepared presentation slides, and executed a plan for all participants. Each presentation has been wildly successful, and everyone keeps coming back to me for assistance.
I would not say that my journey is over. I feel like it is just beginning. The last ten years have given me the confidence and courage to pursue new dreams, including furthering my education and career. The next step for an Instructional Technologist is to advance into an Instructional Designer position. This will require a master’s degree. Who knows, you may be looking at a future Ph.D. candidate.
