She Turned Her Hardest Years Into a Memoir

Jessica Danel built a thriving preschool business, scaling from a home daycare to a 140-student facility. But when the 2008 recession hit at the same time her newborn faced serious medical challenges, she was forced to make difficult decisions that changed her life and business.In this episode, Jessica shares the lessons she learned from growing, selling, and rebuilding—and how those experiences inspired her memoir, Bucket List from a Redneck Girl. We discuss her writing process, self-editing tools, hybrid publishing journey, audiobook creation, and practical book marketing strategies, including podcasting, short-form video, and AI-powered content creation.Whether you're writing a memoir, building a business, or balancing both, this conversation is packed with hard-earned insights and actionable advice.Send us Fan MailSupport the show📬 JOIN THE NEWSLETTERThe Storyteller Quest is  a weekly letter on writing,publishing, and the business of books.Subscribe, and I'll send you Traditional, Self, or Hybrid? —11 pages on what each publishing path really costs, plus a7-question worksheet that tells you which one is yours.Subscribe here.