{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Build Your Own Boat","title":"The Dream She Carried for 50 Years: Stella Fosse on Writing, Self-Publishing, and Claiming Your Creative Life After 60","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2246,"description":"Episode Summary\nWhat happens when a woman who spent 30 years writing 32-volume FDA regulatory submissions finally sits down to write the books she's dreamed of since she was seven? She builds her own publishing company, launches a collective to help other women authors over 50 find their readers, and writes unapologetically vibrant older women into the center of every story.\nIn this episode of Build Your Own Boat, host Janine Vanderburg talks with Stella Fosse — biotech regulatory writer turned independent author and publisher — about reclaiming a lifelong creative dream in her 60s, founding Baubo Books, and co-founding Crone Authors Together. Stella unpacks what it really takes to self-publish successfully, how to silence (or at least negotiate with) your inner critic, and why the mainstream publishing industry is missing a massive market hiding in plain sight: women over 50 who read voraciously and whose stories deserve to be told.\nKey Takeaways\nYour prior career is your edge, not your obstacle. Thirty years of technical writing gave Stella discipline and endurance — the key was unlearning the rigidity and rediscovering play. That transition from \"writing you have to do\" to \"writing you want to do\" requires deliberate, playful practice.\nIndependent publishing gives authors 85% of revenue vs. approximately 15% in traditional royalties — and with tools like print-on-demand and modern distribution channels, it is more accessible and financially rewarding than ever before.\nThe mainstream publishing industry has overlooked women 50+ as both readers and protagonists — even though older women are among the largest buyers of romance novels and hold significant purchasing power in the longevity economy.\nCollective action fills the gaps that algorithms and ageist markets leave behind. Crone Authors Together, hosted by the Grandmother Collective, is building a peer-driven playbook for reaching readers that traditional publishing has ignored.\nYou are right on time. Whether...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/bQsbNia0IsmMmK-_EAZWTPLH0_5ooXLhZABkhXi9Cis/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8zMjY3/NTllZmQ4ZTljNzVj/NTZmNzZiZTMzMmIy/ODBlNC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}