Local StoriesMay 30, 2023

Meet Megan Rogers

Local Stories

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Megan Rogers. Megan was introduced to us by the brilliant and talented Shelly Snow Pordea.

Megan , can you walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Hi, my name is Megan Rogers and I am a fairly new self published author.

I think there are a ton of people who will speak the words, “someday I’m going to write a book”. I was a member of that club for a very long time until I decided to cash in my membership card and actually write the book!

My first publication is a children’s Christmas book, entitled Rosie finds her shine. Over the last two years, we have spent our time perfecting our brand and main character, while learning how to establish a small business that centers around Rosie the Reindeer. Rosie is a character that encourages children of all ages to lean in to their unique gifting, and find their own shine.

Being a seasonal business, we only sell around three months, a year, with Christmas, being our prime season.

In roughly 6 months time, Rosie, the reindeer has found her way into more than 13,000 homes across the US.

I have had the privilege of working in our community to bring thousands of children story time and donated copies of Rosie Finds Her Shine.

While I am constantly learning about self-marketing and promotion, I could not have made it this far without guidance and professional help from my author. Coach, Shelly Pordea.

Let’s talk about your work and career – what else should we know?
Even though I am fairly new to the self publishing game, I do feel as if I bring a lot to the table because I am a naturally gifted storyteller. I have grown up in the performing arts world my entire life. Singing, dancing, acting, choreographing and set design are just second nature for me. My primary focus through my childhood and adult years was dancing to which I was able to do professionally as well as make a career out of by owning a performing arts studio for 13 years. In my time as a studio owner, I have had the opportunity to travel and meet some amazing people in this creative space. I feel like all of my show experience and stage training has really prepared me for a world of creating fascinating characters and telling stories that children will hold onto for me years to come.

Shelly Snow Pordea has been a great friend to us and I know you’ve got a great relationship as well. Maybe you can tell our audience a bit about Shelly and your experience with them.
I wanted to write a children’s book for many years. I would begin my search online and the amount of information on the internet was vast and overwhelming. I had reached out to some local self published authors in my hometown and none of them would give me the time of day. I wasn’t apposed to paying for training and information, but I was aware that there are many scams online.

This is something that sadly, a lot of aspiring authors do not realize. Vanity publishers and fake coaches and illustrators will lie to you and scam you out of your money and your concept in seconds!

When I finally found Shelly, I first made sure to check out her online presence, reviews, and her work! She seemed very legit to me! Luckily, I had a friend in common with her and she overly vouched for Shelly’s professionalism and work ethic.

I took the plunge! I began working on Shell’y step by step program and I could finally feel the pressure lift off my shoulders. I had confidence that I was actually going to bring my project to life and one day, hold a book in. my hands.

Shelly was overly knowledgeable in the process of self publishing. Whatever she didn’t know, she found out for me! She was flexible and encouraging!

My biggest challenge in creating a brand around my character was figuring out a way to draw an audience in year round, when my book is centered around a Christmas character! Shelly helped me brainstorm ideas along the way. She encouraged me to begin my book creation journey online and this invited the audience to stick with me through the process.

Shelly’s time, knowledge, and program are worth every penny. The amount of time and money you stand to lose by falling into the pit of a scammer, are simply not worth it. I consider my book an investment because the story is so special to me. I feel as if God gave me a story to tell and because of that, I needed to give my efforts and time only the best training.

Youtube and google are not personal and are not going to help you see through project through in the same way someone like Shelly can and will.