Mona
Day trader. First-time author. Profitable from book one.
How Mona Went From Zero Writing Experience to Nine Books in 14 Months
Mona had never thought of herself as a writer. No stories. No blog. Just a Facebook page where she posted updates about her son's cancer recovery—because people asked, and because hope needed somewhere to land.
She didn't call it writing. It was simply updates. Not for art or ambition—only to let people know her son was still here. She did that for four years, something close to journaling, always with the quiet intent of encouraging others who were still in the thick of it.
Ten years later, that same, now cancer-free teenage son mentioned wanting to be a film producer someday. Mona's first instinct was practical: understand the landscape so she could help him navigate it. She took an AI writing course to see what was possible.
And then she realized something. As a day trader, she finished work by nine in the morning. She had the entire day free...
"I was editing with ChatGPT. And I thought — if I can edit with it, I can write with it."
Mona didn't approach AI writing like most authors. She approached it like a trader: test fast, cut losers, scale winners.
She didn't learn to write before using AI — she learned through AI.
"AI trained me. For sure. All I have to do is say 'write like a contemporary romance writer' and it already knows what it's supposed to do."
She built a systematic quality control process: Spends 2-3 days per chapter (not the "half an hour" some promise). Runs each chapter through a custom "Critique" button. Keeps entire plot toggled on so AI understands context.
Quality over speed. That's Mona's approach.
"I could be spending two, three days in one chapter. That's how granular I get."
Daily newsletters to 6,000 subscribers became a streamlined system with a single button.
Hit below 2,000 Kindle rank with a Christmas collaboration. Fourth book successful enough to attract multiple companies. Podium Entertainment audio deal.
"I have been green since day one."
9 books (including lead magnet) in 14 months. 6,000 newsletter subscribers. Profitable from day one. Hit below 2,000 Kindle rank with Christmas collaboration. Fourth book successful enough to attract multiple companies. Podium Entertainment audio deal.
"As a day trader, if you have a loser, you drop it like hot potatoes. I don't ponder too much. I can come back to a problem. But I move on."
Goal for 2026: one book per month.
The Takeaway
"I never thought about writing. Now I'm writing 23 hours a day."