About Jane Rogers
Author of Snowbird Like a Pro and founder of JRogers Publishing
I came to writing and self-publishing not from a traditional publishing background, but from something much simpler: I had an experience I thought could be useful to other people.
After years of visiting Florida and eventually planning seasonal winter stays of my own, I realized how much there was to learn about making snowbirding actually work. The questions I had, the mistakes I made, and the things I learned along the way became the foundation for Snowbird Like a Pro.
How it Started
Florida had been part of my life long before I became a snowbird myself. My parents spent their winters in Naples for more than 25 years, and through years of visits, I became very familiar with the area and with the snowbird lifestyle. I saw firsthand why so many people looked forward to returning year after year.
Even so, visiting Florida and actually spending an extended part of the winter there are two very different things. When I eventually began traveling down south for the Winter season, I had plenty of questions—and discovered plenty of things I hadn't thought to ask.
My first season taught me that there are a lot of details that can make the snowbird experience easier when you know about them ahead of time. Each season since has taught me something new, and many of those lessons eventually found their way into Snowbird Like a Pro.
A Little About Me
I’ve Always Been a Builder
I’ve always had an entrepreneurial side. For more than 20 years, I owned and operated an HVAC business with my then-husband, an experience that taught me a great deal about running a business, solving problems, and adapting along the way.
I was drawn to technology early on. When word processors first became available, I embraced them, and when personal computers began making their way into homes and small businesses, I was just as eager to learn what they could do. My children were young at the time, and I was a stay-at-home mom, but working with technology seemed to come naturally to me. I quickly found ways to use it in our HVAC business to organize information, simplify everyday tasks, and make things run more efficiently.
As my children grew older, I took classes in web design and put those skills to work. I worked part-time for a local luxury home builder as a cost estimator while also managing the company’s website. During that time, I created a local entertainment website promoting downtown restaurants and bars. What started as a personal project eventually grew into a business of its own, which I later sold.
Over the years, I was also involved in several other start-up ventures before starting another business with partners in Naples, Florida, where I later sold my interest.
Today, I work in operations management, a career I’ve been in for more than 15 years. Much of my day-to-day work involves keeping things organized, managing details, solving problems, and making sure all the moving parts come together. That same approach carried over naturally when I began writing and producing my first book.
Looking back, there has been a common thread through all of it: I enjoy learning something new, gathering the information I need, creating structure, and seeing what I can build from it. Writing and producing Snowbird Like a Pro may have been a new kind of project for me, but in many ways, it was a natural extension of everything that came before it.
From an Idea to a Book
I never set out with a plan to become an author. The idea for Snowbird Like a Pro came from realizing how much I had learned through my own experiences—and how much of that information would have been helpful to me before my first season.
Turning that idea into a finished book introduced me to an entirely new world of writing, publishing, and book production. I approached it much as I have other projects throughout my life: learn what I need to know, work through the details, and keep going until I'm satisfied with the result. That process ultimately led to the creation of JRogers Publishing and the publication of my first book.
Interested in how the book came together?
Read about my experience writing, producing, and self-publishing Snowbird Like a Pro, including how I used AI as part of the process.