Thank You for Building This With Us
I never set out to start a small business. I set out to tell a story to my kids, an improvised tale on a porch in West Virginia that somehow grew into a family vocation that just launched the 12th Green Ember book and its companion game.
The reason it grew is simple: you showed up. You supported our very first Kickstarter. You took a chance on a little book of rabbits with swords, and you passed it along. You shared it with your kids, your friends, your libraries, your classrooms. You left kind reviews. You became our allies, and this small family business exists because of that partnership.
We aren’t a big corporation with endless resources or teams of marketers. We’re just a family and a handful of friends trying to make good things—stories that help children imagine their place in a world that desperately needs them. That’s our work. And when you support us, you aren’t just buying a book. You’re enabling us to keep doing this strange and beautiful work the world needs.
All an author asks for is a chance.
Give us a chance, and we’ll give you our hearts.
You gave me a chance.
You changed our story.
I will never forget it.
Like the seemingly harmless rabbits of our Appalachian landscape, we never expected to see our stories rise and fight. But hope is worth fighting for, and these are stories anchored in hope.
I’m on your side,
Sam
P.S. Tell me your story. Leave a comment here about your family business. I want to hear what you make, grow, write, fix, or sell. What is the strange and beautiful work you do that the world needs more of? Be sure to tag your business!
Mom of 6 here! Over the years, my little Catholic printables and stickers corner of Etsy has allowed me to share my faith with the world. It’s hard to find time to paint or letter with 6 kids under 13, but it gives me great joy when I hear someone has been encouraged or blessed with my art. That’s what it’s all about.
Wonderful to see the number of families building small, family based businesses! Our family makes games to encourage families to enjoy spending time together.
http://www.kellyfamilygames.com
Thanks, Smith Fam, for encouraging the rest of us with your pursuits.
– Brian Kelly
My daughter and I started an Etsy shop based on a Mother’s Day gift that we made together. My daughter has always been artistic and crafty, so we opened this shop and started learning about business together. We started with bedazzled notebooks and are now beginning to list artwork from her and her siblings!
https://maddaco.etsy.com/
We accidentally started Flying Koois’ Farm!
Several years ago, my doctor pulled me off store-bought meat. The chemicals and synthetics used in raising and processing commercial meat were making me sick. We started raising our own meat.
Now we proudly offer pasture-raised chicken, duck, pork, and occasionally beef at Flying Koois’ Farm.
Flying Koois’ Farm: where most things fly, except the pigs!
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581626952809
I have loved finding your books (I’m reading them aloud slowly, on the third one now), and my girls (8&10) have read them all. They are getting the newest one for Christmas!
I recently wrote and self-published, through Amazon, a poetry collection! https://a.co/d/8zhUQqu
I wrote an introduction and resources section, and it’s my hope to be a great guide to get more people confident in reading poetry again. I also have a Substack newsletter that goes out monthly where I share my behind the scenes and other bookish musings.
Our family have become BIG FANS of your works, S.D Smith!
The oldest of 7 started with your first book at age 9 (now 12) and the excitement has been passed down to her other siblings! Our 3rd daughter just started reading for herself the stories she’s heard about time and time again and next will be her brother! We are so grateful for your heart !
My dear husband is an editor and proofreader of Christian curriculum.
He wrote a men’s devotional sharing his own struggles and lessons in faith as a husband and father. You can find his work on Amazon entitled “Day after Day” by A.C Troutt https://a.co/d/5apFOWM
Hopefully it will bless the young and old men in your life striving for holiness.
We are new to the Green Ember family and are so excited to start these stories! We are a filmmaking family, creating stories into films to share hope found in the gospel. Well, my husband, Brett Varvel, is the director, actor, and writer (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3609466/), but our family with 4 kids are on for the ride and adventure as we travel all over to film sets. Our latest feature film is Disciples in the Moonlight, currently streaming on Angel Studios and many more platforms to watch – https://disciplesinthemoonlightmovie.com/
I recently watched Disciples in the Moonlight, and loved it! Fantastic story!
Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it!
Love your books! Read them with my kids, gift to family and friends, rave about them in casual conversations. The stories are captivating because they capture the truth about the human condition. I grew up under communist regime and it was difficult for me to explain to my children the challenges of my childhood. The Green Amber saga captures a lot of these dynamics so well. It really helped me to communicate through great story telling the nuances of life under a totalitarian regime.
Understand the unexpected, surprising turns for your family as I run 2 businesses myself.
One is a website development, maintenance, and SEO service https://wphelp360.com/. Always glad to help other business owners set up a successful site.
The second is a service for parents to exchange used school uniforms within their school community – https://uniformee.com/. If your children attend a school that requires uniforms – please reach out!
I started writing five years ago and have recently begun taking big steps to find my place in the industry. I’ve got a website up right now that offers writing advice, author interviews, and occasional messages of the Faith. I’m not making money right now, but I hope to when I publish my debut fantasy novel.
Your books, S. D. Smith, I must confess, I haven’t read yet, but your story and inspiring messages have been encouraging to me as an upcoming author, and I hope to write books with a similar generosity and lightheartedness, while still acknowledging the hardships of life and what we must overcome.
– My website is at https://michaelthare.com/
We really enjoyed The Green Ember series! And the Story Warren blogs/newsletter.
I started a book review blog a few years ago that I’m hoping to get my kids to start helping with as they get older. We all love great stories. https://lovejoyreadalouds.com
I created it to help Christian families find their next great family read-aloud. The book reviews include content considerations and a section for how they can discuss the book themes in light of Scripture.
I also have been working on my own middle-grade fantasy!
I’m homeschooling my four kids through breast cancer treatment and love sharing what the Lord is teaching me. I help homeschool moms create a simple plan so they can find their groove, rely on God, and love the homeschool they have. Follow me on IG or FB: https://instagram.com/learnwithlauraswain
We discovered your Green Ember series a few years ago, and my kids are still eating them up. I am reading Helmstoer aloud to them now and one chapter is never enough.
We run a family business, too. Notgrass History (notgrass.com) develops homeschool curriculum. We started out with a computer in the living room and it kept on growing. We love helping homeschool parents teach the hearts, souls, and minds of their kids.
I am an 18-year-old Christian homeschooler. I always loved reading but got disgusted by the fact that my mom had to preread everything before I was allowed to read it. At the age of 9, I declared that I “wanted to write books for kids that parents didn’t have to read first”. At age 14, I published my first book in The Ross Family Adventures Series, a historical fiction series set in the American frontier.
Since then I have written and published three more books to the series, and more in that series, and a historical fantasy trilogy, and a Tolkien/S.D. Smith inspired high fantasy series are coming out in the near future. I’m living girlhood dream (and still pretty much a kid), traveling and doing some homeschool conventions, speaking, and leading breakout sessions. My mom, dad, and younger brother have all gotten behind me to see my dreams come true (although my brother says I don’t pay enough!)
4000+ sold in the Ross Family Adventures so far, and I couldn’t be more grateful God gave me a way for an otherwise very shy girl to have a voice.
Reading the Green Ember inspired me so much. Like Heather, I often worry if my stories are worthy. But then I remember that I have a story in me for a reason, and I should tell it if I can. On top of writing/publishing books, I am also working on going pro on the LPGA this coming fall 2026.
Any support, reviews, or purchases of my books are greatly appreciated! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BN6Y91NX?binding=paperback&searchxofy=true&ref_=dbs_s_aps_series_rwt_tpbk&qid=1764458784&sr=8-1
This is my hope, too! (And how I feel about books! Besides Green Ember, Wingfeather Saga and The Last Dogs are very good books, if you need a book suggestion.) May God bless all that you do, write, and speak!
Thanks, Cougar Gal! And same to you, as well! God is able to do incredible things if you let Him! His plans are so much greater than ours!
Also, I just looked up your book and saw it’s newly published! Welcome to the club! (It’s going on my Christmas list) 🙂
Wow! Thank you so much! I really hope you like it!
Hi! I love all things fun and fantasy, and I love your books! They inspired me to write and publish my first book, ever! I wrote when I was twelve, and now, two years later, I have my book published on Amazon, Barns and Nobles Online only, and a few other places that I can’t remember off the top of my head. You have inspired me in so many wonderful ways! My book is a Christian middle grade mystery, about cougars. (I have a thing for rabbits, cougars, and badgers.) I hope that, if you get the time, you could buy it on Amazon and read it. maybe leave a review for me if you could. It’s not much of a business, but it is really special to me. The title of my book is Cougar Gang Mystery at Cadillac Manor. I hope that my book will leave a special hole in people’s hearts that only Jesus can fill.
My place beside you, my blood for yours, ’till the Green Ember rises, or the end of the world.
Learning in the Author Conservatory through your friend, Brett Harris, I have been running a small Dog walking/Pet sitting business while learning how to become an author myself. My business is not very successful, so I work at the Rainforest Empire until the Lord opens a new door. My goal is to become a Middle Grade Author who writes Animal Fantasy where you can let your imagination run free without having to grow up too quickly. And to be honest, if you never wrote the Green Ember series, I wouldn’t be on the journey I am on now. Thank you and I thank God for helping me to find my footing in this.
If anyone would like to know more, my website is:
https://www.garciaad.com/
I also write noblebright fantasy! http://www.annatravis.com/
Thank you for your rabbits and their swords. My tribe has truly been blessed and inspired!
I started writing small stories some years ago, but I never really saw a purpose for them. But, in the year 2023, I read the first Green Ember book, and it made me want to write something like it, something that inspires people and makes their imagination run wild. Your series, S. D. Smith, has made me the writer I am today, so thank you! My site is https://tnhare.wordpress.com/
I’ve really enjoyed the Green Ember series! Thank you for all the hard work you put into it. Just got the latest one for my birthday!!
I am an artist. I love painting horses, nature, and water. I’ve sold a few pieces and won some awards:) My website is annamohnsen.blogspot.com.
https://annamohnsen.blogspot.com/
Howdy, Sam!
I am a member of the Young Writer’s Workshop (I’ve attended a few of your office hours, and even had one of my questions answered! I’ll never get over when my friend asked if Jo would eat burritos with the wrapper on or off…)
Anyway, I’m the CEO of a soon-to-be launched publishing company for young authors, (which I have found out, very few exist…) and the published author of The Dream Team Chronicles, a high fantasy novel that is a kind of allegory that took me five years to write. This is the link! https://a.co/d/76DkLLo
Over the years, I’ve really taken inspiration from you and all you do. Keep up the good work, Sam!
Thank you for the incredible Kingdom work that you and your family are doing. Like you, we agree that stories are one of the most powerful ways to shape hearts and stir imagination. Our own awakening to this began when we started homeschooling our children and were given a front-row seat to how God uniquely wired their minds. That spark eventually led us to begin the process of building Bardago, an immersive audio storytelling experience, born from the dream that people of all ages can connect, grow, and encounter truth through the shared power of story.
Well done! Your family is so inspiring!
Our favorite series as a family! We share them all the time with other families!
I love this article.
Such a good article
I love what you’re doing! I’ve started collecting your books for when my boys (6 and 3.5) are a little older but I have every intention of reading them myself next year ha. My boys keep me busy but I try to make time for my creative endeavors… primarily knitting right now and I spin yarn as well (though that hasn’t happened much in recent years!).
Our family raising mini goldendoodles and mini Bernedoodles! It is a full family affair with our grade school boys being the heart of what we do. We work so hard to raise wonderful assets to families as well as service dogs for jobs such as EMT’s, seizures, and autism. We are surprised and so thankful at this business God has given us!
307doodles.com
That’s soooo cute! I love dogs! (And rabbits and cougars, too of course.) I hope God continually blesses your business! Keep the dogs barking! (LOL.)