“God doesn’t have a big bushy beard”

Stephanie Fischer is a publishing professional, having written articles for customer magazine and helped to shape brand messages for many years as the director of a content agency. With the support of the Vienna Business Agency, she took the bold step of becoming an author and publishing her own book.

Modern, multi-perspective and non-religious

As a mother, Fischer is familiar with the kinds of questions that children ask about God. But having left the church, Fischer wasn’t satisfied with the stock religious answers. Instead, she wanted to convey a modern, multi-perspective, non-religious representation of “God”. This was the idea behind the book “God doesn’t have a big bushy beard”, which is based on Classical, platonic philosophy and hermetic thought from ancient Egypt. This book can help people looking for answers to questions like “Why am I here?”, “How were we created?”, “What does it mean to be ‘good’?” and “Why is there so much wrong with the world?”. In it, Fischer provides an array of easily comprehensible answers to questions from children and young people. A feminist approach was also important to the writer, who has made Vienna her home.

“I want my book to make people happy”

“Creating a product you can touch and the creative act of writing my book brought me deep satisfaction and joy,” says Fischer. The whole process took seven years from initial idea to printed book. Beautifully designed, featuring wonderful illustrations by Michèle Ganser and pithy, accessible text, the book also has much to offer adults who want answers to the big questions without any reference to the bearded Almighty, index finger pointed heavenward. This book represents another string to the freelancer's bow, alongside her B2B service as an online editor, which helps her to reach new target groups and markets. Fischer is now an established author. “My next book is almost finished and will be coming out this autumn,” she says. “I’m currently looking for a good international English publishing house for the English version of my first book.”

This book represents another string to the freelancer's bow, alongside her B2B service as an online editor, which helps  her to reach new target groups and markets. Fischer is now an established author. “My next book is almost finished and will be coming out this autumn,” she says. “I’m currently looking for a good international publisher for my first book.”

Service provided by the Vienna Business Agency: EPU/22 funding