Danielle Steel

While still attending New York University, Steel began writing, completing her first manuscript at 19.[13] Steel worked for a public-relations agency in New York called Supergirls. A client, Ladies' Home Journal editor John Mack Carter, encouraged her to focus on writing,[11] having been impressed with her freelance articles. He suggested she write a book, which she did. She later moved to San Francisco and worked as a copywriter for Grey Advertising.

Her first novel, Going Home, was published in 1973. The novel contained many of the themes that her writing would become well known for, including a focus on family issues and human relationships. Her relationship with her second husband influenced Passion's Promise and Now and Forever, the two novels that launched her career.[11] With the success of her fourth book, The Promise, she became a participant in San Francisco high society.[11]

Beginning in 1981, Steel had become a near-permanent fixture on The New York Times hardcover and paperback bestsellers lists. In 1989, she was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having a book on the New York Times Bestseller List for the most consecutive weeks of any author—381 consecutive weeks at that time.[17] Steel is a prolific author, often releasing several books per year.[17] Each book takes 2½ years to complete,[13] so Steel has developed an ability to juggle up to five projects at once, researching one book while outlining another, then writing and editing additional books.[17] Since her first book was published, every one of her novels has hit bestseller lists in paperback, and each one released in hardback has also been a hardback bestseller.[8]

During this time, Steel also expanded to non-fiction work. Having a Baby was published in 1984 and featured a chapter by Steel about suffering through miscarriage.[18] The same year she published a book of poetry, Love: Poems.[19] She also ventured into children's fiction, penning a series of 10 illustrated books for young readers. These books, known as the "Max and Martha" series, aim to help children face real-life problems: new baby, new school, loss of loved one, etc. In addition, Steel has authored the "Freddie" series. These four books address other real-life situations: first night away from home, trip to the doctor, etc.[19]

In 1993, Steel sued writer Lorenzo Bene, who had intended to disclose in his book that her son Nick was adopted by her then-current husband John Traina, despite the fact that adoption records are sealed in California.[8] A San Francisco judge made a highly unusual ruling allowing the seal on Nick's adoption to be overturned, although he was still a minor. This order was confirmed by a California Appellate Judge, who ruled that because Steel was famous, her son's adoption did not have the same privacy right,[8] and the book was allowed to be published.[20]

After years of near-constant writing, in 2003 Steel opened an art gallery in San Francisco, Steel Gallery, which showed contemporary work and exhibited the paintings and sculptures of emerging artists. The gallery closed in 2007.[21] She continues to curate shows a few times a year for the Andrea Schwartz Gallery in San Francisco.

In 2002, Steel was decorated by the French government as an Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, for her contributions to world culture.

She has additionally received:

• Induction into the California Hall of Fame, December 2009.
• "Distinguished Service in Mental Health Award" (first time awarded to a non-physician) from New York Presbyterian Hospital, Department of Psychiatry and Columbia University Medical School and Cornell Medical College, May 2009.
• "Outstanding Achievement Award" for work with adolescents from Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco, May 2003.
• "Service to Youth Award" for improving the lives of adolescents and children with mental accessibility issues from the University of San Francisco Catholic Youth Organization and St. Mary's Medical Center, November 1999.
• "Outstanding Achievement Award" in Mental Health from the California Psychiatric Association
• "Distinguished Service Award" from the American Psychiatric Association

In 2006 Steel reached an agreement with Elizabeth Arden to launch a new perfume, Danielle by Danielle Steel.

Steel's son, Nick Traina, died by suicide in 1997. Traina was the lead singer of San Francisco punk bands Link 80 and Knowledge. To honor his memory, Steel wrote the nonfiction book His Bright Light, about Nick's life and death. Proceeds of the book, which reached The New York Times Non-Fiction Bestseller List,[19] were used to found the Nick Traina Foundation, which Steel runs, to fund organizations dedicated to treating mental accessibility issues.[34] To gain more recognition for children's mental health, Steel has lobbied for legislation in Washington, and previously held a fundraiser every two years (known as The Star Ball) in San Francisco.[35] In 2002, she founded Yo Angel Foundation to assist the homeless.[36]

Twenty-two of her books have been adapted for television,[40] including two that have received Golden Globe nominations. One is Jewels, the story of the survival of a woman and her children in World War II Europe, and the family's eventual rebirth as one of the greatest jewelry houses in Europe.[17] Columbia Pictures was the first movie studio to make an offer for one of her novels, purchasing the rights to The Ghost in 1998.[40] Steel also reached an agreement with New Line Home Entertainment in 2005 to sell the film rights to 30 of her novels for DVDs.[41]

Steel spends two to three years on each book, juggling multiple projects at once. According to Steel, once she has an idea for a story, her first step is to make notes, which are mostly about the characters. She told The New York Times in 2018: "I make notes for a while before I start work on the outline. The notes are usually more about the characters. I need to know the characters really well before I start — who they are, how they think, how they feel, what has happened to them, how they grew up."[42] In a 2019 interview with The Guardian, she reported often spending 20- to 30-hour periods on her typewriter, gaining her attention and criticism.[43][44]

Steel has written all of her novels on Olympia SG1 standard typewriters. She has two that she primarily writes on: one at her home in San Francisco and another at her home in Paris.[45] Her typewriter at her home in San Francisco has been in her possession since she bought it while working on her first book. According to Steel, she bought it second hand for $20.