Spencer's byline has appeared in Woman's Day, Parenting, Baby Talk, Parents, Family Life, USA Weekend, Glamour, The New York Post, New York Parent Guide, Good Housekeeping, Health, Weight Watchers, and Redbook, and online at WD.com, BabyCenter.com, ParentCenter.com, and Parenting.com.

She is the author of the "Momfidence!" column in Woman's Day magazine

Parenting

Spencer is the author of Momfidence!: An Oreo Never Killed Anyone and Other Secrets of Happier Parenting (Crown, 2006). The book was called "wise and witty" by Myrna Blyth, the former editor-in-chief of Ladies Home Journal. The Orange County Register called the book laugh out loud funny. Reviews and coverage of the book also appeared in the New York Daily News, the Atlanta Constitution, the Chicago Tribune, the Durham Herald, the Raleigh News & Observer, and the Toledo Blade.

Medicine

Spencer also does nonfiction collaborations with physicians.

She is the co-author of two books with Dr. Tracy Gaudet, the head of Duke University's Center for Integrative Medicine; they are Body, Soul, and Baby: A Doctor's Guide to the Complete Pregnancy Experience, from Preconception to Postpartum and Consciously Female: How to Listen to Your Body and Your Soul for a Lifetime of Healthier Living.

She has also written with pediatrician Harvey Karp: The Happiest Toddler on the Block

Spencer also co-wrote The V Book with Dr. Elizabeth Stewart of Harvard University's School of Medicine.

Her works include three books written for Parenting magazine: Parenting Guide to Positive Discipline, Parenting Guide to Pregnancy & Childbirth, and Parenting Guide to Your Toddler. She is also the author of Everything Else You Need to Know When You're Expecting: The New Etiquette for the New Mom.

She also created Pregnancy Journal: A Week-By-Week Guide to a Happy, Health Pregnancy and Parenting: The New Mom's Gift Kit in association with Peter Pauper Press.

Her latest book Bright from the Start is a collaboration with neuroscientist Jill Stamm, head of the New Directions Institute for Infant Brain Development.

Her work also appears in the anthologies The Experts' Guide to the Baby Years (Clarkson Potter, 2006) and Guideposts for the Spirit: Stories for Sisters (Ideals, 2003).

Spencer has appeared on "The CBS Early Show and "Oprah!".

She has given talks on writing and parenting for the American Library Association, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the North Carolina Writer's Network, the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association, Women Today Expo, Wisconsin Early Childhood Association annual meeting (Parent Night keynote), Charlotte Parent Moms@Work and Carolina Parent Women@Work events (keynote), Southern Women’s Show, Mothers of Boys Clubs, Women Today Expo, Knoxville Writer’s Guild, North Carolina Writer’s Network Fall Conference, and as a guest lecturer at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

When Newsweek magazine published Rush Limbaugh read the Spencer's "My Turn" column on overprotective parents in March 2007,essay in its entirety on one of his daily broadcasts.

Spencer has been quoted as a parenting expert in Real Simple, Ladies Home Journal, Fit Pregnancy, New Choices, Parents, Pregnancy, Toddlers Today, and the Stamford Advocate. She is a member of the Medical Journalism Advisory Board for the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Awards and honors include the American Speech Language Hearing Association 2006 Media Award; National Women’s Political Caucus Emma Award for News Features, Large-Circulation Magazines; Western Publications Association “Maggie” for Consumer Magazine Article; and the Arthritis Foundation Russell Cecil Award for Magazine Writing.

Spencer has also served as a consultant for BabyCenter.com; Gerber; First Moments; The Parenting Group; Time Inc. Custom Publishing; and Guideposts.

Before becoming a full-time writer, Spencer (also known as Paula Patyk Spencer) was an editor in New York City and in Knoxville, Tennessee.

As an editorial director at Whittle Communications, a media company half-owned by Time Inc., she headed health, parenting, travel, and lifestyle publications. They included Travel Life, a bimonthly magazine for travel professionals (twice a finalist in the Magazine Week Publishing Excellence Awards).

Spencer is a member of the Authors Guild (2004—present); the American Society of Journalists and Authors (1995-present); the American Pie Council (2004-present); and the American Society of Magazine Editors (1986-1999).