Managing Your Day Job While Being an Indie Author

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve made a blog post, but it’s mainly because I’ve been focusing on transitioning into a new role at my day job! It’s definitely taxing, time-consuming, and everything in between, and I figured I’d make a post about how to manage juggling a day job and being an independent author. I have 5 tips I’d like to share if you’re in the same situation, and if you have others that you’d like to share, please feel free to write them in the comments! Here we go!

1. Carve out quiet time in any way

When you have an intense, time-consuming, emotionally draining career, it can be very easy to spend downtime relaxing and… well… not writing because writing can be just as intense, time-consuming, and emotionally draining. However, the book isn’t going to write itself, especially if you want to maintain your identity and brand as an author. So what I do is this. During my lunch time or when everyone leaves the office and it’s just me all alone, those are the times I write other than my favorite lake location. It’s MY time. I know if I go home, I’m just gonna curl up on the couch, watch Netflix, and go to sleep or have wife duties to tend to. That isn’t helpful! So take a look at your schedule. When are the small pockets of moments when you’re free? When it’s quiet and no one is around? If that’s during your lunch at work, when everyone leaves the office, three in the morning, whatever, find that time and make it sacred for writing. It’s the only way to maintain!

2.  Prioritize focus areas

There are so many facets and aspects of being an indie writer. You are literally in control of the entire product. The hiring of the editor, illustrator, proofreader, managing beta readers, arcs, distribution, website maintenance, marketing, social media presence, and most of all, writing! You cannot do all of this at once when you’ve got a full-time career. It’s impossible. So here’s what you do. Prioritize what’s most important for the moment. If it’s the writing? Focus on that. If it’s marketing? Focus on that. For me? Right now it’s self-editing and getting my product (the book) put together professionally. Nothing else gets my time at the moment. Now don’t disappear off social media! You have to keep your readers and supporters engaged somehow, which leads to my next point…

3.  Keep your readers updated

Wherever you’re at in the writing process, be sure to keep your readers, followers, or supporters updated. If you disappear, folks will forget about you. Our world moves so fast, and something is always happening, some new thing is always popping up, some new book is always releasing, and folks’ attention is super fleeting. Even it is once a week, just make sure your readers are updated. If you’ve been gone a while, do an update video. Always keep your folks engaged. That’s what I do now that I’m transitioning into a different role in my day job. I post A LOT less on Instagram, but the important part is that most of my posts are updates around the writing process. 

4.  Know your why

If you don’t know your why as an author or as a writer, you will never write, especially when you have a taxing day job that drains your energy. Your project will move to the wayside and collect dust, and so will your skills. The more you write, the better you get. You can’t improve  or grow if you don’t write, let alone, achieve your goals as an indie author. Your why can be very simple, but it’s personal. My why is that I just love it, and I love to make an impact on my target audience. Obviously, there’s a story behind why I love it and what “making an impact on my target audience” means, but if you can articulate the why, you’re more likely to do the previous pieces of advice.

5.  Set long and short term goals

The only way to make it through busy days, busy time periods, and just managing your day job and author life is to set goals. Set short term writing goals, whether that’s by time, by day, by chapter, by section, etc. However you want to set your short term goals that keep you accountable, do it! I set my short term goals by chapter because when I complete an entire chapter, no matter how many errors, I feel so accomplished, and it motivates the hell out of me. For the long term goal, set a finish DATE. If you leave that end piece open, it’s almost like saying “I’ll finish when I finish,” and usually? That means either never, or a really long time from now. So, yes! Set those long and short term goals and hold yourself accountable. Remember, your authorship is also your brand!

That’s all the advice and tips I have right now! I’m deep into living this taxing day-job and author life situation, so these are the things I’M doing as well. Good luck!!