Hey everyone,
It’s been almost four months now since we left Delhi and moved back to Brighton and I’m super grateful that we did because I’ve found something in England that I never did in India: Peace.
Still, because I’d been experiencing extreme anxiety over the last couple of months, I got myself a therapist and she explained that just like in a snow globe that’s been shaken up, I’d experienced some massive shifts in my life (of the non-Covid variety) and it was only natural that it would take time for the dust to settle.
I liked the snow globe analogy and it’s been one that I’ve been going back to repeatedly.
This week, for the first time, it felt as though the snow in the snow globe of my life has finally begun to lay on the ground and so I’ve gone back to my business and life to do an inventory. It seemed like the perfect time, especially seeing as it’s the midway point in the year and I wanted to take a look at where I’ve landed, in terms of the business, in terms of my own writing, and in terms of the industry as a whole, and where I want to go.
And then I figured, why not share it with you?
So here’s a brief rundown of what I’ve been thinking about in terms of my writing career and what I want to achieve in the rest of 2020. I hope it’ll spark some ideas for you as well in terms of goal-setting and strategy.
I have multiple income streams and those of you who have worked with me know that I teach and preach this religiously. It’s been really good for my artistic mind that finds joy in so many different areas and disciplines to have something new to land on frequently, but as I’ve often said, having more than one stream of income can be a lifesaver when the world goes for a toss, as it has recently.
So with that in mind, here are some of my interests and income streams and what I hope to do with them going forward:
Traditionally-Published Novels
This is not an income stream (yet) but it is a core area of interest and work for me. I have two novels that are finalized and ready to take to publishers. We were about to go out with one in February this year but my agent needed surgery and it got pushed back to March, which is when, as we all know, the worldwide lockdowns began. Given the huge amounts of publisher cutbacks, new business models springing up, and publication dates for existing titles being pushed back, my agent and I have decided to wait for now.
In the meantime, I’m writing and building my inventory. I’m currently 20,000 words into the writing of the third novel (mainstream, standalone) and in the process of outlining a mystery series. I could sit on my hands and be despondent about the delays and the bad luck, but instead I’m focusing my energy on writing more. When the market is open again, I will be ready with a bunch of new books and submissions.
Goal for 2020: Finish novel #3. Finish outlining first book in new series.
Freelance Journalism
I sort of slowly started letting go of freelance journalism in 2015, around the time we moved to the UK for the first time. My beat was India, I was living in a commuter town (which was great for raising a kid but mind-numblingly boring for a journalist), I couldn’t travel and report all day with a small child at home, and I really had to focus on increasing my income if I ever wanted to get out of that town and live in a city again. So I did. I built a business and took on a whole bunch of content marketing work, helped my husband quit his job, and now, here we are. In bold, brilliant, beautiful Brighton. Where I’m ready to be a journalist again.
The first three weeks of pitching, I had literally two or three ideas and I truly wondered if I’d lost my edge. I kept going and sending out what I had, started building my sources, and asked what I was interested in and what I wanted to say. It took a few weeks, but I sorted out my system and am now on a roll.
Got an assignment last night and another one this morning. This is now already a steady income stream and will become much more reliable over the next few weeks.
Goal for 2020: Have 20+ stories published with new byline.
Content Marketing
I did a fair bit of content marketing, especially between 2014 and 2018, but I let go of my last content marketing client in April 2019 and am happy to say I haven’t looked back. This was the most profitable of my income streams but it was also the one that I did mostly for the money and not the love. That said, I did really enjoy many of the assignments I had and I will most definitely go back if I need to for financial reasons, but for now, I have no clients in this area and I’m happy with that.
No goals for 2020.
Indie-Published Nonfiction
I have given my self-published books almost no love and I do feel a bit guilty about this. The writing of these books, I have loved. The whole publishing side of it? Not so much. It’s time consuming, expensive, and there’s a lot of administrative stuff that I never do while I go write yet another book.
I think this is one of those mindset things where I just need to get over myself and get on with it. Still, sales of these books are pretty consistent and if I do this right, could become a full-time income of its own in the next few years. What I really need to do is put these books on different platforms, release print and audio versions, and really promote them. This will take time, money, and resources.
Honestly, I’m not going to be able to spend money on this side of my business this year, so my focus here again will be to build an inventory and handle the ebook side of things and then, when I’m able, invest in doing the print and audio versions super professionally. I will also continue publishing these books under my old name (Mridu Khullar Relph) at least for now.
Goal for 2020: Finish two new nonfiction books. Get ebooks on all online platforms.
Courses and Programs for Writers
This is a part of my business that has grown more than I ever could have imagined. It’s solid, it’s reliable, and it’s continuously grown. That said, this business now takes way more time than anything else I do, and honestly, I’d like to have more time for my own journalism and novels. I love serving writers and sharing what I’ve learned—it’s a core part of what I’ve always done, right from the beginning, even before anyone was ever paying me for it—but there is a tradeoff. The more the business grows, the more time it takes, and the less I can write.
This would be great if I had exclusively entrepreneurial ambitions. But I don’t. I’m a writer first. And I like to have days where I don’t check email, engage with social media, or answer questions about other people’s projects.
I’ve thought about this one a lot. The daily emails will continue—in fact, I intend to get more serious about bringing more behind-the-scenes info that no one shares and tons more free stuff. And I love the Finishers, so that will continue. But, even though I love to do it, I may have to consider limiting how many new courses I create in a year (I often do 3-6) and instead pacing myself and working more in advance, for instance by creating a course before I launch it so that I’m not running a course AS I create it (which is a lot of fun, but also quite a bit of pressure!) I also want to think about which parts of it I enjoy (love doing pitch critiques, so will offer more of those) but 1:1 coaching takes too much emotional and time commitment, so will most likely retire that entirely.
Goal: At least one new free resource a month. Work 4-6 weeks in advance.
Finally, LIFE!
I’ve had to really think about how much time I can realistically devote to all these pursuits while still having a life (I have a husband and a little boy, both of whom I adore and can’t get enough of). I also need more bandwidth to invest in my own growth and creativity.
So that’s where I’m at this week, taking stock, reevaluating my business plan for the next six months, and taking an inventory of where I’m doing well, where I need to do better, and what big and small steps move me in the directions I want to go towards.
I hope some of this helps you think and reevaluate as well.
As this year has shown us so starkly, work is important. But life is too.
More tomorrow.
Cheers,
Natasha