For the past month, I’ve been taking a break from creating content. I was determined to enjoy summer, and I have been.

We had company (including all three boys—the first time they were home simultaneously since Christmas!), went on a quick road trip, and visited with friends. I picked berries and tended my flowers and went on walks. And I rebuilt and relaunched my knitting design business, My Secret Wish Knitting, on a more affordable, lower-pressure tech stack—because why not? (A change is as good as a rest though, right? 😜)

Honestly, this wasn’t a typical “summer break” for us, though. While I won’t get into details here, my husband was home from work for a month during a period when I wasn’t intending to take a break at all. However, I desperately needed one, so I rearranged my production schedule and decided to “take it easy,” even if I didn’t take a full break.

Because of how close to burnout I was feeling, and the burnout my husband was actually experiencing, over the course of that month, it became clear to me that I need to make some shifts in my business. I need more white space, but I also need to take on more of the household financial responsibility much sooner than my established business trajectory would allow.

In other words, I need to create more margin in my business and our family finances, fast. And that’s why I’m making some pivots in my business, starting immediately.

Don’t worry—from your side, the pivots will seem small, and may even improve your experience. But for me and my family, they could be significant.

My sweet Daisy chilling in the shade on the deck after a splash in the dugout.

Phase One: Create Space

The first stage of my plan (mostly complete) was automating a great deal of the mind-numbing tasks required to run my business. I’ve actually been implementing this for the past several months, slowly streamlining processes on the back end to cut down on admin time while providing the same or better service to my audience.

This week, I finalized some automations for my newsletter and content notifications that will allow me to keep in better contact with you, dear reader, all while freeing up several hours a week.

For you, this means:

My newsletter subscribers will receive my blog and bonus content posts by email the day after they’re posted—no more waiting a week or two to explore that new bonus perk, read that short story, or listen to my latest track.

My biweekly newsletter will now serve as a digest of recent content (in case you missed any of the individual posts) while continuing to include a quick personal note to my readers and promoting discovery of other great authors through swaps and promos.

Earlier in the summer, I automated eBook and audiobook delivery from Bookfunnel when someone purchases a book from my store, replacing my previously clunky process. Now, digital books will be automatically sent to purchasers by email.

Automations for the win!

Some amazing well-built architecture with a great view for the creator.

Phase Two: Scale and GrowYouTube & ClassesYouTube

Now that I’ve regained some leeway in my week, I’m planning to spend those newly gained hours growing my Youtube channels—with a primary focus on my somewhat-neglected Author Alchemist / Word Wizard Academy editing and author development brand.

I’ve been training my son Noah to edit video so I can subcontract work to him, which means I’ll only need to do the content planning and creation part.

If you’re a writer (or you want to be) and you’re interested in learning ways to improve your craft and business savvy as an author, make sure you’re on my Word Wizard Academy mailing list to be notified about new posts.

For my author and songwriter brand channel, I’ll continue to create music videos of my tracks as I complete them, but I’ll soon be posting my audiobooks to the channel, too.

Classes

For some time, I’ve meant to start teaching classes about writing craft and marketing online. I simply haven’t gotten organized to do it.

But now, I am.

I’ll be teaching a class about brainstorming or fixing stories with a single sentence (the log line) in mid-September. For details about that when I announce them, join my Word Wizard Academy list.

For you, this means:

More great content, more affordably.

Getting direct access to my secrets to level up your writing craft (for authors)

And by simply consuming that content, you’ll help me get to my monetization goals faster, too.

Kickstarter

I’m going to keep trucking on my special edition Kickstarter for Finding Heaven. One of the things I did during my “take it easy time” was to continue proof-listening to the audiobook. When I’m finally finished with that (maybe sometime next week?), I’ll be setting up my Kickstarter campaign. Watch this space for more details.

For you, this means:

Getting some of your favourite stories in new formats (audiobooks, special editions)

Brand and Freelance Services

My rather untraditional “day job” is working as a freelancer. For the past eight years or so, I’ve focused on working with editing clients. I love doing this, in that I find it very satisfying to level up both stories and authors and watch them reach their full potential. However, as I’ve learned about my ADHD brain, I’ve realized why shorter-term, quick-win projects are always so much more appealing to work on.

So, to work with my brain instead of against it, I’ve decided to pivot my freelance work slightly toward more copywriting, brand messaging, and marketing projects—something I’ve done for years, but haven’t made a focus.*

If you’re a creator, author, entrepreneur, professional, or small business looking up to level up your brand messaging or get help with your website copy or email marketing, please check out the copywriting services I offer to see if we’d be a good fit.

*I’ll still take editing clients, I’m just going to promote my other services more. (I also still write and polish book descriptions, which I adore doing.)

These stunning beauties were a birthday gift from my neighbours and friends, J and B.

Setting a New Course

A rolling stone gathers no moss, so they say. In this rapidly changing world, and with we, ourselves, always changing, being nimble is an asset.

This life change has made me step back and rethink what my highest priorities are right now. I think these small shifts will not only lead to better financial stability for our family, but also steer me toward a course I’ll find much more sustainable for the next several years—or until the wind changes again.

But if not? There’ll be another chapter after that.

How about you, my friend? How are you handling these uncertain times? Have you had to make any life changes to adapt? Let me know in the comments!