Writers need a day job, as any writer will tell you. Something to fund their writing. Or simply something to fund their lives, of which writing is a part. That dream of a being a fulltime writer has always been a misleading aspiration (remaining unattainable for most), but the current climate has made it even more so, which is articulated well in this piece: The End of the Career Author.
“The trees start growing taller, and once I realise I’m no longer skirting the lake, I stop running, totally blind. There’s rainwater dripping from my eyebrows as I stand still, hearing only the trees creaking, the patter of rainfall and my own excited breaths. I smell earth, dead leaves and rot. Out here all by myself, time seems to have stopped, the forest itself a creature in slumber. I know that I could simply retrace my steps, but something holds me in stillness. I’m lost, in the dark, in a deeply unknown place, but for some reason, I am not afraid.”
This isn’t my book at all, but I played a very small part in it so I’m sharing it as much as I can, because I believe that the world needs beautiful books just like Good People. Chosen from responses they received from their 5 million followers through the Upworthy Instagram account – Gabriel Reilich & Lucia Knell have compiled 101 stories from around the globe that will uplift & inspire you.
Publishing Small Business – Big Plans last year in South Africa was an incredible experience. We got to meet so many inspiring entrepreneurs and people in the publishing world, and we were so thrilled with the reviews and general sentiment around the book. But we always had a longer game in mind – one that occurred to us as we were writing the book. Because while a lot of our experience is in South Africa, with South African clients, we’ve also both worked abroad, and we knew that the principles we had included in our book were universal.
When I’m not writing books, or working with clients to help them craft their stories, I write in a freelance capacity for magazines, websites and newspapers.
Here are some recent highlights:
At the end of May I was in South Africa to launch our book ‘Small Business – Big Plans’ – and it was a week that exceeded all expectations. Writers will tell you honestly that they dream of attending their own book launch one day: a chance to see their creation in stores, engage with people about the writing process, and celebrate all the hard work that went into it.