by Andrea Guevara, Author Brand Expert (& Mindset Explorer)
No trend-seeking clutter or overwhelming marketing BS--just expert advice & ideas to help you stay focused on what's most important for your author brand, career, & life.
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I don't know about you, but I’m pretty sure my ideal lifestyle is closer to that of an Italian: start work around 9/9:30am, lunch around 1pm + naptime, then finish up work around 6, go for a walk, dinner around 8pm. Given that Italy has been rated as having the best work/life balance the in the world, it sure seems like they're on to something.
Years ago, a colleague gave me a spreadsheet to track my daily tasks. The column on the left ran from 7am to 10pm in 30-minute increments. Across the top were the days of the week. Within a couple of days, I quickly realized the huge disparity between what I THOUGHT I could accomplish in a week and the amount of actual time I had to devote to it.
Still, I feel like I used to get a lot more done, even though my kids were young. I struggle with the level of distractions that have increased in the past decade.
In our society, we’re told that “time is money.” As if money is the most important thing. Of course, I’m not arguing against the value of money. We need it. It buys great things, fun things even. But I’d like to invite you to another concept perspective that “time is also energy.”
In 2019, while grieving my mother’s recent passing, I was dumbfounded by how little energy or mental bandwidth I had for usual life tasks. I couldn’t focus long enough to read a book, getting work done was exhausting and I used every trick in my toolkit to be able to complete my tasks, because let’s face it, I needed to keep a roof over our heads. Every day was a marathon, and I forgot a lot of things; I just didn’t have the capacity to function at “normal levels.”
That's when I was introduced to the concept that each of us only has a certain amount of energy in a given day. Let’s say it’s 100 units of energy/cognition/focus. When you’re dealing with something as stressful as grieving, the magnitude of that stressor can gobble up the majority of those units, leaving you with perhaps just a handful enegy units to handle the rest of your day. Some also call this the "Spoon Theory"--same idea, illustrated here:
Illustration from: Spoon Theory: Wht it is and how it is used to manage chronic illness (The Washington Post)
Energy & What it Takes to Succeed as an Author
When it comes to being a successful writer/author these days, we have to balance being both the “artist” in creating worthwhile writings, books, etc., and being the “brand” in strategizing, marketing, collaboration, promotion, etc.
It can feel like a lot. Because it fricken is.
But of course, that’s why I do this work—to help you in that juggle. I know that taking the time to focus on your brand rather than just the latest whims of marketing tactics can help preserve your energy and time while also helping you make better marketing and career decisions.
If you’ve worked with me, you know that I bake mindset tools into everything we do. And I’m a big fan of repeating the mantra: you need both tools and mindset shifts to create change.
Energy is Currency
So a few months ago, when Chelene Knight and I connected I felt an immediate synergy with her work and vibe.Chelene is the author of Let It Go: Free Yourself From Old Beliefs and Find a New Path To Joy(HarperCollins Canada 2024), as well as other titles, and the founder of Breathing Space Creative where she guides writers and creatives in learning how to manage their energy and make space for the things they are most passionate about.
How awesome is that? I’m excited to share that she is our Speaker Series expert in May and will be with us on May 15th to talk about how to cultivate a more sustainable writing career.
May 15th: 10AM (PST)/ 1PM (EST)
Energy is Currency: 8 Ways to Cultivate a More Sustainable Writing Career
+ As a bonus,Chelene has generously offered to include a 3-month free membership to her Forever Writers Clubif you register for this event (that's a $297 value).
Note: this event will be recorded. I hope you’ll join us!
#1 Free AI Talk next week! Don't forget my FREE conversation with Jane Friedman and Rebecca Ackermann about what you need to know about AI and book publishing is NEXT Thursday, April 25th at 10am (PST)/ 1pm (EST). This is a do-not-miss kind of event.
April 25th | Free Event
AI in Book Publishing: What's Going On & What to Do Now with Jane Friedman, Rebecca Ackermann & me! Register Free Now.
#2 NEW workshop: Leverage Your Author Brand at Every Step of Publishing. If you subscribe to Jane Friedman's newsletter, you may have noticed that I'll be teaching a new workshop in June over at JaneFriedman.com.
June 10th at 11am (PST)
Learn how a true-to-you author brand can help you at every state of the traditional publishing process.
#3 Brand Strength Author alum, Bridget Crocker's River Trip for women writers!
Bridget Crocker & Jeremy Ann Anderson
You may recall Bridget Crocker from our Author Brand Strength case study. She is a river guide and the author of The River's Daughter (forthcoming from Spiegel & Grau, Spring 2025) and has created women’s empowerment river workshops. I hope to join in for one of these soon but in the meantime, you can join her and a select group of women writers for REFLECTIONS WITH WATER: Whitewater Rafting, Writing and Ayurveda on Idaho’s Main Salmon River July 10-14, 2024. There are still a couple of spots open--find out more here on Bridget's website.
Alrighty, that's it for me at the moment. I hope you are hanging in! :)
by Andrea Guevara, Author Brand Expert (& Mindset Explorer)
No trend-seeking clutter or overwhelming marketing BS--just expert advice & ideas to help you stay focused on what's most important for your author brand, career, & life.
