Q&A and a list of great things
How I quit my job in 2016 and made a living in the early days, book and podcast recs, and whether (or not) you should start a Substack.
My home has been a chaotic construction zone since last week, so I’m forgoing the longer and more involved jealousy/envy piece I had planned for today (it will come, just not this week!), and am going to answer some of your questions instead. Plus, a short list of great things, because sharing is caring.
Later this week, for subscribers only, I’ll be sharing all the financials for We Are The Luckiest, including the structure of the book deal, how much I got paid and when, and the expenses I took on to write, publish, and promote the book.
These questions have been submitted by subscribers via my form and/or in our subscriber chat. I plan to do these posts once a month (or so).
Q. Hi, Laura, where may I find your list of favorite reads? I loved Tomorrow, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow! Thanks!
I shared my top 6 reads of 2022 here recently.
I also post books I love on Instagram under #lauramckowenreads.
Q. Will you be doing any other retreats in 2023 other than the Boone, NC one? I def would like to join, but unfortunately, that one doesn't work for me. Miss TMST, and totally understand you can't do it all.
Yes, I will be hosting a similar retreat as the one in Boone, NC, from October 20-22 at Kripalu in Western Mass. Registration for that is coming soon!
For those who may be interested, there are still spots in the July retreat at the Art of Living Center. Learn more and register.
Q. Laura, I love your recommendations…what podcasts do you love?
Since I discovered it late last year, Maintenance Phase has become my drop-everything-and-listen-immediately podcast. I blew through the entire catalog (including the subscriber-only episodes) within a couple of months. Audrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes are just the best—so smart, funny, and their depth of research is just insane. It’s all about debunking the weight loss and wellness industry, but they extend beyond those spheres now and then. My favorite episodes so far are the two they did on Rachel Hollis (here’s Part 1).
I also love the new show Michael Hobbes just started called If Books Could Kill. The tagline is “The airport bestsellers that captured our hearts and ruined our mind.”
The only other podcast I listen to regularly is Waking Up with Sam Harris (been a regular for years and am a subscriber to the app; it is gold).
Oh, and lately, I’ve been into Navigating Narcissism with Dr. Ramani because there’s never enough psychology nerdery for me.
Q. As a writer and author, how have you found Substack so far as a platform to share your writing and build community and followers and readers? As a writer exploring a substack of her own, but hesitant to dip her toes into the water, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it and any tips on getting started and building a following. Thanks, Laura!
So far, I love it. If you want to share your hesitations, I can address those things more specifically, but here are some initial thoughts:
Do you have a clear idea of what you’d like to write about—the topics you’d be interested in writing about regularly? I’d suggest defining this before starting anything. General newsletters aren’t really appealing to me, and they’re really hard to write and stick with, in my experience. If the subject matter is undefined and if I’m not sure what I’m going to get, I’m probably not going to tune in. You can shift and evolve over time, of course, but start out with a clear vision of what your space will provide.
What are your goals? Do you want to create a regular practice of writing and sharing to get more comfortable with doing those things? Are you looking to build community around a certain topic or experience? Are you hoping to build a following around your work in hopes of selling a book, your work, or something else? Are you looking to monetize your writing? Be clear on your goals and why you’re doing this. It’s a lot of work, so you need to know what you’re trying to do with it.
How much time do you have to dedicate to this? At what cadence will you publish? I wouldn’t start a Subtack unless you have a minimum of 3-4 hours a week to dedicate to it (this includes writing and promotion time, assuming you aren’t writing long-form essays or big research-based pieces). I currently spend more like 10-15, depending on how long the pieces are and how much I’m interacting with comments, chat, etc. I would also plan to publish a minimum of 2x a month (there’s really no maximum). I’ve learned that consistency is vital in any type of publishing platform: podcasting, blogging, newsletters, social media. This isn’t to say you can’t take breaks or adjust based on what’s going on in your life, but you can’t drop off for months at a time when you’re in the building phase.
Do you have an existing email list? If so, that’s great. I had a well-sized list to start with from eight years of writing newsletters, so it really helped me psychologically that I wasn’t starting at zero. That said, if you don’t, don’t worry! But you will need a place to advertise it if you want to get people to subscribe. Social media is a great start, and the referral network on Substack is pretty good, too, once you get going.
Closing thought: I would never start a “regular” newsletter from the ground up with something like Substack available today. It just doesn’t make sense, IMO. This serves as a newsletter, a blog archive, an email database, and a monetization platform (should you choose to do that). It’s a no-brainer.
Closing-closing thought: I’m all for trying things! As an Enneagram 7, I’m quick to jump in and have started and stopped many things over the years without much internal friction. By and large, this has served me well, so if you need a little shot of that: here it is ⚡️. If you’ve got the pull to do it and that pull won’t leave you alone, just do it! You can always stop if it’s not working.
Again, please feel free to fill out the Dear Love Story form with follow-up info, and I’ll be happy to address your question more specifically! I’m sure others are wondering too.
Q. How did you decide to leave your corporate job, and what did you do to survive for money in the early days?
This answer is long and complicated and involved, but I’ll share the high-level points.
The seeds of the idea to leave my corporate job started to grow roots when I was working to get sober in 2013/2014. I’d long dreamt about becoming an author but didn’t have the capacity to follow through on jack shit when I was drinking.
In 2013, I started to share my struggle to get sober on a blog. Then on Instagram. Then, in 2015, on HOME podcast. So I was building another track of work for a few years while still working my job.
I knew by 2014 that I was going to leave my career in marketing and take a shot at being a writer, but I had no idea how or what that would look like. I was over 100K in debt, had no savings, was a single mom, etc.
By spring 2016, HOME had a big audience, I’d built more confidence in my writing, had been published in a couple of places, and I was officially a woman on a mission. Still didn’t know how I’d quit, though. Still had no savings, had all the debt, still a single mom.
That same spring, an entrepreneurial friend, Heidi, who’d watched me for a few years, asked why I hadn’t quit yet. I said, because money. I had none. She asked why I didn’t get a bank loan. I LOLed in her face because no bank was going to loan me anything. She had just sold her business. She said, Well, people helped me when I was starting out, and I’ve seen you working for this, and I believe in you, and I’ll help you if you pay it forward. I knew right then that everything had changed. I said yes to her offer, despite all the reasons I might have said no. We agreed on a number that, loaned in increments, would get me through the next nine months. I drew up an agreement and a repayment schedule1, we both signed it, and I quit my job the following week.
I started making money by teaching yoga workshops (I’d become a teacher back in 2010) locally and eventually flew to other cities to do them. I lost money on the non-local ones, but it was good practice and confidence-building. In late 2016, I created my first online course, The Bigger Yes, based on a live workshop I’d created and taught. I realized that I loved creating and teaching online courses and that it was a much more sustainable, scalable way to make money than a workshop for 5 or 20 people. I also did marketing consulting here and there.
In 2016, I made next to nothing. In 2017, I made a little more, mostly off teaching online courses, and by 2018, I was able to support myself. (Remember, I had built an audience with HOME, an email list, my blog, and social media, so I had a place to sell these courses.)
Other ways I made money: live retreats, selling an e-book for $5 (lol), donations for HOME podcast, co-teaching online workshops, selling essential oils.2 The online courses were what sustained me, however, and I still teach them. Like I said, I love doing them. I love having full control over every aspect, the creativity, designing curriculum, the teaching, and all the technical/marketing stuff. It's definitely not for everyone (despite what many coaches will tell you!), but it’s a perfect mix for me.
Okay, that was longer than I expected, but like I said, there’s a lot to it. I worked hard, yes, but I also had the privilege of being well-educated, emotionally supported, white and thin and able-bodied and attractive enough, connected to people like Heidi with resources, and healthy with a healthy kid, for starters. I also—this can’t be overstated—had a very capable, responsible, contributing co-parent in my ex-husband, who had my daughter half the time. Without these things, the story looks a lot different.
Thanks for submitting! More next month.
A short list of great things
Aftersun - this movie broke me. Stunning and absolutely brutal. Thanks, Veronica.
I am the one woman who has it all in The New Yorker. YAS.
- by Kate McLean - on all things publishing and book writing. It's so good, she's so generous!!!
This by
. LOLOL. She's fucking funny. You’re welcome.
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I started paying her back after one year and finished paying back the full loan, plus interest, in 2020.
I actually lost money on this and did it for a very short period of time. Not for me.
Thank you for the podcast recommendations and list of great things. I just downloaded every episode of Maintence Phase, they all sound so good!
Thanks for the advice on writing for Substack. You intuited all the questions I would have asked if I had known what to ask! Now I have a great deal to ruminate on.