Photo Essay: a form of visual storytelling, a way to present a narrative through a series of images.

Authorpreneur: an entrepreneur that offers products and services that are based on their book(s).

As an authorpreneur and word nerd, I wear a lot of hats. I fulfill a lot of roles. I complete a lot of tasks. People often ask me, what do you actually do? I don’t think they are trying to be rude, they just aren’t quite sure what I actually do for work or how I fill my days now that I “stay home”.

So, to clear up some of the confusion and give you an inside look at a day in the life of an authorpreneur, I'm going to repeat an exercise I’ve done in the past. Remember a few years ago when I shared a photo essay of my day in a post called The Working Mother Balance Dance? Here’s a quick walk down memory lane to jog your memory. I took a photo every hour for an entire day to show you what being a “working mom” looked like.

A few things have changed since I wrote that last piece in 2017. For one thing I no longer teach full time. Also, in addition to writing my own books I coach others as they write and publish theirs. My kids are older and I’ve added a YouTube channel (actually two) to my content creation. But a lot remains the same. There is still a lot of baseball in our lives. I still write a blog post each week and of all the tasks I complete, telling stories is still my favorite.

To give you a proper update and inside look, here is a second photo essay detailing my life as an authorpreneur.

If you’re more of a linguistic kind of soul, read on for the picture descriptions and captions.

A Day in the Life of an Authorpreneur

6:30 - Exercise! I love the fitness videos my friend Andrea makes and shares on YouTube!

8:00 - Take the boys to school

8:30 - Making a plan for the day, checking email, and coaching client meeting prep

10:00 - Coaching-client Zoom meeting

11:30 - Checking in with my Western students and responsibilities. (I teach part time at our local technical college.)

12:00 - Tidy the kitchen, make a smoothie and browse the issue of Oh, Reader that arrived in the mail today. (Yay!)

1:00 - Record this week’s First Chapter Friday video

1:30 - Edit, upload and write FCF video description

2:30 - Working on this blog post!

3:30 - Welcome home the fam from their day at school :)

4:00 - Massive errand run for groceries, end of the school year teacher gifts, Goodwill drop off and a pick up of Chad Sell’s new release (Happy book birthday, Chad!)

As I write this I’m not sure what the hours after 5 PM will hold, but if I had to guess, a walk with my husband and time reading my current book (see full list here) will make the list.

When I reflect on the day through these images I see that it was A LOT of computer time. It’s probably what you’d expect of an authorpreneur, but it isn’t ALWAYS like this. There are days I meet other entrepreneurs to discuss strategy over coffee and some time spent with my notebook while I hand write a new draft. It just so happened that today was a screen-time, butt-in-chair kind of day, but it isn’t always like this.

Some times my office hours stretch beyond 3:30. It isn’t rare to find me in my office at 5 o’clock finishing up notes after a call with a client or with my computer on my lap after the boys go to bed. I’ll write fiction on the weekends and spend entire days at local maker markets… but for the most part, my days as an authorpreneur see a whole lot more balance than I experienced while teaching full time and side hustling, well, on the side. My balance isn’t perfect, but it’s gotten better. A solid calendar and daily refreshed to-do lists on post-it notes within sight help a lot. If you’ve got any questions about what a life of working for yourself looks like or you need help organizing yours, head over to the post office and send me an email. I’d love to help you.

Until next week (when I’ve got some SUPER cool news to shout out).

~ Amanda

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