Welcome 2025!

Reflections on Second Chapter.

Hello and Happy 2025!

The last month of Second Chapter has been quiet as I was back at my parents house in Missouri. I had grand plans of completely reading through my first draft and fleshing out my characters enough to start writing the second draft when we get back to Scotland, along with getting things all prepped and scheduled for Second Chapter. To say our trip was busier than expected has been an understatement. I haven’t read a page, have only added maybe a paragraph or two to my world building, and I’m now behind with author interviews.

But, sometimes that just happens.

2025 is set to be another year of change.

I’ll be going back to work full time by early April, officially ending maternity leave. Once that happens, I’ll be part of that next parenthood era of juggling two careers, nursery drop off and pick up times, and a million colds that will be brought home. All while still trying to write and finish my novel, complete a kitchen renovation, travel, plan a wedding, and just generally live.

I think 2025 might be the year where I learn to do less, and (the kicker) to be okay with that.

So what does that mean for Second Chapter?

Honestly, not much. When I look at what was successful about Second Chapter in 2024 it was Substack, the content, and connecting with writers. I’m really thrilled about that because those were the things that brought me the most joy and how most people found their way to Second Chapter and subscribed.

Creating and publishing Instagram posts was something I felt like I had to do, but it took the most time and honestly brought me no joy. In fact, I’ve quit social media personally until the end of January when I’ll reevaluate how (or even if) I introduce it back into my life. Plus, when I look at the stats, the conversion and engagement rates were low.

So, I’m going to stick with what’s working and stop what’s not.

Who knows, maybe social will become more important over time. But I’d rather focus on what’s working and what I can commit to than over commit and under deliver.

In terms of smaller changes, I’d love to feature:

• More transparency around money. Not to be nosey and not to make authors uncomfortable, but to help provide more truth about this opaque industry.

• More self-published authors. I read a lot of chat about self-publishing, but I haven’t met many self-published authors.

What about you? What (or who!) would you like to read more about? Let me know!