How I Create: Katie Sadler, writer and marketing consultant for authors
An interview with Katie Sadler, a writer and marketing consultant who supports authors to connect with readers, create manageable marketing plans and launch their books.
Katie Sadler, writer and book marketing consultant
Katie Sadler works with authors to create marketing plans that feel good and sell their books. After working in-house with various publishers for around 12 years, her freelance work began as a side hustle - she launched a group programme teaching authors how to use social media - as a means of bringing in extra income alongside her part-time job.
In 2019, she took the leap to go fully freelance. At first, this centred around taking on short-term contracts with publishers, working on their marketing campaigns, but since then Katie has shifted to working directly with authors themselves.
Today, she supports authors to share and sell their work through her group programme, the Book Launch Club, as well as through workshops, digital products and one-to-one support.
In this interview, Katie talks about her journey to becoming self-employed, what her creative process looks like, and making the shift to supporting her family through her own offerings.
Can you tell us a bit about your background and story so far. How did you get into book marketing and how did your business get started?
Since I was small, I’ve always wanted to work in publishing. I love books and have been a voracious reader all of my life. However, when I left university, I couldn’t find any way of getting into it. I applied to so many different internships, and didn’t hear back about any of them. Looking back, I’m not surprised. I don’t think I really knew what kind of job I wanted. I wouldn’t have suited an editorial role, but I hadn’t really considered what other departments there might be that I would have been a better fit for.
After a year of terrible temp jobs, I started an MSc in New Media, Information and Society, which was essentially all about the internet and how technology affects society (and vice versa). Facebook started the year I did my MSc, so, this was a long time ago!
When I finished my degree, I got into a grad scheme at an online media agency, where I was buying ad space online for some huge companies like HSBC and Mattel. It was a really fun job, but involved a lot of spreadsheets, and was not really what I was interested in.
FORTUNATELY all of this digital background was quite unique, and when a digital marketing job came up at Random House, I jumped at the opportunity to apply and got the job fairly quickly. And I’ve been in book marketing ever since!
What made you decide to focus on working with authors on their marketing and how did you find your first clients?
Having worked in-house for various publishers over about 12 years, I had spoken to so many authors about their online marketing. The onus was increasingly on authors to manage their social media accounts, build their website and start sending out great newsletters, and the same questions would come up again and again.
I had been thinking about going freelance for some time, but it was really a personal crisis that made it actually happen. My (now ex-) husband lost his job, and we had two kids and a hefty mortgage, so I had to find a way to bring in a second income. I was working part-time, and my boss helped me brainstorm some ways I could earn money outside of my contract without breaking it. Running a programme for authors, teaching them how to use social media, was what we came up with. And it went really well!
The onus was increasingly on authors to manage their social media accounts, build their website and start sending out great newsletters, and the same questions would come up again and again.
How has your business evolved since you first started out?
When I first became self-employed, about 90% of my income still came from working with publishers. I would cover absent team members for a short period of time or just step in when they had too much work for the team. It was better paid than the work I was doing while in-house, but the job itself was pretty similar.
Over time I realised that I didn’t really want to just replicate my old job, so I’ve been taking steps over the last 18 months or so to focus on the work I actually DO want to do.
Earlier this year, I took the step to focus 100% on author clients. That meant a quite significant dip in income for a bit, but it seems to be evening out now. I find working directly with authors hugely rewarding, as you can really see the impact of the work you are doing with them and the changes they are making.
This is a combination of a group programme, one-to-one work, workshops and occasional digital products. I also run a free Facebook group, The Empowered Author, with a former colleague, which is a lot of fun.
Artwork for the Book Launch Club, Katie’s group marketing programme for authors
What does your creative process look like, and (how) has this changed since you first started your business?
A lot of what I do is facilitate other people’s creativity. When I have a client meeting, my creativity comes out in the brainstorming we do around marketing ideas, and that’s so much fun and part of why I love my job so much. However, it’s something I have to be really intentional about doing for myself, too!
My creativity definitely needs paper and pen to come out. I will try to take myself away from my laptop and journal or do a mind map to come up with ideas for ways to help authors or how to talk about a particular offer I have coming up. I also go for a lot of walks during my working day, as I get a lot of ideas when I am out and about, and am constantly stopping to make notes on my phone as I go.
My creativity definitely needs paper and pen to come out. I will try to take myself away from my laptop and journal or do a mind map to come up with ideas for ways to help authors or how to talk about a particular offer I have coming up.
Lately, I’ve been feeling a huge urge to do more personal writing and painting. I’ve created a separate Substack for myself to explore any ideas that come up for me that aren’t directly related to work, and am trying to do a little bit of watercolour every evening. It feels really nice to let myself pursue some creative hobbies, rather than having everything be about generating an income!
Watercolour paintings by Katie
How do you manage your time across the different aspects of your life and business? What does a typical day or week look like for you?
Mondays and Fridays are meeting-free days. I try to catch up with all of my clients on those days and do all of my admin.
Mondays are becoming my favourite days. I take myself for a coffee first thing to catch up on emails, then I also have two hours a week on a Monday afternoon which are for writing.
I generally have 1-2 meetings a week, sometimes 3 if it’s a busy week, which is a great balance for me. The rest of the time I am typing up notes from the meetings, doing audits for authors (where I look at their existing marketing and make recommendations), creating marketing plans, and I will also write any upcoming workshops or launch content then, too.
Katie’s desk and work colleague, Norris the cat
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned about your creative process so far?
That I need to follow my energy. Some days I will be feeling more creative than others, and my aim with my calendar is to never have so much in my diary that I can’t make the most of the days I’ve got more energy (or take a break on the days I don’t have any!).
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in business? How have you worked through this?
I’ve had to do a lot of work on my mindset around money security. Doing short-term contracts for publishers was a far more consistent way of earning money than what I’m doing now, but I do generally end up making what I need at the end of each month. It’s just a little harder to predict.
I have been really afraid of taking risks, because I haven’t wanted to reduce my financial security, so I’ve had to do a lot of work to make myself believe that it’s okay to take a risk, and that I am safe as I am!
I would say that I’ve only partly worked through this. When my calendar for the next month is looking empty, and my bank balance is not looking very healthy, I have to remind myself that the work will come and that I am safe! Because it does, and I am!
Ideally I will get to the point with my business where I am booked out several months in advance, so that I have a bit more certainty about what’s coming up, but I’m not there quite yet.
What are your top tips for someone who wants to go freelance or start their own creative business?
If you can reduce your days and take on a side hustle first, that can be a great way to test the water and start getting experience and testimonials before you are 100% financially reliant on the work. However, I think the ‘reduce your days’ point is key - taking on a side hustle on top of a full-time job is a recipe for burnout.
Learn about payment on account! (In the UK, if your self-assessment tax bill comes to more than £1,000, you also have to make an advance payment towards the following year’s bill in most cases.) Fortunately I was warned about this, and started putting money aside for tax from day one, but I’ve heard so many nightmare stories of people being caught out by this!
I’m a member of several online communities, including Life, Aligned, which is about aligning your work with your cycle, and Wandering Aimfully, which is a business coaching programme. They have been invaluable for me in terms of support and advice. Find your people!
What books or other resources have you found most useful for starting and running your business?
There are three great books I have come across and I WISH I had had them earlier in my journey:
Fiona Thomas’s Out of Office and Helen Hill’s Falling Off the Ladder are both brilliant starting points for anyone considering making a career change, and Lucy Werner’s Hype Yourself is also a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to build a business of any kind.
What’s been your proudest achievement to date?
Being able to financially support my family! It’s just me and the kids, and I’m so proud every time the start of the month rolls around and I pay all of our bills. Bills are not very sexy, but it feels so good!
What does this season and the year ahead look like for you and your business?
Busy! I’m running my group programme, The Book Launch Club, for the second time, and that involves monthly workshops, regular co-working, and weekly office hours. I’ve also got a really great group of clients on at the minute, and am planning two new workshops. It’s a lot, but so fulfilling.
And finally, where can we find out more about you and your work?
You can find out all about me and what I do at https://katiemorwenna.co.uk.
Thank you for having me, Steph!