Cait Flanders

 
yeah-write-club-cait-flanders.png
 

Cait Flanders is the author of The Year of Less, a WSJ bestseller that outlines her personal experiences around consuming less--of everything. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Vogue, Oprah.com and more.

Q: Before your book came out, there was the blog. Tell us about how you got into writing via your blog.

A: I started my blog in June 2011, when I was maxed out with close to $30,000 of debt. The goal was to simply use it as a space where I could track my debt repayment progress, the same way you might track your meals or workouts or any other habit you're trying to change. I didn't intend for anyone to read it. In fact, I used to write anonymously, because I was so ashamed of my debt and didn't want anyone in my real life to find out how much I had.

Four months into it, however, I landed my very first freelance writing job and wanted nothing more than to share the news with my family and friends. It took another six months for me to finally tell them and put my name on the site; that's when I began to come into my own, and slowly started to feel like I was finding my writing voice.

Q: Did the blog/email list you built during that time help you land your book deal? Was that audience important to your publisher?

A: It did! And as I'm hearing from other friends who are getting book deals now, two years after I got mine, it seems to be even more important now. At the time, I had about 6,000 people on my list (which has more than doubled now) and maybe half the social media followers.

I don't know if the same expectation/pressure is applied to fiction writers, but in the non-fiction space, publishers absolutely want to know that you already have an audience who will buy your books.

Q: Did you have any previous experience writing about personal finance? If not, did you ever struggle with Imposter Syndrome? How'd you get over that?

A: No, I didn't have any professional experience with personal finance. What I did have was a father who had talked to me about money for as long as I can remember. I also had a long list of financial mistakes I had personally made and wanted to learn from. I didn't feel any imposter syndrome back then, because I was literally just sharing all the mistakes I had made and the different ways I was trying to correct them.

That also included sharing what I was learning about financial products along the way. The cool part was that I landed some great freelance clients, during that time, as well as a full-time job offer - all with companies who were will to teach me, pay for me to take courses, etc.

But this still doesn't make me an expert, and that's the reason I don't write many how-to type posts. Yes, I know a lot - but I don't know everything. So I always come at things from the angle that I'm sharing what I know and am opening to learning more.

Q: Let's talk about your first book. What did you learn while writing it? What was the hardest part of the writing process?

A: I think the hardest part for me was first attempting to multi-task and trying to write it alongside my freelance work - and that just didn't work for me.

My book is a deeply-personal memoir in which I opened up and shared parts of myself I had never written about before (or even shared with some friends).

I could never seem to go deep enough, when it was something I just picked up for an hour or two each day. So after a couple months of this, I decided to front-load my freelance work and then take two months off to finish the first draft.

And I didn't just take time off work; I also took time off social media. It worked, and I finished the first draft during that time.

Q: What's the biggest thing you've gained/learned from writing on a regular basis over the years?

A: After publishing more than 600 posts, I have learned (and stick to) one very important lesson: if it doesn't feel good to write it, people won't enjoy reading it. Another way to say this is: the posts that are the easiest to write are the ones people connect with most. I'm happy to give up on posts/ideas that feel like the writing is forced.

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to someone thinking about writing a book, what would it be?

A: First, set an intention for the book. Ask yourself who you're writing it for and what you hope they get from reading it. Then, no matter what kind of negative press you get (and you will likely get at least some negative press or reviews), you can keep your head up and know that you still accomplished what you hoped to - and nothing else matters.

Second, write a book that you are prepared to talk about for the rest of your life. That's not meant to sound overwhelming; it's just the truth. You will always be the person who wrote that book, and people find our books at different times, long before the launch/promotional period is over. So just be prepared to talk about it forever.

And finally, take care of yourself during the launch. It was the strangest and most exhausting few months of my entire career, and I only survived it because I ate well and spent lots of time with friends outdoors. If you're getting ready to launch your own book, feel free to reach out! I would love to share more tips on how to manage this time of your life.

yeah-write-club-open-book.png