Don’t discount this viable option. It could work for your family. I never expected the help husband John has provided me.

Stage 1

When I started my writing career, John and I worked as actuaries. John was supportive in:

· the time I spent writing, and

· the cost and time I spent going to writers’ conferences. 

That’s all I needed.

Stage 2

We retired and moved to a rural community in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Writing for me became a full time job. I received two contracts, was building a platform, and learning how to market my books. John was supportive in doing the:

·shopping,

· laundry, and 

· vacuuming

so I could write.

This was a huge help, but my marketing and platform work began eating into my writing time.

Stage 3

I started traveling to fairs and festivals. John was supportive in:

· driving me to the venues and

· selling the books at my table

so I could visit with readers.

With his presence, I was more comfortable attending these events.

Stage 4

I had two more contracts and invitations to write for collections. And deadlines. I went indie with a series. I’d learned more about online marketing opportunities that I couldn’t take advantage of because I had no time. John was supportive and became my:

· marketing manager,

· chief financial officer (love those spread sheets that spit out my sales tax and book sales),

· tech researcher,

· meme maker,

· cover & bookmark designer,

· conference marketing workshops attendee,

· galley reader, and

· document reviewer

· KDP publishing tech

so I could focus on writing and platform tasks.

Advantages

As business partners, 

· we do smarter marketing, using our time and money resources more wisely,

· we communicate more during my writing day,

· my stress level is less,

· fewer error and typos make it to such documents as my written interviews when I’m a guest on blogs and in book galleys,

· we’re able to get more books out, which is the most important marketing effort.

Possibilities for Spouses

Your spouse may not be as industrious as John has become, but your spouse may be able and willing to help with some things. A house chore as simple as loading and unloading the dishwasher or taking over trash duty provides minutes to a spouse’s writing time. 

I promote my blog posts on Hootsuite, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and to certain writer groups. It’s a fifteen-minute weekly task, but those fifteen-minute tasks quickly build into hours. I write the promotion content when I write the blog posts. So this blog promotion task is an easy job that anyone could do. 

I post a weekly personal photo from what’s happened in my life on my Facebook author page. This allows me to enter into fun discussions with those who’ve liked my page. Sometimes I’m working on a deadline and have no available photos and must stop writing and find something interesting to snap. This could consume a half hour or more. 

Perhaps your spouse could help with these kinds of tasks.

What are writing career tasks your spouse helps with or could help with?

Buy Link 

Suddenly unemployed, Allie Masterson returns home to Cary, North Carolina where she caddies for her father on the PGA Seniors Tour. There, she encounters a man who possesses an alluring gift of reading the contours of the green. Fascinated with his uncanny ability, Allie is excited to meet the Green Whisperer—until she discovers that the easygoing caddy is actually Shoo Leonard, the boy who teased her relentlessly when they were kids. Despite Allie’s reservations, when Shoo is faced with having to overcome a hand injury, she agrees to use her sport science degree to become his trainer…and then she falls for him.

 Shoo Leonard is grateful to Allie for her singular determination to get him ready for the PGA tour, but he isn’t ready for anything more. Still raw from a broken engagement and focused on his career, he’s content to be her fist-bumping buddy…but then he falls for her.

What seems like a happily-ever-after on the horizon takes a turn when Allie decides she’s become a distraction to Shoo’s career. Is it time for her to step away or can The Putting Green Whisperer find the right words to make her stay?