How to Become a Published Author While Working Full-Time | #253

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Have you ever dreamed of becoming a published author but told yourself you don’t have the time?

In this episode of the Second Act Success Podcast, Shannon Russell sits down with Liz Mugavero, traditionally published author of 20 books and counting, to talk about how she built a successful writing career while working a demanding corporate job.

Liz shares how she went from a career in journalism and marketing to becoming a full-time communications consultant and bestselling mystery author, all while writing books on the side for years before landing her first publishing deal 

If you’re navigating a career transition, starting a side business, or dreaming about your own second act career, this episode will show you what’s possible when you stay committed to your passion.

In this episode, we cover:

•  How to become a published author while working full-time 
•  Building a writing career as a side hustle 
•  The difference between traditional publishing and self-publishing 
•  How to stay consistent and meet deadlines with a busy schedule 
•  Transitioning from corporate to consulting and entrepreneurship 
•  Why accountability is key when writing a book or starting a business 
•  How to create time for your passion, even with a full life 

Liz also shares how she now helps aspiring writers through her coaching programs, courses, and membership community, giving them the tools and support to finally write their books.

If you’ve been thinking about writing a book, starting a business, or stepping into your second act, this episode will inspire you to take action.

🔗 Get the full show notes here!

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Transcript

Transcription:

Second Act Success Podcast

Season 1 – How to Become a Published Author While Working Full-Time

Episode - #253

Host: Shannon Russell

Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

[00:00:00] 

Shannon Russell: Hey there. Welcome back to the second Act Success podcast. I'm your host, Shannon Russell. Today I have Liz Mugavero here. 

she is the author of the Positively Organic Mysteries as well as the Cat Cafe Mysteries and the Full Moon Mysteries.

Kate is here to talk about her marketing career as well as her career as a traditionally published author. Let's get into it. This is my conversation with Liz Ro AKA Kate Conte.

Shannon Russell: Liz Mugavero thank you for being here on Second Act Success. It's so lovely to see you again. Shannon, thank you so much for having me.

I love your background. I love everything you're doing as an author and a coach now, but I wanna start and really go back to the beginning because you have a really interesting career in marketing, right?

Yeah. Where did everything begin for you? 

Liz Mugavero: Yeah, it's a, so interesting. So ever since I was very little, I wanted to be a writer. I knew I was gonna write books. Like I just knew [00:01:00] it, but I grew up in the probably era of that's not a real job kind of thing. So that was drilled into my head very early on.

I knew I was gonna do it, but I also accepted like, all right, I'm gonna have to have a side path. So I started out in journalism. Then quickly realized that, if I wanted to actually eat, I wouldn't be staying in journalism for very long because, we weren't making very much.

And I was a newspaper journalist, not a, TV journalist. So I ended up starting working as a marketing and communications consultant for a nonprofit. And then from there I ended up in corporate and I've been a communications executive ever since. 

Shannon Russell: I love that you are still working in that career, yet you've ventured into so many more acts and gotten to really get back to writing.

And how did that happen? So you're working in this job and are you still feeling that desire and that pull to write and use your journalism side more? In marketing you're using your creativity in just a different way. Yeah. Everything I did was writing and 

Liz Mugavero: I also, I was writing my books this whole time.

I [00:02:00] got a graduate degree in writing and publishing 'cause I figured, I need to learn how to write a book officially. So I went and did that. When I got out that's when I started working in journalism and then marketing and all that.

I was. Gravitating towards careers and jobs that had that writing component. But at the same time, I started working on mystery books, and I was going to conferences and I was, I wrote three books before I got published, got my first official publishing contract.

So I've been doing this off the side of my desk the whole time. 

Shannon Russell: I just love that so much because that just shows that you can do it. So many times we say there's not enough hours in the day. I just can't do it. I'm too busy. But somehow you were able to make it work and to do it again and again.

What kept you going during maybe the harder times? 

Liz Mugavero: I love it, and again, it was always the thing that I knew that I wanted to do. And so when I had the opportunity to do it, I wasn't gonna squander it.

And plus I had deadlines, right? And so as a trained journalist, deadline is like alarm system going off in your head. You have to make the [00:03:00] deadline. So I was always focused on, all right, I have a book due. I have a book due. I was writing two books a year and working full-time and really demanding jobs.

And and there was one year, it was actually 2020 COVID year, I had to turn in three books. And I was leading a communications team in financial services in the housing industry, which was falling apart quite literally. So every day was an emergency. We were working like 12 hour days.

I don't remember most of that year, to be honest, which is probably a good thing, 

Shannon Russell: but a lot of us just tried to forget it. Yeah. There's also a lot of momentum in it. You saw that you could do this, you could. Run that, that communications group and then write three books like, I don't even know how you did that.

And that was for a publisher. So you had these deadlines looming. 

Liz Mugavero: Yeah, and I think in some ways it's easier, right? If you have someone to answer to. Someone who's expecting it from you. Like it's more for me at least, it's more of oh, I can't let that person down, or I can't, screw up my contract or I was terrified of [00:04:00] one of my editors at that point and he wouldn't even think twice about oh, you missed your deadline canceling the contract, or you have to wait another year to get your book out.

So there was no way I was gonna risk that, 'cause you wanna be someone that publishers wanna work with. Just because you have a contract doesn't mean that's it forever and ever. You have to be easy to work with and good to work with just like they do. 

Shannon Russell: Absolutely. And then you keep getting that work, and that's a partnership and a relationship.

In the beginning, did you self-publish or have you always been No. You never did. No, I've always 

Liz Mugavero: been traditionally publish. When I started out, self-publishing was not looked upon the way it is today, like today, it's widely accepted. People who are self-publishing are killing it.

Like I know a few people who are thinking a heck of a lot more money than I am traditionally publishing. And but back then it was actually like frowned upon. Yes. Like people were not respected at all for doing it. They were actually shunned from. Certain groups and things like that. 

Shannon Russell: I was just thinking because I self-published my book this year, my non-fiction book, and it was still that needing that accountability and [00:05:00] even though I self-published, I worked with a group to help me get it done for what you were saying to give me those deadlines and to hold me accountable because I think if I was just willy-nilly doing it on my own, I don't know if it would've been out there.

I had to find myself that accountability and to give myself those deadlines because that is important. With everything else that you're running, I was running a business, two kids, all of the things. Yeah. I just respect so much that you're able to do that. And how many books have you published at this point?

Liz Mugavero: 19. I'm working on number 20 right now. It's actually due at the end of the month. 

Shannon Russell: Congratulations. Oh my goodness. And so tell us about your books. And I also love the idea that you have a pen name as well for some of them. Walk us through that. 

Liz Mugavero: So I write mysteries.

I've always been fascinated with crime, not, not in a weird way or anything, my grandfather was a detective I think I got the bug early on. 'cause he was also a really great storyteller. He didn't write, but he told us stories all the time.

They were PG because, when he was retiring when I was very little. But, he told us [00:06:00] stories about. What it was like to be a cop. And I was always fascinated by it. And, I would read the serial killer books and the, my parents really thought there was something wrong with me.

So I knew I wanted to write mysteries. But I always gravitated towards like really dark things like as I was reading and even when I started writing, trying to, get myself published. But then I had an opportunity to publish Cozy Mysteries, there's still mysteries, there's still dead people.

It's just a little bit of a different construct where things always work out in the end, and it's an amateur sleuth and there's like a cozy community that you hopefully will, your readers will wanna come back to time after time and they get to know the characters. And so while there are bad things happening it's comforting to know that, at the end, things justice will be restored. The town will go on until the next dead body is found. So I started writing those kinds of books. I got my first contract for three books it's called the Positively Organic Pet Food Series. And it's about a woman who left her corporate job, not by her choice and wound up in a small town and was, making gourmet animal food.

So I was publishing that [00:07:00] under my, my. Own name. And then I got an opportunity while I was writing that to work with a different publisher for a second series and they wanted a different name. So I actually used my grandfather's last name, Conti for that series. So that's where Kate Conti came from.

Shannon Russell: That is incredible. So I love too, the fact that you've got a series, because that's the way you wanna write your books, is in a series, right? To keep people coming back. And your genre is so much What I love, I am a huge Hallmark fan. And yeah, all of those mysteries, it's just so similar to what you write and the cozy. I love that cozy mystery. It's just enough of that dead body stuff. Yeah. To keep me interested, but then it's cute and quaint and is that escape from the real world? That's gotta be so much fun for you to have your day job and then get to escape into these world with the characters that you've created.

Do you look forward to that after your nine to five? How do you schedule your day and your writing time? 

Liz Mugavero: I definitely look forward to it. I left my, like nine to five a few years [00:08:00] ago and I started consulting. So I'm still working in marketing communications, but technically I'm doing it on my own schedule, which I have to say is not, as you probably know this as an entrepreneur, it's not super easy to go from that structure to oh, I'm in charge of my day, and then be like okay, what am I supposed to do?

Is there someone to tell me? 

Shannon Russell: that's the biggest hurdle I think.

Speaker 2: If this episode has you thinking about starting a business or growing the one that you already have, I offer free second ACT strategy calls. This is where we map out what makes sense for your business and your life. You can book yours now at second act success.co/strategy, or grab the link in the show notes below.

Now let's get back to the show.

Shannon Russell: Yeah, I've been trying to figure that out since, the very beginning of when I started doing this. But I've always been a, I'm better in the morning writing person. So I have a morning routine where I journal and meditate and then I walk my dog.

So I have now, most days in between the journaling and the dog walking, I've squeezed [00:09:00] in my first writing session. Just to make sure that I get some kind of a word count done before I take the dogs out. 

That's really smart. It's all individual, so it's what works for you. And I know a lot of our listeners are trying, whether it's starting a side business or wanting to write a book or a podcast or anything creative, but to do that kind of on the side before they take that big leap.

Yeah. Into creating their own thing. And it's finding what works. And sometimes it's. Those 30 minutes when you're drinking your coffee or tea in the morning or that little bit over lunch or when the kids go to sleep, just figuring out what works for you and figuring out too, like when you're the most creative.

Liz Mugavero: It's not easy. And I think for me, I've always felt like I've fought for my writing time, I was remote long before the pandemic, but there was a period of time where I was driving to an office every day and I wasn't next door, and so I spent a lot of time in the car. My time didn't feel like my own 'cause it wasn't, and so I had to really. Figure out how to take that time back and make it sacred, whether it was, like you said, half an hour or if I had the [00:10:00] luxury of having a couple of hours.

Shannon Russell: And just to go back to you leaving your, say nine to five and opening your consulting, tell us what that process was like, because I have a couple of clients now that I'm thinking about that are in the process.

One has given their, her notice already, the other one has not, but they're planning on doing what they do now. In a consulting role on their own accord. So what was that process like for you to start your business and your consulting business is Muse Communications Group, is that right?

Yeah. 

Liz Mugavero: Yeah. So I was lucky right off the bat, so I, when I left my last nine to five it was sort of a implosion, if you would, these things happen in corporate America. my boss at the time, the CMO who's also a very good friend of mine, she was let go and it just was this ripple effect of the team, they were decimating the team and I didn't wanna stay in the scenario that they had created.

And so I negotiated a deal, got a small severance package, and bought myself a few months to figure out what I wanted to do and then my. Boss at the [00:11:00] time was in the process of getting a different job, and we had been working together for a very long time. And so she was just, thinking, all right, she'll come over here.

And I was like, I dunno that I wanna do that. The place where she was going was based in the Midwest and it wasn't a relocation thing. It was gonna be a remote thing, but I didn't wanna, I live in New England, I didn't wanna move to the Midwest. I just didn't, no, not my jam.

I live on the beach, like I couldn't imagine. So I said. Wanna do that, but maybe we can do something else. Like I can be a consultant. And so we worked out this whole idea and so I'm like, all right, I'm gonna do it. And so in the process of working through that a couple of other contacts I had. There were jobs that just fell into my lap as this was getting set up.

So I'm like, all right, maybe I can figure this out. So I was doing these smaller jobs, and then I wound up, when she got installed in the new job I became a consultant for her. And so I was pretty much doing full-time consulting for a while, which was really good for my first year of revenue.

But it wasn't great in the sense of I was still kind of acting like an employee, but I had [00:12:00] just. Transferred it to a different format, 

I don't know that I'd recommend that either, although it did, give me a good boost for that first year to figure out what I wanted to do.

And so I made some decisions that first year or after that first year of like, , I don't really wanna do hourly work, I wanna figure out some packages and retainers and things like that. So my second year was. Partly doing some of that stuff still and then trying to figure out other things.

And then this past year has been a lot of new things because she actually left that job also, so that gig went away. And that made me think like, all right, I have to really expand my network. I've worked at a bunch of corporate jobs, so I have a decent network, but you can't go back to the same well, every single time to, try to drum things.

I dunno. It just, it feels stale. It feels incestuous sometimes the people that you're going back to, you're like, oh my God, am I really gonna work with these people again? Right. If I need some money, so maybe I will. I'm trying to get outta that mode. So I'm in the process of transforming what I'm doing.

Communications is really my love. I've worked both sides of that fence. They're pretty similar and they're usually under the same umbrella. But I [00:13:00] prefer the communications piece. I prefer the advisorship to the C-suite piece. That's really where I excel.

And so I've been in the process of, retooling my offers and what I actually wanna do. And, trying to widen my network through different groups that I've found and things like that to try to just have a new experience and broaden what I've been doing, what industries I'm working in and that kind of thing.

So I would say if people are trying to figure out where to start, maybe start there. It's really important to have, I know people say it all the time. It's really important to have a network. And it's also, networking sucks. It's like it really does. Yeah. But if you find the places that have a little bit of a different type of networking it can actually be a positive experience.

I found a group that. Approaches networking very differently. And I've made some really interesting contacts that I, never imagined I would make. And not that they're all gonna turn into clients, but they're just opening doors of oh I do know this person that might, need this or, and also just meeting new people who I.

You could partner with at some point [00:14:00] maybe, or collaborate with. So just expanding your world I think is really important. If you wanna go into consulting, 

Shannon Russell: that's great advice. And you're right, it's very much just playing around and figuring it out. If you have to go and consult for your former employer, yeah, then you do that a little bit.

Or you just, get your footing as you're starting out and then you see which direction you wanna go. Yeah, for sure. And you also help writers talk to me about, what you do to help other authors as well. 

Liz Mugavero: Apparently like to be very busy. You really do.

Shannon Russell: Your day must be really long.

Liz Mugavero: Yeah. It's interesting. As I said, I'm trying to figure all that out. 'cause some days I'm like, I did this, so I would have more time. Not less time, but it seems like I have less time. Yeah. But so back in 2019 ish I was at a writer's conference, and there was a, a session that I was part of. So it was like people could send in their or bring like a page or a chapter to this kind of round table. And there were authors, agents, editors. They were all dispersed throughout the tables and people could read a [00:15:00] little bit and we could give feedback.

And so I was at a table with an agent and an editor and a couple of auth hoping to be published authors. And this woman read her thing and it was really good. And it had a an older sleuth. And I just remember one of the, I can't remember if it's the agent or the editor just crapping all over it and saying oh, nobody's gonna buy something about a 70-year-old sleuth or just like shutting this woman down. And I was like, that is not why pe I remembered my first experience at that conference and how. Amazing people were, and encouraging and, just gave you that lift of oh, I can do this, I can figure this out.

I have people that support me and I felt like this person and these people in the, in that current scenario were not getting that. And it really pissed me off to be honest. And so I'm like, I feel like I should pay it forward a little bit. I had a really great experience at a lot of these conferences and so I started thinking about how to, how I could help.

People who were hoping to break into writing and publishing. And so I started playing [00:16:00] around with the idea of a membership. And then the pandemic happened and then I had to write three books in a year. And so I tabled that for a little bit. And then when I left my nine to five and I was. Thinking about consulting, I'm like I have a little time, so let me start playing around with this membership thing again.

And so I, very naively just started jumping into it. Didn't really know what I was doing. I took the Stu McLaren membership experience course, which was awesome. Yeah. And I did, I launched a membership and I've been in the process of, trying to figure out actually what I'm doing and grow that as I'm growing the other.

Pieces of my, my consulting and things. Then I also did the Amy Porterfield's Digital Course Academy, and I ended up creating a course about how to write mysteries. And so I launched that last year for the first time. And so I'm getting into kind of a pattern of launching that. So between the course is really focused on people who want to first create a sustainable writing practice and keep it and then figure out how to.

Sort of outline a mystery, right? And what the components are that [00:17:00] they need and how to structure it and all that. The membership is obviously more ongoing and we do a lot of fun things. We do a lot of woo things but we do a lot of co-writing. We have master classes. We, look at writing books and, talk about different people's perspectives on writing and the process and just the craft.

We also have fun master classes. Like we just did one with a woman who taught us about past lives and she did past lives readings to see if any of us were writers in past lives, which was very cool. That is very cool. So yeah, so the membership for me is more about giving people a place to be able to really play with their creativity and a supportive environment.

Have that accountability that we talked about earlier. I'm gonna come to this thing for an hour and they expect me to spend some time writing. So I'm gonna, even if it's like thinking about what I'm gonna write, like I'm gonna devote that time to my creativity and they can put it on their calendar just like any other important meeting and they can stick with it and hopefully we'll start to see some positive change from it.

Shannon Russell: that sounds incredible. What a great way to get started and just, yeah, like you said, just take those [00:18:00] actionable steps to work towards your goal. And I think writing can be something that people feel is, I don't, I hate the word selfish, but like self-indulgent. Maybe if they are running a house in a family and have this job and all of that, they think, oh, do I really need to make the time to do that?

But yes, you're never going to get it done. And if that's what. Gives you that creativity and that passion in your day, then it's absolutely worth carving out that time.

 Because if you wanna write something, if you feel that call to write something, then you're supposed to do it.

Liz Mugavero: That, that goes back to what we also talked about at the beginning when my parents were like, oh, that's nice that you wanna be a writer, but you should also be a teacher so you can, pay your bills. No, and I used to think they would say oh, you can't make money.

Not that you should write to make money. That's not what I'm saying at all. But the fact that it is often used as a way to brush aside people's needs. Or people's desires is not okay. No. And even just the argument, in, in hindsight, looking back when my parents said, you can't make money doing that.

We would go into [00:19:00] bookstores every week. We would go into libraries every week. There were books everywhere. Somebody was writing those books. Yes. Somebody was getting paid to write those books. So it. In hindsight, it made no sense at all. 

Shannon Russell: Yeah, exactly. And I come from the same thing like in a television background and my parents did the same thing.

You can still be creative and make money and if anything, it teaches you to be more nimble and be more flexible. Like we both are creating different things and running our own businesses, and I think now more than when we were younger, it's a lot more acceptable to say, Hey, you can do both.

I'm teaching my kids. You don't have to choose one thing. You can do both things. You can do. Five things. Just do what makes you happy and don't have that regret at the end of the day. 

Liz Mugavero: And to your earlier point, don't let anyone shame you for wanting to follow your passion. Like whether it's your mother or your husband, or Right.

Exactly. Partner or whatever. Yep. No this is part of who I am. And just as I have to go pick up the kids from school, I have to spend some time writing. Yes. 

Shannon Russell: And look at you with your 20th book about to come out. It's so [00:20:00] incredible. And as we wrap up. You have a podcast? I do. So another thing to on your plate list.

Oh my gosh. I know. 

Liz Mugavero: I know that was part of the whole I wanna get the word out to people who, wanna write or are writing and maybe just need a boost. People who are interested in writers and how they work. Like I really just wanted to have a show where I could have all different writers come on and talk about.

Their journeys and the writing journey is one thing. We talk about that a lot. The publishing journey is another whole thing that I think so much more today than ever is so important to talk about the realities of it, because it's a crazy business, as and it's changing all the time. It changes so fast.

And you, if you listen to all the noise that. That's going around you'll be so discouraged, you won't even start if you wanna follow a traditional publishing path. And so my goal is to show people all the different options that are out there, show them that anything is possible and that, people do things so many different ways and it works out.

So just don't. Don't worry about the outcome [00:21:00] kind of thing. Like just do what you love and here's some examples of how people have persevered. 

Shannon Russell: So it's the Get Writing podcast. I'm gonna link to everything in the show notes 'cause you've just given us so much advice, so much strategy, I think, on how to actually pursue all the things.

But what is the best way for my listeners to get in touch with you and follow you? Yeah, they 

Liz Mugavero: can head over to my website, which is under my pen name. It's Kate with a c, Conte, CONT e.com. And then from there's links to everything. All my work, my books, my coaching, my substack, all that.

So your podcast, your this, your that. Yeah. Everything 

Shannon Russell: that Liz is doing. Oh, thank you so much. It's been so inspiring to chat with you and you are proof that anyone can do it all, that you can really find the time to. Have your business, have your nine to five and also start something creative. So thank you for sharing that with us, Liz.

Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.

Speaker: Thank you for joining me for another episode of the [00:22:00] second Act Success podcast. If this episode has you thinking about starting a business or growing the one that you already have, I offer free second ACT strategy calls. This is where we map out what makes sense for your business and your life. You can book yours now at second act success.co/strategy, or grab the link in the show notes below.

As always, thank you for being here. Until next time, I'm your host Shannon Russell wishing you the best day ahead as you plan your second act. I'll see you on the next episode.