Meet Cath Lauria | Writer and Editor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cath Lauria and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cath, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I didn’t plan to become a freelancer, that’s for sure. I worked for the same company for over ten years, and at the end of it when I got pregnant, I was told they couldn’t offer me any maternity leave or compensation beyond my vacation days. To which I said, “Screw this,” and was fortunate enough to have a spouse who could float our family along until I started making money again.

It was challenging, but leaving my kidlet less than a month after I had her in daycare that I could barely afford just so I could go be part of paying someone else’s bills was a solid “heck no.” The first year, I made less than I did at my old job. The second year, I just about broke even. The third year I made twice as much, and it’s just gone up from there. Yes, self-employment taxes are the devil, but I’m so much happier working for myself.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started my now-job as a side gig back in the “gosh, I like writing but I have to earn a living too” days. Back then, the standard was working through a publisher rather than self-publishing, and I got decent contracts and wrote whatever I wanted and basically hoped that lightning would strike and rain down money on me. Which, spoiler alert, didn’t happen.

By the time I was changing my career, indie publishing became a very big deal. I was able to repurpose my older work once contracts had ended (or the publishers went bankrupt and/or fled the country, which happened more than once). I got very lucky with a few books that ended with me writing novels for Marvel Entertainment, which led to a number of professional and creative breakthroughs.

For the most part, I appreciate that I was able to enter my creative career slowly, because it gave me time to get used to performing under pressure and adapting to an inconsistent muse. Not that I don’t wish I’d rocketed to success early on as well, but I don’t think I’d have as strong a foundation as an entrepreneur as I do now if I had.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would annoy the hell out of my friend by taking them to my jiu jitsu school, then to knife class, then to…BUT also, we’d have to go hiking. If it weren’t, say, snowing buckets (I’m looking at you, Saturday the 3rd) Estes Park has some great places to hike. My parents have a home up Sunshine Canyon that also has some lovely hikes, and we could hit up Pearl Street Mall and admire the things neither of us have the income to buy (except at the bookstore–exceptions can and must be made for books). Stem Cidery is also great, just throwing that out there.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I couldn’t have gone independent without the help of my husband covering little things like, oh, the mortgage and our healthcare for the first year while I got my feet under me. I also learned so much from several of my coauthors, who worked in the indie field long before I branched out that way and helped me navigate it with as few bumps as possible.

I couldn’t have learned how to earn a full-time income without starting with Upwork, either, so kudos to them for making the entrance to freelance work relatively painless.

Website: https://cathlauria.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/author_cariz