How to find balance as a writer in the real world. 

Hello there! My name is Kristin Helling.

I am an author. I’m also a mom, and I own two small businesses: an indie publishing imprint called Wordwraith Books, and a coffeehouse in the KC metro called Parkville Coffee. 

I get asked often how I am able to balance all the things. Whenever I am faced with this question, my reaction is always the same: Flattery that others think I look put together and “on it” (haha).

I am a full-time author who also has a full-time day job. By choice. For me, it was ideal to find a day job that would allow me the opportunity, time, mindspace, and creativity to publish novels. This is not everyone’s dream, and that’s okay!

I knew that I never wanted to depend on my art to put food on the table for my family. But I needed to find a career that would balance well with my publishing side. Plans and dreams are also fluid, so I know that this may not always be my goal (honestly sometimes the idea of being ‘girl moss’ in a forest far away from everyone is more appealing than the ‘girl boss’ lifestyle I live and breathe, ha!).

Some say, “You can’t have it all” and to that, I say “I’m going to try anyway”. Finding balance means some things take a backseat while I focus on what is in front of me. And sometimes that also means parts of my life aren’t even in the backseat, but all the way in the trunk! 

Combining Worlds and Interests

I also think, what balances better with books… than coffee? 

One thing that has helped me greatly, is melding my two worlds together. Back in 2018, I had my books in two different local bookstores that closed down. It was becoming harder and harder to find physical locations to house my books (Not such the case anymore! So many amazing local bookstores have opened in the last two years!). So I decided to open a small local author book nook inside my coffeehouse where local authors could sell their books on consignment.

Being an author myself, my goal was to achieve this at a low consignment rate of 20%, since I understand both sides of the wall. Now, many years later, this concept has blown up! I have more than 220 titles on the shelves. We host book launch parties, readings, signings, and a “Summer Reading Series” on the 3rd Saturday of each month running from April-August, with some sort of Book Festival in the Fall. This year, in lieu of putting together a book festival, I chose to build and open to the public a Little Free Library in the front of the shop. It’s designed to look like a mini Parkville Coffee. It houses both adult and children’s books. 

Seeing the community use the Little Free Library as well as support local authors by purchasing their books inside and coming to events, brings me so much joy. It also keeps me networking and connecting with the local author community, which is more vibrant and buzzing with opportunity than ever in the Kansas City metro. Just to be even a teeny tiny part of that feels like such an honor. 

Adding Another Connection

And then I had to go ahead and take the ‘melding of my two worlds’ just a bit further this past year, by switching lanes in the genre I write (thrillers), over to the cozy mystery genre (coffee themed, of course). I fought the urge for years, because writing a cozy mystery had seemed a bit too close to home for me. However, the stories were piling up in my mind, and yearning to get out.

So here we are, three books into the series, and I am loving it. The coffee puns just came naturally, and the job itself is truly never boring. Of course everything in this series is fictional and not a secret diary of the life of a coffeeshop owner in a small town (I promise, wink wink), but there is no shortage of inspiration in my daily life. If someone reading these books thinks something sounds oddly familiar… well once we’ve created the art and published the book, the work is no longer our own. It now belongs to the readers to interpret it however they’d like, right?  

Words of Advice and Encouragement

I have been publishing since 2014, and have owned my coffeehouse since 2017. Both of my careers are labors of love, meaning that I have to really love what I’m doing to continue making it work for me. I do like making money. But if I was in it for the financial gain alone, there are much easier ways to make money, ha! Over the years, I have learned so many things owning my own businesses. Apart from finding balance, if I had to choose two more words of advice to give someone who’s considering opening their own business (and I’ll always encourage it), it would be these:

Prioritize and Pivot.  

Apart from my love for alliteration, these two words have played a very important role in my daily life.

1. Prioritize: The to-do list has a to-do list. The tasks lead to a revolving door of more tasks needing to get done. Prioritize the most important things to you, and get those crossed off first. The rest can wait. It’s that ‘taking the back seat’ car analogy again. 

2. Pivot: Challenges will be inevitable. If something is not working, change course. Try something else. When a global pandemic ravaged the world, I had to close my cafe and send all of my employees home. But during that time, I did not stop the hustle. I loaded up my van with coffee and porch dropped beans to the surrounding neighborhoods. I built a door insert into a traditional Italian coffee pick-up window for customers to walk up to and order. I applied for government assistance to bring my employees back. The community surrounded us and lifted us up. And we supported them. 

Productivity Challenge

If you are reading this and thinking, “Well I don’t have time for any of that!” I believe that productivity is different for everyone. I have a really cool time management trick that I even have to re-do from time to time. Make a chart and label it for each hour of the day:

• Noon
• 1pm
• 2pm
• 3pm

And so on. Then, fill out what you did during each of those hours for 24 hours (A lot of those hours will hopefully say catching zzz’s). Keep tracking on this journal/productivity chart every day for one week. After doing this, you will be amazed. You will learn patterns, like what hours of the day you are most productive. But more importantly, you will also visually see pockets of time open up, and how much more time you actually have in a day than you thought you had. 

Final Thoughts

All of these are just small examples. Everyone’s definition and experience with success is different. Mine is forever changing and developing. Knowing your ‘why’ should be at the root of every decision made in both writing and business. I like to be able to keep two businesses afloat, while also making decisions for them that allow me to feel good when I lay my head on my pillow at the end of the day.

And if you’re wondering if I have any free time to do anything that’s not work, the answer is yes! I will always have time for bowls of ice cream and watching the Great British Baking Show while cuddling with my toddler. Hands down. 

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About Kristin:

A lifelong booklover, Kristin grew up with a passion for storytelling and the idea that even the coziest places can hold the deepest mysteries. When she’s not killing people (fictionally, of course!), she owns a coffeehouse/roastery/bakery, co-owns her publishing company Wordwraith Books, is married to a photographer, and is Mama of two.

Her writing reflects her love of community, mystery, and the delicate balance of warmth and danger. Whether you prefer a comforting whodunit by the fire or a thriller that keeps you up all night, Kristin has a story to share.

You can check out her books and reach her here: www.kristinhelling.com or on facebook or instagram (@kristinhellingauthor).If you’re a fellow local KC author interested in the going-ons of the book nook at the coffeeshop, check us out here: www.parkvillecoffee.com

Images courtesy of Parkville Coffee.