Hey! How are you? 🙂
This isn’t my usual cheery update, for which I apologise. Though things have been pretty tough over the last several months, and an impassioned rant is well overdue… (you might want to grab yourself a cup of tea for this one!)
I was made redundant from my copywriting job at a well-known pet insurance brand in July 2025. I’d been working for the company for over two years, and I truly loved my job.
Therefore, when this career as a professional writer I’d worked so hard to achieve seemed like it was finally about to take off, being made redundant hit me harder than I expected.
While I wasn’t the only one to lose my sole source of income (I believe there were fifteen of us altogether who ended up being made redundant), the situation proved to be a harsh lesson indeed. It illuminated the fact that no-matter how good you are at a job, no-matter how dedicated you are, the immense effort you put into your work amounts to nothing when a corporate entity is calling the shots. There isn’t anything you do as an employee that can guarantee job security – especially when companies decide they prefer cheap, AI-driven content machines over human skill and a passion for the craft. (Did someone say bitter? Nooo, none of that here…) So, it forced me to reconsider how I perceived full-time employment and the trajectory of my professional life moving forward.
It didn’t take long to lose count of the rejections and ghosted job applications I’d accrued. Apparently, I was either over-qualified or applying for jobs where there was too much competition for my applications to even be considered. In most cases, I got the impression my efforts were in vain anyway, since job listings remained active long after deadlines ended, without so much as an automated acknowledgement of my applications.
I can’t get back those hours upon hours I spent completing application forms, tailoring my CV to specific roles, and writing cover letters – yet, the majority of prospective employers couldn’t even be bothered to send a blanket rejection email. What a waste of my precious time, which could have been spent doing something far more meaningful and fulfilling.
Our family recently suffered two devastating losses within a short space of time as well. My wonderful Gran’ma and uncle became very poorly towards the end of 2025, and sadly passed away within two days of each other in January this year.
This heartbreaking time taught me that life is far too short to waste working for heartless corporate entities who couldn’t care less about me as a human being. To these big companies, it often appears that employees are just a number.
Given my personal experiences, it seems there are very few companies, businesses, and public sector services that care enough about individuals to treat potential employees with the respect they deserve. It shouldn’t matter whether these corporations choose to hire someone or not, if a person has spent time completing an application for a role (especially when it’s a lengthy application process), an email to let them know the outcome would be more respectful of their time than to simply ignore them.
But, with prices continuing to rise beyond manageable levels, society has us bound by the need to pay ever-increasing bills if we want to be able to enjoy those small portions of our lives not dictated by excessive working hours and associated burnout. Unfortunately, this situation becomes a catch-22 because jobs just aren’t available for the number of candidates applying for them.
Thank goodness I had the foresight to add a little to my savings every month I could afford to in the years before I was made redundant, and that I’m married to a wonderfully supportive man who has his own full-time career, because I have no idea how I could’ve managed otherwise.
I doubt these big, profitable companies that make people redundant spare much thought as to what happens to former employees whose families rely on the income from their jobs, when said former employees can’t find suitable employment elsewhere. Particularly when many people are not eligible to receive financial support from the system they’ve been paying taxes into for years, simply because they’ve worked hard to build up their savings for the future; once those savings run out, their hard-earned safety net from time-for-money jobs would amount to nothing, and they’d be left at square one. Nothing to show for their years of dedication and great work ethic, except an empty savings account and a pile of ghosted job applications. I am so very sorry for anyone suffering through this sort of situation alone.
While I am beyond fortunate not to be going through this difficult time on my own, that doesn’t make it easy to deal with the emotional fallout of the situation. For instance, despite having the incredible support of my amazing family and friends (something I am infinitely grateful for), my existing anxieties (e.g. emetophobia and social anxiety) were so negatively impacted by this total destruction of my self-confidence that I practically became agoraphobic. I barely left my house. For months.
Something had to give.
So, I decided to trust myself as a professional instead of leaving the entirety of my earning potential in the hands of companies and businesses that couldn’t care less about me. I’m currently pouring every second of available time and energy into the pursuit of becoming a successful author.
My past literary endeavours have been primarily focused on catharsis and/or the sheer joy of sharing my creations with loved ones, but now, I’m doing everything in my power to become the best author I can possibly be, in order to reach a wider audience and make a living through my books.
I’m working hard to create stories that entertain and inspire readers, offering a form of escapism from a world that constantly feels on the precipice of disaster.
I’d love for my words to resonate with readers. To make a reader’s life brighter, even just for a few hours, as they devour the worlds, characters, and storylines I’ve painstakingly crafted for them.
Crafting great books takes a considerable amount of time and effort, however. I know this path isn’t an easy one, and that it could be quite some time before I see a liveable income from my work, but I’m determined to make sure the books I produce are of the highest quality (meaning I won’t be using AI!) – which is why I’ll never stop learning and will always strive to evolve as an author who has to wear the hats of a writer, editor, and book cover designer for each project. [I wish I could hire editors and book cover designers, but I can’t afford to work with editors or book cover designers right now, like I’ve done for previous literary projects, so I’m pretty much a one-woman band for the time being – until I can afford to invest in my books again.]
This sort of work might seem dreamlike to many, who perhaps long to have the time to write a book and earn money from it, though pursuing a creative livelihood in a world determined to strip us of our individuality is anything but easy.
To those who may be frustrated to see someone else work towards an ambition they’d love for themselves, I do understand. However, please know that I’ve paid my dues time and again, having worked in a wide range of – often challenging – roles since I was a teenager. I promise I’ll work hard in the pursuit of my literary passions, and if I can support your ambitions as an author, please contact me to let me know how 🙂
Plus, if I’m doing something positive to help make my tiny corner of the world that little bit brighter for those I connect with, then that’s a good thing, right? At least my efforts will have been worthwhile, compared to wasting my life working in the corporate world somewhere I’d never really fit in.
In the interests of transparency (and keeping my feet planted firmly in reality), however, I’m still applying to remote, part time roles whenever I find them (because, well, bills). If I do happen to find something suitable, then here’s to hoping it’ll help fuel my creativity instead of stifle it…
Anyways, I’d better not sign-off this blog post without letting you know some of the best ways you can support authors (particularly indie authors) for free or at a low cost to you:
- Interact with the author’s social media pages, blog posts, and/or newsletters. By simply ‘liking’ a post, ‘sharing’ a link to a blog post you found interesting, or signing up to their newsletter, you’re making a big difference to an author’s visibility, and they’ll love you forever for it 🙂
- Tell your family and friends about any of the author’s books you enjoyed (and let them know where to purchase those books). Word of mouth is such a wonderful way to let others know about an author’s books. And you never know, you may help someone else discover their new favourite author!
- Quite simply, buy a copy of their book and leave a review.
As always, thank you for sticking with me through life’s highs and lows. Hope the rest of your day is as fabulous as you are! 🙂
Best wishes,
Dannika <3
