Fresh + New For 2016!
Hello dear friends and readers, I have a lot of good news to share for my 2016 plans for decor8, some of which I'll share now! I can't wait to tell you. First, I have a new literary agent, Maria, from Stonesong in New York City. I'm thrilled to be represented by them for my 5th book and hopefully, beyond as I would love to write more books and even branch into novel writing and I believe that Stonesong can get me there. Plus, it's a well-respected and growing firm that represents a lot of top talent on the web so they really get it - they understand the way new media works and how influencers and our businesses work, and that is vital for any author who goes from web to print. Working with agents who don't really understand the blogger world is seriously a waste of time, so I'm with Stonesong because they know the biz and at the end of the day, that's all you really want right?!
Holly Becker for decor8
The next big news is that I've hired a team of writers (woo hoo!) to work with me so I can travel frequently and also vary the topics more with a team of 8 globetrotting reporters, all talented professionals working in the food and interiors industry. I also have a new assistant consulting on our team for the next 12 months, Toni (Morten) Vinther, who will help me with contracts and international clients since he speaks 5 languages.
Last year in October, I hired another consultant who is still with us, Amelie, who is my Sponsored Content + Marketing Manager. She is just great, in fact I'm going to Paris for a week all thanks to her great work in France for me. She is pregnant at the moment, due in May, but I imagine she'll be consulting with me again later after the baby arrives too.
And the third chunk of good news is that editorial content on decor8 will now be managed by my assistant, Jessy, with the help Amelie and I. I decided last November that it was time to continue growing and reaching higher and I couldn't do it with a team of 2 writers and a part-time ad sales person. Especially since I'm no longer in the business of selling ads on the blog. Now I have staff and it feels good. And Jessy has been with me for several years already, so she'll be working with my team to organize their columns, editing, etc.
All of this means that we will have content that runs on specific days as outlined below. I'm so excited about this! It will begin slowly in February but be a regular feature from March onward. We will look at the model again in December to see what we can tweak and change for 2017, but for now, this is our plan.
HOME (Monday) Each Monday, you can expect something produced for you from one of our columnists centered on the home. One week, a home tour. Another week, a DIY project. I've hired a wonderful lady to give us floral inspiration once a month and Anke will stay on for the year to share more fantastic tabletop ideas. So creating a cozy home with heart will become our Monday topic. What a nice way to begin the week.
OPEN (Tuesday) On Tuesday, I will post something centered on my travels, a fair I've been to, a decorating project at home I've worked on, special products I've found, etc. Tuesday will always be authored by me, no matter which topic I've chosen. And it will always be centered on decorating and design or travel.
EAT (Wednesday) Our food column will run on Wednesday so you have a few days to plan your weekend menu with maybe one of our delicious cakes, meals or other sweet and savory recipes. The first food writer I've hired is Emma Duckworth. She is a prop stylist, interior decorator and mother of two (with another on the way!) living in Sydney. She covers all areas of styling including product, still life, lifestyle, food and interiors. Emma’s work is wide and varied including the styling for music sensation Passenger’s music video, styling ex-Masterchef contestant Courtney Roulston’s latest cookbook and her work has also been seen on Houzz and Yahoo. If you look at her work, you'll quickly see that she is talented and knows her stuff. Today Emma joins us for the first time with her recipe creation (Lemon & Thyme Syrup Cake, yum!) that you will love so stay tuned for that. I'll tell you about the other ladies I've hired soon too in the weeks ahead.
FROM THE HEART (Thursday) I will lead a weekly column on Thursdays which will be a heart topic. Sometimes I'll interview another woman. Maybe I'll surprise you with a podcast or video. I'll talk about things that are on my mind about parenting as a working mom, or maybe blogging, or perhaps sex (!), struggles in business, or anything that I'm thinking about that you may be thinking about too. You can expect that each week on Thursdays, from my heart to yours.
EDITOR'S LETTER (Friday) On Friday, I will post a weekly letter from me to you covering what I've seen and loved, links to special places online, books I'm in love with, etc. It will also be my sign off and wrap up for the week. I miss posting on Fridays when I used to wish everyone a happy weekend so I've decided to get back to that, but with more value to you so I can leave you with interesting things to see and think about.
WEEKEND (Saturday and/or Sunday) Some weekends may include posts where I pop in and share something, but weekend content will be sporadic and not always happening each and every weekend. But you can expect it from time-to-time. The weekly content will stick to the format outlined above, however.
So! Those are just some of the great things for decor8 that I've put into play in the past 13 DAYS since the new year began. I've been busy! But very energized to get into the new schedule and make decor8 even more valuable and interesting because my first love and passion will always be this blog. I've just celebrated my 10th year anniversary as a blogger and when I read this post (the first post I wrote here a decade ago) I cannot believe how far I've come and I have each and every one of you to thank from the bottom of my heart. Here's to another 10 years! Cheers my dears!
xo, Holly
(Photography: Holly Becker)