The Burleson Buzz to pause regular publishing

Hi, readers.

I’ve decided to take a break from regularly publishing The Burleson Buzz to focus on other important parts of my life and reevaluate the newsletter.

Paid-subscription bills will be paused until after I announce a return to regular publishing.

I’m disappointed to have to do this, but I know it’s what’s best for me right now.

After over a year of being an independent part-time journalist/publisher, I’m taking time off from covering news and writing and editing articles to focus on my family, our home, my full-time job and the business side of The Burleson Buzz.

When I first started this newsletter, I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t know what kind of growth to expect, I didn’t know how often I’d need to publish to maintain a readership, and I didn’t know how I’d make money. I just published an article and I’ve been flying by the seat of my pants ever since.

Trying to be a local journalist has made me more knowledgeable about my community, and I’ve really enjoyed sharing the knowledge I’ve acquired with this audience. I’ve been really reckless with my time though, and I haven’t thought enough about how to make this newsletter a sustainable business.

Trying to cover events and interview people outside of my full-time job’s working hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday has resulted in losing a lot of sleep and time with my family. Often I’m not able to cover anything or interview anyone during the time I have available, and that results in another problem—figuring out what to publish.

It’s time I take some time to plan. I need to step back and look at the different aspects of my life that are demanding my time and energy and figure out where The Burleson Buzz fits in. If I’m going to continue putting effort into it, I have to make it something I can make a living doing.

Being a journalist and being a business-owner are both full-time jobs, and unfortunately neither of them is my full-time job. I’d really like them to be though.

Because of how much I’ve enjoyed being a local journalist and because I really want this newsletter to be successful, I plan to continue working on it—perhaps in a different iteration—one day. I can’t say when exactly, but at that point, everything I’ve learned over the past 13 months of publishing The Burleson Buzz, along with the clearer vision I’ll gain from taking time to plan, will provide a better foundation for a successful newsletter.

Thank you for supporting The Burleson Buzz.

I look forward to sharing more of my work with you in the future.

—Cody