The Juggling Author

How to Write Four Books a Year While Balancing Family, Friends, and a Full-Time Job

By: J. Heskett

Narrated by: John Alan Martinson Jr.

Length: 3 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Are you an author struggling to find time to write?

You've worked eight grueling hours at the day job, walked the dog, done the dishes, and put the little ones to bed. How do you still complete your writer to-do list after all of that?

It might seem like there's never enough time, but you can find a way to create. You can publish regularly while balancing all those other tasks in your life.

I can show you how.

Jim Heskett publishes hundreds of thousands of words of fiction every year while maintaining a day job, family, and friends.

Want to know my secret?

I'll show you:

• How to write fast and stick to a schedule
• How to prioritize all your tasks to regularly push your words out the door
• How to create time out of nothing so you can write

Stop beating yourself up for not accomplishing your writing goals. Take control of your life and learn how to be a Juggling Author!

©2017 Jim Heskett (P)2017 Jim Heskett

Good info

Not only great information but very entertaining. Definitely recommend to any indie author or hybrid.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Snarky but good

Found I could learn a lot of good tips and advice in this book. Sadly when having audio you don't get to stop and highlight or tab pages to go back to. I listen in the car so could not take notes. That part sucks because you will want to write down some of the suggested software as well as other advice he gives. Needs a quick reference section for all those suggestions in software alone. Received this book at no charge in exchange for a review. Can honestly say I already recommended to others. 😀

For Artists and Writers

I absolutely love this book. It is funny yet full of wisdom the author has gained by his own experience. The advice contained within is applicable to anyone seeking to create consistently and productively. The narrator is excellent and perfectly suited to the dry humor.

The book contains great skills and practices and suggestions, there are a lot of resources also. I love how the author describes his own journey and shows how the practices within this book can lead to a consistent source of productive creativity. This book is not just jargon and theory- it is proven methods to create that the author uses. I intend to begin utilizing the skills in order to produce more artwork. I also intend to write a book on art. Thank you Mr. Heskett. I was given a copy of this audiobook in exchange for it completely unbiased and honest review which I have hereby given.

Excellent Tool For Novice-Professional Authors ✍️

Wow! I need a nap after listening to this book. I have no idea how Jim Heskett is able to write 4 books per year while working a full-time job, parenting, being a husband!

This three-hour plus short is bursting at the seams with advice. He thoroughly examines the writing process, getting from the 1st draft to final copy. His discoveries for: the best platforms for writing, best methods for writing quickly, rules for writing – depending on which draft of the story you're in, how to use dictation software (pros/cons) and much, much more.

I WILL listen to this book again, again and again with my notebook and pencil in hand to take notes. I don't know anyone who would be able to listen to and retain all of this helpful instruction in one reading. Again, it is bursting at the seams, cup running over, filled to the gills and any other cliché. I may consider buying the e-book/Kindle for its table of contents – as its harder to pinpoint certain sections on the audio version.

John Alan Martinson Jr. Brought the enthusiasm and professionalism that THE JUGGLING AUTHOR needs and deserves. A fantastic performance. 5 stars

Overall I have rated this perfect book with 5 perfect stars. If you have no interest in writing, this is not for you. However, if you devour books and wonder how authors get things done, are an author or considering writing, I think you'll find a lot of solid information in this full and bursting book.

✍️ Thanks for taking the time to read my review. Please select – yes – below if you found my review helpful. Consider following me on Audible, my preferred genres are: 1) CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE and 2) ESPIONAGE/THRILLERS. However, I have many opportunities to listen and review books from almost every genre. Thanks again!

Great addition to your writers tool box!

Great addition to your writers tool box!


This book is exactly what it claims to be and not to be. It's about juggling writing and everything else. There are a lot of examples, suggestions, details, but they are upfront that you are the biggest part of the equation. It takes hard work on your part, and this is not a get rich quick kind of book.

The author is a real example of how to make it work with a busy life. He has a family, full time job, and is a writer.

Chapters are short but full of information. I’m glad I could get the ebook version through kindle unlimited for free because it makes finding the referenced suggestions easier. Just click the link inside the book while listening and you are brought straight to the book on amazon. For me it is an easy way to grab the title and put it into a search at my library’s online catalog. I also found many of the titles on Scribd.

The narrator, John Alan Martinson Jr. has a great voice that I loved listening to, and would make a good narrator for a romance book. Sadly, despite have a long list of titles on Audible, he has no romances listed. Perhaps he has a pen name that he uses for other genres. I can only hope!

I give this 5 stars because it delivers on what it claims and it is a title that will be going into my writers tool box for sure!

Ebook obtained through Kindle Unlimited
Audiobook obtained for free at my request and I am voluntarily leaving this unbiased review
More Reviews @ GoodReads Id: AudiobookRomance

A helpful guide

Life is busy, and we all wish there was more time in the day to do the things we want. This book explains where you can make the time and how to be productive as an author while still being with the family and working to pay the bills. I enjoyed this audio book and found it very useful in its tips and methods to be more productive in writing.

Jim Heskett gives practical advice with the hard truths that it takes discipline and hard work for his method to be a juggling author but also keeps things light with humour making it easy to listen through in no time at all.

I would highly recommend this to anyone seeking to balance a busy life with writing beyond just being a hobby.

***I received a free copy at my request from the author, narrator or publisher in exchange for an honest review***

I needed this.

It's real easy for us to caught up in the daily grind and slowly but surely lose sight of our dreams. Jim shows you that you don't have to let go of your dreams at all. He teaches you how to juggle, and it really isn't that difficult. You just have to want it. From beginning to end his audiobook is loaded with tips on how write the novel (or series of novels) you always wanted to, even if your job and family are taking up a lot of your time. Thank you Jim.

hilarious and excellent advice

Would you listen to The Juggling Author again? Why?

I would definitely listen to this again. There is so much useful information you can't absorb it all at once. Additionally, the narrator has a fantastic dry wit.

What does John Alan Martinson Jr. bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He totally grasped the author's sense of humor and delivered perfect deadpan humor everywhere it was needed. His narration was crisp and clear, very easy to understand.

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

My favorite section covered how to efficiently write your first, second and third drafts to not waste time and still get a great product.

Any additional comments?

I have been recommending this book to all my author friends!

Inspired Me to Make More Time for My Writing

Short version: this book inspired me to write more. I got it a month ago and have been writing daily ever since. What more do you need?

For the long version, here we go. Essentially, this book attempts to provide a system for approaching and navigating the world of indie publishing, particularly on a tight schedule. The author writes suspense books and publishes several per year, and in this book he shares concrete information about how he does it. Personally, I have dabbled in writing fiction for years, but also have another profession I have no intention of giving up. Though I have published successfully in the past, I thought there might be some useful information here. There was.

The author is genuinely funny, and uses lots of colorful anecdotes to drive home points that every writer should understand, but which often form the dividing line between hobbyists and professional authors. Case in point: the muse chapter. I particularly enjoyed this one. Here he refutes the commonly cited excuse of needing to feel some mystical sense of "inspiration" in order to write, prefacing quite neatly with the phrase, "Your muse is a useless asshole." Ha! So true!

For me, the good information basically started at Chapter 3. Prior to that, he is just telling you what to expect from the book. Here are some of the points I personally found to be highlights.

Push back: the idea that you do not in fact get four times as much done in 8 hours as you would in 2. If you have a lot of time, you tend to waste a lot of it.

Making time. If you only have 20 minutes to write, then write for 20 minutes.

Goal tracking. Track your progress daily on a calendar. Get into a streak and don't break the chain of successful days. This is the same concept many of those time-sucking mobile games use to hook you, and it works: they record every day you log in to tap a bunch of nonsense on their game, and give increasing bonuses you when you log in several days in a row. The best ones give you a major reward if you log in every day for a month, a year, etc. I once played a mindless tapping game every day for six months for this exact reason, even if it was just to log in to collect the reward. So this idea is bound to help me make time to write EVERY SINGLE DAY. That's a win.

Scrivener. Software for writers? How did I miss this? I'm a software developer AND a writer, and I write my fiction in a programmer's text editor called Kate. Of course, I use Linux so that may be part of it, but this . . . this is a game changer.

There are several other useful items, but this has gone on long enough and I want you to have time to listen to the book.

So yes, I recommend this one.

A free copy of this audiobook was provided to me at my request by the author, publisher or narrator. This did not in any way affect the opinions I have expressed.

Great advice for any author

I work from home and actually have plenty of free-time to write, I've just been making too many excuses and letting things distract. I found Jim's book helpful because he shows you how you can get a book done even when all the odds are against you. This is a quick listen and inspiring. Great narrator too.