We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Olivia Mccoy. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Olivia below.

Hi Olivia, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I have been a book marketing, publicity, and branding professional in the publishing industry since 2017. Working in publishing does not lend itself to healthy work/life balance and synergy. It’s difficult to set boundaries and maintain a fulfilling life outside of your career—especially since working in publishing and with authors and books has been a lifelong passion and goal for me.

I’ve always known I wanted to work with books and grew up wanting to be a poet, author, editor, and finally found my place in marketing and promotion. Once I got into my career in publishing I was overwhelmed by how much I loved the work, but also, how much of it there was! It’s been an absolutely inspiring, thrilling, and exhausting adventure so far, which is why I decided to launch 5 to 9 Books.

When my therapist recommended I “touch grass” more and seek out overstimulation less, I began reading more nonfiction and seeking out a hobby. Really I was looking for a distraction from work outside of work hours. Reading about new projects and activities helped me to explore some options without investing the time, energy, and money. Through these books, I discovered a number of new things about myself: For one, I love being outside. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely a city/suburb person, but planting my pollinator garden and watching the birds, bees, and butterflies has helped me to calm down and relax at the start and end of each day.

I founded 5 to 9 Books, which is entirely virtual through Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, to encourage other burnt out professionals and new retirees to find passion, purpose, and community outside of work and their careers. I’ve learned that you can love what you do, and still feel drained by it. The store promotes a number of titles related to burnout recovery and self-care as well as curated lists of hobby, activity, craft, and adventure titles. In a world where free time is scarce and productivity is compulsory, 5 to 9 believes in the value of simple pleasures and carefree enjoyment.

Olivia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a book marketing and author branding professional with a background in independent and hybrid publishing.

I always knew they wanted to work with books. When I was young, I wanted to be a poet and wrote on every scrap of paper I could find, submitted to journals, took online classes, and carried around a (full-size) dictionary and thesaurus everywhere I went.

It was in college that I realized my passion is actually introducing books to others. I graduated from the University of Georgia in 2017 with a dual degree in English and French with an emphasis in Poetics and went on to get a Master’s Certificate in Publishing from the University of Denver Publishing Institute that summer. I actually went back to school during the pandemic to pursue a graduate degree in Leadership for Creative Enterprises from Northwestern University and graduated Fall 2021.

My knowledge of the publishing industry allows me to educate and consult with authors from all genres including business, lifestyle, memoir, and fiction pre- and post-publication. Consultation topics have included Amazon optimization and bestseller strategy, social media design and posting, author branding, book distribution, website creation and development, newsletter setup, advertising strategy, and building pre-publication buzz among others. My publicity clients have received national media placements in outlets such as The New York Times, Fast Company, Built In, Newsweek, HuffPost, and HOLA!.

I also founded 5 to 9 Books, a virtual bookstore dedicated to helping individuals find passion, purpose, and community outside of work hours.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I’m constantly reading books about books and publishing to keep up with the industry. It’s a slow moving-industry, but the world around us is not!

Danny Caine, co-owner of the Raven Book Store and author of many books of nonfiction and poetry, has published two incredible books on how to protect bookstores and resist Amazon. Both are actionable and inspiring and they helped me to better educate my authors on how to diversify and expand their branding and marketing techniques to reach conscious readers.

I’m also a huge fan of Microcosm Publishing who regularly promotes books on writing, publishing, and marketing. Their mission to “equip readers to make positive changes in their lives and in the world around them,” and emphasis on “skill-building…and fostering creativity through challenging conventional publishing wisdom” has really inspired me to continue learning and growing as a publishing professional.

It’s easy to become stagnated and comfortable with what you do on a day-to-day basis, but I’ve found publishing professionals to be some of the most genius, flexible, and dedicated people I’ve ever known.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Someone told me early on in my life, and then again at the beginning of my career that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.

While the sentiment is sweet, I’ve found it to be completely untrue and that idea has led to a lot of invalidation and self-doubt. Working in an industry I’m passionate about makes it REALLY hard to set healthy boundaries. When I’m not promoting books, I’m reading them. When I’m not on a Zoom call with an author, I’m stalking their #bookstagram profiles online. Books all day every day! And I love it, I do. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be burnt out by it too.

It’s taken a lot of time (and therapy) to allow myself other passions and hobbies outside of my career. There’s always work that can be done, but there’s also only so much time in a day and so much energy you can put into one aspect of your life.

I’ve found that I’m a better professional and a happier person now that I’ve set healthier boundaries between my personal and professional lives. Sometimes the waters still muddy, but not everything I do in my free time needs to be in service of making myself a better publishing professional and that’s ok.

I highly recommend that every professional (new and seasoned) takes time during the day to step away from their email inbox and do something completely unrelated that brings them a little joy. That small break will benefit everyone, including clients, in the end.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://oliviathebookwyrm.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fivetoninebooks/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563056114412
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/owm/
• Other: https://5to9books.com/

Image Credits

Olivia McCoy