In the first year of becoming a solopreneur


Top post on IndiBlogger, the biggest community of Indian Bloggers


Featured post on IndiBlogger, the biggest community of Indian Bloggers

On 13th Sep last year, when I took the plunge to switch my career choice from being a corporate employee to a solopreneur with this blog, I honestly hadn’t expected this journey to be one of the best experiences in my life. After moving back to Kolkata in 2016, I had decided to take a sabbatical. The purpose was to step back from the jazz of being a high-profile Banker and analyze what made me the happiest. Between being a hands-on mother to an infant and reading every single book that I could lay my hands on, I realized that I looked forward to the quiet time every night when I gave a structure to my thoughts by writing them down in my diary. This had become my coping mechanism to deal with my mother’s sudden demise and then a routine that I enjoyed the most.

The logo of soniasmusings.com
The logo of soniasmusings.com

I also have an honest confession to make here. I doubt if I could have broken the mold and ventured into this new territory hadn’t I taken some time off to get used to the phase of salary credit messages not arriving every month end and rewards and recognition parties not happening every quarter. Also becoming a mother had suddenly brought about a spectrum of change in my priorities.

I really didn’t have a plan when I started out. I wrote on topics that I was fond of like food, travel, movies, and books. Either the narrative was based on my personal experiences or it was of the nature of a review. It felt great when celebrities, authors and restaurant management appreciated the efforts through a message or a re-tweet. The personal journey category came next and it is still one of my favorite corners of the blog. Just before my toddler started his preschool, I decided to write about parenting based on the current stage in my life. It took me a while to write about topics closest to my heart like normalizing breastfeeding, the taboo associated with menstruation and gender stereotyping as part of my social issues column. They were all based on my perspective and experience. My confidence got a boost when multiple articles were featured and trended on portals like Women’s web, Youth Ki Awaaz, Momspresso among others.

Journey of a published author
Deal of Death

Until this period, I rarely read or interacted with other bloggers. I realized my approach was incorrect at different levels I participated in the Blogchatter A2Z challenge in April. It involved a lot of dialogues and suddenly I was exposed to a wonderful community of bloggers and their fabulous work. My blog had started receiving a good number of visitors as well. This was also the period when I heard of other blogging communities like Indiblogger and BlogAdda.

The next best thing happened in May when I turned an author with my debut Detective novella ‘Deal of Death’ as part of the Blogchatter Ebook carnival. From a blogger, I had transitioned into a published author. June brought along the Write Tribe festival of words followed by Bar-A-Thon in July. I had finally discovered my love for writing fiction and flash fiction posts. It was thrilling to weave a story around a prompt in a restricted number of words. Quite a number of posts made it to the featured section and the top posts in Indiblogger. August brought in a pack of surprises. All the posts written on WOW prompts won the WOW badge by BlogAdda. But the best was when one of my stories made it to the nine winning stories in the Lights, camera, Chatter contest by Blogchatter and I went on to narrate it live on FB. I wrapped up the month winning the Muse of the Month contest by Women’s Web.

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Awards and recognition

September began with a positive note as I won the first prize in a blogging contest. But what I really look forward to is the new journey that I am about to begin as I take on the role of an invited speaker guest at the Women’s web Breaking Barriers event in Kolkata this weekend.

Overall, the experience has been extremely satisfying and humbling. Summarizing my learnings in just six points, I would say –

1. Read, reciprocate and engage – I would call this my biggest takeaway for the first year. When I started out, I would publish my post and wait to be discovered. I rarely visited or read others. It is essential to understand that without engaging in a meaningful conversation with others, there’s very little that we can achieve in the blog-o-sphere. Do note the word ‘meaningful’ here. It goes beyond the great post, well written, nice story kind of comments.

2. Optimum utilization of social media for promotions – As much as it is necessary to write, it is also important to promote it on social media for wider reach. However, I would suggest not to overdo it. I have received good response using FB and Twitter as a medium. It is only recently that I have started focusing on Instagram and Pinterest still seems like a far-fetched dream. Having said that, I would emphasize the fact that great content definitely gets rewarded eventually.

3. Do not hesitate to seek help  – During the initial months of blogging, I had been snubbed by a senior blogger for asking some ‘frivolous’ questions. We have definitely moved beyond that incident today but this bitter experience conditioned my mindset in a way that I stopped seeking out help. It was only after I met Maya, my closest friend in the virtual world that I realized the technicalities of blogging isn’t so difficult. I will also be eternally grateful to another close friend of mine Ashvini for being a great support and introducing me to the wonder-woman of the blogging world Shailaja. It is really difficult to meet a person as helpful and knowledgeable as her. I have met so many amazing bloggers and writers of late that I realized how vibrant the blogging community is.

4. Take your time to find your niche – Despite the fact that I got a lot of appreciation for my movie reviews and recognition for my articles on other portals, it was only after ‘Deal of Death’ released that I figured out where my heart lay. I started putting my heart and soul into my stories as I transitioned into a fiction writer. In the near future, I have plans of starting a YouTube channel dedicated to the art of storytelling and narration camera.

Speaker at Breaking Barriers
Breaking Barriers by Women’s Web

5. Explore other possibilities in the same domain – I always prefer to call myself a writer because that covers both aspects of being a blogger and a published author. Now I also add the term storyteller to describe my profession and I am looking forward to donning the cap of a speaker next. I have grabbed every relevant opportunity to explore something new and it has turned out to be beneficial.

6. The long-term vision of sustainability – When I started out, my tagline read ‘Embarking on a new journey’ because that described my state. With time, I realized that my blog was basically very high on emotions. Recently, I redefined the tagline as ‘Words, photos & emotions’ summarizing what this blog is all about. Whether blogging is a hobby or a full-time profession, there needs to be a purpose of its existence. As a matter of principle, I don’t do promotions irrelevant to my blog. I have lost out on the financial gains but it makes me happy.

It has been a great year with the booming stats, awards, and recognition. I hope to work harder and bring in stories of wider variety in the future. Thank you for the continued support and love. I’m planning a surprise as part of the birthday celebration very soon, so stay tuned for further details.

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Author: Sonia Chatterjee

An alumnus of Presidency College (Kolkata), Delhi University, and XIME (Bangalore), Sonia Chatterjee holds two post-graduate degrees in Chemistry and Management and an MFA in creative writing from Writer's Village University. With eight years of experience in the banking sector as a Branch Head, she took a sabbatical from the corporate world to start her blog soniasmusings.com. Her blog consistently featured in the Top Indian Blogs list from 2019 to 2024. Her articles have been published on various digital platforms such as Women's Web, Youth Ki Awaaz, Tuck's Magazine, and Period Magazine. She was invited as a speaker at the Breaking Barriers, Kolkata 2018 event by the Women's Web, at the Women Writer’s Fest, Kolkata, 2020, and the Crime Writers Festival, Kolkata,2025. Sonia has written two detective thrillers titled ‘Deal of Death – Introducing Raya Ray’ (2019) and ‘Diary, Deceit, and Death – A Raya Ray Adventure’ (Vishwakarma Publications, 2024) and a non-fiction book on true crime titled ‘The Sanyasi Who Became a King’ (Sristhi Publishers, 2025). Her book ‘Diary, Deceit, and Death’ was shortlisted for the PVLF Awards 2024-25 in the Best Fiction Category. Sonia lives in Kolkata with her doctor husband and nine-and-a-half-year-old son.

143 thoughts on “In the first year of becoming a solopreneur”

  1. Wow, such an amazing journey Sonia and many many congrats to you for achieving great milestone during 1 year of short journey. all the best for all future venture. keep rocking dear

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  10. What an inspiring post! It has brought some great tips for new bloggers.Congratulations Sonia for your achievements in such short span of time. Keep writing!

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    1. Arjun, you are one person who has been a constant source of inspiration to me since A2Z challenge. We all learn from each other and if you feel my journey has been amazing, I am really humbled. I wish you all the best in everything you do. The sky is the limit for you, my friend.

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  24. First, Congrats. This has not come easy, and we can understand the struggles and sacrifices you had to go through. Hard work always pays off. Wearing so many hats at same time, and still excelling in each, is a big achievement. You certainly have a special writing skills for those fictions, keep exploring more in that direction.
    Wishes to achieve more success in coming days! Good luck.

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  26. Amazing journey. Congratulations for your milestones. I am sure there are many to coming in near future. Blogging isn’t that easy how it looks to the outside world and people who are into it only know how much effort and hard work it takes for every single writing piece to touch the reader’s heart.
    #MothersGurukulreads #Myfriendalexa

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  30. Sonia you are doing great! To tell you a secret, it was your passion for blogging that motivated me to get back to the groove… I wish you all the success in whatever you do… You have done amazing works during this short span of a year and continue to do so…

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    1. Haimantidi, your comment has made me the happiest. I never knew that you were a blogger otherwise last year onwards I would have picked your brains for advice. But I am so glad that you are back. And this lil sister of yours has your back, so go ahead and create the magic that you are capable of.

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  32. Wishing your blog a very happy birthday, and congratulations dear! Thank you for sharing your journey with us… it serves as guiding light for newbies like me! Hope to follow your footsteps to a successful writer! Here’s to wishing many more feathers in your cap!

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    1. Thank you so much Surbhi. I am glad that you found it helpful. I have shared the learnings that I wish somebody had told me during my initial days. You are doing great my dear and I’m sure you are going to reach the peak of success very soon. Love.

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  41. That’s such a happy post. Straight from your heart. I can so well resonate with your journey, it’s never easy to leave a flourishing corporate job to follow your dreams. I also agree that though there are no more salary credits, the happiness quotient is high. Glad to hear about your upcoming YouTube channel. Let me know more about it. I have just entered the blogosphere with my new blog and it’s so inspiring to see one of my blog buddies doing so well. Congratulations for all the achievements you have made in the very first year and wish you many more. You are getting popular day by day! Remain the same forever. Happy Birthday!

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    1. Can I please tell you that you are my inspiration behind the thought of a YouTube channel. I’m so inspired by the awesome work that you do. Infact I plan to take tips from you before implementing the plan. Thank you for the encouraging words dear.

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  45. Wow Sonia it’s lovely to read about your journey . It is an inspiration for many . You of course are meant for fiction writing . The plot you create or the characters in the story create a gripping effect for the reader . Best wishes for your future journey too .

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  49. I was never a serious blogger, i have been blogging for too many years and Shailaja was among the first bloggers I followed I suppose ❤ Congrats on the journey, hope you have many more years of amazing writng- ness ❤

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