As of this week - Monday 25th August 2025 - Drift + Focus is shutting up shop but we may well be back in 2026. Here's the lowdown...
If you know anything about Drift + Focus, you probably know that there are just the two of us running the business and we also both have other work. (You can read more about our story here).
We launched the Drift + Focus Quarterly Subscription three years ago and earlier this year we had a big regroup - how could we speed up our growth, reach more people and sell more books? And, crucially, how could we earn more money while we were doing it?
Because the brutal truth is, the cost of living has gone through the roof and Drift + Focus is a new business that doesn't yet make much income for us.
The answer we came up with was two-fold:
We would launch two new products that would hopefully generate more income and Emma would look for a part-time job to help keep the lights on.
We've been busy behind the scenes on the first part of the plan.
Our two new ready-to-buy ranges are almost finalised - the Gift Boxes due to launch in September, in time for the Christmas rush, and the Hot Topic Boxes following in Spring 2026.
Both were shaping up to be a great alternative for people who don't want to sign up for a rolling subscription, are looking for something more giftable or who simply don't want to wait for the next quarterly box to roll round.
But, here's the snag.
Part two of the plan went a bit off-script because rather than a neat little part-time job that would fit in around Drift + Focus, Emma landed a dream full-time job that was just too good to pass up.
And the reality is, we can't run our labour-intensive Quarterly Subscriptions and launch two new product lines while both also having full-time work.
So, Emma has accepted the job, and as a result Drift + Focus is on ice until Christmas.
That means we won't be sending out any more Quarterly Subscription boxes for the foreseeable future and the Gift Boxes and Hot Topic Boxes are also on hold.
We've notified all our active and paused subscribers directly - if that's you, do check your inbox or spam folder.
So why is the website still live?
Well, we're not quite ready to say goodbye to Drift + Focus entirely.
While the Quarterly Subscription boxes are incredibly labour-intensive to produce, we think it might be possible to launch and sell the Gift Boxes outside of office hours, and possibly the Hot Topic Boxes too.
But we won't know until Emma has got properly settled into the new job, so we've decided to take another look at everything in the new year.
Which means the website will stay live but dormant for the time being.
We're currently in the process of disabling the shopping cart and subscription functions so you won't be able to buy anything, but the blog, past boxes and other key info will still be visible.
Will you be back?
Honestly, at this point we just don't know.
What we do know is, there's a demand for what we're doing and we've loved running the business. So if there's any way we can reboot a more streamlined Drift + Focus in 2026, you can bet we'll be doing it.
We've learned so much and have built some great relationships with our suppliers, including big and indie publishers, it would feel a real shame to let it all go to waste. Plus we were excited about our new plans and ready to kickstart a new period of growth.
So, fingers crossed, we'll be back.
If you want to be the first to know, make sure you're on our mailing list. SIgn up form is at the bottom of the page👇
Bye for now, and keep reading!
Emma and Dave
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