Putting a Price on Writing and Publishing a Book

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person wearing sneakers standing next to stack of books (only feet and books are visible). text on cream square overlay says putting a price on writing and publishing a book

This is an age-old question: How much does it cost an author to write and publish a book? This comes up a lot because after the book is finished, edited, formatted, the cover made and blurb written, paying for book set up on a distribution site then paying them for said distribution, authors would like their money back.

But, unfortunately, that isn’t so simple.

Before I started writing, I used to run. I’m not sure how I even started, but it got to the point where I was running six or so miles a day, five or six days a week. Running, though while considered free (much like writing), is anything but. I developed tendonitis in my left ankle, and this required buying new shoes every three to four months. I had to buy Brooks Adrenaline, and they were at least $120.00 a pair at the local running store–I shopped a local, small business store. Then all the running clothes, Garmin watches, race fees, gym membership fees to run in the winter if the temperatures and snow were bad, and protein bars, shakes, and other health food, I was spending just as much or even more to run as I do right now running my book business (pun not intended).

Then we have to factor in time. At my peak, I could run six miles in an hour. I never really got better than that, and that was fine. Having a new personal record (PR) was fun, but nothing I worked toward. After that hour or so of running, I had to cool down, stretch, then shower. And sometimes I would go longer than six miles, especially in the last year or two when I trained for a half-marathon. When you’re not very fast, running ten or eleven miles takes a long time. While my kids were in school and I did the longer runs on my days off, running could easily eat up most of my morning.

I mentioned all that because I wanted to give you a real life example of why I understand, and not only understand, but I’m okay with, spending money on my book business. I spend a lot that could be considered a “waste.” Two websites, paying for things like a Red Feather promotion on a standalone book (no read-through, you see), paying the Goodreads fee for their giveaways, a business email even though I don’t run a newsletter anymore, author copies and postage for reviewers who prefer paper, Bookfunnel for distribution of my reader magnet and ARCs. When I started writing instead of running, all my running money kind of shifted into this new hobby, and I didn’t think much of it at all. It was just something I had to do. New shoes to stay healthy, check. Websites to look legit, check.

But, writing costs more than just what it does to your wallet, and that’s mostly what I wanted to talk about. There’s an old adage that says, “If you don’t spend money, you’ll spend time,” and that’s especially true in indie publishing. On top of everything I listed above, indies pay for a lot of things, and if they don’t pay, they have to learn how to do those things themselves. There are free tools to format your book, like Reedsy and Draft to Digital, but there’s a learning curve to get familiar with even the simplest software. Then you have to learn a different kind of software like Canva or Bookbrush to make graphics for marketing.

Posting those graphics isn’t easy, either. Learning the algorithms of a platform takes a lot of trial and error. Not all social media platforms are the same, and their audiences respond to different content. Some authors cross-post which can work, but not often. I’ve never been a big fan of cross-posting, mostly for that reason. So we have to learn all the quirks of each platform so our posts are seen by at least some people. Then we have to learn ad platforms and those are changing all the time. Just when you think you have things figured out, they change the way you have to put an ad together and it can eat up hours of your time relearning where everything is.

When we spend time writing, learning craft, being a good literary citizen by helping others, reading in your genre, and marketing, we are not doing other things like spending time with family and friends, chores, errands, taking the dog for a walk or playing with your cat. There’s an emotional trade-off happening, and it can make you feel guilty when you want to work on your book but you’re pulled in the opposite direction. Lately I’ve been a victim of this. Our cat Pim, who has been with us since June, knows I’m a sucker. When I’m trying to write, she’ll come into the bedroom, sit near the bed, and stare at me. She’ll stare at me until I get up, go in the living room, and play with her. Her favorite thing is chasing after a crumpled up piece of notebook paper. Sometimes she’ll bring it back in a cute little game of fetch. Her previous owner didn’t tell us she liked to play this game–he might not even have known–I figured it out because I took the time to get to know her. So, she definitely knows that if she stares long enough, she’ll get me off my butt. But, that’s a half an hour or forty-five minutes I could have been writing.

Here she is for the cat tax:

black and white tuxedo cat lying on the floor staring into the camera. amber eyes, brown carpet

This past year I’ve been trying to let go of the urgency I feel when I’ve spent too much time away from writing, and it’s been happening more and with changes at my work. My writing time has been cut in half, but my personal obligations have stayed the same and so there’s a push/pull that happens when I want to write but want to do other things too, like play with Pim, go to a movie, or go for lunch with my daughter. Over time this can create an emotional toll that we don’t even realize is there.

So, when we talk about how much it costs to write and publish a book, there are hidden expenses we pay that can’t always be calculated.

But the same holds true for “getting our money back.”

At the beginning of 2025, I made peace with the idea that my books would never turn into a full-time income. But when your sales dashboard is all zeroes, it’s good to remind yourself that positive return on investment (ROI) can be just as hidden as the emotional costs of writing and publishing.

Here are some of the things I’ve gained since I started writing ten years ago:

The skills you learn along the way
There’s no denying that even with my BA in English, my writing and editing skills have significantly improved. I’ve read quite a few self-editing books since I started my indie journey, edited for friends, and of course, written millions of words. There’s no way I could have gotten ROI like that without actually doing the work. I’ve developed an eye and can make passable, if not decent, book covers. I’m getting better at writing ad copy (thanks for nothing, TikTok!). All those things add up to valuable ROI, and I know this because without my time in the indie trenches, my resume would look pretty bleak.

Being part of a community
I know I’ve bemoaned the state of the indie community–it seems like deteriorated along with Twitter after Musk bought it. But I know that my opinion is valued because I get thousands of hits on my blog every year. I’ve made friends and connections these past ten years, even if more people have fallen out of my orbit than have come into it. Runners, as well, have a strong community, and when I was still running but had started writing, I was in both and that was the best feeling in the world. In fact, I thanked both communities in my acknowledgments in the last book of my running trilogy, Running Scared. In that book, my MMC isn’t part of the running community but he falls in love with a hardcore runner who is hired to be the city’s university running coach.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A special thank you to Mark and Sue Knudson, who direct the real Fargo, North Dakota marathon. Through my years of running in Fargo, ND, Hearned a lot about the running community, race routes, and the expos. Every year, the Knutsons, and all the kind volunteers, put a lot of work into the marathon, and without their example, 1 would never have been able to write this trilogy. Thank you. Only the running community could rival the writing community in support, acceptance, and loyalty. It's an honor to belong to both.

I miss being a part of the running community, but being an indie is very rewarding too.

Emotional Satisfaction
In running circles there’s a saying, “You only regret the runs you didn’t take.” I don’t think that can be so easily applied to writing, but I know that if I have time to write and don’t, it’s the same guilt factor. There’s an emotional satisfaction to lacing up, just like there is when you sit down, stay off socials, and use an hour to put 1,000 words down. I know for me and most other authors there’s nothing better than opening up that envelope and holding a proof of your book baby in your hands. You worked hard in more ways than one to get to that point in time, and you should always be proud of yourself.

Long-term Impact
Two years ago, the director of the Fargo, ND marathon, Mark Knudson, whom I mentioned in my acknowledgements above, died when he lost control of his bicycle and was hit by a truck. The running community was devastated. He had put so much time into getting the Fargo Marathon off the ground, and for his life and contribution to be so suddenly ended was traumatic for everyone who knew him.

The longer you’re in the writing community, the more impactful that time is, even if it doesn’t feel like it. The time you spend blogging, helping other indies, and of course, the books you write, all contribute to a lasting legacy.

Writing and publishing a book has concrete, evident costs, money and time, and also hidden ones like hits to your mental health, lost time with family and friends, and choosing to write rather than do something else you also enjoy like watching TV. But there are more rewards than just sales and KU page reads.

So, when we’re asked, “What’s the cost of writing a book?” The cost is higher than most of us imagine, but the rewards, like skills, connections, creative satisfaction, and legacy, are far richer than anything you could ever report to your accountant.

I only have a couple weeks of my “Favorite Things” segment left, and this week I’m highlighting a new self-editing book by Angela James. I love a good editing book, and I cannot wait to dig in. This is her bio on her website:

Helping fiction authors build strong stories—and stronger careers

Hi, I’m Angela James. I’m a #1 New York Times bestselling indie editor and author career coach with over two decades in publishing. I help authors write better books and build sustainable, satisfying careers—on their own terms. Whether you’re indie, trad, or hybrid, I meet you where you are and help you get where you want to go, using clear editorial feedback, coaching, and frameworks that support both your storytelling and your career growth.

Together, we create stories that connect with readers, and an author business that works for you.

Edit Your Way: (Plot Twist: Forget the Writing “Rules”) is available from your favorite retailers (AKA, wide). Here’s the Amazon link and book cover: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G63FR1Q8 (This is not an affiliate link.)

book cover. text says. edit your way plot twist; forget the writing "rules" angela james new york times best selling editor

That’s all I have for this week. Next week I’ll do an author update and the week after that, my year-end recap. It’s hard to believe this year is almost over, but the timing for the other two blog posts works out perfectly.

I hope the holiday season (and all the cold temperatures!) haven’t been too hard on you. Have a good week and I will see you next Monday!

Under Fire: Talking about Hot Takes

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bonfire in the dark on some rocks. mountain silhouettes in background

I’ve seen a lot of hot takes online recently and I thought maybe it would be fun to talk about some of them. I know most hot takes are just engagement or rage bait (like arguing that a romance doesn’t need a happily ever after–if you don’t want to write a happily ever after ending, your novel is a love story–see the movie that is actually called Love Story with Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal where she freaking dies at the end) but there are are some hot takes that are worth discussing. When we talk about writing, publishing, and marketing, there is no one way to do things, and we can get caught up in the drama of opinions equalling fact or causation equalling correlation which usually is never true because there’s always going to be an exception that proves the rule.

Let’s go over some of the ones I’ve seen recently, and I’ll give you my opinion.

Releasing quickly doesn’t always mean writing fast or using AI
I’m kind of surprised more people don’t realize this–that an author can write a book or five, get them all prepped, and not do anything with them until they want to publish them. I think a lot of this stems from the idea that authors don’t sit on books, only because their own impatience dictates that they publish the second their book is ready.

If you’re a slow writer and have been working on a book for the past three years or whatever, I can understand the excitement of releasing the second your book is put together (edited, formatted, and cover done and blurb written), but for some people, waiting until they have a launch strategy is normal. Also, some authors like to rapid release books in a series to drive read-through. And while we, okay, I mean I, think it’s a pipe dream, there are authors out there who do this for a living and have the time to write for eight hours a day. They aren’t scrolling Threads or Twitter–they’re getting their books written because their paychecks depend on it. If you’re going to accuse someone of using AI because they released six books this year, take a step back, check your jealousy, and admit there are plausible reasons for how that’s possible.

Prologues and epilogues are fine . . . if done correctly
Talking about prologues and epilogues is always going to irritate some people because it’s not only a matter of preference, it’s a matter of craft.

Of course there are going to be prologues written by new authors who think they need to use one to “set up” the story rather than sprinkle in the details readers need to know throughout. They haven’t written enough to understand how to do it, so they info dump all the “important” parts first thinking a reader needs to know all that before they start reading the “real” story.

I’ve only written two prologues in my life, and that was in books one and five of my fantasy series I’ll never publish. Did it work? I’d like to think so. The series is about a women who gets pulled back in time because she’s a Healer and a sorceress needed her power. Then I added another prologue to the end of the last book where her ex-boyfriend also gets pulled back, and then later finds her living it up engaged to a prince. I thought it was quite clever, actually (don’t tell me it’s not), but then I switched to contemporary romance where prologues aren’t used as much.

Romance authors like to use epilogues, and there those make sense. Readers love a glimpse at the happy couple years later, and a lot of romance authors write more than one epilogue and use them as bonus material for newsletter signups. Sometimes I label my epilogues epilogues and sometimes I just label them the last chapter and put “three years later” or whatever at the top. I don’t think it really matters. With the way my “newsletter” is a blog on my author website now, it doesn’t make too much sense to write bonus material unless I wanted to pay for email collection on Bookfunnel. I don’t care about it that much and by the time I get done writing a book, I’m really not in the mood to write ten different endings. It’s one of my greatest faults as a writer is to say “See ya!” practically before I type the last period.

Whether you love or hate prologues and epilogues, either writing them or reading them, that’s personal taste. If you write a prologue make sure it serves purpose beyond an info dump, like letting us into the head of a murderer in a thriller, or letting your reader take a peek into the foundation of a world like GRRM’s prologue in Game of Thrones when the book opens beyond the Wall and the men of the Night’s Watch encounter the White Walkers.

When it comes to prologues and epilogues, it’s essential to know where your story starts and where you want it to end. Make each word count.

Tropes don’t take the place of stakes
A while back there was a lot of heated discussion about those book graphics that have the cover of the book on it then the squiggly arrows that point out the micro-tropes. Like this:

black background. cover of Twisted Alibis by VM Rheault. man looking down, stage in background. arrow graphics pointing to hot, wounded rockstar, slow burn, betrayal and murder, rating (four stars) reconnecting with family and friends, depression rep
made with a template in Canva

People were saying that they love them because they give you a quick glance into what the book is about, others said they hated them because it’s just a long list of spoilers. I’ve been of the mind that spoilers don’t spoil a book. After all, a happily ever after in a romance is the biggest spoiler of all–it’s the couple’s journey to get to that point that matters. And that’s where stakes come in. There’s no hook, there’s no exciting plot, without stakes, motivation, and consequences. What will the couple lose choosing love? What will they gain? What will they lose if they go their separate ways? Is what they will gain be enough to make up for that loss?

It wasn’t that long ago that I read a romance blurb that was packed full of mini-tropes. Small town, second chance, fake dating. You name it, and it was in there. But what the blurb lacked was stakes. What did they lose if the fake dating scheme didn’t work out? What did that couple stand to lose if the MMC didn’t stay in the little town he left so long ago? What would she lose if he leaves? Her heart? The blurb sounded exciting until you dug just a little deeper and realized that blurb could have been the blurb of any small-town, second chance book out there. Nothing made it that author’s. Nothing in that blurb screamed, “I’m different! Read me!”

I think arrow graphics can definitely be used as a quick “at a glance” vibe for your book, especially if you add something that is unique to your characters. And I wouldn’t worry about spoilers. If a little spoiler can ruin your entire book, you better rethink that plot.

Not everything is Amazon’s fault
I’ve defended Amazon quite a few times in the past on this blog. I know they have their flaws, just like any other employer or company that you do business with, but a lot of what I see isn’t just Amazon, it’s authors refusing to take responsibility for their actions, like missing a preorder date and having their privileges taken away or not ordering stock in time and blaming Amazon for not getting their books to them during the busy holiday season. I actually saw someone on Threads complaining that it will take six weeks for their books to come, and that it happened to them last year. Like, if you know this is going to happen but don’t take the steps to avoid it, then all you’re doing is blaming someone else for your own mistake.

I know that Amazon isn’t perfect. They’ve shipped my books with a body lotion order and that could have had a poor outcome. I have also seen pictures of books coming damaged because they weren’t packed correctly. I’m not saying they’re entirely blameless, but instead of making Amazon the eternal bad guy, it would be nice to see some people just taking ownership of their actions like the adults they are.

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should
Indie authors have a lot of freedom, and that can be great. We can re-edit a book and upload new files or change our covers whenever we want. We can run ads or not, use social media to promote our books or not. We can take five years to put out a book or we can publish twelve novellas in a year. We have 100% say in how we run our businesses.

But we should use that freedom wisely because I see a lot of hot-take behavior from indie authors that makes me squirm. I see authors canceling preorders, airing their dirty laundry on social media, making fun of readers for their reviews, making fun of other authors for what they like to write. The list is endless.

We are in an era where nothing online seems real. There is so much AI and so many scammers out there that it’s difficult to parse through for real and true information. I read a Substack article by Claire Taylor and she was saying that one of the most important things readers will be looking for going forward is trustworthiness and integrity from the authors they choose to read. I think this is a valid point and really important. Do what you tell your readers you are going to do. Have follow-through. And be kind while you’re doing it.

Your peers and coworkers need to know they can trust you too. Don’t say you’ll send out author copies for an event if you don’t think you can. Don’t sign up for book conventions and then back out. Don’t say you’ll help a fellow indie and then change your mind. I know life happens, and so does everyone else, but at some point you have to look at yourself and ask if you’re dependable. If not, you need to figure out why and what’s going on in your life that you need to change.

I think Claire is on the right track when she says that trustworthiness, integrity, and dependability is going to be your number one marketing strategy next year. How are you going to show up to your readers? As 2025 draws to a close, it might be a great time to think about that.

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. And what kind of person will you look like if you do?

Hot takes are hot for a reason: they spark debate and can hurt feelings. They can ruffle feathers, not only for their basis of truth (or not), but because they force us to question ourselves and our beliefs. And what do we think of the people who have a different opinion than we do? I like listening to hot takes. Some of them are valid, some are pure BS, and some challenge what I think.

In the end we all make our own choices–write a prologue or not, save up your books before publishing or not, follow through with that promise or not–but remember, hot takes were made to get attention, so keep your cool . . . at least where people can see.

As part of my “favorite things” segment I’ve been including until Christmas, I want to highlight the Authors Guild YouTube channel. They have great content like where to find your readers, querying tips, and how AI is changing the publishing industry. You don’t have to be a member of the Authors Guild to watch these videos.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to learn about the publishing industry, this is a great channel to subscribe to. There are some videos geared more toward traditional publishing, but as an indie, I think it’s important to keep up to date on what’s happening in publishing as a whole.

Look here for a list of their videos and you can subscribe to their channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AuthorsGuild

screenshot of the Authors Guild youtube channel header. AG in green circle Authors Guild @AuthorsGuild • 2.77K subscribers • 199 videos More about this channel ...more Subscribed The oldest and largest community of writers resouces guidance support


That’s all I have for this week! Thanks for checking in and I’ll see you next Monday!

Dealing with Digital Anger: When AI Gets it Wrong

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Last week I had a shock when I went on Facebook. I had a notification that said they removed a photo due to explicit content regarding a minor. The picture was from eleven years ago, and knowing that, I can guess what it was: a picture of my daughter on our bed snuggling one of our cats. Harmless. I would never put anything online that had the potential to hurt either of my kids, and the accusation, from nothing more than a Facebook bot, upset me a great deal. I felt dirty and gross, and honestly, confused because that picture had been up for eleven years.

It didn’t help that this came after TikTok decided a couple of my carousels were made with AI, and in a fit of anger, I deleted both of my profiles. It wasn’t the accusation, not really, but those two carousels performed worse than most of my others and I assumed that was the reason. I wasn’t going to put time into making content for a platform that was going to accuse me of doing something I wasn’t doing and then punish me for it by shadow-banning my carousels and videos and suppressing my account. Especially since whenever I scrolled I saw lots of AI content with a ton of likes–so you know those videos and carousels were being shown. Maybe I was too sensitive and had a knee-jerk reaction, but I had also gone a few rounds with them before with a different account. I had my videos and slides taken down for going against community guidelines when I would post steamy scenes, but then I’d see other authors post much steamier than what I was and not only get away with it, their posts were pushed to the “for you” page.

Then, if that wasn’t enough, I was scrolling Instagram, and my boosted post showed up, but the description wasn’t what I had written to go along with the graphic. I had forgotten to turn off the AI option to rewrite my description, and while that version wasn’t too messed up, it didn’t sound like me. Going forward I’ll turn it off, but it was an irritating lesson all the same.

I wasn’t able to let go of Facebook flagging my photo for a long time, and writing this post after the fact is probably a good indicator I still haven’t. I’m more upset about the loss of my TikTok account since for once I was having a bit of fun creating content, and I was getting likes and saves of my carousels. It’s disappointing not to be able to use a platform a lot of authors are using to push their books, and the hypocrisy behind why I can’t or why I won’t will rub me raw for a long time. I could have appealed–not doing so probably just seemed like an admission of guilt–but I also know from experience that once TikTok starts eyeing your account, it’s almost impossible to get them to leave you alone. So, for my mental health, I gave up.

Incidents like this aren’t going to go away. In fact, as AI usage ramps up, things like this will continue to be a common occurrence. Fighting it seems like a wasted effort, like bailing out a sinking boat with a spoon, so what can we do to at least not hang on to things that are beyond our control?

Get out if/when you can, and if not, be prepared to fight
There are certain things that get shut down that you may not want to live without, like your Facebook Author Page that you run ads off of, or your Amazon KDP account, if we’re being drastic but still realistic. Accounts like that are shut down simply because bots make a mistake and when it comes to Meta and Amazon, talking to a human to get things resolved is almost impossible. Some never win against Facebook and some only win against Amazon if they have an advocate like a representative from the Alliance of Independent Authors reaching out on their behalf. Sometimes it’s not easy to walk away, but it’s better for your mental health, like me deleting my TikTok accounts. I didn’t want to. I really didn’t because I was in the mindset to try to use that as a real way to reach readers, but I wasn’t going to put up with a platform that undermined all my work, especially when what they were accusing me of wasn’t true.

If you decide to fight, having a plan will help. Figure out who you can reach out to, be it someone at Alli or an IP lawyer. If you decide to walk, make peace with it the best you can. TikTok’s hypocrisy will rub me the wrong way for a long time. I just need to get into the groove of posting somewhere else, like IG, which doesn’t seem like it has such arbitrary guidelines to follow.

Remember that it isn’t your fault
This is a big one with me and that Facebook accusation. I would never post anything that would hurt my kids and knowing they took down a photo because of something like that will make me feel icky for a very long time. I know that there’s no way possible for a human to look at the amount of content that gets posted every day, not to mention all the content that has accumulated over the years, but that doesn’t make it better. And the hypocrisy here too, makes it sting because we all know Zuckerberg was at Trump’s inauguration, and Trump has a questionable reputation at best.

No matter what platform is giving you a hard time, there’s a 99.9% chance that what happened isn’t the result of what you did. (There are always going to be people trying to game the system, and unfortunately, when things like this happen to people who haven’t done anything wrong, they’re collateral damage.)

Don’t let AI hurt your feelings or make you feel bad. There are plenty of real people who will do that for you.

Find alternatives
Fortunately, there are a lot of places to hang out online. I don’t need Facebook. In fact, after that happened, I was tempted to take the app off my phone. I rarely post on my personal page and only post on my FB author page a couple times a week, if that. The only thing I would lose not posting there anymore would be the ability to run ads, but I could still do that if I didn’t scrap my account altogether. Instagram is a good alternative to TikTok and there are other places that I could post to that I never have before like Pinterest. I’ve heard Lemon8 is popular but they’re owned by the same people who own TikTok so I’d probably end up with the same problems. Best not to repeat any of that. But finding one platform that you like that you can commit to will take some of the sting away of having to avoid others.

Or figure out what you can live without…it might surprise you
Once I got over the anger of having my carousels tagged as AI, getting rid of TikTok didn’t seem so bad. Even though I was getting good at it, making carousels took time. Not only did I have to make the graphics in Canva, but I also had to pull the snippets. Not having to do that anymore was actually a blessing in disguise and took off a lot of pressure I didn’t know was there. I was trying to build an account from scratch and every post save and like encouraged me, but in both good and bad ways. You start to build momentum and don’t want that to stop. I was able to blame TikTok for stepping away instead of myself, but whether it’s a valid excuse or not, it was a relief. I know I said above it felt like a loss when I deleted it, but I can always turn my carousels into Reels. I just haven’t taken the time to do that yet.

You may decide not to post on social media at all, and that’s fine too. Finding different ways to get your book seen, like running ads and buying promos, can fill in some of that gap, but AI is everywhere and it may take some testing to see if you’re jumping from the pan into the fire. I haven’t run FB ads for a while, but I hear turning off the AI components is getting harder and harder to do. Instagram is still easy when you boost a post. Find the toggle on the right and turn it off.

Screenshot of Instagram boosted ad page. Enhanced ad toggle is on the right (pink arrow).

Whatever you do, take care of yourself
When it comes right down to your choices, you have to do what’s best for you. When the universe closes a door it opens a window, or something like that, and maybe something that feels like the end of the world actually opens you up to other possibilities. I used to really miss Twitter, but I don’t anymore. There are a lot of nice people on Threads, and getting away from the toxic environment was good for my mental health in the long run.

Will Facebook ever take down another photo? Maybe. I have a lot of pictures of my daughter when she was small cuddling on our cats. How Facebook decides what’s explicit, I have no idea, but it could happen again. I’ve had my FB account for seventeen years and I might just take ten minutes every day and start deleting albums from around that time. No one is going to go back and look at those pictures anyway, so there wouldn’t be a big loss in getting rid of them. They give you an option to download before you delete, so that’s always something you can do too, if you think you need to purge some old content there. It sucks you have to do it at all, but since I’ve become an author I’ve started to very carefully weigh what I put online anyway.

You can’t control the bots, the mistakes, or the algorithms. But you can control where you go next. AI is here to stay, so take precautions, take care of yourself, and if you let him push you around, let him push you somewhere better.

As part of my “favorite things” segment, I’m highlighting romance author Jennifer Probst’s nonfiction books and her Substack. I love the down-to-earth way she thinks about writing and publishing. I have to admit, I’m a bit behind and I only read the first one, but the other two are on my list, and I read her Substack whenever she publishes a new one. You can find the links below (they are not affiliate links.)

graphic of Jennifer's book covers. l-r: write naked, write true, write free. background is a peach color

Write Naked: A Bestseller’s Secrets to Writing Romance & Navigating the Path to Success
https://www.amazon.com/Write-Naked-Bestsellers-Secrets-Navigating-ebook/dp/B01N16FESI

Write True: A Bestseller’s Guide to Writing Craft and Achieving Success in the Romance Industry 
https://www.amazon.com/Write-True-Bestsellers-Achieving-Industry-ebook/dp/B08FLGFLL5

Write Free: Personal Essays on Craft, Career, and the Writing Life
https://www.amazon.com/Write-Free-Personal-Essays-Writing-ebook/dp/B0G1D358TW

If you want to subscribe to her Substack, you can do it here: https://substack.com/@jenniferprobst

Thanks for reading! See you next week!

Monday’s Author Update

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thanksgiving flatlay. pumpkin green gourd gold ribbon silver and gold silverware. text says. monday's author udpate

Hello, hello! We are nearing the end of November, and US Thanksgiving is this week! I have everything I need except potatoes, and I’ll grab them during my usual grocery run on Wednesday. When my schedule at work changed, I had no idea how much I depended on my routine and I probably will always have to grapple with when I can get stuff done while still trying to write as much as I can. Anyway, some weeks are better than others, but that’s life in general, and despite those changes, things are okay.

WIP Update
Even though my writing time being severely cut, I’m still making great progress on Bitter Love. I’m 59,000 words into it and I am so happy with the progress I’ve made this month. I joined ProWritingAid’s Novel November, but I haven’t been keeping track of how many words I’ve written so far. My only goal was to get this book done by the end of the year, and I think I can do that. I have the last third of the book plotted out, which is the hard part, in my opinion, so writing the rest should be easy enough. I was going to jump into my hockey duet, but I’m going to put that on the back burner again, and in January re-edit and re-cover my Cedar Hill duet. That will take me a month or so, and then when I’m done with that, I’ll get Wicked Games ready to go for a May release. (I already announced it so I don’t want to lie to the few people who were listening.) I’m struggling with whether or not to do ARCs considering that my attempts in the past have had lackluster results. People take but don’t review, so there’s really no point in handing them out. I canceled my BookSprout subscription because the quality just wasn’t there for the price I was paying. I listed some other alternatives in a previous blog post, so I might try something new, if just as an experiment so I can blog about it later.

Then once Wicked Games is off my plate, I have a cute story idea about a woman who inherits a bakery she doesn’t want and a billionaire who wants to buy it. She can’t sell because of some stipulations in her grandma’s will, and he can’t work around them because of his own obligations. With some of the dialogue that’s already going through my head, it might be more romcom, if I can find my funny bone, and the characters already have names which means I will definitely be writing them in 2026.

So my plan is:
*Finish Bitter Love
*Revamp my Cedar Hill duet
*Get Wicked Games ready to release in May 2026
*Write One Tough Cookie
*Jump back to Bitter Love to get that ready for release maybe at the beginning of 2027 or the end of 2026, whichever works out

It’s nice to have so many plans and an idea of what I’ll be doing for the next little while, but it also makes me kind of sad too. I’m not doing this for anyone but me, which, I know, that should be the only reason a writer does anything–for themselves first–but it can be disheartening after a while and it doesn’t seem like there’s much I can do to fix it.

Deleting TikTok
I mentioned in a previous blog post that I was having fun with a reader account on TikTok, and I was even getting a few views above the 200 view dungeon a lot of people seem to get stuck in. Then they started suppressing my carousels and labeling them as AI. This ticked me off for two reasons: one, they weren’t AI. I used stock photos from DepositPhotos (that were not AI) and two, there actually is a lot of AI on TikTok they aren’t flagging and the hypocrisy drives me insane. So, I deleted my accounts. Both my reader one and my personal one I started a long time ago.

The hit to my mental health was just too much and I don’t have the bandwidth to put up with it. It’s too bad because I was getting into a groove posting, and doing slides is a great way to learn how to pull hooks out of your books and write ad copy. But maybe I’ll just try to post more on Instagram. I barely post there and even though Facebook keeps telling me that my author page is getting views, I haven’t posted there in three weeks. I saved all my carousels in my Canva account, and turning them into Reels would be easy enough, but I’m not sure if I really care that much to do the work. Posting on social media is something I struggle with anyway, though I do like talking about my books to the handful of people who see my posts.

Black Friday Promo
I wasn’t sure if I was going to buy a promo for any of my books this holiday season, but I went ahead and bought a promo in the Red Feather Romance Books newsletter and set my Christmas novel to free for three days around Black Friday. I’m not sure what else I’m going to do, if anything, because while I think giving away books can be beneficial if you have a plan, I have no plan, and don’t really care either way about giving books away. Mostly, all I think it does is create high hopes that it will finally do something and then it never happens. Chances are 100% I won’t make back the $135.00 I spent on their fee, but I’m really proud of the changes I made to the book when I re-edited it a couple months ago, so I wanted to give it another push. But A Heartache for Christmas is getting old, so maybe one day I’ll write another Christmas novel, if I can think of a plot.

The Future of this Blog (It’s good!)
I had to renew my plan for this website, and they gave me a discount if I paid for two years instead of one, so I’m locked into this website and blog until the end of 2027. I suppose that was kind of optimistic, though I have no plans to go anywhere. I enjoy blogging very much, and having all my things in one place has been nice. I get why people write on Substack, but having a WordPress plan isn’t very expensive and having a main hub where readers can find you is less confusing for everyone. Granted, blogging on my author site isn’t the same as having a true newsletter, and even though I regret not having one, I still don’t think I’ll ever try that again. My author website is also locked in until March of 2026 and that auto renews every two years as well. I pay $156.00 for those two years and I think that is a decent price for a site that only has about 100 visitors a month.

That’s about all I have for this week. As part of my “Favorite Things” section of my blog I have going until Christmas, I want to tell you about this free crossword puzzle maker that I used to make a romance crossword for my Facebook author page. You make up the questions and answers, and the website spits out the puzzle. It’s fun, and you can find it here: https://crosswordlabs.com/

Here’s the one I made with the answers. You can steal it if you want. I don’t mind.

crossword puzzle overlayed on faint pink hearts. text says. contemporary romance fun
Crossword clues Across 5. The one person meant to be with you 7. Symbol of love 9. Emotional tension that keeps readers hooked 11. The obstacle or competing love interest 12. Romance shorthand for a happy ending 13. A big question that changes everything 14. A charming or quirky first encounter 16. Intense romantic or physical attraction 18. The magic connection between two lovers 19. When estranged lovers find their way back Down 1. A romance that takes its time building 2. Playful back-and-forth dialogue between lovers 3. The central female character in a romance 4. What every romance promises in the end 6. A break of trust between lovers 8. A spark that often changes everything in romance novels 10. A dominant hero archetype 12. The leading man of a romance 15. A recurring theme in romance stories 17. Hidden truth that complicates love
crossword key KISS A spark that often changes everything in romance novels HEA Romance shorthand for a happy ending CHEMISTRY The magic connection between two lovers TROPE A recurring theme in romance stories HERO The leading man of a romance HEROINE The central female character in a romance ANGST Emotional tension that keeps readers hooked SLOWBURN A romance that takes its time building ALPHA A dominant hero archetype MEETCUTE A charming or quirky first encounter BANTER Playful back-and-forth dialogue between lovers RIVAL The obstacle or competing love interest SOULMATE The one person meant to be with you HEART Symbol of love PASSION Intense romantic or physical attraction PROPOSAL A big question that changes everything SECRET Hidden truth that complicates love BETRAYAL A break of trust between lovers REUNION When estranged lovers find their way back FOREVER What every romance promises in the end

Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate!

I’ll talk you you next week!

Who is gatekeeping success in the publishing industry?

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picture of a lock holding a chain together. the text says, who is gatekeeping success in the publishing industry?

I saw a post on Threads a few days ago accusing authors of gatekeeping information, namely how to sell books, and lots of them. Needless to say, she got reprimanded in the comments because most authors are nothing but transparent when it comes to what worked and didn’t work for them.

I’m not sure what they were looking for, most of that information is common knowledge. Write a good book and publish it with a good cover, title, and blurb that meet genre and reader expectations, and do that over and over again, forever. I think the problem comes from authors who have done that and haven’t gotten anywhere. They think there’s special information out there and successful authors are keeping it to themselves. I understand the frustration, being in the predicament situation I’m in, but the longer you’re in this business, the more you realize that there is no magic bullet that will ensure your success.

That got me thinking about the “real” gatekeepers out there, and I mean in indie publishing, not so much traditional because we all know those are agents and editors who acquire the books. We like to think there are no gatekeepers in indie publishing, but, unfortunately, there are. You can tell me if you agree with me or not.

What kind of gatekeeping am I talking about? Let’s explore.

Money–the obvious but unspoken gatekeeper
We don’t think much about the money part of indie publishing because in all actuality, you can publish without it. Edit yourself or trade if you can find someone willing, do your own cover in Canva, format using a free tool like Draft2Digital’s software, take the free ISBN from Amazon, and you’re all set. It sounds easy, and plenty of authors publish this way. But the hard reality is, a lot of people aren’t willing to trade services anymore, preferring to get paid for giving their time, and a lot of authors can’t edit on their own or have the skills to create a good cover. You can format yourself, but you can say goodbye to fancy chapter headers and forced edges.

Money also enables you to buy ads and promos, what you need to start a newsletter and have an author website, and other resources like nonfiction resource books and classes.

There are a lot of free things out there, but free will only get you so far until eventually you’ll run into a dead end. After a while your books and author platform won’t be able to compete with authors who can invest in their business.

Time–money’s invisible twin
Anyone who says we all have the same twenty-four hours in a day can fuck right off. If you have a full-time job, take care of littles, have a spouse, run errands, do chores, wrangle a pet, and try to write on top of it, you know how difficult it is to get the words down and the books published. I’ve said on this blog many times that if you can’t pay with money, you’ll pay with time, and that’s something you can’t get around.

If you can’t pay for an editor, you have to teach yourself. If you can’t buy a premade book cover or hire a designer, you have to teach yourself how to make one–at least enough to get a handle on the basics (a good font and stock photo can go a long way). If you can’t hire a formatter, you have to learn how to do it yourself, and Draft2Digital’s free software is the easiest I’ve found to use.

Then there’s the marketing: constantly creating graphics and writing ad copy to go with them, networking, engaging with readers. Writing newsletters or blog posts. Writing a reader magnet and bonus material. A lot of that will fall to the wayside if your time is limited because it’s more important to get that book written. Lucky are the few who have the time to write and market while doing the thousand other things that make up a life.

Time is a powerful gatekeeper, and to the people who write during naptimes and after your kids have gone to bed, I see you.

Access–who you know and where you exist online
Networking used to mean meeting connections in your MFA program. Now it means joining Facebook groups where authors in your genre hang out, joining author chats and Discord groups. It means knowing authors who write in your genre not only to be invited into promotional opportunities like newsletters swaps and anthologies, but because authors really are willing to share what works for them, and you never know if just one tiny tweak to an ad or a change to your back matter will be what lifts your business to the next level.

It’s not about trying to bust your way into established cliques–it’s about having access to information that could boost you up. Here’s a funny story, or actually, not so funny (it’s rather pathetic, if you want to be honest). I’m a romance author and have been publishing romance for around ten years. When I first started out, I networked with indie authors, not necessarily romance indie authors, and I missed out on some big connections. I kind of knew who Zoe York was, but didn’t really get to know her or other romance authors of her caliber until I joined a romance marketing chat on Clubhouse, that, incidentally, I only learned about by being in the connected Facebook group. Zoe runs a huge book blast promo group, and I didn’t know about it for eight years. I’ve tried to make myself feel better by telling myself I just wasn’t ready to know, and maybe that’s true, but it’s a sad testament that I wasn’t networking and meeting the right people. Even if I wasn’t ready to participate, I should have at least known about it.

Not everyone has time to hang out in Facebook groups or participate in chats, and some people don’t feel comfortable joining groups or talking to people they don’t know. I used to be a lot more involved, but I don’t have the time anymore to answer questions or give feedback. It’s tough, and like any other professional industry, a lot of success can boil down to who you know and the opportunities they bring with them.

Overall, authors with the right connections learn faster what’s working, which platforms are paying off, and how to pivot. Without those connections, you’ll always feel behind, and chances are, you probably will be.

Luck and Timing–the chaos gatekeepers
Unfortunately, luck and timing are two things that you can try your best to control, but you never will. You can go crazy with it, trying to go viral on TikTok or publishing your book on a certain day of the week. Bad timing can pop up when you least expect it, like inadvertently releasing the same day as a bigger author in your genre, or as a lot of authors who released in 2020 found out, during the start of a world-wide pandemic. Or, as I found when I launched one of my books in my King’s Crossing series, on the inauguration day of a president nobody wanted.

It’s uncomfortable to admit, but luck and timing can have just as much weight as skill, strategy, networking, or money. They aren’t predictable. They aren’t earned, which is why so many authors get bitter when someone they don’t consider “worthy” gets all the attention. And, unfortunately, someone else’s luck or good timing can’t be replicated, not even by the person experiencing it.

You can position yourself to take advantage of luck if it eventually comes your way, but you can’t force it to show up. This is one of the hardest parts of the industry because it means success isn’t guaranteed to those who work harder than others. Hard work raises the odds of success, but it doesn’t promise a payoff. As far as timing goes, sometimes you completely miss your window (like when a reporter for the New York Times wanted to talk to me about one of my blog posts and she emailed an email address I don’t check but stupidly had in my contact information). Sometimes you never get a window that opens–it’s always glued shut. And sometimes the window flings open wide when you least expect it and you happily jump through, much to the envy of those around you.

Emotional endurance–the gatekeeper everyone talks about but there are only so many spoons to go around
The ability to keep going after you’ve done everything right and have still fallen short of your expectations might be the biggest gatekeeper of all. I’ve been around for ten years, which can seem like a long time to those who are just publishing their first novel, yet, I know people who have been around for double that time. They were around when the Kindle Goldrush was a thing, and are still writing and publishing books. But I would guess for every one person who was around then and are still going strong, a hundred authors have quit and disappeared.

I used to be a hardcore cheerleader of Team Endurance, spouting nonsense like “A quitter never wins and a winner never quits” and “The harder I work, the luckier I am.” Actually, I think Christian Grey said that one first, but you know what I mean. These days I’m still in the game, and not just dipping my toes in indie waters. I constantly dive in, writing books, keeping up a publishing schedule, and trying to remain at least somewhat visible online. I’m proud of that, though sometimes it does wear me out. Not because of the work itself, but because it produces so few results. “Write what you love and you’ll find readers who love it too” isn’t true. “Write for yourself” is the only saying that I can fully get behind these days because with the industry how it is, you might be the only one reading it.

“Publishing is a marathon not a sprint” is another pithy saying, but I stopped running for the same reasons I’m facing this wall in indie publishing. I ran a half marathon in 2015. It’s one of my biggest achievements. But no one was there to congratulate me at the finish line. I drove home, took a shower, and went to work.

And I never raced again.

I still write, and with all the plots in my head and characters banging around begging me to let them out, I have no plans to stop. But I no longer “Live to write,” another line I used to say that makes my stomach churn now. Maybe one day I won’t have any more stories to share, but unless that happens I’ll keep going. Not because of endurance, but for the simple fact writing is a part of me and has been all my life. At this point, it would be harder to let it go than to keep going, and maybe that’s true for you too.

Privilege–the gatekeeper no one wants to admit is there
The publishing industry is a white man’s world, and it would be remiss of me if I didn’t include privilege in this list of hidden gatekeepers, though if you’re a marginalized author, this particular gatekeeper isn’t so hidden. It’s something you have to fight against every day. Marginalized authors aren’t the only ones who deal with the lack of privilege in the industry. Disability, economic background, sexuality, geography, language, and education all play a role in how accessible publishing is. And not just indie publishing, but the entire writing and publishing industry.

A white, cis-het author like me doesn’t have to worry about certain biases, like how my name and author photo will be judged, whether my characters will be considered “marketable” or not, if a cover featuring people who look like me will get beaten down by social media (algorithms, bots, and keyboard warriors alike), or whether agents/editors/ARC reviewers will dismiss my work before they even read the first page. Authors who belong to marginalized groups face barriers I can’t even imagine, and pretending that everyone is on the same playing field only encourages the problem.

Privilege shows up in smaller ways that, as a white author, you might not have thought about:
* Who feels welcome in author groups
* Who gets boosted by influencers without asking
* Who agents assume is “commercial”
* Who feels safe being visible online

What can you do to fight against this? Read widely, boost up your fellow authors any way you can, be friendly and welcoming to everyone you meet, online and at author events, and acknowledge that some authors have more stacked against them than you realize.

Authors aren’t gatekeeping other authors. It’s just a sad fact that no two authors are alike and we’re all trying to do the best we can with what we have. If there is ever anything I can help you with, be it resources, a question about publishing or marketing, or if you have an issue and you can’t find a clear solution, email me. I’ll always do what I can. There’s enough holding us back.

I’m sorry this post is so long! My biggest thank yous to those who made it to the end! Or maybe by now you’re used to me being long-winded, haha.

My last little bit is my “Favorite Things” section that I’m adding to the end of every blog post until Christmas, and this week’s favorite thing is Master Lists for Writers, Gold Edition, by Bryn Donovan. This book of lists is amazing and covers everything from facial expressions to settings. I have the first edition she published back in 2015, and I was so excited when I saw on Instagram she wrote an updated version. (Kind of validates that social media can sell books….noooooo! LOL)

Master Lists for Writers, Gold Edition, is definitely one of my favorite things this year, and you can check it out here (this is not an affiliate link): https://www.amazon.com/MASTER-LISTS-WRITERS-Bryn-Donovan-ebook/dp/B0FXDQ79G2

master list for writers book cover. gold with brown lettering. title is master list for writers the expanded volume of the popular writing reference book bryn donovan

Thanks for hanging in there with me this week! Have a great day!

Monday Author Update and a Quick Glimpse into 2026

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You all know i have a terrible fear of missing out, and it was triggered this week by the announcement that Flodesk, the newsletter aggregator, is going to stop their unlimited pricing structure at the end of the month and you need to lock in that plan before it goes away. This shouldn’t concern me because for one, I don’t have a newsletter anymore, I blog on my author site, and two, I probably will never have the number of signups that would require the need for an unlimited pricing plan.

screeshot of a flodesk ad. the text is black and says flodesk...now is the itme unlimited emails, unlimited subscribers, subscribe before november 28th sign up bar in purple
This ad popped up in my Instagram feed

But that didn’t stop the “what ifs” from running through my mind. What if I ever wanted to start up a newsletter again? What if I pushed my business to the next level and I needed that unlimited plan? WHAT IF I’M MISSING OUT ON THE BEST DEAL OF MY LIFE?

Cue the panic, right?

But this made me stop and think about where my business is and where it’s going. As of right now, I don’t have a book business. While I have money going out and money coming in, I have more money going out and I consider operating in the red more of a hobby than anything else. That reminded me I probably shouldn’t take on any more services that would dig my financial hole even deeper than it already is. Because if I paid for Flodesk, I would have to pay Bookfunnel for integration because I wouldn’t stop giving my reader magnet away. I already did that once with MailerLite, and while I did build up my newsletter to close to 1,000 subscribers back when I was trying, that is just more money than I want to spend for where I’m at and where I’m going.

So far, I’ve been able to eke time out in the week to keep this blog afloat, and surprisingly, it’s been easier than I thought. I do have a little free time on the days I work, but it’s not conducive to fiction writing, so I’ve been able to blog and make carousels for my secret TikTok account. That’s been a huge relief because when my work did all that changing up, I was really worried about having to cut back on this blog. I enjoy writing it and it gives me a place to put my thoughts about what’s going on in the industry and where I am in my indie life. So, unless work decides to mix things up again, or cut me loose all together, I think I can confidently say that I can keep writing my blog posts every Monday.

I have lost a lot of writing time though, and adding a “real” newsletter when my publishing schedule is taking a hit doesn’t make much sense–especially since I already pay for my WordPress website–so I might as well use it, even if it doesn’t have the same functionality as a newsletter aggregator. That doesn’t mean that from now until November 28th every time I see that ad I won’t think I’m making a huge mistake not signing up. That’s just the way I am. And I’m sure with Black Friday right around the corner there’s going to be more deals and steals I’ll have to say no to because I already have what I need to write and publish books. (I’m looking at you, AppSumo DepositPhoto sale when I already have 358 downloads available.)

I signed up for ProWritingAid’s Novel November, but I’m behind, or at least, I think I am. I’m not keeping track of the words I’ve written so far, but I’m 46k into Bitter Love, and if I can keep up the pace, I should be able to finish by the end of the year like I want. I’m at the point now where I go back and read from the beginning so I’ll be taking a couple days to do that, fix any plot points that got lost as the story developed and make sure the ending’s on track. I’ll have to add slow-burn to the list of tropes because this story needed so much setup, but a lot of secrets had to come out so hopefully even if the characters take their time hopping into bed it’s not boring or slow.

Besides that, I really don’t have much else. November is always kind of busy with my daughter’s birthday, Thanksgiving, and my birthday rounding out the month, but I’m not doing anything this year (I turned 50 on Thanksgiving Day last year and I think all that excitement will hold me over for a couple of years). I lucked out with my work schedule and I have Thanksgiving Day off, so that’s a nice break, and my daughter is still deciding where she wants to eat her birthday dinner.

Overall, things are okay, nothing bad happening, which I’m thankful for. Pim is doing great, but I’m trying to turn her into an internet star and that’s not working out. The last photo I posted of her on Threads only got 82 likes, but I’m probably lucky she got that since I think I post there maybe four times a month and the algorithms have no idea who I am.

tuxedo cat hiding under piece of brown perforated paper. face is visible along with her two front white paws.

But, I started a reader/book profile on TikTok, as opposed to my personal one and that seems to be doing better in terms of views. I didn’t tell anyone about it so I can’t “taint” the algorithms, but I didn’t use a VPN or anything. Just my personal iPhone using a gmail address I don’t use for much else. At least I broke out of the 200 views dungeon for a lot of my carousels, one getting over 3k views, but I haven’t gone viral . . . yet. I’m getting better finding hooks and writing ad copy, and I’m staying away from sex which always got me in trouble on my other profile. So far going for angsty instead of spicy has been serving me well, and now that I’ve slowed down with the writing, I’m making more time to post there. We’ll see how it goes.

I’m starting to think about promos for the holiday season, and I forgot that I have a nice four-book series set in the winter around Christmas I could promote if I wanted to. There’s a big author-driven book blast taking place next month but I don’t think I’ll officially put a book in it. It’s not that I don’t think free books are worth it, because I still think they can be if used strategically, but I’ve kind of given up hoping promos like will build into anything that lasts. So rather than take space from authors who are trying to use the blast to their advantage, I could just put a book or two free and piggy-back off the momentum of the day and see what that does. Or I could pay for something, but I doubt I would make my money back, so I would have go into it know that and being happy that people were just interested enough to download a copy. I’m not sure yet. Books are a dime a dozen, in every way that means, so what I do or don’t do won’t have any effect on me or my book business. It’s just something to do if I feel like it.

My Favorite Things
I’m going to end every Monday blog post from here until Christmas with something that I’m liking in the author space, be it a writing resource, tool, or service that I find especially helpful. Today’s feature is the Trope Thesaurus series by Jennifer Hilt. I have the romance trope book, and I have to admit, when I’m feeling down, I get out my copy and flip through it. There are so many tropes out there I haven’t tried and it gets me really excited for all the books I haven’t written yet. There’s one for horror and fantasy/sci-fi and it looks like just a general one as well. Check them out here (this isn’t an affiliate link): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFYR9L4Z

book covers on black background: the trope thesaurus (general) (all colors lettering) the trope thesaurus horror (orange lettering) the trope thesaurus romance (red lettering) the trop thesaurus fantasy and science fiction (yellow lettering)

That’s all I have for today. Thanks for reading, and I will see you next week!

Moving the Goalposts: The Feeling of Not Doing Enough

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toy soccer ball with toy goalie net. green background. text says: moving the goalposts. the feeling of not doing enough

Years ago when I saw someone say being an indie author felt like always having homework, I laughed, but I didn’t quite believe it. When I was in school, I hated homework. Back in high school, anyway. College was a little different, and when I went to tech school to get my HR degree, I actually enjoyed homework and group assignments. I suppose age could have played a part in that, because I think as we get older we just naturally appreciate things more and I was grateful to have the resources to go back to school.

Anyway, so when it came to my writing and all the stuff that went along with it, I didn’t compare homework, a seemingly endless, joyless, task, to what I had to do to write, publish, and market my books.

But, when I wrote my blog post for last week, I realized that no matter how much an indie author gets done, there is always going to be more to do, and instead of being excited for the next cover design, formatting job, or editing sweep, it turns into a version of Groundhog Day that we can’t escape. That infinity loop also sucks the joy out of the past accomplishments, and something to be proud of, like a book release or the cover of a book that comes together perfectly, is just an item on the list that needs to be checked off.

When I really thought about why we never feel like we’ve done enough, a few things came to mind.

Because we’re indie: We control everything — writing, editing, marketing, covers, social media — there’s no external validation from a boss or coworker nor is there a stopping point we can work toward. There’s always going to be another social media post to create to keep your profiles from stagnating. There’s always going to be a newsletter to send out. Another ad to create. There’s always a WIP to work on because we all know that writing the next book is the best marketing and front list sells backlist.

Moving the goalpost: We hit one milestone (a release or a finished draft) and immediately reset the net. I think this one is what I was particularly feeling writing my blog post last week. No matter how much I accomplish there will always be more to do. Another goal to score, another game to win.

Comparison culture: We see other authors posting “I just hit 10k sales” or “my preorder is live,” and that fuels the sense we’re behind. This one is particularly triggering for me because I have a terrible fear of missing out. I don’t want other authors to be doing something I could be or should be doing too.

The creative push to keep moving forward: Creatives are wired for “what’s next?” The next book, the next painting, the next drawing. That desire to create makes us prolific, but it can also burn us out. This one I understand 100% because once I start thinking about characters for a new book, they don’t leave me alone until I set them free on the page. I mean, that’s a great place to be in–I never have to worry about writer’s block or what I’m going to write next–but it’s also draining because I don’t let myself properly rest between projects . . . or celebrate something I just achieved.

Lack of (what you consider) success: This one probably hit me the hardest because with all the books I have out, with all the hard work I’ve put into my author career in the past ten years, I don’t have the sales I hoped I would have. So I’m always reaching for that next book, that next social media graphic, that will get me there.

The indie hustle culture: This kind of goes along with comparing yourself to other authors. We see on social media what other authors are doing, but at the same time, there’s an underlying feeling of not doing enough and getting judged for it. You see it on Threads when people start their posts with, “It might not mean much to some . . .” or “It might not be a big deal to a lot of people here but . . .” We are constantly afraid that we’re being judged for our successes and achievements, and while a lot of people will tell you to stop worrying about what others will think because no one is watching you, for as many people who don’t care what you’re doing, there are just as many who do and are judging you. “You’ve only written one book this year?” “You’ve only made fifty dollars this week?” “You don’t post on TikTok? How do you expect to sell books?” “When is the rest of your series coming out?” The hustle culture online is real, you can see evidence of it every day, and it’s just another reason why you can never be happy with what you have because it will never feel like it’s enough. And it will never feel like that so long as someone you see online is doing more than you.

So, what can we do to combat this? It’s a question that I’ve been dealing with since the beginning of 2025 when I came to the conclusion my books would never be a business and that I would never make any meaningful earnings from it.

It was a disappointing and disheartening realization to come to, but it was freeing in some ways. I stopped my Facebook ads. I took time to go into my backlist and re-edit a few titles. I don’t stress about the fact that I have written only one book this year. I don’t let myself feel bad if I don’t feel like writing and would rather watch a show instead. Do the low sales numbers bother me? Sure. I think any author who publishes to a site where readers have to pay wants sales. But I just remind myself there is a lot of content out there and I can’t be, and don’t want to be, everywhere online. Creating content when you don’t feel like it is just as stressful as forcing yourself to write when you’re not in the right headspace.

But, no matter how many times I remind myself to loosen up or brush away those pesky feelings of inadequacy, they always manage to pop up, which is why I wrote my blog post last week to begin with. I needed the reminder that yes, I have accomplished a lot this year, and more than acknowledging it, I should celebrate it. Even if I closed my laptop today, after I schedule this post, and don’t open it again until January first, my 2025 year in review would still rock and it really has nothing to do with how much I’ve made this year and if I managed to break even with all that I’ve had to pay for to keep my hobby afloat.

I wrote a book I’m proud of. Maybe it won’t make me any money, but I wrote it with my whole heart, and I love Seth and Avery. I wrapped up five years’ worth of work when the last of my King’s Crossing serial released, and I doubt I’ll ever write anything like that again. I applied what I learned and re-edited three of my standalone books. I’ve helped hundreds of authors make their own book covers using my Canva instructions. I edited for someone who couldn’t afford to hire out and helped her get that much closer to publishing her next book.

It’s easy to forget even your biggest accomplishments when the to-do list never ends. Give yourself credit for everything you’ve managed to do–this week, this month, this year. Being an indie author really does feel like having homework sometimes, but maybe it’s time we start grading ourselves on how happy we are with what we’re doing, not on our output or the outcome of it.

And stop moving those goalposts. Run past them and don’t look back.

What I’ve Done This Year: Beating Up Imposter Syndrome

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red boxing gloves hanging in front of black and grey background. Text says what i've done this year: beating up imposter syndrome

Sometimes you can look back and not feel especially productive. I feel like that this year since I have only one book written so far. But feeling like you haven’t gotten anything done is actually a form of Imposter Syndrome and instead of letting it win, I thought I’d pick apart my year and document everything I’ve done that moved my writing business forward.

January
According to older blog posts, I started editing Loss and Damages in January. I don’t know when I decided to release that book, but it had been written for a couple of years already. I spent the last four months of 2024 re-editing my Rocky Point Wedding series, so I was feeling a little burnt out. But I didn’t stop to rest, no that would be silly, and jumped into getting Loss and Damages ready for a September release.

I also kept up with this blog and wrote my four posts that I published on Mondays. But I must have had a lot of thoughts because I gave you seven posts instead of four. I feel like that might have started my year off on a good note, so let’s see if I kept that going.

**Shattered Fate released January 20th, 2025, but that seems like a very long time ago now.

February
I started writing Wicked Games on February 4th, 2025

screenshot of statistics of Wicked Games. Seth and Avery.docx Properties General Summary Statistics Content Custom Created: Tuesday, February 4, 2025 at 9:09 PM Modified: Wednesday, September 24, 2025 at 9:54 PM Printed: Last saved by: Vania Rheault Revision number: 8138 Total editing time: 15712 Minutes Statistics: Statistic name Value Pages: 331 Paragraphs: 3048 Lines: 7917 Words: 98569 Characters: 414891 Characters (with spaces): 510958 Cancel OK

Besides my King’s Crossing serial slowly releasing around that time (they dropped six weeks apart), that was the biggest thing I did that month. Doing so much editing made me miss writing and I was excited to get back into it.

I also kept writing on this blog, and I must have had more to say that month as well since I wrote six posts instead of my regular four.

March
March seems like it was the same old, same old for me. I kept working on Wicked Games,(though I hit a bump with lack of motivation) kept posting on this blog, and Shattered Hearts, the fifth book in my King’s Crossing serial, published on the third. March can be really dreary in Minnesota too, so I was probably just waiting for the snow to get the hell out of here and for it to warm up. But, every little bit counts and releasing a book is a pretty big deal. I shouldn’t brush it off, even if SAD was probably getting me down.

April
According to a mid-month check-in blog post, I finished Wicked Games the first week in April. Getting a book done in three months tracks, so I’m not surprised that despite writing a whole blog post the month before about how “stuck” I was, that I finished a short time after. What else did I get done?
*I didn’t give myself a break and did another round of edits on Loss and Damages.
*I blogged four times.
*The last book in my King’s Crossing serial, Shattered Dreams, released.
Looking back, April was a pretty big month for me. I finishing writing a book and that series wrapped up five years of hard work. I was also working on a book that would turn out to be my next release. It was a good month but I doubt I took the time to celebrate anything. That’s just how I am.

May
May was a slow month for me. I was listening to Loss and Damages and thinking about what I wanted to write next. I’m amused because in my author check-in for May I was thinking about the book I’m writing now, Bitter Love. I hadn’t named it and only had the idea of a plot, but I guess that’s what happens when a story won’t let you go. I remember feeling burnt out still, and while I was considering diving into hockey, even started doing some research, that kind of project felt like it was too much to tackle.

That month was a breakthrough for my health though, and I stopped drinking our city’s tap water and switched to bottled spring water. That has made a big difference in how I feel. I’ll always have my lichen sclerosis and nerve damage from that hysterectomy I agreed to in desperation, but I’m closer to normal than I have been in the past five years. So May might have been quiet writing-wise, but it turned out to have a big impact on my life.

My blog had a good month: I had five posts, and one was an author interview. I like adding new voices occasionally since different perspectives are interesting to read and keeps things fresh. It’s tough finding people who will give you time though, so I only get to do that a couple times a year.

June
I was making some small progress in June. I got the proof of Loss and Damages in the mail and did some light editing of my rockstars. I was still debating on what I was going to write next, waffling between writing Bitter Love and hockey. That’s probably about as relaxed as I get. But I can tell while reading past blog posts that I lost a lot of the urgency I was feeling in previous years to move, move, move.

Blog was good. I wrote five posts.

July
I re-edited Rescue Me and I’m happy I did. I found a timeline issue that I’m glad was easy to fix and just eased up on my dense prose. I think I got rid of about 1500 words and updated the formatting, and I ordered two proofs to make sure my changes looked okay. I uploaded new files at both KDP and IngramSpark. We also adopted my son’s friend’s cat and she’s been a nice addition to our family so far, her need for attention aside. (That has nothing to do with productivity, unless you count her helping me.)

tuxedo cat sitting on chair in front of black laptop. small pumpkin gourds in foreground.

My blog was still chugging away–I had four regular Monday posts.

August
August was more of the same. I re-edited Faking Forever, which was a chore and a half, then moved on to A Heartache for Christmas. I ordered proofs of both of those books and updated the files with KDP and IngramSpark. Though at the time it felt like I wasn’t going anywhere, overall I’m satisfied that I took the time and with the results of those several weeks of re-editing. It was a crash course in readability, and all three books sound more conversational and not so stuck-up. I plan to do my Cedar Hill Duet after the New Year. I want to redo the covers after doing another edit. Those are good books but they can be better. I’ll have a little time after I finish Bitter Love, so that’s the next project on my list.

September
I started Bitter Love, but my friend was ready for me to edit her book, so that’s what I did for the majority of the month. Because of changes at my job, it took me a little longer than it has in the past, so I didn’t get much done on anything else.

Loss and Damages also released on the 15th, after trying to do a proper launch that included a cover reveal on IG, sending out ARCs, and a Goodreads giveaway. It didn’t hit big, most people who took an ARC didn’t leave a review, but I’ve sold two ebooks and have had the equivalent of eleven books read in Kindle Unlimited. It’s a long and character-driven book. I didn’t expect it to do much better.

Blog was fine–I published five posts.

Looking back, I’ve done a lot with my year so far, and I’m not sure why I don’t give myself more credit. I finished releasing a six-book series. I released a standalone. I re-edited three books and started a new WIP. I think one of the issues is that when you’re an indie author, there’s always something more to do so you don’t get the chance to feel like you finished anything or are any closer to your goal. There’s always another book to write, another book to edit, another TikTok video to make.

And think this is especially true when you haven’t gone viral, you haven’t earned an orange bestseller tag on Amazon, haven’t reached the number of followers you were hoping for. I think I might want to do a separate blog post on why goals never seem obtainable, even if you have reached milestones you should be proud of, so I’m going to leave that there for now.

Of course now the only thing that I’m thinking about now is getting Bitter Love done but I’m taking it easy and enjoying the process. Jesse and Jordan have been fighting inside my head for a few months now and it’s a relief to be putting them on the page. Motivation is the key to getting things done and getting things done is the only path to success, no matter what your definition is, but we also need to celebrate the little wins or everything we accomplish will feel hollow.

Be proud of yourself for sticking with it. Not everybody does. And if you’re reading this and thinking you haven’t done much this year, try making your own list. You’ll probably surprise yourself.

And that’s worth celebrating.

Have a great week!

Guest Author A. K. Ritchie

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cream and blue bokeh. cream square with author's photo. text says. guest post: author a.k. ritchie

As with most of my online friends, I met A. K. on Twitter many years ago. After I left, I wasn’t sure how many people I’d lose touch with, and when I found her on Threads, I was thrilled! Recently, I saw her reply to this post:

screenshot of Threads posts authorlaurawinter 4d Please, authors, I’m begging you… Write whatever you want because you can’t please everyone. a.k.ritchie 4d While I totally agree with this, I think people who want to profit off their fiction need to know that this a much harder way to make money. I wished that was something I understood better before I spent money to publish.
for the full thread, look here: https://www.threads.com/@authorlaurawinter/post/DPqrmZ9Dpxw

Right away I asked her if she’d be willing to do a guest post to talk about her response a little more, and she agreed!

I’ll let her have the floor now. Thanks, A. K.!

It wasn’t long after I published my first novel, AFTER THE PARTY, that I realized a hard truth. I’d been so focused on getting my novel edited and learning how to manage the technical side of self-publishing that I forgot I would have to market my own book. Specifically, I would have to find my own readers.

I didn’t understand the impact platforms like TikTok and Instagram were going to have on fiction and sales. It never occurred to me that I would have to concisely explain to people my novels’ genre on a regular basis. I never realized how hard it would be to find my readers and promote my book. 

I often joke that my novels are marketing nightmares. While some of my novels have romance, I don’t fit into the genre as the love story is often a subplot (or not included at all like my novel WILDE LIKE US). While my themes may be well suited for Upmarket fiction, my writing style does not fit the current trends. I landed on Women’s Fiction, but some argue that it’s more Coming-of-Age. It never occurred to me to lock down a genre and the ideal reader before I started creating. 

It makes it hard to find readers when you don’t know who they might be. 

I went into self-publishing over traditional publishing because I wanted to write what I wanted without the pressure of conforming to trends and labels. I grew up in a culture of hand-made, home-printed zines. I found bands recording in their garage, burning their songs to CDs with handwritten track listings. I wanted to DIY it. This is something that I lived in my everyday life, so I wanted it to apply to my fiction as well. 

While I may have broken even on my first two novels, it occurred to me that writing only what you love, without considering the market, can make self-publishing an expensive endeavour. As much as I love the stories I’ve told and what I’ve created, it doesn’t mean that passion will translate to sales. 

Without sales, it becomes difficult to continue producing more fiction. The cost of editors, artists, subscription for websites, etc, all costs money and unless you have funds coming in from other sources, continuing to produce fiction this way may not be sustainable for the vast majority of people. 

If I were to start this journey from the beginning, I would take more time to understand what readers are looking for and how that can be implemented into the stories I want to tell. I’d try to find a space where my voice already fit into a thriving community. 

In no way do I regret writing my stories the way I did. I was being true to my creative side, honouring the stories I wanted to tell. I was also learning so much. And I still am. My storytelling has become stronger with each novel I create. I wrote without external pressures of deadlines and expectations.

But I’ve also come to realize that if I would like to keep publishing, and would like to do so with more frequency, there needs to be a balance between what I write and what the market wants. Even those bands I listened to and zines I grew up consuming took that into consideration. They had a market and they were filling that need in their community. 

There is nothing wrong with writing for yourself or writing based on the current trends or a mix of both. My advice would be to set realistic expectations based on your personal goals and move forward with intent. A good balance would be finding that sweet spot between stories you’re passionate about and ones that make a profit. 

For now, I will keep writing my novels as a form of expression and as a hobby. However, I am already making plans for future romance novels that may still explore a mix of emotional topics with a focus on romance first and foremost. My plan is to bring my stories forward in a way that might meet the readers where they are. 

Thanks again to A. K. for her post about writing what you love! If you’d like to follow
A. K., you can find her on these platforms:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/a.k.ritchie

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21836915.A_K_Ritchie

Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/stores/author/B09HJX6R6P/about

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/stores/A.K.-Ritchie/author/B09HJX6R6P

Website: akritchie.com

Do You Wanna Write a Novel?

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snowman wearing orange and white hat and scare sitting in front of a laptop outside blue sky

It’s that time of year when everyone is thinking about writing a 50k word novel in November. I’ve only done NaNoWriMo one time, way back in, I think it was around 2014. A couple people at my work found out I was writing what would now be my shelved fantasy books and asked if I wanted to join them. I said sure, and we started meeting at various places, including Perkins, which I always enjoyed because I have a thing for French Silk pie. I stopped writing my fantasy book and started what would be Don’t Run Away, the first in my Tower City trilogy. It was fun, if not a little intimidating for this introvert, because we met with some of their friends whom I didn’t know. My kids were older so I had a lot of time to write and I “won” the first and only time I officially participated–and by that I mean creating a profile on NaNoWriMo’s website and logging my words written.

I remember the thrill of meeting with other writers, talking shop and sharing a common interest. It’s a high I think a lot of people still chase–that feeling of belonging.

I found it for a few years on Twitter and tried to replicate the in-person feeling by joining a writing group in the town where I live, but that ultimately didn’t work out. I’m not saying they were unfriendly, but they were established, having written for many years together, and wiggling in took more energy than I really wanted to spend. Productivity-wise I’ve never needed something like NaNoWriMo to keep me going. I love to write, and while I can understand the concept when people say they love “having written” putting words down isn’t a chore. I’ve never had a problem sitting down with a cup of coffee and writing couple thousands words in an afternoon.

Back when I was hardcore about treating my books like a business, I knew how beneficial it was to have a backlist and a steady stream of new books. For me, that was plenty of motivation. These days, since the beginning of 2025 at least, I let go of the idea this will ever be a career and have lightened up a lot when it comes to how many books I want to write and publish in a year. I only have one book scheduled to release in 2026, and while I’ll still be writing, dedicated productivity just doesn’t seem as important as it once was.

NaNoWriMo might have gone away, but a writer’s desire to belong to a group of like-minded people is still there and this month a few alternatives have popped up to fill that need. I signed up for one, not because I need encouragement to write, but because lately I’ve been looking for something different. I don’t know if Novel November, ProWritingAid’s answer to the now-defunct original writing challenge, will be what I’m looking for, but this is the first year in a long time that I’ll actually be able to participate because I’m not editing something, helping someone with one of their books, or taking a break.

If you’re looking for an alternative to NaNWriMo, here’s what I’ve come across online:

ProWritingAid
ProWritingAid started Novel November and after looking around the dashboard, it’s feels pretty close to what NaNoWrimo was. PWA has offered author services for years and I have a good feeling about participating. If you want to sign up or take a look around, you can find it here: https://prowritingaid.com/novel-november

Successful Indie Author
This is Craig Martelle’s Facebook group and he started No Excuse November (NoNo). Right now information is only in his group, but it looks like he’s partnering with Draft2Digital and creating a website as well. I know Craig hit a few bumps while he was a part of 20booksto50k that banged up his reputation, and if you have no interest because of that, that’s okay. I’m just offering all the alternatives I’ve come across online. His Facebook group is large, with 8k members, so you’ll find plenty of support there if you join his challenge. He also has May I Write a Novel that happens in May, so there are two challenges a year if that’s something you were looking for or need. I think NaNo had writing camp in July, so Craig’s group would be a good substitute. You can find his group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/successfulindieauthor

Reedsy
Reedsy created the Reedsy Novel Sprint 2025. It looks like you have to write in their Studio to be eligible for all their benefits, but if that doesn’t bother you, this challenge looks like it will be very supportive. There are already 15,000 authors signed up and you can join events like First Line Frenzy™: Submit Your Opening Line. If you’re interested in looking around, you can find it here: https://reedsy.com/studio/challenges/reedsy-novel-sprint-2025

I’m sure there are others, and a lot of authors are making up their own.

I’m actually kind of excited to be participating in PWA’s Novel November. I’ve loved writing all my books, but since I left Twitter, I haven’t felt part of a group. Like everyone is working on something bigger than we who are as individuals, if that makes sense.

Are you going to join in a challenge? Let me know.

If you know of a challenge that I didn’t mention or are putting on your own, mention it in the comments. Someone might want to join in!

Thanks for reading and have a great week!