You’ve probably heard it a hundred times on the self-publishing podcasts: “There’s never been a better time to be an indie author.” And honestly? I agree with that. The platforms, the tools, the ability to publish your book, price it yourself, and keep 70% of royalties without a single gatekeeper involved. It really is remarkable when you stop to think about it. But here’s the part nobody says out loud: There has also never been a more overwhelming time to be an indie author. Wide or exclusive. Ads or organic. Rapid release or slow and steady. Vellum or Scrivener or Atticus or whatever dropped last week that someone in a Facebook group is swearing by, directly contradicting what someone else swore by last Tuesday. New software every other week. Another platform asking for your content. Another strategy. Another tool promising to fix everything. It’s… a lot. 😵‍💫 And I know so many authors are walking around quietly convinced they’re lazy, or unfocused, or just not cut out for this. When actually? They’re drowning in options. That is not a character flaw. It is a completely rational response to an overwhelming amount of input. The authors I’ve seen build something real and sustainable didn’t do it by finding the perfect tool or the perfect strategy. They did it by getting ruthless about their focus. Not hustle-culture ruthless. Not grind-until-you-break ruthless. Quiet, intentional, almost boring ruthless. The kind where you close the tab. You don’t download the new app. You decide what your business actually needs right now and you protect that decision. Your focus is the most valuable asset you have right now. Not your backlist (yet). Not your email list (yet). Not your covers or your blurb or your metadata. Your ability to sit down and do what actually moves the needle. So if you’ve been feeling scattered lately, I want you to hear this: You’re not lazy. You’re not failing. You’re just operating in an environment that was not designed to help you succeed.

Not best as in most stars. Best as in the one that stopped you mid-scroll. The one you screenshot and keep somewhere and remember when you're feeling down. The one a reader left that made you think -- okay, this is why I do this! Maybe it was three sentences that nailed exactly what you were trying to do. Maybe it was a reader who said your book helped them through something hard. Maybe it was someone who stayed up until 2am because they couldn't put it down and felt compelled to tell you about it. Drop it in the comments. Copy and paste the whole thing if you want. We want to read it! Because sometimes in the middle of the hard work -- the edits, the launches, the slow months, the self-doubt -- we need to remember that our books are landing. That real people are reading our words and feeling something because of them. That matters more than the algorithm ever will.

That before you started as an author was different? What have you changed your mind about? I'll go first: Writing is easy. It's not! Writing a book, let alone a good book is hard. It's doable, but tough!

(Sidenote - I am still having domain issues but they're sorted out! Just waiting for the internet to update all the things and we should be back and running with daily emails again. If you have any questions in the meantime, don't hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected] until my [email protected] email is back in action.) OK, we are pivoting away from strategies and systems. ;) And talking about something fun today! Who is your favorite main character you've ever written? Not the most popular one with your readers. Not the one that sold the best. The one that lives in your chest a little. The one you think about even now. Maybe it's the character who surprised you by showing up fully formed, like they'd been waiting for you to write them. Maybe it's the one who scared you a little. . . because they were too close to home. Maybe it's a character from a book you haven't even published yet. Tell me their name. Tell me one thing about them that makes them yours. I love this question because it reminds me why we're all here. Not for the royalty dashboards or the launch strategies -- though yes, those matter too. But because there are people living in our heads that the world hasn't met yet!

Let's talk covers. Cover design might be one of the most stressful parts of being an indie author. There's so much riding on that one image - genre signals, reader expectations, years of your work distilled into a thumbnail. Some authors work with designers from the very beginning. Some wait until the book is done. Some buy premades, some go fully custom, some have made every mistake possible and lived to tell the tale. I want to know yours. How do you approach covers? Do you come in with a clear vision or hand it over and hope for the best? Have you ever loved a cover that didn't sell, or been surprised by one that did? Tell me everything. This is a safe space for cover horror stories too. 🫣 😵‍💫 😬