How to Reload Your Book
Been away from your manuscript long enough that the story feels flat and writing has become a grind? You may not have lost your enthusiasm. You may simply need to reload the book.
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indie authors
How to Redesign Your Author Business for the Environment That Actually Exists
The indie author environment has changed—but that doesn’t mean authors have failed. In this conversation with Joanna Penn, Tracy Cooper-Posey talks enshittification, Solar Sail Theory, operational drag, durable author businesses, and the agency that comes from understanding the terrain that actually exists.
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Unicorn Days
Not all writing days are the same, except on your calendar. Some days are for maintaining momentum. Some are dependable workhorse days. And every once in a while, a unicorn shows up. Here’s why recognizing which kind of writing day you’re having can make you more productive—and considerably less inclined to beat yourself up over your word count.
The Indie Author Survival Guide Is Here
Indie publishing has changed dramatically—and the strategies that once worked reliably are no longer enough. The Indie Author Survival Guide is out now, with a practical look at what changed, what authors can still control, and how to build a writing career sturdy enough to survive whatever the industry throws at us next.
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Cultivating Luck
Luck isn’t magic, and it isn’t reserved for a chosen few. In publishing, what looks like luck is often the result of years spent building momentum. Every book, every reader, every relationship and every opportunity adds another tiny push. Solar Sail Theory explains why some authors seem luckier than others—and why you can increase your chances of capturing luck without relying on a mythical “big break.”
The Solar Sail Theory of Indie Publishing
Daily sales are sinking. Organic reach has collapsed. AI-generated sludge is flooding storefronts while retailers tighten their grip on discoverability. Indie authors are being told to do more of everything — more books, more ads, more social media, more platforms — while the systems underneath us become increasingly unstable and hostile.
The Solar Sail Theory of Indie Publishing offers a different approach.
Instead of chasing endless “rocket launch” marketing spikes, authors can build long-term momentum by expanding their discoverable surface area across the internet and in real life, then channeling that attention into owned reader relationships through websites, email lists, and direct sales.
A solar sail doesn’t move through explosive force. It moves by capturing thousands of tiny forces over time.
So can an indie author career.
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The Slow Squeeze: Why It Might Be Time to Reconsider Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble didn’t send a warning shot—they sent a deadline. Raise your paperback prices to $14.99 by May 14th, or your books are gone. For indie authors working in short fiction or maintaining deep backlists, that’s not a tweak. It’s a hard stop. And it’s only the latest move in a pattern that’s quietly reshaping who—and what—belongs on the platform. The question isn’t whether these changes are fair. It’s whether your publishing strategy can survive them.
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Safe Writing Is Dangerous Now. Here’s What to Write Instead.
Safe writing used to feel like the smart choice. Study the market. Follow the trends. Give readers more of what they already liked.
But in a world where AI can produce endless same-but-different stories, safe writing is becoming the riskiest strategy of all.
Readers do not know what they want until they see it. They cannot ask for the strange combination, the odd obsession, or the idea that should not work but somehow does. That is your advantage. The books that stand out now will not be the safest ones. They will be the ones only you could have written.
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The Boring Magic of Showing Up Tomorrow
The voice that breaks your writing streak doesn’t show up on a bad day.
It shows up after a good one—and tells you to take tomorrow off.
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Build Better Habits (Not Better Goals)
Goals feel productive. Habits are productive. If you want to be a producing indie author, you don’t need a shinier goal — you need a quieter, more consistent life. The writers who finish books aren’t chasing outcomes; they’re protecting routines. It may look boring from the outside. Good. That “nothing to report” life? That’s exactly what makes the words pile up.
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