3 Reasons Why the Indie Author Industry is Setting You Up to Fail

What if the relentless pace of publishing is actually stifling your creativity?

In this thought-provoking solo episode, I dive into three key reasons why the indie author industry is unintentionally setting authors up to fail. From the overwhelming push for rapid publication to the relentless pressure to follow market trends, I break down the industry's impact on creativity, quality, and even our nervous systems. But don’t worry—it's not all doom and gloom. We also explore ways to take control of your author career, create from a place of joy, and foster a sustainable, nourishing creative journey.

Whether you’re feeling the weight of unrealistic expectations or simply want to build a more mindful, empowered author life, this episode offers insight, encouragement, and practical tips for reclaiming your path.

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Are you an author at a crossroads, feeling stuck & unfulfilled in your author career? Do you know deep down it's time for a change, but you’re unsure of the next step?

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Chapters

• 1:01 Author Revolution
• 16:23 Author Revolution Evolution

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:01

Welcome to the Author Revolution podcast, where change is not just embraced, it's celebrated. I'm Carissa Andrews, international bestselling author, indie author coach and your navigator through the ever-evolving landscape of authorship. Are you ready to harness the power of your mind and the latest innovations in technology for your writing journey? If you're passionate about manifesting your dreams and pioneering new writing frontiers, then you're in the perfect place. Here we merge the mystical woo of writing with the exciting advancements of the modern world. We dive into the realms of mindset, manifestation and the transformative magic that occurs when you believe in the impossible. We also venture into the world of futuristic technologies and strategies, preparing you for the next chapter in your author career. Every week, we explore new ways to revolutionize your writing and publishing experience, from AI to breakthrough thinking. This podcast is your gateway to a world where creativity meets innovation. Whether you're penning your first novel or expanding your literary empire, whether you're a devotee of the pen or a digital storyteller, this podcast is where your author revolution gains momentum. So join me in this journey to continue growth and transformation. It's time to redefine what it means to be an author in today's dynamic world. This is the Author Revolution Podcast, and your author revolution starts now. Hey there, guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Author Revolution Podcast, where we dive into all things innovative, creative and empowering for authors just like you.

Speaker 1: 2:42

Now, today, I want to tackle a huge topic, and I'm so excited to have a solo episode, to be able to do this one, because this discussion is going to be one that might ruffle a few feathers, but it's absolutely crucial if we're going to survive and thrive in this industry. So, in case you didn't know, the indie author industry has been setting us up to fail for years. There, I said it, that's right, I said it. There are systems, pressures and expectations in place that make it almost impossible to succeed long term without burning out. But here's the good news. I'm going to break down exactly why this is happening and how we can start to turn the tide. So let's dive into the three big reasons why the indie author industry is setting us up to fail and, more importantly, what you can do to break free from the grind and reclaim your creative flow. All right, let's start with the first reason, number one.

Speaker 1: 3:38

The indie author industry has this pervasive belief that to succeed, you need to publish more books, you need to do it faster, and it's a message that's everywhere, in author forums, on YouTube and from marketing gurus, not to mention, you know, big Facebook groups, but it's really all coming down to unrealistic expectations. So let's take a step back. Why is this the standard? Well, I want you to think about it. With the rise of self-publishing platforms like Amazon, kdp, the industry has leaned into a quantity over quality mindset, and the idea is that the more books you publish, the more visible you get, the more the algorithms favor you and the more chances you have to sell, but at what cost, you know? I remember when I was first starting out as an indie author, this was definitely the theme right, we were trying to push into every aspect and trying to do all the things and while some of the information out there, you know, like the surveys from written word media, for example, that it supports the concept of having more books in order to earn more money, at the same point, it isn't always just about that, you know.

Speaker 1: 4:49

I remember also speaking with an author not too long ago one of my students and she said that she was feeling like she was on this never ending treadmill. She released one book and, instead of enjoying that moment, you know, celebrating her achievement because yay, book out, she was already thinking about the next one. And the anxiety of not keeping up with the release schedules that she had created, especially when she sees other authors pumping out four, five, six books a year or more, it was overwhelming for her and it was getting to the point where she was really just not even sure this is what she wanted to do anymore. And, I'll be honest, I felt like this too. I really have, and especially this year, because there's been so much constant pressure to stay relevant, to have, you know, a new release out there.

Speaker 1: 5:35

But here's the thing when we're caught up in this mindset, we start sacrificing quality for speed. In addition, we're trying to control all of the outcomes, right. We're trying to put ourselves as the number one creator in our life and our situation, and we forget that the how and the when aren't necessarily our responsibilities. When we're manifesting our life, when we're manifesting the things that we really want in our lives, right. So when we rush through our drafts, some of the things that happen is want in our lives, right. So when we rush through our drafts, some of the things that happen is we skip necessary edits or we miss things or we just aren't present enough with our story and in the end, they suffer. We forget why we started writing in the first place, and it's really truly the love of the storytelling right Now.

Speaker 1: 6:22

Don't get me wrong some authors do thrive in a really fast-paced, prolific environment and they can write several books a year and still feel creatively fulfilled. But if you're one of the many who struggles with this, it's really important to recognize that this isn't sustainable for everyone, and I've talked about that for years. It was one of the reasons why I created Rapid Release Roadmap and it's okay, right? I want you to understand that your creative process, whatever it looks like, is valid, even if it's slower than the quote unquote industry standard. Okay, so let's talk about reason number two. Let's shift gears and just kind of understand this whole popularity over quality thing as well. So not only is it quantity over quality, but it's also popularity over quality in this marketplace.

Speaker 1: 7:13

Have you ever scrolled through the bestsellers in the indie publishing world and then just scratched your head? Like, really, some of the books that hit the top charts aren't necessarily the best written, but they hit the right trend at the right time, and this is one of the tough pills to swallow. In the indie publishing industry, the market doesn't always reward the quality. Instead, it rewards what's trending and what's hot in the moment, which puts us in that bind right. It puts us in the bind of trying to chase those trends and trying to do all the things right. It puts us in the bind of trying to chase those trends and trying to do all the things.

Speaker 1: 7:49

I've spoken with countless authors who are in my programs who are genuinely confused about why their book, which they've poured their hearts and souls into carefully crafting each word, why it's struggling to find readers while something they see as less refined is dominating the charts. Now here's the thing it's not about the best book winning anymore. It's about the most marketable book winning. And this leads to a really tough question for authors Do you chase the trends or do you stay true to your creative vision? And, trust me, that's not an easy decision. It's one that I've even struggled with myself, like how do you merge the two of those things?

Speaker 1: 8:29

You know, writing to market. It's been a buzz term for a long time, but sometimes we really do need to understand what it is we're trying to tell. So what is it you want? What is it you want to do. There's nothing wrong with writing to market. If that's your strategy, I think there's a lot of awesome stuff that can come out of it, and it can be creatively fulfilling to hit those marks, especially for those of us who are high achievers and want to, you know, do what's expected of us. But if it feels like you're compromising your voice or your creativity just to keep up with trends, that's when you need to step back and reassess. Okay, the system is set up to favor what's popular, but the long game is all about creating a body of work that you're proud of. That's where the true success lies. Okay, and now here's the big one, my friends, the big reason why I really wanted to have this discussion, and it's the reason I'm most passionate about.

Speaker 1: 10:18

This is something I stumbled over myself for myself this past year and, with the indie author industry and its relentless demands, it's literally dysregulating our nervous systems. And this is where things get real. Think about it. We're constantly told to do more, to write more, to market more, to engage on social media, more to network release, consistently hustle harder. We're bombarded with these messages daily and over time. It takes a serious toll on our nervous system, especially when we're feeling like we can't keep up. And this constant push pulls us out of the natural state of creative flow and puts us into a fight or flight mode, and it's not doing your creativity any favors. So you might be thinking okay, carissa, what does the nervous system have to do with my writing? Well, let me tell you Everything. It is literally everything.

Speaker 1: 11:15

When we're in a state of chronic stress, our brains can't function the way that they're supposed to. Our creativity gets blocked and while you might think you're being creative and you think you're getting the words on the page, it's not who you truly are, it's not your best work and it also dysregulates our manifestations, too right, because when we're in this dysregulated nervous system flow, our brains are firing and wiring different neural pathways together, and not all of it's good, because you are in that state of fight or flight. That's not where true awareness and joy and creativity flows from. So instead of being able to tap into that beautiful flow state where the words come easily and all of the story is just coming together seamlessly in this beautiful dance, we're stuck in this survival mode, just trying to keep up, and I've seen this happen so many times, for myself, definitely, and for some of my students, it's that feeling where you sit down to write but, instead of ideas flowing, you feel almost paralyzed, overwhelmed by the sheer volume of what you should be doing. So, even if it's just writing and you think that's what you need to be doing right now, your brain is so focused on survival, on keeping up with the relentless pace of this industry, that it can't access the creative part of itself, and that's not okay.

Speaker 1: 12:39

So what do we do about all this? Well, first, I think we really need to become aware of when our nervous systems are overloaded. So for me, that really comes down to noticing the signs of I don't want to write, it's feeling harder to write, it's feeling like I am blocked in some way and you know that I do not like that word or that term in any way, shape or form but sometimes it does actually feel that way. Sometimes it's I don't want to discuss things or respond to emails. I mean something as simple as an email sometimes, right? So pay attention to how you're feeling when you're writing, how you're feeling when you're creating, how you're feeling when you're doing the different things that you believe you have to do for your author career to be successful.

Speaker 1: 13:27

So if you're stressed, if you're anxious, if you're stuck in a loop of I have to do more, then it's time to take a step back. Okay, I want you to create space to reset, whether that's through meditation you know how much I love meditation and we have so many programs in your future self that can help you get unstuck. In fact, I've incorporated a lot of nervous system regulation into the most recent meditations that I've been doing as well. But get outside is another one taking a break from social media and doing it like literally doing social media or consuming it. I know all of this is easier said than done. Right, but it's really vital that we protect our creative energy. I think it's probably the most important piece of ourselves that we need to be aware of. Okay, because when we put our mental and emotional well-being first, then we can create work that truly resonates. It's the difference, really, between creating something from the heart, something that resonates and that then attracts people to it, versus being on that.

Speaker 1: 14:35

I have to do all these things, and I have to do them quickly, and it's almost the frantic efforting, and then what that's saying to the universe is you don't believe in your ability to magnetize people through your words. You're not believing in your ability to create stories that will resonate and will draw them in. You are so scared that if you don't write the next book and then the next one and the next one as quickly as possible, you're going to lose income because you haven't stabilized your mindset in a place where you believe that money is consistent, that royalties and readers are consistent, that you will continue to grow your readership right. So it's time to take a closer look at how you're building your mindset around the ecosystem of your author career, so that you can believe that everything is working out for you, that your career is growing for you, that it gets to be better and better and better, and it gets to get better and better with every book that you write and as quickly as you publish. That is the perfect timing for you. You don't have to do it at such a frantic and crazy pace, right?

Speaker 1: 15:46

So, to wrap things up, I really think that the indie author industry is setting us up with some serious challenges and I've seen it obviously over the past decade and a bit, from unrealistic expectations to rewarding popularity over quality and, most importantly, the toll that it has been taking on our nervous systems. But here's the good news, right? You don't have to play by these rules. You have the power to take control of your creative journey. You have the power to decide this is not the way it's going to work for you and to choose a way that really feels nourishing and rewarding.

Speaker 1: 16:23

And to me, what that looks like or at least how that's been looking like this year is I get up, I set my day up with reading. I read a book that is fiction book and then I read a book that is nonfiction. I'm typically reading in both of them every single day. I then go into my meditation and my workout first thing in the morning, because I know if I don't do it in the morning, I have a tendency to put that off, and those things are important to me, and then I go into sitting down and really deciding what feels good today. How does this get to look for me today? And one of the things that I have started to incorporate is this heart coherence aspect into all the things that I do. Heart coherence has been the my number one way to regulate my nervous system and it has been absolutely profound and it's really a breathwork thing and I'm teaching it a lot inside of my memberships right now, and so if you're looking for any kind of support when it comes to nervous system regulation, wanting to understand how it works, I really encourage you to check out the high vibe author membership, because that's where all of the manifestation stuff now lives.

Speaker 1: 17:30

Author revolution has shifted so that everything is membership based, because, as a number one relator, I've discovered and uncovered that I really need that contact with my students so that I know how they're doing, how I can help them, and that's where a lot of this stuff has come from. Guys, because I've understood that everyone is so. We're all so dysregulated, we're all so crazy about how we're doing our author careers and we need to reset. We need to take that step back and refocus on what matters most, which is obviously our passion for writing, our creative flow, and we can't do that when we're in a fight or flight state. We just can't. So it's important to look at how you want your author career to be and to shift your perspective on how you've been doing it right. So what I'm actually doing this year and have been doing is first, I've been like looking at author revolution and trying to figure out how do I get this company to be in a state of flow that feels good, that feels like it's abundant, that feels like it's juicy and awesome and I can support my students in a really cool way. And so that's where these new memberships are coming from. It's all the same content, it's just being delivered in a different way, except I will be creating a new membership that's coming soon, all around marketing and marketing in a different way, because I've I've had some wonderful insights because of that. Now, once that's in place, author revolution is going to be consistent. It's only going to be these memberships, it's all. I'm only going to be showing up for these memberships, and the live launches, or the live cohorts, I should say, will happen sometimes within the walls of the memberships.

Speaker 1: 19:16

But what is really interesting is from the author perspective. The author side of things has done the same thing. Right, I haven't written anything since Dirty Books. That's my rom-com side of things and I do want to get out Write your Reality, which is going to be doing a Kickstarter very soon, and once that's done, there is nothing slated between now and whenever. Like I know, I'm going to do Dirty Developments as my next book for the rom-com side. I know I need to write the final book in the Accidental Alpha series, but I have no dates for anything.

Speaker 1: 19:50

Like it's all just kind of up to me and what feels good and how the flow works, and there's a breath of relief in that. And now this is coming from someone who is a high achiever, like let's face it guys, I've been a high achiever my entire life. But there's a need, a growing need inside me even, to not only embrace for myself but to teach you that it's okay to create an author career that is nourishing to your creativity. And I'm finding that there is a fine line between being a high achiever and doing all the things that really light you up. Like I'm a manifesting generator, if you're into human design. I follow what things light me up and I have abundant energy to be able to do that thing, and so that's how I can show up in all these places and do all these things and make it look like it's so seamless. It's because it brings me joy.

Speaker 1: 20:47

I could not do that with my author career. Like I can't write a book a month or book every two weeks. That's not the generator part of me. For me. The writing part of it is truly coming from a deeper place and I need to have that time to let it ruminate and really come together and create something cool. Because if it's not cool to me, if it doesn't light me up, if it's not a hell yes, then it's a hell no. And so I need to allow that to kind of blossom Author revolution and all the ways that I'm learning new things that's me giving back to you, and so that lights me up in a different way and so I can create things and manifest things and do all this fun stuff right.

Speaker 1: 21:27

But the second it becomes too much. Then all of a sudden, it's harder to get things done. I want to take a step back and that's literally my body trying to protect me and trying to help me understand. And as I've had so many deep conversations with my students this year, I've realized that we're all in this place, that we've all been told this lie, that you have to publish like a maniac in order to get things done, and it's really, really just done a disservice for us. And so if you're interested at all in learning more about how to have a sustainable author career, how to do things in a way that makes you feel good.

Speaker 1: 22:07

My second membership the other one that is all about the strategic side of things. It's called the Revolutionary Authors Membership. It includes all of the courses that are strategic. So things like Rapid Release Roadmap, the Plan, your Series Challenge, four Books, five Days, the Own Voice Audiobooks course and so much more Like all of that stuff is housed inside of the Revolutionary Authors membership. So if you haven't gotten Rapid Release Roadmap in the past, this is the only way to access it now. So you'd want to join in and check it out and see how it works and do all the things. I'll make sure that there's information in the show notes. So it's very.

Speaker 1: 22:44

I think it's very important to have this discussion and to talk about why, why the industry is setting us up for failure, so that we can decide, with eyes wide open, how our author career gets to work for us. We get to decide with eyes wide open whether or not how we've started to design our author career gets to work for us. We get to decide with eyes wide open whether or not how we've started to design our author career feels like the right decision. Like my, my career has taken on so many evolutions at this point and how I write, how I produce, how I create, how I'm, I'm choosing to do things, and this time of the year is always the time when I start planning for the next year. I start thinking about, like, what does my editorial calendar look like? Or what do I want to work on? And it's been really interesting this year to go. You know what I am going to say.

Speaker 1: 23:31

These three books are the things that I'm going to work on, and I'm going to work on them as they come up, so that I can keep open for new inspiration to come through. Because what happens is sometimes we think we want to write these things, but then other ideas that are more powerful come through and we go, nah, not today, not today. Really cool idea, we're going to have to wait until after this thing is done, and what ends up happening is kind of like what Elizabeth Gilbert talks about in Big Magic it just goes, oh, okay, and then goes off and find someone who's willing to write it instead. And so when we are more in our open state of creative flow, trusting that we get to make money in our author career, we get to do all the things. It all gets to work out well All of a sudden, when those nudges come through and we start exploring it more.

Speaker 1: 24:21

If we start getting excited now, we can have the creative energy to explore it and create the world and do all the things, and it's not hindered by the I have to do mentality right. It's a I get to do this. Oh my gosh, I get to. I get to stop what I was working on here for a little bit, because now I get to do this and it feels so fun. Wow, this is so cool. See how there's a little bit of a difference there. Oh, guys, we're gonna have to continue this conversation because it's a big one and I think it's one that is going to shape the way I start showing up in 2025.

Speaker 1: 24:57

So I'd love to hear your thoughts Are up in 2025. So I'd love to hear your thoughts. Are you feeling the pressure too? Have you been feeling it? Let's talk about how we can change the way we approach this industry together. All right, so reach out to me on any of the socials. I've been doing a lot of fun stuff playing around with Instagram stories, tiktok stories, doing a lot of things in a new and interesting way, and I hope that you'll follow me on those platforms and discuss with me, because I love hearing your thoughts, as always. If you'd like to get the transcript, get the links that we were just talking about. Head over to authorrevolutionorg, forward slash 261. Everything will be right there, waiting for you, and thank you for tuning in. Thanks for joining me. Let's challenge the status quo and reclaim our creative power right. Let's do it together. Go forth and start your author revolution. Thank you.