End of an Era: Behind the Scenes at Author Revolution

This week, I’m getting vulnerable and taking you behind the scenes of a major pivot at Author Revolution. After years in constant creation mode—masterclasses, courses, memberships, podcasts—I’m pressing pause on “business as usual” to close out one era and make space for what’s next.

I share how 2024–2025 became my phoenix year: the collapse, the lessons, the hermit/role-model season (hello, Manifesting Generator life), and the clarity that’s emerging as I realign with what Author Revolution is truly meant to be. If you’ve felt the nudge to prune, simplify, or let go in your own author life, this one’s for you.

In this episode:

• Why endings aren’t failures—they’re invitations to align
• What it looked like when partnerships, systems, and “shoulds” fell away
• The real difference between mindset-only work and bringing your body/nervous system on board
• How pruning creates room for your next chapter (and how to spot what to release)
• A peek at what’s coming:
  • Write Your Reality – dropping December
  • Write Frame of Mind (2025 Edition) – dropping November
  • Three brand-new, streamlined courses for 2026 designed for this new era of authorship

The Course Vault Sale (limited time)

To honor this transition, I’ve opened the Author Revolution Course Vault Sale. You can pick up themed bundles or grab the All-Access Vault Key to unlock (almost) everything before it’s archived.
➡️ All details live at authorrevolution.org
(Excludes 4 Books, 5 Days and my audiobook programs.)

Mentioned

• Author Revolution Course Vault Sale: authorrevolution.org
• Write Your Reality (Dec) & Write Frame of Mind 2025 Edition (Nov)

Takeaways for aligned authors

• Pruning ≠ quitting; it’s strategic space-making
• Your business evolves as you do—let it
• Mid-manifestation is still momentum

If you’re ready to simplify, realign, and rise—this episode is your permission slip.

Until next time… go forth and start your author revolution!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Vulnerability Announcement
• 3:13 The Year of Collapse and Reflection
• 8:14 Finding Clarity Through Pruning
• 13:54 Phoenix Energy and New Beginnings
• 20:15 Course Vault Sale and Future Plans
• 22:14 Endings as Doorways to Growth

Transcript

Carissa Andrews: 0:05

Welcome to the Author Revolution Podcast. I'm Carissa Andrews, author and your host here to help indie authors like you master mindset, harness manifestation and embrace cutting-edge innovation to elevate your career. Let's dive in.

Carissa Andrews: 0:24

Well, hey, there guys, and welcome back to the Author Revolution Podcast. Oh, I can't believe it's already been a month. It's been a very, very busy and intense month, but it's been a month already. So here we are. This particular episode is going to be a vulnerable podcast episode, so hang tight, okay.

Carissa Andrews: 0:43

Sometimes the bravest move you can make in your author career isn't starting something shiny and new. It's more like letting go of something old, and I've talked about this a bit in the past letting go and being able to kind of open yourself up some new space for new things to come in. And in essence, that's exactly what this podcast episode is going to be about. But there's a lot, of, a lot of things going on behind the scenes that I haven't really shared with you, and I want to kind of give you some insights. So for the past few years, author Evolution has been in constant creation mode, right, masterclasses, courses, memberships, podcasts, you name it. But this month, instead of running another live masterclass or doing any kind of new courses or anything like that, right now I'm doing something a little different. I am pressing pause on business as usual so that I can close out an era of author revolution and also, I guess, begin to lay the foundation for what's coming next. Now. Don't worry, I'm not disappearing. In fact, I'd say the opposite is true. I'm actually rising from the ashes, a little more phoenix-y, a little clearer, a lot more aligned with the vibe that Author Revolution itself was always meant to embody. And because every ending deserves its own celebration this month, if you've been over at authorrevolutionorg at all or if you're on my email list, you already know that I've opened up this Author Revolution Course Vault Sale, where you can get access to every single course I've ever created, with the exception of four books, five days and my audiobook programs, before they all disappear into what I'm calling the vault. So you can grab bundles or you can go all in with the all access vault key. You'll find all the details, like I said, over at authorrevolutionorg.

Carissa Andrews: 2:35

But this episode is not about the sale, right? It's about the journey that brought me here the collapse, the lessons and the clarity that comes when you finally decide to let go of what no longer fits. Now, if you've been following me for a while, if you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you know that last year my word of the year was let go, and I feel like that has in some ways followed me into this year. This year's word and this year's bracelet that I have on my wrist right now is limitless, and so I kind of feel like that's the vibe of where I'm heading right now. It's like I'm still in the shedding moment of letting go of what was so that what is new, what is limitless, can be born. So let's talk about this end of an era and what's coming next.

Carissa Andrews: 3:24

Over the past couple of years, I've really felt this persistent call to just strip everything down, to revamp, to let go of the old scaffolding not only of author revolution, honestly, but like my author career as well, and I wanted to do it in a way that gave me some perspective and allowed me to come back cleaner and clearer and more aligned with what I really stand for, what Author Revolution stands for, what my books stand for, all the things. Because I feel like in the industries, for a long time we've kind of just gone about doing things the way that we were told should be done, and if you're looking at the state of the world right now, you know that, like the old systems are crumbling Anything that we were told should be done and if you're looking at the state of the world right now, you know that, like the old systems are crumbling, anything that we thought was really solid has shaky ground now and I believe that to be the case. About our authored careers, about author revolution, about course creation, about how we deliver information as entrepreneurs all of it. And, if I'm honest, last year last year itself was rough 2024. For me, it was a year of collapse. I was asking those deeper questions. I was digging deeper into what do I really want and why does this not feel as aligned as I want it to feel?

Carissa Andrews: 4:42

Everything, like I said, that I thought was solid, you know partnerships, friendships, systems I'd built just started kind of crumbling and some of it was my own doing, some of it was me deliberately choosing to crumble it and others were just like falling apart and I didn't understand fully why. Right, I joke, and I have joked a couple of times, both here on the podcast and in Right Firm of Mind, which is top of mind because I'm almost finished with that book but I've joked about how a student of mine really swore by Moldavite and I was like I'm going to meditate with some Moldavite. I could use some change in my life and then, shortly after that, everything went to hell in a handbasket. But honestly, as I'm kind of coming out on the other side of things right now, it's not fully shaken out, but I see things a lot more clearly. I understand where my desires were and what it was that I'm trying. I was trying to manifest forward, even if it was just more from that subconscious, deeper level, right.

Carissa Andrews: 5:43

So at the time, in 2024 and into the beginning part of 2025, it felt like it was loss stacked on loss, right? People I deeply cared about, like I said, drifted away and while I genuinely wish them nothing but the best, I would be completely lying to say that it didn't hurt. It felt a lot like an old wound of mine, where it's like I give and I give and yet when I actually am struggling, no one is there to support me, right? So that's obviously a shadow wound. It's an inner child wound, something that I've been working on dealing with, healing as I can in my own ways.

Carissa Andrews: 6:22

We all, no matter what path we're taking when it comes to manifestation and success, we all have our own versions of things, our own inner demons that we have to conquer, in essence, so that we can come back the more aligned, more authentic version of ourselves, and that was definitely a wound that opened up for me that I had to take a closer look at. But here's the thing I've learned, both from experience and from my spiritual practice when you're shifting realities which I was actively doing at the time and still am, obviously, because I'm still trying to call in my highest timeline my most successful and aligned version of that success so when we're doing that, the people, the places, the things that no longer fit with the frequency we're moving into will fall away, and it doesn't mean they weren't important, it just means that their chapter in your story is now complete, at least for the time being. And because I'm a manifesting generator with the hermit role model archetype in human design, I can look back now and see how this was just part of my design too. I needed that year, this past year of retreat, of watching it all kind of fall apart. And in essence, that's really what I've done. I've looked at systems, I've looked at things, I've taken a look at even you know society and you know late stage capitalism, all of it. And I'm seeing that my collapse is not just my own, it's systemic. It's everywhere, we're seeing it everywhere, and so it feels like not only is it mine, but it's something much bigger, it's a much more like I said systemic, I guess, is the best word thing that is going on right now, that we're all kind of going through and we're we're trying to figure out what truly matters.

Carissa Andrews: 8:08

And for me, as I watched, everything kind of implode, and it wasn't. It wasn't implosion to the point of, you know, no support, it was just implosion enough to the point where I was going back into, you know, the scarcity mentality that I had when I began my author career, and I remember watching it, thinking what in the hell is happening here? Why is this coming up? Because I thought all of this had been resolved, that I'd healed through it, I had been able to do so many awesome things, and yet here I am cycling back into it and I had to ask myself was I self-sabotaging, like what is going on here, and who I was meant to become and meant to be as a creator, as an entrepreneur, as an author?

Carissa Andrews: 8:53

As I've revolved through all that, I've realized that it's a different kind of animal right. I was leaning very heavily into my intellect, into the masculine side of who I am, remember, I've always been this kind of person who has both sides. I'm very woo on one side and I'm very strategic science-y on the other, and most of the time I like that balance. But I was doing a lot more with the mind. I was doing more with mentality work, with subconscious work, and all of those things are great, but they're not everything, and so what this year has taught me was how to get back into the body as well, and how that balance has really been more important to me than I even realized in the beginning. So it's been really kind of an interesting year right.

Carissa Andrews: 9:42

So it was a hermit year, for sure, but also I'm. It feels like a year of ashes, and ashes are fertile ground, always for something new. I've never looked at things when they crumble or when they are going away as a complete and total loss. There's always a gift left at the door. There's always something there that's going to help us to catapult into the next level. So while I'm still technically mid-manifestation on exactly what the next era of author evolution looks like, I can feel the clarity and the drive settling in.

Carissa Andrews: 10:17

I'm no longer trying to carry the weight of everything that once was, and there is a lot. There's a lot there. I have so many courses. I think this course vault has nine courses that we are vaulting and will no longer exist. That's a lot of courses. Nine courses that we are vaulting and will no longer exist that's a lot of courses.

Carissa Andrews: 10:34

I've done a lot of books in my life, but there were also a lot of other things going on. Those courses are included, and what ended up happening is in that clearing away, I'm seeing a new strategy coming forward. I'm seeing a new understanding of how I can teach indie authorship in this new era and how to make it more fun and how to make it more deliverable in a way that's really going to get us excited to be indie authors again in this day and age, because, like I said, late stage capitalism is fucking everything up, and that includes our own careers. It includes everything that's happening right now, and if you look at other authors, they're seeing it too. They're talking about it too. Russell Nolte, I think he has a book about, you know, capitalistic dystopia. We're all seeing it right, and so we're seeing the collapse of how it should have been, how you know, the promise of what indie authorship was meant to be and the dystopian outlook that has become the reality.

Carissa Andrews: 11:33

Okay, so, I'm no longer trying to carry that weight. I'm trying to lean into my strengths, follow my intuition more and allow myself to rise more into that Phoenix energy. And right now, as a Virgo right, you know, I'm a double Virgo we're sitting right in between two eclipses, and you know me, I'm still Wu. And so, with the lunar eclipse for the full moon that just happened in Pisces, and now we're coming up on a partial solar eclipse for the new moon in Virgo, we're right, smack dab in the middle of endings and beginnings. And the nine nine portal, you know, is a triple nine year. Everything is going on right now with endings, and we're seeing it playing out across countries in the world, like all sorts of things.

Carissa Andrews: 12:24

And so, as I start to clip back what I do, how I do it, how I'm operating, what brands do, what, it feels so damn good, it feels like I am finally starting to understand, you know, which areas and avenues are my creative outputs, which areas and avenues are my teaching places, and where do I transmit? You know, like, how do I be and just deliver the energy work that I feel like I'm called to deliver and so manifestation has split off. You might have seen, like I said, with this vault thing going on, all of my manifestation courses are going for authors. So they will no longer exist. They'll still be there for those who get the bundles, like the vault itself will still be a part of author revolution, but no one will have access to it anymore. Like it's coming into it. If I do anything manifestation wise, it's going to be over at manifest differently and it's going to be broader and it will no longer have that author spin to it. So I guess this is your like nudge. If you are an author who really wants author specific manifestation techniques, I encourage you to check out the bundles, because even millionaire author manifestation is going to be going into the vault. Okay, now I don't share all of this to give you, you know, just a peek into my chaos. That's not what this is about. I am sharing it because I know I'm not the only one who's gone through a season like this.

Carissa Andrews: 13:51

As authors, you know, we often think success means constantly adding more and just growing right More books, more launches, more strategies, more courses, more everything. But sometimes the real magic happens when you take a step back and you prune, and when you clear that clutter, you can finally see what's really meant to grow, versus the things that you're just kind of I don't know hoping will take off one day. So think about it. Maybe you've been holding onto a series that doesn't excite you anymore and you feel like you've got to keep going because the readers will be mad. Or maybe you're still trying to force a marketing strategy that drains you instead of fuels you. You know TikTok videos. Let's do a bazillion of them, even though it seems like the algorithms have totally gone off the rails right. Or maybe you've piled your schedule with so many shoulds that there's no room left for joy or play in your writing. So what if letting go of those things isn't failure but the exact move that opens the door to your next chapter of your career? That's actually what I've been learning that collapse doesn't have to mean the end. It can mean space. You know space to breathe, space to realign space, to choose what's actually right for you and what's right for you right now and not five years ago.

Carissa Andrews: 15:08

You know, as an entrepreneur, it's harder to see. It gets muddier when it's time to let things go, when we're feeling this like pull to do something new and you're in another job. Often it feels like you know I really want to quit this job, I want to find something new, and if you don't take enough action, eventually you get fired or you get laid off or something happens that forces you into that next chapter. With entrepreneurship, it kind of feels the same, but it's way more sneaky and subtle. It feels like, I said, the collapse. It feels like courses start stalling and no one wants to buy them. It feels like books no longer are selling and you don't know why. It feels like your creativity has left the window and gone on the side door and there's no coming back, and you don't know why. Writing no longer feels like fun, like that's what it feels like when you are doing things for yourself.

Carissa Andrews: 16:01

But it's up to us to still take a closer look then and go okay, what is it that I am truly trying to create here? Why am I manifesting this in my life instead of you know the thing that I say, that I want? So here's my encouragement to you today I want you to take a moment this week to look at your author career with some fresh eyes. What's weighing you down? What can you lovingly release, because the more you prune, the more room you create for your Phoenix moment too. And this time, this era, right now, we are literally in a portal of endings and beginnings, and if you have been paying attention over at Manifest differently at all, or listen to the nine, nine portal activation that I did, you're going to see what that, what I mean about that. We are all here and just kind of closing old paths, closing old doors and starting something new. Okay, now, here's the thing.

Carissa Andrews: 16:54

Like I said, I'm still in the middle of my own manifestation, that I'm constantly going to be evolving, reinventing, shifting who I am as I grow as an individual. I don't ever want to stay stuck as the version I was, just because I think people expect me to be that right. I want to follow my intuition, to understand that things are going to change in my life, in my career, and be okay with letting things go when it's time to let them go or when it's time to transform them. The full picture of the new author revolution is still unfolding and honestly, I kind of love that. So it means to me that I'm not rushing into recreating what already was. I'm giving myself permission to let it kind of become what it's meant to be, and that's something I never really gave author revolution the ability to do.

Carissa Andrews: 17:51

There were ideas, there were goals that I wanted to accomplish through Author Revolution when I first started, but the cohesion wasn't there. I was just like, okay, I know what I want to do and I know what I want to say, but I didn't have the business sense. I didn't have a lot of the marketing sense. I didn't understand my platform on Kajabi when I first began. So it was like there was a lot of learning going on and in that learning process I was trying a lot of new things. But it's different now. It's like I understand the process, I understand the flow, I understand what I want to teach and I understand why I want to teach it and who I want to teach it. So I can tell you this I have a lot more clarity than I did a year ago. I have a lot more clarity than I did when I first opened the doors to Author Revolution and I know what I want Author Revolution to stand for. I know the kind of creative, the kind of entrepreneur, the kind of guide I want to be for authors just like you. And part of that clarity is showing up in the work that I'm creating behind the scenes.

Carissa Andrews: 18:51

So my upcoming book, like I said, write your Reality it's dropping in December and I'll share a lot more of this story in that book. There's more about the collapse and the rebirth and how to consciously manifest your author career even when it feels like it's burning down around you, when it feels like you're burning out around it, like all of the things. It's also got that companion, which is the new edition of Right Frame of Mind, and that is really the best place to start. It will also be launching in November, but it has, you know, the nervous system regulation and the mindset work that we need to have in order to manifest more effectively. So, all of this to say, I have three brand new courses that are lined up for 2026.

Carissa Andrews: 19:35

They're not fully developed. I have outlines, I have things ready to rock, I know what I kind of want to do with them and I'm not spilling all the details on that just yet, but let's just say they're designed to be cleaner, more streamlined, more aligned with this Phoenix energy that I'm talking about, right and the revolutionary energy. These courses are going to cut through the noise and help you rise as the author you're meant to be in this new era of authorship. So, while one era is ending, the next one is already calling, and I am so ready to answer it. And because this door is closing, or this era is ending, I knew I wanted to market in a special way, and that's why, instead of hosting a new live masterclass this month, I knew I had to create an event that was really worthy of what was going on here. So that's why I've decided to open the Author Revolution Course Vault Sale. So if you're interested in any of that stuff, this is your chance to grab everything I've created over the years before they go into the vault for good, and you can pick and choose from the bundles. If there are specific trainings that you've had your eyes on, or if you're like me and you love having all the tools at your fingertips, you can snag the all access vault key and unlock everything in one go. Think of it like a closing ritual to this chapter of Author Revolution, a way to celebrate everything we've built together before I clear the decks and step into what's next. So if you want to explore everything that's going to be going into the vault head over to authorrevolutionorg. That's where you're going to find all the details. The entire site is now dedicated to this sale going on from this moment, and then after that, we will reset.

Carissa Andrews: 21:14

Okay, so here we are the end, the end of the first. I guess it's the first era of author revolution In some ways. When I started switching to manifestation, it felt like a new era as well, but this feels like a reset point. I guess. If there's one thing I hope you take away from this episode, it's that endings aren't failures. They're invitations. They're the doorway to clarity and alignment and the kind of growth you can't get when you're clinging to what no longer fits.

Carissa Andrews: 21:47

For me, closing this chapter of Author Revolution isn't even really about loss. It's about space, space to rise, space to step fully into the author, the entrepreneur and the creative I know I'm meant to be, and the same is true for you. Whatever season you're in, whether you're releasing an old story, shifting your strategies or just trying to find your next right step, I want you to trust that pruning makes room for new possibilities, and the phoenix moment always follows the ashes. Here's to us both embracing our next chapter with courage and clarity and maybe a little rebellious spirit. Until next time, go forth and start your author revolution. Thank you.