The Artisan Author

Less rush. More freedom. A way to love writing again. If modern indie publishing feels like a high-stress race to the bottom, the good news is there’s another way. Most authors start writing for the love of it, but in recent years the reality of “writing for a living” has soured. Now, for a lot of us, it no longer looks fun — or creatively fulfilling — at all. You have to obey genres exactly or your books won’t sell. If you step outside your lane and try something new, the kinds of readers most authors court will never buy it. And then there’s the SPEED of it all: The rules of “Rapid Release” say you have to publish a book every month — at least — or you’ll never survive. Forget about taking a vacation. Time off will let the algorithms forget you. Even successful authors often find themselves in "golden handcuffs”: selling a lot of books, but only in a series they now have to write forever. And all that to earn around a dollar per book … sold to readers who are far more loyal to Kindle Unlimited than to you. Where’s the joy? Where’s the delight that got you into storytelling in the first place? Remember when writing felt like a creative playground instead of a grind? What if, instead of succumbing to that grind, you could find a way to be creative and free … without having to settle for poverty? In The Artisan Author, industry veteran Johnny B. Truant offers an alternative to Rapid Release: a new way to succeed as an author without sacrificing your freedom, worrying about competition or AI, or fearing you’ll lose everything when the winds — or the algorithms — inevitably change. The way of the Artisan Author is the opposite of Rapid Release. Instead of rushing to churn out the same-old same-old, Artisans follow their muse and write whatever they want. Instead of stressing out, Artisans take their time, putting as much care and beauty into their work as they desire. It’s a way to build a substantial, sustainable, bulletproof income based on Kevin Kelly’s idea of “1000 True Fans”: readers who are loyal to you, not any platform. True Fans are all you need to earn as much as you want as an author. They’re people with whom you build genuine human connections … and who therefore love you enough to spend far more than ordinary readers will ever spend. Johnny B. Truant has been a thought leader in the independent publishing community for over a decade, hosting the original Self Publishing Podcast, holding the Smarter Artist Summit conference, and co-authoring the industry bible Write. Publish. Repeat. In The Artisan Author, Johnny presents an art-first, quality-over-quantity alternative to Rapid Release for writers who thought sacrificing creative joy was the only way to succeed. It’s not, though. It’s wonderful over here on the artfully profitable side of writing. Join us, will you?