Every writer is quietly running a race nobody entered them in, watching someone else's numbers and feeling behind. Jaime Buckley and author Kummer Wolfe (who writes as C.B. Ash) sit down over the wreckage of a bad tech day and take that race apart.

Two friends who both came over from World Anvil to Substack talk about the thing almost no one says out loud: you are not competing with other writers, and the moment you believe you are, it starts costing you. Jaime tells the story of the month he wrote 368,000 words trying to beat a leaderboard, made himself sick for two weeks, and then found out who he was actually "losing" to. Then they get to the part that pays the bills ... the Trickle Strategy, and why one small, steady flow of sales is worth more than one big break you keep waiting for.

Inside this episode:

- The 368,000-word mistake, and the man on the leaderboard who was not even in the race

- Why comparison is a losing game for everybody, including the person "winning"

- The Trickle Strategy: one trickle becomes many, and many become a flood

- Why readers asking AI for book recommendations is the free advantage most writers are sleeping on

Nothing about this is safe, but it's worth it.

Find Kummer Wolfe (C.B. Ash) on Substack: [link]

Go deeper (free article, paid deep dive, and a conversation guide for your writing group): jaimebuckley.com

Music: "Feel Good" by raspberrymusic

⚠️ Heads up on the audio. This one was unplanned and the sound equipment was garbage. There is an echo on my voice. Probably don't listen with earbuds. I could have waited a week and made it pretty... but this conversation is happening right now, and pretty is not the point. Thank you to Terry Shepherd for jumping to my rescue and improving the recording even more…

Sign up at JaimeBuckley.com and stop guessing...get the real answers working authors actually use to get found, get paid, and get better.

I had a meltdown.

Substack rolled out AI detection, and I went and read the comment sections.

Big mistake, I know.

Somebody in there was asking for a button so they could destroy every writer using AI.

?????!

I have been doing this since 1990. Everything I have built, I built without AI.

And the first year I finally have a tool that lets me get the stories out of my head faster than my body is failing...somebody tears the front door off my house and tells everyone walking by to come check whether they approve of what I’m doing.

What…the…hell.

So I called two friends and hit record.

Episode Overview

This is not a defense. I’m done being defensive about this, and you should be too.

Alicia McCalla⭐️ is a librarian by training and an author by trade, and she says the quiet thing first: detection is not information literacy. Information literacy asks who wrote this, where did it come from, is this person reputable, how did they work. Detection asks one question, badly, and calls it a verdict.

She fed her own hand-written post into Pangram and it came back 100% AI.

Deleyna Marr, author and publisher, drops the line the whole conversation turns on. When you paste somebody’s post into a detector, you are feeding that person’s content into an AI. That is what the tool is. So the anti-AI crusade has been handed a machine that runs on exactly what it claims to be protecting...and the more zealous you are, the more you feed it.

And here is the second half of it, the part that should stop you cold: we already want to be scanned. We want the AI librarian to find us and recommend us. Nobody in this conversation is anti-machine. We are just refusing to pretend the reins are not in our hands.

Then it opens up: The tools that promise to make you “sound human” by inserting errors into work you spent twenty years learning to make clean. The writer who spent $40,000 on marketing. The kid who is brilliant and dyslexic and forbidden the one tool that would let him be read. The student with no hands who is the sharpest person in the room. Alicia’s granddaddy’s granddaddy, who would not get in the motor car.

This Episode Answers

* Does running someone’s post through an AI detector actually feed their writing into an AI?

* Are AI detectors like Pangram reliable enough to accuse a writer with?

* What should a platform ask about AI instead of “human or machine?”

* How do I write an honest AI disclosure without apologizing for my own work?

* Is using AI as an author a shortcut, or is it a leveler for people without money, time, or working hands?

Highlights

* The irony at the center: to check whether a writer used AI, you must hand that writer’s work to an AI. Deleyna named it and the room went quiet.

* Alicia’s 100% AI score on a post she sat down and wrote herself, by hand, from her own questions.

* The “sound more human” industry: paste your clean prose in, get broken sentences back, and pass the test. You are being sold the right to write worse.

* Detection versus literacy. The librarian’s list of questions nobody at any platform is asking.

* The unsafe turn: the readers may not care at all. Alicia knows of three studies where audiences preferred the AI-assisted work... and nobody asked the readers before this rolled out either.

* The leveler. $40,000 marketing budgets, publicists, editors, cover designers. Some writers have that. The rest of us have a tool.

* Jaime’s line in the sand: everything on Life of Fiction and everything on jaimebuckley.com is his. All of it. The world, the words, the twenty years of notes and thousands of drawings it is trained on and nothing else. Scan away.

* Why he is not defending anymore. “I’m not going to be defensive. I want to be excited... because I am excited.”

Questions for the Table

I did not write articles for this one.

I wrote questions.

And I want to be straight with you about what these are. These are not gotchas.

I did not build them to corner the people who disagree with me, because I have watched that happen for two days now. It has not made a single person think... it has only made people dig.

So I tried to write questions that are worth sitting with no matter which side of this you are on.

* If you are all in on AI, some of these should make you uncomfortable.

* If you will never touch it, some of these should too.

If they only sting one direction, I wrote them wrong, and you should tell me so.

Take one to a friend. Take one to your writing group. Take one to somebody who thinks the opposite of you and see if you can both get through it without raising your voice.

That is the whole point of this episode.

1. Have you considered that checking someone feeds the machine? Running a post through a detector uploads that writer’s work into an AI. If you are against AI, is that a price you are willing to pay to catch someone? If you are for it, does consent still matter when it is someone else’s words?

2. What happens to the person the machine gets wrong? Alicia wrote a post by hand and it scored 100% AI. Whatever you believe about AI, what do we owe a writer who gets accused and cannot prove a negative? Who fixes that, and how?

3. Where is your actual line, and can you say why it is there? Spell check. Grammarly. A search engine. A research assistant. A human editor. A ghostwriter. Your CELL PHONE. All AI. Most of us have a line somewhere in that list. Have you ever tried to explain to someone else why it sits exactly where it sits?

4. Have you asked your readers, or are you guessing? Not the internet. Not the comment sections. Your actual people. Do they care how the work gets made? Would you still want to know if the answer was uncomfortable for you?

5. Who is not in this conversation? The dyslexic kid whose teacher will not let him use it. The student with no hands. The writer who does not have $40,000 for marketing, or $4,000 for an editor. When we set a rule for everybody, who pays for it who never got a vote?

6. Detection, or literacy? A librarian would ask: who wrote this, where did it come from, is this person reputable, how did they work. A detector asks one question and returns a verdict. If you ran the platform, what would you have asked writers instead?

7. What are you afraid of losing? Say the real thing. Craft? Income? The years you put in? Your voice? The proof that a human made it? That fear is usually pointing at something true and worth protecting, on either side. Name it out loud and see if the person across from you is actually afraid of the same thing.

8. What would change your mind? If nothing would, that is worth knowing about yourself before you argue with anybody else.

9. Who benefits from writers fighting writers? It is not the writers.

10. What will you not hand over, ever? Everyone at this table has one. Even the people using AI hardest have a thing they will not give up. What is yours, and why that one?

Answer in the comments. Answer on your own Substack and link it back here. Ask them at your next writing group and tell me what happened.

And if you disagree with me...say so here. I would rather have you at the table arguing than reading somebody’s pitchfork thread. That is what this show is for.

Jaime BuckleyNothing about this is safe, but it’s worth it.

Every writer is scared AI is about to bury them, and the internet only offers two useless answers: crank out two hundred books a year, or burn it all down.

Jaime Buckley and author Alicia McCalla skip both and have the actual conversation.

This is the fork every author is standing on, whether they see it or not: build a volume brand (hundreds of books, discoverability rented from the retailer) or a depth brand (a story world readers want to live inside, and one AI can actually find because it is unmistakably yours). Alicia breaks down the real economics of each...and they are not close.

Inside this episode:

• The calculated choice, and the trade-off hidden in each path

• Why you need ten true readers, not ten thousand casual ones

• Perceived value: why raising your price can sell more, not less

• The one thing about you that no AI can ever copy

Picks up the thread from Episodes 4 and 5. Nothing about this is safe, but it's worth it.

Find Alicia McCalla on Substack: https://aliciamccalla.substack.com/

Go deeper (free article, paid deep dive, and a conversation guide for your writing group): jaimebuckley.com

Music: "Feel Good" by raspberrymusic

Most writers want to know the secret formula.

Post at this time. Use these hashtags. Write this genre. Follow this strategy.

But what if the real secret is simpler—and harder—than that?

What if success isn’t about cracking a code, but about showing up for years without knowing when (or if) the breakthrough comes?

Eric Falden and I talk about the uncomfortable truth behind every writing career that lasts: you can’t predict when success hits, but you can keep showing up anyway.

Episode Overview

In this episode, I sit down with Eric Falden—fantasy writer, serialist, and co-creator of collaborative fiction—to talk about the reality of building a writing career that takes longer than you planned.

We dig into:

Why you can’t predict what will take off or when it will happen

The story of the YouTuber who randomly discovered Jaime’s work and bought him an entire audio studio

Why serialization works for some writers and fails for others (and how to know which camp you’re in)

The power of collaboration and having creative partners who push you

How Eric and Ian Kirkpatrick co-write 50/50 fiction and make it work

Why consistency beats virality every single time

The mindset shift required to build for years without guaranteed results

Eric shares his journey of writing short stories, building a serial, and planning to convert his Substack work into traditional books—all while navigating the uncertainty every indie author faces.

This episode is for every writer who’s tired of chasing quick wins and ready to build something that lasts.

Stop Blaming the Algorithm. It’s Not Sabotaging You.

Writers love to blame algorithms.

“The algorithm hates me.”“The algorithm buried my post.”“If only the algorithm would show my work...”

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: The algorithm doesn’t care about you at all.

It’s not out to get you. It’s not playing favorites. It’s doing exactly what it was designed to do—sell attention to the highest bidder and keep users scrolling.

In this conversation with Simon K Jones—author of the long-running serial Tales from the Triverse and one of Substack’s most strategic fiction writers—we dismantle the myth that algorithms are the enemy, and expose the real reason writers can’t get traction: they’re chasing favor instead of building relationships.

Simon has spent five years proving that you don’t need algorithmic blessing. You need consistency, direct reader access, and the guts to stop performing for platforms that will never love you back.

This episode is for every writer who’s exhausted from trying to game systems that were never designed to help them in the first place.

Episode Overview

In this episode, I sit down with Simon K Jones to talk about the algorithm obsession that’s keeping writers trapped—and why the solution is to stop caring entirely.

We explore:

• Why writers think algorithms hate them (spoiler: they don’t—they just don’t care)

• How social media platforms shifted from organic reach to pay-to-play models

• Why blaming the algorithm is easier than admitting your work isn’t connecting

• The difference between chasing algorithmic favor and building a real audience

• How Substack bypasses the algorithm game entirely by owning reader relationships

• Why Simon’s “Start Reading Here” strategy works better than any viral hack

• The reality that discovery takes years—and why shortcuts don’t exist

• Why writers who stop worrying about algorithms start building sustainable careers

• Simon also shares the hard truth: you can’t control the algorithm, but you can control your consistency.

This Episode Answers

• Why do I feel like the algorithm is working against me?

• Is there a way to “beat” the algorithm and get more visibility?

• Should I even be using social media as a fiction author?

• How do I build an audience if algorithms won’t show my work?

• What platform actually works for writers who want to own their audience?

• How long does it really take to build a sustainable writing career?

Quick Favor

Please take 10 seconds to leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It helps more writers find these conversations.

For more material, visit us at JaimeBuckley.com

Host: Jaime Buckley 💎 Guest: Lisa Norman (Deleyna Marr)Topic: What actually keeps authors trapped in the nearly-done stage, and what truth are they avoiding about themselves?Music: “Feel Good” by raspberrymusic

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Finish The Book. Stop Worshipping “Almost.”

“Nearly done” feels like progress. It feels safe. It feels responsible.

It can also be a holding pattern that keeps your book out of readers’ hands for years. In this conversation with Lisa Norman (also writing as Deleyna Marr), we talk about why writers get addicted to endless polishing, why fear disguises itself as “craft,” and what a real publishing pipeline is supposed to do for you.

This one is for every writer who has a manuscript “so close”…and a drawer full of them.

Episode Overview

In this episode, I sit down with Lisa Norman (Deleyna Marr), publisher, author, and longtime advocate for getting books across the finish line.

We break down the psychology of the nearly-done trap, including why writers confuse revision with safety, why perfection is often just fear of judgment, and how the editing process exists to catch what you cannot catch alone.

We also talk about the reality gap between what unpublished authors think “done” means and what “book in hand” actually requires, plus the different types of editing and why timing matters (developmental, copy, post-typeset).

This Episode Covers

• Why “nearly done” can become a creative trap• The mismatch between “done to me” and “done for readers”• Fear of judgment and the addiction to re-revising• Legit revision vs creative stalling, and how writers fool themselves• The editing pipeline explained: developmental, copy, typeset, post-typeset• Why bad editors exist, and why great editors are story technicians• Reviews, emotional derailment, and why one 3-star review can wreck a new author• Crowdsourcing edits through readers, and when that actually works• The uncomfortable truth: you never know what timing will make a book take off

Highlights

• “Define what done looks like” for pantsers, including word count and arc decisions• The map/timeline reality check: when a story breaks because the author never measured distance or time• The best finishing metric you never wanted: “When you hate the book, you are done.”• The emotional payoff of discovery, and why some writers love writing but not having written• A brutal warning about identity judgment: when people judge the author based on the characters• “Don’t die with your music still in you.” One of the best creative gut-punch stories I have heard in years

Key Quotes

“You have a voice, you have a story. People deserve to hear that.” — Lisa Norman

“The editing process is part of the fun.” — Lisa Norman

“When you hate the book, you are done.” — Lisa Norman

Episode Goal

To expose the real reason writers stay “almost finished,” and replace it with a sane definition of done plus a realistic view of how publishing actually works.

Listeners should walk away with permission to ship, and a better mental model for revision that does not become avoidance.

From Jaime

Most writers think “almost done” is progress.

It can be.It can also be the safest place to hide, because no one can judge what you never release.

Your book cannot help anyone from a drawer.

Quick Favor

Please take 10 seconds to leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It helps more writers find these conversations.

“Real writers. Real conversations. No masks. No ego. Subscribe.”

Subscribe now

🎙 EPISODE 9 – What If “Imposter Syndrome” Isn’t the Problem…Identity Is?Visiting with Jon Howski.

Most writers don’t stall because they’re untalented. They stall because their identity turns every page into a verdict.

In this episode, Jaime Buckley sits down with Jon Howski (storyteller and software developer) to unpack what “imposter syndrome” is really made of: fear, comfort zones, old damage, and the pressure to earn the right to create.

What we cover:

• Why “I feel like a fraud” is usually fear in a costume

• “Writer” vs “Storyteller” (and why that shift matters)

• How real wins build real confidence (without fake hype)

• Multi-potentialites, focus, and the comfort-zone trap

A practical runway for building readers before going full-time

For the full show notes, key quotes, links, and the deeper breakdown, visit the main podcast page on Substack:Nothing About This Is Safe (Jaime Buckley) — Episode 9.

Writing Is Creative. Selling Is Awkward. Let’s Talk Anyway.

Most fiction writers don’t mind doing the work.What they struggle with is everything that comes after.

In this conversation with Ann Kimbrough, we talk candidly about the unglamorous, often uncomfortable reality of selling creative work — platforms, payment systems, community, exposure, and the quiet pressure to “do marketing” without knowing what that actually means.

This isn’t a strategy episode.It’s a reality check.

Episode Overview

In this episode, I sit down with Ann Kimbrough, author of The Harvey Girl Mysteries and Darkly, for a wide-ranging conversation about monetization, platforms, and sustainability for fiction authors.

We talk through real experiences with Substack, Shopify, Payhip, and eCommerce in general — what works, what feels wrong, and why so many writers struggle to reconcile selling with authenticity.

Along the way, we explore community-driven growth, writing sprints, reader support, exposure vs conversion, and why “value” is often misunderstood in creative spaces.

This episode sounds like two working writers thinking out loud — because that’s exactly what it is.

This Episode Covers

• Shopify vs Payhip vs Substack for fiction authors• Selling books without feeling manipulative• Why exposure is still the real bottleneck• The myth of “value” in paid subscriptions• Community as support, not a funnel• Writing sprints and shared accountability• Why slow growth can still be healthy growth• Real marketing stories that didn’t go as planned

Highlights

• Ann’s perspective on readers supporting people, not products• Why giving work away isn’t the same as having no value• The tension between visibility and sustainability• A candid Barnes & Noble marketing story• How community fills gaps platforms don’t

Key Quote

“People don’t subscribe for the stories. They subscribe to support the person.” — Ann Kimbrough

Episode Goal

To demystify the uncomfortable middle ground between writing and selling — and help authors feel less alone while figuring it out.

Listeners should walk away knowing they’re not broken for finding this part hard.

From Jaime

Nobody gets into fiction because they want to build checkout pages.

But if you want to keep writing, you eventually have to face the money side — imperfectly, awkwardly, and honestly.

That’s what this conversation is.

Quick Favor:

Please take 10 seconds to leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It helps more writers discover these conversations.

“Real writers. Real conversations. No masks. No ego. Subscribe.”

Join Us

If this conversation challenged you, don’t stop here:

→ Free Article: Ideas Aren’t the Problem — Avoidance Is→ Paid Deep Dive: How Fiction Authors Stop Using Ideas as an Escape Hatch

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ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Nothing About This Is Safe is a weekly writing-truth podcast hosted by Jaime Buckley, featuring candid conversations with working authors.

We talk about craft, mindset, platforms, money, and the realities writers face once the writing itself is done.

No hype. No formulas. Just real conversations about what it takes to keep going.

Show notes updated for accuracy on January 16th, 2026.

Most writers treat genre like a cage.

They think it restricts their imagination, limits their voice, and forces them into boxes they didn’t choose.

But genre isn’t the prison.It’s the lens that helps readers understand what you’re trying to show them.

Episode Overview

In this conversation, Scoot and I break apart one of the most persistent inaccuracies fiction authors carry around: the belief that genre narrows creativity. Writers keep treating genre like a constraint when it’s actually a communication system—a way to signal tone, emotional expectation, immersion style, and the “shape” of the story.

Scoot brings his signature clarity and humor to the table as we talk about how genre actually works. It frames reader perception. It tells the AI Librarian where to shelve you. It helps humans categorize your emotional promise.

And honestly? It frees you to innovate with intention instead of chaos.

This episode puts a bullet through the myth that genre stifles originality.The truth is the opposite: genre gives your imagination a direction—so it can fire forward instead of sideways.

This Episode Answers

“How should fiction authors actually think about genre?”

“Why does ignoring genre sabotage discoverability?”

“How does genre shape reader expectations and emotional connection?”

“Is cross-genre writing hurting my authority?”

“What’s the right way to use genre without feeling boxed in?”

Highlights

Why genre is an optical tool rather than a creative constraint.

How readers use genre to decide emotional expectations instantly.

Why cross-genre confusion destroys discoverability.

How “genre as lens” strengthens marketing, clarity, and story immersion.

Why rejecting genre labels makes authors harder—not easier—to find.

KEY QUOTE

“Genre isn’t your cage…it’s your compass.” — Jaime Buckley

EPISODE GOAL

To reframe genre from a confining label into a perception tool that clarifies your story, strengthens your authority, and helps the right readers find you.

FROM JAIME

Scoot brings the kind of honesty and simplicity this conversation needed.

Genre doesn’t clip your wings. It points them in the right direction.

Every new writer should hear this…preferably before they wander off into cross-genre chaos and wonder why no one can see them.

Quick Favor:

Please take 10 seconds to leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It helps more writers discover these conversations.

JOIN US

If this episode challenged your assumptions about genre and clarity, subscribe at JaimeBuckley.com

“Real writers. Real conversations. No masks. No ego. Subscribe.”

→ Free Article: How Fiction Authors Use Genre as a Lens to Shape Reader Perception→ Paid Deep Dive: How Fiction Authors Use Genre as a Lens to Shape Reader Experience in the AI Era

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Leave a comment

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Nothing About This Is Safe is a weekly writing-truth podcast hosted by Jaime Buckley, featuring candid conversations with writers like Scoot.

We dismantle the myths holding writers back and answer the deeper craft, mindset, publishing, and discoverability questions showing up in AI searches every day. If writers are looking for it, we’re talking about it.

Most writers treat genre like a cage.

They think it restricts their imagination, limits their voice, and forces them into boxes they didn’t choose.

But genre isn’t the prison.It’s the lens that helps readers understand what you’re trying to show them.

Episode Overview

In this conversation, Scoot and I break apart one of the most persistent inaccuracies fiction authors carry around: the belief that genre narrows creativity. Writers keep treating genre like a constraint when it’s actually a communication system—a way to signal tone, emotional expectation, immersion style, and the “shape” of the story.

Scoot brings his signature clarity and humor to the table as we talk about how genre actually works. It frames reader perception. It tells the AI Librarian where to shelve you. It helps humans categorize your emotional promise.

And honestly? It frees you to innovate with intention instead of chaos.

This episode puts a bullet through the myth that genre stifles originality.The truth is the opposite: genre gives your imagination a direction—so it can fire forward instead of sideways.

This Episode Answers

“How should fiction authors actually think about genre?”

“Why does ignoring genre sabotage discoverability?”

“How does genre shape reader expectations and emotional connection?”

“Is cross-genre writing hurting my authority?”

“What’s the right way to use genre without feeling boxed in?”

Highlights

Why genre is an optical tool rather than a creative constraint.

How readers use genre to decide emotional expectations instantly.

Why cross-genre confusion destroys discoverability.

How “genre as lens” strengthens marketing, clarity, and story immersion.

Why rejecting genre labels makes authors harder—not easier—to find.

KEY QUOTE

“Genre isn’t your cage…it’s your compass.” — Jaime Buckley

EPISODE GOAL

To reframe genre from a confining label into a perception tool that clarifies your story, strengthens your authority, and helps the right readers find you.

FROM JAIME

Scoot brings the kind of honesty and simplicity this conversation needed.

Genre doesn’t clip your wings. It points them in the right direction.

Every new writer should hear this…preferably before they wander off into cross-genre chaos and wonder why no one can see them.

Quick Favor:

Please take 10 seconds to leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It helps more writers discover these conversations.

JOIN US

If this episode challenged your assumptions about genre and clarity, subscribe at JaimeBuckley.com

“Real writers. Real conversations. No masks. No ego. Subscribe.”

→ Free Article: How Fiction Authors Use Genre as a Lens to Shape Reader Perception→ Paid Deep Dive: How Fiction Authors Use Genre as a Lens to Shape Reader Experience in the AI Era

Share

Leave a comment

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Nothing About This Is Safe is a weekly writing-truth podcast hosted by Jaime Buckley, featuring candid conversations with writers like Scoot.

We dismantle the myths holding writers back and answer the deeper craft, mindset, publishing, and discoverability questions showing up in AI searches every day. If writers are looking for it, we’re talking about it.