If you find yourself always waiting for the other shoe to drop in publishing, or you follow up every “I really want to sell this next book” with some version of “but it probably won’t,” today’s episode is for you!

Letting yourself expect good news in your publishing career isn’t about being foolish, naive, or delusional. It can be an intentional choice that helps you have a happier, healthier writing life.

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To celebrate hitting 200+ episodes, I have some exciting things in store for you!

Revise a Book with Me: I’m offering an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look into how I navigate the emotional highs and lows of revising a book under deadline. Experience the unedited, unvarnished truth of working as a full-time author – the good, the bad, and the weird. Learn more and join the experience here.

Free Coaching Giveaway: Simply leave a review of this podcast wherever you listen to it, email a screenshot to [email protected], and you’ll be entered to win a free 30-minute coaching call with me! I’m choosing one winner per 10 entries, so your odds are great! Deadline for entries is January 25, 2026.

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You deserve to love your author career. I can help with that. Learn more about private coaching opportunities here: http://www.isabelsterling.com/academy

Looking for even more author advice and notifications about upcoming workshops? Sign up for my weekly Real Talk for Writers newsletter by clicking here.

DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!

I’ve started revising my next book and… the first draft is in Not Great Shape. So this week I’m sharing a few of my initial takeaways as I manage my brain so it doesn’t freak out about the work ahead of me.

To celebrate the 200th episode of this podcast, I have some exciting things in store for you!

Free Coaching Giveaway: Simply leave a review of this podcast wherever you listen to it, email a screenshot to [email protected], and you’ll be entered to win a free 30-minute coaching call with me! I’m choosing one winner per 10 entries, so your odds are great! Deadline for entries is January 25, 2026.

Revise a Book with Me: I’m offering an unprecedented behind-the-scenes look into how I navigate the emotional highs and lows of revising a book under deadline. Experience the unedited, unvarnished truth of working as a full-time author – the good, the bad, and the weird. Learn more and join the experience here.

***

You deserve to love your author career. I can help with that. Learn more about private coaching opportunities here: http://www.isabelsterling.com/academy

Looking for even more author advice and notifications about upcoming workshops? Sign up for my weekly Real Talk for Writers newsletter by clicking here.

DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!

For this final episode of 2025, I decided to lean into my witchier side and do a group tarot reading!

If you’re curious what advice the cards had for the new year, listen in to this short episode (and check out my Instagram to see the beautiful art on these cards!).

Spoiler alert: overall, there are good things ahead!

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You deserve to love your author career. I can help with that. Learn more about private coaching opportunities here: http://www.isabelsterling.com/academy

Looking for even more author advice and notifications about upcoming workshops? Sign up for my weekly Real Talk for Writers newsletter by clicking here.

DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!

With the final few days of the year upon us, now is a great time to pause and reflect on how things went in 2025. You deserve to celebrate all the wins you had–big and small–before you set your sights on a new year of goals.

This week, I’m sharing some of the highlights of my year along with a framework for looking at 2025 in a judgement-free way so you can extract the wisdom you gained this year without being mean to yourself if you fell behind the goals you set last January.

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You deserve to love your author career. I can help with that. Learn more about private coaching opportunities here: http://www.isabelsterling.com/academy

Looking for even more author advice and notifications about upcoming workshops? Sign up for my weekly Real Talk for Writers newsletter by clicking here.

DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!

The first time you draft a book under contract can be an exceptionally challenging experience. There are craft-level challenges (“how do I make the stakes even bigger for this sequel?”), timeline challenges (“I need to write a book in how many months?”), and emotional challenges (“what if I’m actually a fraud and my last book was my only good idea?”). You are not alone in these struggles, and today, I’m breaking down my advice for the major worries most authors face after having written three Book 2s so far in my career.

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You deserve to love your author career. I can help with that. Learn more about private coaching opportunities here: http://www.isabelsterling.com/academy

Looking for even more author advice and notifications about upcoming workshops? Sign up for my weekly Real Talk for Writers newsletter by clicking here.

DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!

With the holidays upon us, you may find your calendar full with extra family stuff. Shopping. Cooking. Cleaning. Travel to visit family or hosting at your place. On top of all of that… you still have writing goals you want to accomplish. And some much-needed rest you want to fit in, too.

In this episode, I walk you through a simple addition to your goal setting process that will make setting goals you can actually achieve this holiday season so much easier.

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You deserve to love your author career. I can help with that. Learn more about private coaching opportunities here: http://www.isabelsterling.com/academy

Looking for even more author advice and notifications about upcoming workshops? Sign up for my weekly Real Talk for Writers newsletter by clicking here.

DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!

If you have a book coming out in 2026 and you find yourself spending a lot of time worried your book will “fail,” this episode is for you.

I’m breaking down all my thoughts about success and failure in publishing and why feeling disappointment is not a sign that you’ve failed.

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You deserve to love your author career. I can help with that. Learn more about private coaching opportunities here: http://www.isabelsterling.com/academy

Looking for even more author advice and notifications about upcoming workshops? Sign up for my weekly Real Talk for Writers newsletter by clicking here.

DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!

In order to write a novel, you need to be able to both make millions of decisions and effectively problem solve when those initial decisions turn out to be not quite right. Whether you’ve got a complicated plot problem, a character issue, or your career has taken an unexpected detour, strong problem solving skills will get you to a solution faster–and with less panic. 

Listen in for a simple 4-step process to make problem solving more effective.

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You deserve to love your author career. I can help with that. Learn more about private coaching opportunities here: http://www.isabelsterling.com/academy

Looking for even more author advice and notifications about upcoming workshops? Sign up for my weekly Real Talk for Writers newsletter by clicking here.

DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode! 

Today is the last day to apply for the January class of The Confident Author Academy. 

Submit your application here.

When you care about the books you write, it’s easy to slip into a negative headspace when those stories aren’t received the way you hoped. You worry that you’re an unoriginal hack who has tricked everyone into thinking you write decent books. You fear that the books you’ve released were just a fluke and you’ll never publish anything else ever again.

While these fears are normal, I promise they are not true.

So if you’re in need of a pep talk, this episode is for you.

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The January 2026 cohort of The Confident Author Academy is enrolling now! Submit your application here: http://www.isabelsterling.com/academy-cohort Applications close on November 22nd.

Prefer one-one one support? Limited private coaching spots are available now: http://www.isabelsterling.com/academy

Looking for even more author advice and notifications about upcoming workshops? Sign up for my weekly Real Talk for Writers newsletter by clicking here.

DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!