The very first episode of The Difficulty. A 50-year-old paperweight on my father’s desk turned out to be a line from a 1900 Irish play, and the seed of this show. What you’re getting on Mondays vs. Thursdays, what’s launching this week at crossroadspublishing.group, the founding-and-selling of C&R Press, the Terminus Magazine “just make it real” lesson, and the $4,000 bestseller campaign I almost said yes to two days ago.

00:00 Welcome — we’re not about perfectionism, we’re about idealizing

03:00 The motto: the difficulty in life is the choice

04:30 Origin of the quote — my father’s rock paperweight, George Moore, 1900

08:00 What this show is NOT (and is)

11:30 The free Difficulty Field Guide

12:30 What’s launching this week: the show, the site, IF/THEN Books, Iris #1

17:00 Crossroads Publishing services — for writers with a body of work

20:00 Who I am — PhD, ICF coach, Enneagram, C&R Press 1996-2015, 50+ books

24:00 Making it real imperfectly — the Terminus Magazine origin story

30:00 Who this show is for

33:00 The $4,000 Brody bestseller campaign and $2,000 Cohen Groundbreakers

38:00 The in-between is the hard part — the real difficulty isn’t the choice

42:00 What’s coming Thursday: how to stop believing your stuff is special

The Difficulty Field Guide (free PDF — eight difficulties every creative life faces)

Iris Blackwood and the Curse of Hemlock Island (launching Tuesday May 5, with free

Decision Tree map and educator’s reading guide)

Crossroads Publishing Group — IF/THEN Books, Crossroads Press services, free resources.

Subscribe to The Descent (the show’s hub):

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@chadprevostwriter

Personal site: https://chadprevost.com

Mentioned in this episode:

- George Moore, The Bending of the Bough (1900) — the source quote

- C&R Press (founded 2006, sold 2015)

- Terminus Magazine (Atlanta literary magazine origin story)

- Game Time Books — earlier interactive-fiction venture

- Dave Chesson / Kindlepreneur — Publisher Rocket

- Paul G. Brody / Brody Consulting — bestseller campaign service

- Bryan Cohen / Best Page Forward — Groundbreakers community

- Robert Frost — “the road less traveled”

Get full access to The Descent at chadprevost.substack.com/subscribe