Host: Jaime Buckley 💎
Guest: Kummer Wolfe (writes as C.B. Ash)
Topic: Why comparing yourself to other writers quietly bankrupts you, and the trickle-by-trickle way a fiction author actually builds a living.
Music: “Feel Good” by raspberrymusic
There is a race almost every writer is running, and nobody signed them up for it.
You look at another author’s numbers…
…another author’s launch,
…another author’s follower count,
…and some quiet voice says you’re behind.
I know that voice.
[bastard]
I once let it talk me into writing three hundred and sixty-eight thousand words in a single month to beat a leaderboard.
Dead serious.
If I could have figured out how to put hot coffee through an I.V., I probably would have tried it.
Hurt myself so badly, I ended up in bed for two weeks.
What hurt even more,…was when I found out who I was actually racing.
Kummer Wolfe and I sat down and took the whole thing apart...
WHY comparison is a losing game for everybody, and WHAT you build instead…once you finally put it down.
Episode Overview
Kummer and I go back to the World Anvil days, and we both landed on Substack the same way a lot of writers do...
By accident.
Chasing something else.
…and then never leaving.
So this one starts where two friends usually start: a rough tech day, a house full of grandkids, and the small relief of the right tool finally working.
The spine of the whole conversation is a simple one:
“You are not competing with the writer next to you.”
Kummer says it best...
“…we are all running up the same hill toward the same wall with arrows raining down, and it costs you nothing to reach back and pull the next writer up beside you.”
We got honest about money, because encouragement that ignores the rent is just…well, stupid.
I lay out the way I actually think about income (which I rarely do), and share how to add up to something that feeds a family.
It isn’t a lecture or a pep talk, so don’t worry.
It’s just two working authors who love this life, talking about how to survive it without losing your mind to a stupid scoreboard.
This Episode Answers
How do I make a living as a fiction writer if I do not have a bestseller?
Why does comparing myself to other authors keep making me miserable and broke?
What do I do instead of chasing volume or one big break?
How does the way AI recommends books change what a small author should do right now?
Highlights
The 368,000-word month... the World Ember leaderboard, two sick weeks, and the gut-punch reveal of who was actually “ahead”
Kummer’s castle-wall reframe... every writer running the same hill, and why reaching back to pull someone up never costs you the climb
The Trickle Strategy... learn to make one book trickle, then build a hundred trickles, until it is a stream, a river, a flood
The hard truth... comparison is a losing game even for the person who thinks they are winning
The free advantage most writers miss... readers now ask AI who to read, and you can feed it the accurate, true version of you
Key Quote
“Once you know you can create one trickle, all you have to do is create a whole bunch of trickles. That becomes a stream, then a river, then a flood.”
Jaime Buckley
Episode Goal
Put down the scoreboard.
Stop measuring your career against writers who may not even be in the race. Instead, start measuring it against your own last chapter.
Then trade the fantasy of one big break for the quieter, kinder math of building trickles you actually control.
From Jaime
If this one loosened something in your chest, do the thing the whole episode is about... reach back and hand it to another writer who needs it.
Then go deeper.
The free article opens up the comparison trap and how to walk out of it.
The paid deep dive hands you the Trickle Strategy step by step with a worksheet to map your own.
The free Round Table Discussion guide is there so you can work it through with your own writing people, or come do it with us live.
You are MORE than you THINK you are
…and so is the writer sitting across the table from you.
Join Us
- Free Article: Why Comparing Yourself to Other Writers Is a Losing Game
- Paid Deep Dive: How Fiction Writers Turn One Book Into Steady Income: The Trickle Strategy
- The Round Table Discussion (free guide + live GoBrunch) 👉🏼 Why Do Writers Beat Comparison Faster Together Than Alone?
…and visit my buddy Kummer. You won't regret it, I promise.
About This Podcast
Nothing About This Is Safe is the monthly writing-truth podcast hosted by Jaime Buckley, featuring candid conversations with working authors. We go after the real questions fiction writers actually search for ... craft, identity, mindset, publishing reality, money, and creative survival ... without sugarcoating and without performance.
If a writer is looking for an honest answer, these are the conversations you want to listen to.
Jaime Buckley
Nothing about this is safe, but it’s worth it.
