Host: Jaime Buckley 💎
Guest: Tell Me a Mystery
Topic: How fiction authors sell their work without feeling gross…platforms, pricing, and sustainability
Music: “Feel Good” by raspberrymusic
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.
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
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.
