What I Won’t Do as an Author (and What I Will)

Books are asking a lot of people these days. Time, focus, attention — all of it feels scarce in a world full of noise, streaming services, doomscrolling, and endless distractions. Reading is an investment. When someone chooses to spend those hours with me, I take it seriously.

That’s why I’ve been thinking not just about what I want to write, but about what I owe readers. What I won’t do. What I will do. Where the lines are, and why I draw them.

This isn’t about being purist or stubborn. It’s about respect — for the page, for the reader, and for myself.

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What I Won’t Do

• Use social media I don’t enjoy just for advertising.
  If I hate it, readers will feel that. Fake energy serves no one.
• Spend more time advertising than writing.
  You didn’t sign up to watch me sell. You signed up to read my work.
• Blow money I don’t have on promotion.
  Readers deserve honesty, not desperation dressed up as marketing.
• Write something I don’t believe.
  Life is too short to waste your time — or mine — on words I don’t mean.
• Lean on genre tropes for the sake of easy entertainment.
  If I use tropes, it’ll be to subvert them, not to spoon-feed them.
• Write bloated books.
  Unless it’s a collection, I won’t go over 500 pages. Your time is valuable; I won’t waste it with filler.
• Use another cover that screams “AI.”
  I’ve made that mistake. Covers matter, and readers deserve better.
• Get a big head over good reviews.
  Praise doesn’t make me infallible.
• Get bitter over bad reviews.
  Criticism doesn’t make me worthless.
• Pretend to be something I’m not.
  Readers can smell fakery a mile away.
• Make a fake “fan” account to like my own work.
  That’s just lying. If I have to trick people into thinking my words have value, then I’ve already lost.

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What I Will Do

• Edit relentlessly.
  Not because I’m a perfectionist, but because your time matters. My voice should shine through, not the scaffolding.
• Post what I care about.
  Not just what will “do numbers.” Respect means not wasting your click with something I don’t believe in.
• Be honest about my process.
  If AI helped, I’ll say it. If I struggled, I’ll say that too. Readers deserve the truth.
• Overshare.
  Because honesty is the only currency worth trading between writer and reader.
• Write from the heart, not for popularity.
  If I chased trends, I’d lose myself. If I lose myself, I lose you.
• Experiment.
  Fiction, memoir, essays, fragments — if it feels alive, it deserves the page.
• Respect the reader as human, not “audience.”
  I’d rather have a few deep connections than thousands of shallow ones.
• Keep learning.
  The best way to honor readers is to keep growing, keep sharpening, keep questioning.
• Stay flexible.
  If the story wants to be short, I’ll keep it short. If it wants to be strange, I’ll let it.
• Remember why I started.
  Writing gave me survival and connection. If I can give that back, then I’ve kept my side of the deal.

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What I’m Not Doing (Yet)

There are things I know I should do, and I’m not pretending otherwise.

• Posting at the best times.
  Articles do better if you share them when people are actually online — mornings and evenings. I know that, but I don’t always do it.
• Paying closer attention to timeliness.
  It would be easy enough to read the day’s headlines and write in response. I probably should. But I don’t always have the energy to keep pace with the cycle.
• Getting more political.
  I love political ideas. I hate political people. Politicians disappoint me so much that I’d rather not waste energy ranting about them. Still, I know I could write more about policy and solutions, even if they sometimes sound naive. To me, offering ideas — even messy ones — feels better than just complaining.

This section is important to me because it’s about honesty too. I could pretend I’ve got it all figured out, but the truth is I’m still experimenting, still learning. And maybe some of these “shoulds” will become part of my process later.

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At the end of the day, this isn’t about rules. It’s about respect. If someone picks up one of my books, I want them to feel that I honored their investment — not just of money, but of the one thing none of us can get back: time.

I’d rather be the kind of writer who leaves you with something true than the kind who sells you what I don’t believe in. That’s my promise.