Talent Isn't Enough (And It Never Was)

On indie burnout, learned helplessness, and why good writing won't save you

Last week after reading my article on paywalls (and writers not needing to apologize for them), an exceptional author threw up his hands in despair and quit everything. Deleted his Substack, canceled his subscriptions, walked away from his dreams of being an indie author.

His final post before deleting was a full-on manifesto of why he was done with it all: the audience is fickle, the algorithms are rigged, AI is flooding the market, everyone wants everything for free, and the “business” of writing is beneath the dignity of someone who just wants to write well.

I read it twice. The first time with sympathy, because indie publishing is brutal and I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t felt every one of those frustrations myself. The second time was with a sick sort of familiarity. Because buried in that rant was a belief I’ve seen sink more writers than any algorithm ever could: the idea that good writing should be enough. That talent will find its audience. That if you build it, they will co…