Important changes to The Book Path

This career is always evolving and I need to evolve with it

Hi folks!

I said last week I would have an announcement about the future of The Book Path this week and here it is:

I’m dropping down the frequency of my posts. Going forward, I’ll be posting/emailing you more like monthly than weekly. I have good reasons...

1. I’m really busy

In the past couple of months, I’ve gained a number of new writer mentoring clients, and I need to dedicate time to them. I’ve been booked for a bunch of workshops (and workshop series) for 2026. In addition to these, I’m launching my next book in April with three big events, and then I’m doing a residency in South Australia for all of May. I’m also working on the 2026 Festival of Fiction as one of the handmaidens to Festival Director Tess Woods. Next year looks busy and I need to save my writing energy for writing books.

2. I’m drained

Keeping up a weekly schedule of posts is exhausting. My paid subscriber base has not grown this year, so I don’t have a financial carrot dangling in front of me to spend hours crafting a post each week. On average, I’m doing it for about $15/hour which is well below minimum wage and I need to dignify my time more than that! The sense of dread I get before I write my weekly post is not helping. It feels like … not a waste, but not a good use of my time.

3. Substack is filling up with AI

I can see it everywhere now. I have learned how to identify AI and I can tell when people are using it for writing posts as well as when they’re using it for outlining, drafting or finessing their posts. I can see big names in the Australian writing industry using it from laziness, and it depresses me. I’m losing my passion for writing about writing. Why bother when AI can say it, and at pretty much the same standard as I can? It has started to feel like I’m creating ‘content’ instead of sharing wisdom.

The Solution

I’m bringing it back to genuine human connections. I’m taking it offline. I want to have live sessions with writers and readers, where I meet them and connect to talk about writing and their work. I don’t want to spray my hard-won wisdom into the void (and have it feed the gigantic AI machines for other, lazier people to take advantage of). And I’m focusing on enjoying my creative writing by slowing it down and writing for fun.

What will The Book Path look like?

I’m going to be popping in roughly monthly to talk about my news and offer some case study writing craft tips, based on sessions I’ve run with aspiring authors and writers. It will be more casual, more chatty, more irregular, and free. I’ll be removing my archive of writing and publishing advice and I may collate it into a non-fiction book you can buy to keep. The slack group will also be closed.

Your options

It’s time for you to manage your membership and make sure you’ve switched off your paid subscription. I can’t chase each of you individually, so please do this now. If you don’t, your payment method may continue to be charged.

How to cancel your paid membership

Go to your account settings on a web browser, find the publication under your subscriptions, and click “To cancel your paid subscription, click here” to be taken to the cancellation page. You will be able to select “Cancel Subscription” and your access will continue until the end of the current billing cycle, at which point you will become a free subscriber.

If you want to cancel but honestly can’t work out how, please reach out to me and I can go into the Substack back end and cancel your membership manually, but I’ll only do this if you ask me to. In the meantime, I’ve paused paid subscriptions and at some stage in the next few months I’ll switch it off completely—but I don’t control how Substack charges people.

Do you still want to support me?

Never fear! When I post going forward, I’ll include a link to my Ko-fi page, where you can ‘tip’ me for useful information or because you enjoyed a post.

Do you still want to read my words?

If you like cosy fantasy, I’m starting a free serial fiction page where I’m posting a fun fantasy story in instalments. Subscribe and you’ll get the stories straight into your inbox. This is a no-pressure space for me to play with words and story—and reclaim some of my passion!

Thank you!

Thank you for your support and loyalty. I have loved bringing together this little community of passionate writers and this is simply a change, not a goodbye. I still want to talk to you, see you and hear from you. Please keep commenting, replying and emailing or messaging me. I always welcome connection.

Love, Sasha xxx