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The Path of Words Blog

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The Honest Author Monthly Metrics: August 2026 Baseline (Ep. 0006)
The complete metrics dashboard behind The Honest Author’s monthly transparency series: income, book rankings, and follower tracking explained.
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AI Is Everywhere in Publishing — Here’s My One Rule (Ep 0005)
AI is already baked into nearly every tool authors use, whether we know it or not. Here’s the line I’ve drawn, and why it matters more than the AI-or-not debate everyone’s having.
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My Favorite Free Marketing Tool – That No Author Talks About (Ep. 0004)
How one review snippet sent Shea back to his manuscript, the free diagramming tool he’s used for two decades, and the welcome series he’s building for his newsletter.
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Your Website Is Not a Chore — It’s an Employee (Ep. 0003)
Most authors treat their website like a chore. Shea argues for flipping that thinking—and shows how he’s strengthening his dark speculative fiction author brand on his site.
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The Strategy Behind the Strategy (Ep. 0002)
As I began my author career relaunch, I had to develop a solid strategy. This episode walks through a creative approach to developing a framework to drive my author business.
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Introduction to the Honest Author (Ep. 0001)
Shea Oliver launches Honest Author: a weekly, transparent series showing how he rebuilds an author business—writing, publishing, marketing—sharing tactics, money, wins and failures.
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Building Your Author Platform: Proven Strategies for Long-Term Success
A clear, no-hype guide to what an author platform really is—and how to build one with authenticity and simple, repeatable steps across email, content, social, and outreach.
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Author Giveaway Email Series for Sorting Fans from Freebie Seekers
Giveaways can help you grow your list quickly—but not every subscriber will become a future fan. Discover how a welcome sequence helps filter out freebie seekers and convert curious sign-ups into engaged readers.
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Book Pricing Strategies: Effective Pricing for Authors Seeking Success
Master the art and science of book pricing. Discover strategies, avoid common pitfalls, and find the sweet spot that grows both your readership and your revenue.