Mind Your Own Business: Why You'll Be Happier (And Probably Sell More Books)
Every week, there's a new argument in the indie publishing community.
Someone's upset about AI. Someone's upset about dark romance. Someone thinks Kindle Unlimited is ruining publishing. Someone's annoyed that another author writes too fast, or too slow. Someone thinks spicy books shouldn't exist. Someone thinks closed-door romance is boring. Someone's offended by a one-star review that wasn't even left on their own book.
It never really stops. And honestly? Most of it has nothing to do with you at all.
The internet has made everyone feel responsible for everyone else
Social media gave authors an incredible way to connect with readers and each other. It's also quietly created a culture where everyone feels like they need an opinion on everything.
A new trope trends, and half the internet rushes to explain why it's problematic. An author markets differently than you would, and suddenly there are ten posts about how they're "doing publishing wrong." One author writes twenty books a year, another writes one every five, and somehow people turn that into an argument about which is the "correct" way to be an author.
Here's the honest truth: there isn't one. Never has been.
You don't have to like everything
You're allowed to dislike books, genres, tropes — even think certain marketing strategies are ineffective. That's completely fair.
What isn't especially useful is acting like everyone else needs to agree with you. One reader's favourite book is another reader's DNF. One author's dream project is someone else's worst nightmare. That's genuinely the beauty of books — there's something out there for everyone, and that's a good thing, not a problem to solve.
Publishing isn't a competition to be right
We've noticed over the years that authors can pour an astonishing amount of energy into convincing total strangers they're wrong. Wrong for reading a certain genre. Wrong for writing a certain trope. Wrong for publishing quickly, or slowly. Wrong for using Kindle Unlimited, or going wide. Wrong for pricing at £4.99, or 99p.
Worth asking, gently: how has any of that actually helped your own career? Did the angry Facebook post finish the next chapter? Did arguing with a stranger grow the mailing list? Did complaining about someone else's success move a single one of your own sales?
Probably not. And that's okay to notice without judgment — most authors have been there at least once.
Time is genuinely limited
Every hour spent scrolling through drama is an hour not spent building something. That time could go toward writing the next chapter, sharpening a blurb, researching keywords, sending a newsletter, learning Amazon ads, creating content, chatting with readers, or planning the next release.
Those things move a career forward. Arguments, almost never.
Readers are watching
It's easy to forget that readers are everywhere. That heated exchange in an author Facebook group, that sarcastic post, that public call-out — readers see all of it, even when it doesn't feel like they're watching.
Social media can feel like a private group chat sometimes, but it isn't. Everything posted becomes part of a reputation. Readers don't just buy books anymore — they buy into the person who wrote them. That doesn't mean being perfect, or having no opinions. It just means asking one gentle question before hitting "post": is this helping my career, or just making me feel better for five minutes?
Focus on what's actually controllable
One of the harder lessons in publishing is accepting how much sits outside anyone's control. Amazon changes its algorithm. Readers leave one-star reviews. Trends come and go. Books flop, and books unexpectedly take off. Other authors make choices that wouldn't be anyone else's choice. None of that is controllable.
What is controllable: the writing, the marketing, the professionalism, the attitude brought to all of it. That's genuinely where the energy is best spent.
Success isn't built through outrage
Social media tends to reward outrage with attention, but attention isn't automatically valuable. Being known as "the author who's always arguing" isn't really a brand most readers are looking for.
The authors who build long careers tend to become known for something else entirely — helping readers, supporting other authors, sharing useful advice, writing consistently, and just being kind. None of that goes viral overnight. It builds trust slowly, which turns out to matter a lot more.
Build something to be proud of
Imagine redirecting all the energy spent worrying about other authors into a career instead. A stronger cover. A rewritten blurb. Better categories. Sharper keywords. Another chapter. A newsletter send. A promotional event. Celebrating someone else's win instead of measuring it against your own.
Every one of those has a far better shot at helping a career than another online argument ever will.
What we believe at The Indie Author Hive
One of the values this community has always been built around is simple: support doesn't have to mean agreement.
Nobody has to enjoy every genre, read every trope, or become best friends with every author in the room. But everyone can choose to treat each other with respect, focus on their own goals, and spend their energy building something rather than tearing someone else down. Publishing is hard enough as it is — there's no need to make it harder for each other.
The bottom line
There's no need to win every argument, weigh in on every controversy, or police what anyone else writes, publishes, reads, or enjoys. A career will almost always benefit more from the next chapter than from the next angry post.
Mind your business. Build your books. Serve your readers. Everything else is just noise.
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At The Indie Author Hive, we're all about helping authors put their energy where it actually grows a career — stronger blurbs, sharper keywords, eye-catching covers, character artwork, and our free, AI-free BuzzFest and Stuff Your Kindle-style events that put books in front of thousands of readers every month. Use us if it helps, or take the advice and run with it entirely on your own — either way works, and either way, we're glad you're here.
Because the best way to stand out was never about shouting the loudest. It's about writing books readers can't wait to recommend.