Other Authors Aren't Your Coworkers

If there's one piece of advice we wish more indie authors heard early on, it's this: other authors aren't your coworkers.

They're not your colleagues, your teammates, or your employees. They're not responsible for your success. And perhaps most importantly, they don't owe you anything.

That might sound harsh at first read. It isn't meant to be — it's meant to be freeing.

Nobody's working for the same company

If you worked in an office, your coworkers would all be pulling toward the same goal, the same company, the same products, the same success. Publishing simply doesn't work that way.

Every author is running their own business — their own books, their own brand, their own readers, their own goals. Some write full-time, others publish one book every few years. Some are chasing bestseller lists, others just want to share stories they love. Nobody's working together unless both people actively choose to.

It's fine to let go of automatic support

One of the odder expectations in the indie community is the idea that every author should automatically support every other author — sharing every release, buying every book, commenting on every post, joining every ARC team, celebrating every announcement.

Realistically, nobody has time for all of that. Authors are busy writing, editing, marketing, working day jobs, raising families, and trying to keep their own businesses afloat. If another author does show up and support you, that's genuinely lovely — worth treating as a gift, not something owed.

Support isn't a transaction

This is usually where feelings get hurt. I bought their book, but they never bought mine. I shared their release, they never shared mine. I always comment on their posts.

Publishing isn't a points system, and real relationships were never built on scorecards. When every interaction comes with an expectation of something in return, that's networking — not friendship, and the two aren't the same thing.

Readers matter more than other authors

Here's something that tends to surprise newer writers: the target audience was never other authors. It's readers.

Plenty of new authors spend months trying to impress fellow writers while barely speaking to any actual readers. Readers are the ones who recommend books, leave reviews, preorder the next release, join the newsletter, and become lifelong fans. Energy is usually far better spent building relationships with them.

Collaboration is still genuinely wonderful

None of this means avoiding other authors — quite the opposite. Some of the best opportunities in publishing come from real collaboration: newsletter swaps, box sets, anthologies, joint giveaways, podcast appearances, events, cross-promotions, writing sprints.

The best collaborations happen because both people genuinely want to work together, not because one person feels obligated to.

Find the people worth keeping

Hundreds of author friends aren't necessary. Probably not even dozens. A handful of genuine relationships is worth far more — people who celebrate the wins, offer honest feedback, cheer you on when sales are slow, share advice, laugh with you, and actually understand what this industry is like.

Those friendships tend to happen naturally. They can't really be forced.

Community, not contacts

There's a real difference between community and networking. Networking asks: what can this person do for me? Community says: glad you're here. One lasts for the length of a conference. The other lasts for years.

Authors who build lasting friendships rarely start by asking for favours. They start by being kind, helpful, supportive, and genuinely interested in other people.

Nobody is owed success

It's easy to feel frustrated when another author lands something you haven't — a BookTok viral moment, a traditional publishing deal, a bestseller spot, a wildly successful Kickstarter. Why them?

But publishing has never been perfectly fair, and someone else's success isn't taking anything away from anyone else's. It isn't proof the industry is broken, and it's certainly not their fault. The only business anyone can really improve is their own.

What we're proud of at The Indie Author Hive

One of the things we're proudest of is the community we're building — not because everyone buys each other's books, and not because everyone agrees on everything, but because authors here genuinely want to help each other grow.

Wins get celebrated. Knowledge gets shared. Advice gets offered constructively. Collaboration happens when it genuinely makes sense. And most importantly, every author is respected as building a different business — there's no expectation that everyone has to support everyone.

Instead, we focus on creating opportunities that benefit everyone: our monthly BuzzFest and Stuff Your Kindle-style events, plus discounted, AI-free author services that help books look professionally presented, no agency price tag required. Use them if they're useful — plenty of authors build all of this entirely on their own too, and that's just as valid a path.

That's community. Not obligation.

The bottom line

Every author's support isn't required. Every writer becoming a friend isn't required. Approval from the wider publishing community isn't required either.

What actually helps: writing books readers love, building genuine relationships with the people who naturally click, and celebrating other authors without expecting anything back.

Other authors were never coworkers. They're fellow business owners, each building something meaningful in their own way — and the best communities are never built through obligation. They're built through choice.