Author name: Mark Posey

Publishing Has Entered Its Horse Era

The indie gold rush is over. Publishing today feels less like striking it rich and more like pulling a plow through hard ground. Algorithms shift, discoverability shrinks, AI sludge floods storefronts, and the easy momentum is gone. But maybe that’s not a bad thing. Because hard eras reveal what actually matters: endurance, adaptability, direct relationships with readers, and authors willing to keep moving even when the road gets muddy. Welcome to publishing’s horse era.

Reading Requires Trust

Reading isn’t just “content consumption.” It’s time. Emotional investment. Trust. You’re handing several hours of your life over to another person and hoping they take you somewhere worthwhile. That’s why stories that feel genuinely human matter more now than ever.

Readers Can Feel the Difference

Readers are becoming more selective—and that may be very good news for skilled storytellers. In a marketplace flooded with rushed and disposable content, craftsmanship matters more than ever. Readers aren’t just consuming words. They’re investing trust. And trust is earned one sentence, one scene, and one book at a time.

The Year of the Horse

Some years are quieter than others. Some years are meant for rest.
And some years? Some years hand you a shovel, a wheelbarrow, and a horizon full of work worth doing.

In this reflective new post, Mark Posey writes about turning sixty, building twenty raised garden beds, rebuilding the future of Stories Rule Press, and why this season of life feels less about chasing and more about building — steadily, patiently, one load of compost at a time.

Introspective Narration: Brilliant Storytelling or Brake Pedal?

There’s a fine line between emotional depth and narrative quicksand. Introspective narration can elevate a story into something unforgettable—or bring the pacing to a grinding halt. The difference usually comes down to one question: is the reflection adding something the scene itself cannot? When done well, introspection deepens character and theme. When overused, it turns into literary speed bumps disguised as wisdom.

Sunday Morning Kitchen

Sunday mornings used to be about sleeping late, catching up, or feeling guilty about everything still left undone. These days, they’re quieter. Coffee in the kitchen. Music playing softly. Conversations that drift between the new, the familiar, and the things you somehow keep revisiting after decades together. Outside, twenty raised garden beds wait for spring planting, which may be ambition or madness. Possibly both.

Why Shrinking Hit Me Right in the Feels

Mark didn’t expect Shrinking to hit quite so hard—but somewhere between the laughs and the quiet gut-punch moments, it did. A show about grief, friendship, and trying to do better while carrying everything life hands you, it’s exactly the kind of story that lingers—and the kind he’d love to write someday.

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