What does “All or Nothing” mean to you? For me, it sparked an unexpected question: has anyone actually read every single one of my books? With more than 200 titles across multiple pen names, I’m curious to know if there are any complete collectors out there. If that’s you—or you’re getting close—I’d love to hear from you.
People often imagine independent publishing as a world of elegant offices, literary conversations, and endless coffee. The reality is rather more chaotic. One moment you’re the publisher, the next you’re fixing EPUBs, answering customer emails, wrestling with accounting reports, or hunting down invisible formatting errors. It’s a juggling act—but somehow, it’s still one of the most rewarding jobs there is.
Solar Sail Theory isn’t about finding stronger sources of momentum. It’s about becoming better at capturing thousands of weak sources of momentum that already exist.
One newsletter subscriber won’t change your life. One podcast appearance won’t transform your business. One new reader or conference conversation or bookstore event won’t either.
Individually, they’re almost insignificant.
That’s why the sail is enormous.
Writers rarely work on just one book at a time. While readers see the finished novel, there’s often an entire queue of stories in progress behind it—drafts, edits, serials, and ideas waiting for their turn. Here’s a look at what’s currently occupying my writing desk this summer, from new thriller adventures to ongoing serial fiction and the next novel waiting in the wings.
Readers often wonder whether buying books directly from an author’s website really makes a difference. The answer is simple: it does. Direct sales help fund editing, cover design, and future books, while creating a closer connection between readers and the authors whose stories they enjoy.
Some of the most important things in life begin as something small and uncertain. A packet of seeds. A first chapter. A conversation. Standing in the garden this spring, watching green shoots push through the soil, reminded me that growth is often invisible until suddenly it isn’t—and that the things we plant today may become far more than we ever imagined.
A retired widower. A community garden. A cast of unforgettable neighbours. While Fall From Grace continues to take shape, Mark Posey has also been nurturing a very different story. The Summer Garden is a warm, character-driven serial about grief, friendship, second chances, and the surprising ways people keep growing long after they think life’s most important seasons have passed.
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.
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.
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.
