Using Dante’s opening in the “dark wood,” host Chad Prevost frames midlife as waking up to being lost after sleepwalking through socially prescribed success, and reframes “abandon hope” as an instruction to stop relying on the old self and tools that created the crisis. He describes needing guidance beyond oneself, like Virgil leading Dante downward into the inferno to see the patterns that trap people, which he links to coaching clients’ pervasive belief “I am not enough,” shaped by culture or family systems. Drawing on Epictetus, Adler, Auden, and the Greek concept hamartia, he argues the ego’s protective adaptations become traps, and Dante’s hell illustrates suffering rooted in lies, from unconscious “errors” to willful avoidance; the series explores this descent as a path to a freer, fuller creative life.00:00 Saturday Series Intro00:58 Waking in the Dark Wood03:10 Midlife Lostness04:08 Abandon Hope as Instruction06:02 Virgil and the Descent07:45 The Not Enough Story10:43 Separating Self from History11:49 Hamartia and Ego Armor13:40 Truth Lies and the Circles15:35 Series Purpose and Farewell

FREE — THE DIFFICULTY FIELD GUIDE

Eight difficulties every working writer faces, and what to ask when each one shows up.

→ crossroadspublishing.group/assets/pdfs/The_Difficulty_Field_Guide.pdf

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WHERE TO FIND ME

Substack — new essays Wednesdays, the Working Publisher news digest Fridays

→ chadprevost.substack.com

The Difficulty — Monday (the why), Thursday (the how), Saturday (essay readings) — wherever you listen to podcasts

→ chadprevost.com/the-difficulty

Crossroads Publishing Group — publishing services, IF/THEN Books, the Iris Blackwood mystery series

→ crossroadspublishing.group

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“The difficulty in life is the choice.”

If you're an indie writer paying attention to what's happening in publishing right now — this week was a tell. Three stories landed inside seven days. Each one pointed at the same answer.Episode 5 of The Difficulty — the first publishing-news episode in the new "How" lane. This week:— Audible's ACX royalty model is being discontinued. Authors must enroll in the new pooled, consumption-based model by year-end. Brandon Sanderson called this out back in 2024; Dave Chesson at Kindlepreneur is openly skeptical. Same playbook Spotify ran for music and KU ran for ebooks. Now it's audiobooks.— Publishing.com hit with a $1.5M FTC settlement — alleged misleading income claims and undisclosed incentivized testimonials. The publishing industry is being told publicly that some of the loudest "publish-your-book-and-get-rich" programs were misleading. Personal aside: I came close to laying out $6K to one of these a few years back. I'm glad I didn't.— Inkers Con runs May 30 – June 12 ($250, fully online). Working authors learning from each other in real time. Worth knowing about even if you don't go.The throughline: in a week where platforms got less predictable AND shady programs got FTC'd, the answer was the same answer indie writers have been circling for a decade. Direct audience. Real community. Owned email list. Less platform dependency.I share what I'm doing about it in real time — including how the Goodreads giveaway for Iris Blackwood pulled nearly 3,000 entrants, and the moment I almost didn't release Iris #1 as an ebook (and what changed my mind).—GO DEEPERFriday's Working Publisher Substack post extends this episode with sources and analysis:→ chadprevost.substack.com — search "The Free Lunch Is Ending"—CHAPTERSThree stories, same answerAudible's royalty pivotPublishing.com's FTC settlementThe $6K I almost spentInkers Con (May 30 – June 12)The throughline — direct audienceIris Blackwood anecdote — the ebook decisionClosing—FREE — THE DIFFICULTY FIELD GUIDEEight difficulties every working writer faces, and what to ask when each one shows up.→ crossroadspublishing.group/assets/pdfs/The_Difficulty_Field_Guide.pdf—WHERE TO FIND MESubstack — The Working Publisher (Fridays) + new essays Wednesdays + weekend essay readings Saturdays→ chadprevost.substack.comThe Difficulty — Monday (the why), Thursday (the how), Saturday (essay readings) — wherever you listen to podcasts→ chadprevost.com/the-difficultyCrossroads Publishing Group — publishing services, IF/THEN Books, Iris Blackwood mystery series→ crossroadspublishing.groupInkers Con:→ inkerscon.com/2026-digital-conference—The difficulty in life is the choice.

If you finish a paying assignment and feel, instead of relief, a kind of dull resentment — this episode is for you. Or if you sit down to the work that's been pulling at you for years, and the dishes suddenly need doing, the bills suddenly need paying — this is for you, too.Episode 4 of The Difficulty starts the Field Guide series with the foundational difficulty: the work that pays and the work that matters. They're not usually the same work, and most of us pretend they are.In this one I get into the years I spent writing trade journalism in freight and logistics — the compromises that taught me a lot but weren't the calling — and the friends who got the holy-grail book deal and discovered that "making it" was the start of a different grind, not the end of one. Plus Mark Fitten's $10K-publicist-and-NYT-ad story. The Norman origins of the word "courage." And why being 53 doesn't mean you've missed your window. At least I hope not.The challenge at the end: this week, make one move that matters. Even 90 minutes. Notice the resistance. Notice the breaking through.—CHAPTERS00:00 Resentment and Avoidance00:46 Show Format and Big Question02:45 Work That Pays vs Matters04:11 Compromises and Day Jobs06:03 What Is Your True Calling08:37 Renew Commitment and Habits12:10 The Hidden Work After Creating17:31 Choose Courage Over Ambivalence22:54 Time Is Longer Than You Think26:05 Your Work Matters Closing—FREE — THE DIFFICULTY FIELD GUIDEEight difficulties every working writer faces, and what to ask when each one shows up.→ crossroadspublishing.group/assets/pdfs/The_Difficulty_Field_Guide.pdf—WHERE TO FIND MESubstack — new essays Wednesdays, the Working Publisher news digest Fridays, weekend essay readings Saturdays→ chadprevost.substack.comThe Difficulty — Monday (the why), Thursday (the how), Saturday (essay readings) — wherever you listen to podcasts→ chadprevost.com/the-difficultyCrossroads Publishing Group — publishing services, IF/THEN Books, the Iris Blackwood mystery series→ crossroadspublishing.group—Thursday: three things that happened in publishing this week and what they mean if you're building toward a direct audience.The difficulty in life is the choice.