Religious ethicist Liz Bucar, author of Beyond Wellness, joins us to talk about what writers can learn from her sabbatical-year experiment in becoming an online content creator. We discuss writing for religious and post-religious audiences, why curiosity about religion still matters, and how a Substack post about faith, politics, and the future unexpectedly went viral—and eventually led to a Time magazine piece.

Liz also shares practical lessons from building a platform: choosing content “buckets,” starting with the medium that feels natural, turning slow-form writing into social content, growing an email list, and confronting the enormous amount of work it can take. Her experience offers a useful alternative to generic advice about “building a platform”: find an approach you can actually sustain.

https://www.lizbucar.com/books

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/774524/beyond-wellness-by-liz-bucar/

https://lizbucar.substack.com/

Also mentioned:

https://www.leighstein.com/

https://www.sophiasmithgaler.com/

Publishing Disrupted is at PublishingDisrupted.substack.com

Mick Silva is at MickSilvaEditing.substack.com

David Morris is at dvdmorris.substack.com, LakeDriveBooks.com, and Hyponymous.com.

When David asked if my oldest daughter Ellie would like to come on and share her impressions of working to edit with me as her senior college internship this summer, I knew immediately this episode would be one of my favorites so far.

We covered the gamut from the different stages of the editing process, to why rejecting queries can be such a challenge. I wish we'd filmed this one so you could see me smiling like a goob the whole time. But if you're curious what a Zoomer thinks about book editing and publishing in today's cultural climate--especially as she's gone no-contact with church as well--please tune in!

Releasing Aug 4, 2026: The Future of an Illusion: Introduction and Annotations on Freud’s Enduring Critique of Religion by David R. Morris, PhD

Publishing Disrupted is at PublishingDisrupted.substack.com

Mick Silva is at MickSilvaEditing.substack.com

David Morris is at dvdmorris.substack.com, LakeDriveBooks.com, and Hyponymous.com.

We tried to distill some recent news and articles to see what's useful and what's not:

Some tips for podcasts from Jane Friedman’s post about a publicists’ panel at the U.S. Book Show. A widely shared article in PW about an Authors Guild study on "average author incomes." And another hand-wringing article in The Atlantic about "The End of Reading."

As usual, takeaways are summarized in our Substack, Publishing Disrupted: https://publishingdisrupted.substack.com/p/facing-the-disruption-with-honesty

And links to articles mentioned below:

Jane Friedman, “Podcast Publicity for Authors and Publishers: What’s Working”: https://janefriedman.com/whats-working-in-podcast-publicity-for-authors-and-publishers/

Publishers Weekly, “Authors Guild Looks at Why Author Incomes Are in Decline”: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/100605-authors-guild-survey-looks-at-why-author-incomes-are-in-decline.html

The Atlantic, “The End of Reading Is Here”: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/reading-crisis-postliterate-age/687618/

Publishing Disrupted is at PublishingDisrupted.substack.com

Mick Silva is at MickSilvaEditing.substack.com

David Morris is at dvdmorris.substack.com, LakeDriveBooks.com, and Hyponymous.com.