Is AI making nonfiction books obsolete? Not so fast.

In this episode of Finish the Damn Book, Susie Schaefer welcomes back Ally Machate, founder of The Writer's Ally, publishing strategist, and former Simon & Schuster editor, to explore how artificial intelligence is changing the publishing industry and what authors can do to make their books stand out.

Ally explains why basic how-to books face new competition from AI, while original experiences, storytelling, expert judgment, and meaningful reader connections remain essential.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why some nonfiction books are losing ground to AI and what that means for authors
• How personal stories and professional experience can make your book more valuable
• Why writing the right book matters more than simply getting published
• A publishing horror story involving a last-minute 100-page cut
• How collaborations and professional relationships help independent authors grow
• Why a book needs a strategy to become a valuable business asset

Plus, Ally shares a free training to help you evaluate your book idea before investing more time and money.

Free Training: Don't Write the Wrong Book

Discover Ally's five-step approach to creating a book that aligns with your audience and goals.

https://offers.thewritersally.com/finish-the-damn-book

Connect with Ally Machate

https://www.thewritersally.com

Finish the Damn Book Podcast helps aspiring authors, entrepreneurs, creatives, and writers finally complete the book they know they’re meant to write.

Hosted by Susie Schaefer, the podcast cuts through perfectionism, writer’s block, overwhelm, and publishing confusion with honest conversations about writing, publishing, book marketing, creativity, and the author journey.

Featuring authors, editors, ghostwriters, publishers, writing coaches, and industry professionals, each episode offers practical strategies to help writers finish, publish, and share meaningful books.

Topics include:
• Writing and revision tips
• Publishing and self-publishing guidance
• Book marketing and platform-building
• Creativity, confidence, and procrastination
• Encouragement for writers stuck in the messy middle

Many episodes close with Susie’s signature “Reflection Moment”, an intuitive conversation exploring creativity, identity, purpose, and the emotional side of becoming an author.

Whether you’re writing memoir, nonfiction, business, or personal development, Finish the Damn Book is here to help you trust your voice and finally bring your story to life.

Ready to move your book forward?
https://www.finishthebookpublishing.com/

What if the career you've already lived isn't separate from your writing journey, but part of what prepared you for it?

Award-winning writer and producer Angela Page joins Susie Schaefer to talk about leaving corporate life, learning the craft of screenwriting, publishing books, producing films, and continuing to reinvent herself after 50.

Angela shares why her years in international business became an advantage when navigating contracts, negotiations, and the business side of entertainment. She also talks about adapting written work for the screen, building a portfolio, finding good feedback, and why writers need a community around them.

For writers who worry they've waited too long, Angela offers an important reminder: you can begin at any age.

And if you're staring at an idea but aren't even sure what it's supposed to become yet, Angela's advice is to start writing anyway. Don't worry yet about whether it's a book, play, screenplay, or television project. Give yourself permission to write, find the kernel worth developing, and find your tribe to help you move it forward.

In this episode:

• Reinventing yourself as a writer after 50
• Moving from corporate life into writing and producing
• Turning written work into screen projects
• Learning the craft and building a writing portfolio
• Using your previous career experience instead of discounting it
• Finding honest feedback and writing communities
• Why networking matters for authors
• Giving yourself permission to start before you know where the idea will lead

Connect with Angela Page:
AngelaPage.com

If you've been waiting for the perfect time, perfect idea, or perfect plan before you start writing, this conversation may be the nudge you need.

Keep writing so you can finish the damn book.

Finish the Damn Book Podcast helps aspiring authors, entrepreneurs, creatives, and writers finally complete the book they know they’re meant to write.

Hosted by Susie Schaefer, the podcast cuts through perfectionism, writer’s block, overwhelm, and publishing confusion with honest conversations about writing, publishing, book marketing, creativity, and the author journey.

Featuring authors, editors, ghostwriters, publishers, writing coaches, and industry professionals, each episode offers practical strategies to help writers finish, publish, and share meaningful books.

Topics include:
• Writing and revision tips
• Publishing and self-publishing guidance
• Book marketing and platform-building
• Creativity, confidence, and procrastination
• Encouragement for writers stuck in the messy middle

Many episodes close with Susie’s signature “Reflection Moment”, an intuitive conversation exploring creativity, identity, purpose, and the emotional side of becoming an author.

Whether you’re writing memoir, nonfiction, business, or personal development, Finish the Damn Book is here to help you trust your voice and finally bring your story to life.

Ready to move your book forward?
https://www.finishthebookpublishing.com/

How long have you been saying you’ll write your book “someday”?

Tara Hayes has a reminder for you: someday is not a day of the week.

In this episode of Finish the Damn Book!, Susie Schaefer sits down with Tara Hayes, speaker, 2x author, publishing strategist, creator of The Published Authority™, and founder of Tarafied Publishing Co., to talk about what it really takes to move from having an idea for a book to actually publishing one.

Their conversation goes beyond writing and publishing mechanics. Tara and Susie talk about realistic timelines, finding the right support, setting boundaries, trusting your intuition, and recognizing the difference between a necessary pause and allowing “someday” to stretch on indefinitely.

Tara also shares her own journey into publishing and what she has learned from helping people navigate the process from idea to publication.

And because this is Finish the Damn Book!, Susie brings out the oracle cards for a reading that takes the conversation somewhere neither of them quite expected.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• What authors should realistically expect from the publishing process
• Why you don’t have to navigate publishing alone
• The importance of finding the right support
• Knowing when to keep moving and when to pause
• Protecting your boundaries and energy
• Listening when your intuition tells you something isn’t right
• Moving beyond “someday” and taking action on the book you want to write

ABOUT TARA HAYES

Tara Hayes is a speaker, 2x author, publishing strategist, and creator of The Published Authority™. Through Tarafied Publishing Co., she helps experts turn their knowledge into books that build real authority, guiding business owners and families from idea to publication with clarity, structure, and strategy.

CONNECT WITH TARA

Tarafied Publishing Co.: https://tarafiedpublishing.com/

If there’s a book that keeps calling you back, you don’t have to finish the entire thing today.

But perhaps today can be the day you begin.

Subscribe to Finish the Damn Book! for more conversations designed to help authors move their books forward and get them into the hands of the readers who need them.

Finish the Damn Book Podcast helps aspiring authors, entrepreneurs, creatives, and writers finally complete the book they know they’re meant to write.

Hosted by Susie Schaefer, the podcast cuts through perfectionism, writer’s block, overwhelm, and publishing confusion with honest conversations about writing, publishing, book marketing, creativity, and the author journey.

Featuring authors, editors, ghostwriters, publishers, writing coaches, and industry professionals, each episode offers practical strategies to help writers finish, publish, and share meaningful books.

Topics include:
• Writing and revision tips
• Publishing and self-publishing guidance
• Book marketing and platform-building
• Creativity, confidence, and procrastination
• Encouragement for writers stuck in the messy middle

Many episodes close with Susie’s signature “Reflection Moment”, an intuitive conversation exploring creativity, identity, purpose, and the emotional side of becoming an author.

Whether you’re writing memoir, nonfiction, business, or personal development, Finish the Damn Book is here to help you trust your voice and finally bring your story to life.

Ready to move your book forward?
https://www.finishthebookpublishing.com/

Getting your book published is one thing. Getting people to notice it is another.

In this episode of Finish the Damn Book!, Susie Schaefer talks with Liz H. Kelly, Founder and CEO of Goody PR and Goody Business Book Awards, about what authors need to know to get their books, stories, and expertise in front of a much larger audience.

Liz brings more than 20 years of PR and marketing experience to the conversation and shares practical strategies authors can use to pursue earned media, prepare for interviews, create stronger messaging, and develop the “Wow Story” that gives reporters, podcast hosts, and readers a reason to pay attention.

You’ll hear why Liz recommends beginning publicity efforts months before a book launch, how her Rule of Three can make your message more memorable, why follow-up matters more than most authors realize, and how one media opportunity took two years of persistence before becoming an award-winning PBS feature.

Susie and Liz also talk about second editions, book awards, using intuition in business, handling rejection, and one of the biggest mistakes people make when promoting a brand: making everything about themselves instead of creating a story that connects with other people.

Whether your book is launching soon or has been sitting on the shelf waiting for a second life, this conversation will help you think differently about what happens after you finish the damn book.

Connect with Liz H. Kelly:

Goody PR: goodypr.com
Liz H. Kelly: lizhkelly.com

Learn more about Finish the Damn Book! and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.

Finish the Damn Book Podcast helps aspiring authors, entrepreneurs, creatives, and writers finally complete the book they know they’re meant to write.

Hosted by Susie Schaefer, the podcast cuts through perfectionism, writer’s block, overwhelm, and publishing confusion with honest conversations about writing, publishing, book marketing, creativity, and the author journey.

Featuring authors, editors, ghostwriters, publishers, writing coaches, and industry professionals, each episode offers practical strategies to help writers finish, publish, and share meaningful books.

Topics include:
• Writing and revision tips
• Publishing and self-publishing guidance
• Book marketing and platform-building
• Creativity, confidence, and procrastination
• Encouragement for writers stuck in the messy middle

Many episodes close with Susie’s signature “Reflection Moment”, an intuitive conversation exploring creativity, identity, purpose, and the emotional side of becoming an author.

Whether you’re writing memoir, nonfiction, business, or personal development, Finish the Damn Book is here to help you trust your voice and finally bring your story to life.

Ready to move your book forward?
https://www.finishthebookpublishing.com/

What happens when the story you feel called to write is also one of the hardest subjects for people to talk about?

Theresa Evans spent 15 years as a nurse, much of it in critical cardiac care. Years later, she found herself beside her own mother as her family navigated an intensely personal decision about end-of-life care.

That experience became Theresa’s first book, Choosing to Die: A Daughter’s Story of Supporting Her Mother’s End of Life Through Assisted Death.

In this conversation with Susie Schaefer, Theresa shares what it was like to write about her mother’s death while honoring the experiences of her sisters, why she believes we need more honest conversations about how we want the end of our lives to look, and what writing the book taught her about herself.

They also talk about the realities authors rarely discuss openly: investing in a book you believe in, asking others for financial support, sitting at an author fair and selling one copy, letting go of ego, and continuing to show up because the book still matters. Theresa shares how asking her community for help ultimately brought in approximately $8,000 toward the cost of publishing her book.

You’ll hear about:

• Writing a deeply personal story without claiming someone else’s experience
• Theresa’s experience supporting her mother through assisted death
• Grief, presence, family relationships, and end-of-life conversations
• What happened when Theresa stopped tying her book’s worth to sales
• Investing in professional publishing and asking for help
• Raising approximately $8,000 from her community to support the book
• Trusting that a book will reach the people who are ready for it
• Why authors of difficult or controversial stories still need to keep showing up
• Theresa’s advice for doing more than you think you’re capable of doing

Toward the end of the conversation, Theresa leaves writers with a beautiful reminder: keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep breathing, and trust that the steps you’ve already taken can support what life is asking of you now.

Connect with Theresa Evans:
Website: https://theresaeevans.com/
Substack: Choosing Death
Publisher: Stone Path Press

This episode includes discussion of death, grief, medical aid in dying/assisted death, and end-of-life decision-making.

Finish the Damn Book Podcast helps aspiring authors, entrepreneurs, creatives, and writers finally complete the book they know they’re meant to write.

Hosted by Susie Schaefer, the podcast cuts through perfectionism, writer’s block, overwhelm, and publishing confusion with honest conversations about writing, publishing, book marketing, creativity, and the author journey.

Featuring authors, editors, ghostwriters, publishers, writing coaches, and industry professionals, each episode offers practical strategies to help writers finish, publish, and share meaningful books.

Topics include:
• Writing and revision tips
• Publishing and self-publishing guidance
• Book marketing and platform-building
• Creativity, confidence, and procrastination
• Encouragement for writers stuck in the messy middle

Many episodes close with Susie’s signature “Reflection Moment”, an intuitive conversation exploring creativity, identity, purpose, and the emotional side of becoming an author.

Whether you’re writing memoir, nonfiction, business, or personal development, Finish the Damn Book is here to help you trust your voice and finally bring your story to life.

Ready to move your book forward?
https://www.finishthebookpublishing.com/

What if the dreams you forget by breakfast are actually trying to tell you something?

Psychotherapist, poet, author, and dream worker Valerie Johns, MFT joins Susie Schaefer for a fascinating conversation about dreams, creativity, intuition, and the unconscious.

Valerie shares practical ways to remember dreams, including setting an intention before sleep and capturing images and words before drifting back to sleep. She also explains why she encourages people to write and retell dreams in the present tense, bringing the experience back to life rather than treating it as something that has already passed.

The conversation explores Valerie's Jungian approach to dream work, the relationship between the ego and creativity, and how her own dream journals eventually became creative material for her poetry. Valerie shares the remarkable process that transformed a 110,000-word manuscript into Night Flights: The Poetry of Soul Retrieval.

You'll also hear about writing in 25-minute increments, trusting creativity enough to step away and return, intuition, vulnerability, and Valerie's belief that our inner work isn't necessarily about becoming happier. It's about becoming more whole and real.

And perhaps Valerie's simplest invitation of all?

Stay curious.

Connect with Valerie

ValerieJohns.com

Explore Valerie's books Night Flights: The Poetry of Soul Retrieval and Ashes in the Milk: A Poetic Memoir, as well as her writing and dream resources.

Finish the Damn Book Podcast helps aspiring authors, entrepreneurs, creatives, and writers finally complete the book they know they’re meant to write.

Hosted by Susie Schaefer, the podcast cuts through perfectionism, writer’s block, overwhelm, and publishing confusion with honest conversations about writing, publishing, book marketing, creativity, and the author journey.

Featuring authors, editors, ghostwriters, publishers, writing coaches, and industry professionals, each episode offers practical strategies to help writers finish, publish, and share meaningful books.

Topics include:
• Writing and revision tips
• Publishing and self-publishing guidance
• Book marketing and platform-building
• Creativity, confidence, and procrastination
• Encouragement for writers stuck in the messy middle

Many episodes close with Susie’s signature “Reflection Moment”, an intuitive conversation exploring creativity, identity, purpose, and the emotional side of becoming an author.

Whether you’re writing memoir, nonfiction, business, or personal development, Finish the Damn Book is here to help you trust your voice and finally bring your story to life.

Ready to move your book forward?
https://www.finishthebookpublishing.com/

What happens when writing isn’t just something you do, but part of who you are?

In this episode of Finish the Damn Book, Susie Schaefer sits down with award-winning and bestselling multi-genre author, voice actor, and creative powerhouse Aaron Ryan, whose career spans more than 50 books, professional voiceover work, and multiple screen adaptations.

Aaron shares how a second-grade story called The Electric Boy sparked a lifelong desire to create, why dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction became his wheelhouse, and how cinematic storytelling influences the way he writes. He and Susie also dig into the creative freedom of being a “pantser,” trusting intuition when a story takes an unexpected turn, and why sometimes the characters themselves seem to know where the story needs to go.

They also tackle a growing issue for writers and creatives: artificial intelligence. Aaron has watched AI disrupt the voiceover industry firsthand, and together they explore what may matter even more as AI-generated content grows: the unmistakably human voice behind the work.

And, in true Finish the Damn Book fashion, Susie pulls the cards for Aaron as he asks a very specific question about his future: When will he stop being a voice actor who writes books and become an author who happens to do voiceovers?

Along the way, they talk Hollywood dreams, intuition, creativity, authenticity, aliens, why Aaron refuses mushrooms in his spaghetti, and the importance of bringing something to your work that nobody else can replicate:

You.

In This Episode:

• How Aaron went from writing The Electric Boy in second grade to publishing 51+ books
• Why movies inspire much of his fiction
• What it means to be a “pantser” instead of a planner
• How intuition helps guide characters and stories
• Why AI-generated writing and voiceover can't fully replace human creativity
• Aaron’s journey from voice actor to full-time author identity
• His Dissonance saga and the road toward a possible screen adaptation
• Why your unique creative voice may be your greatest advantage

Connect with Aaron Ryan

Website: authoraaronryan.com
Author Community: authoraaronryangroup.com

Finish the Damn Book Podcast helps aspiring authors, entrepreneurs, creatives, and writers finally complete the book they know they’re meant to write.

Hosted by Susie Schaefer, the podcast cuts through perfectionism, writer’s block, overwhelm, and publishing confusion with honest conversations about writing, publishing, book marketing, creativity, and the author journey.

Featuring authors, editors, ghostwriters, publishers, writing coaches, and industry professionals, each episode offers practical strategies to help writers finish, publish, and share meaningful books.

Topics include:
• Writing and revision tips
• Publishing and self-publishing guidance
• Book marketing and platform-building
• Creativity, confidence, and procrastination
• Encouragement for writers stuck in the messy middle

Many episodes close with Susie’s signature “Reflection Moment”, an intuitive conversation exploring creativity, identity, purpose, and the emotional side of becoming an author.

Whether you’re writing memoir, nonfiction, business, or personal development, Finish the Damn Book is here to help you trust your voice and finally bring your story to life.

Ready to move your book forward?
https://www.finishthebookpublishing.com/

How long have you been telling yourself you'll write the book someday?

For author Ray Hartjen, a multiple myeloma diagnosis changed what “someday” meant.

In this episode of Finish the Damn Book, Ray joins Susie Schaefer for a candid conversation about writing, storytelling, reinvention, and what happens when life forces you to reconsider how you're spending your time.

Ray's professional life has taken him from investment banking and pharmaceuticals to consumer electronics, SaaS software, music, marketing, and writing. What he eventually realized was that those seemingly unrelated chapters had something important in common:

He had always been a storyteller.

After his cancer diagnosis in 2019, Ray began examining more than his physical health. A simple timeline exercise made him recognize how often he had taken tomorrow, and the people and dreams attached to it, for granted.

That realization helped him answer an important question: What do I want to do with my life, and who do I want to do it with?

Part of his answer was to finally tell his own stories.

Today, Ray is the author of six published books spanning memoir, sports, business, and fiction. His cancer memoir, Me, Myself, and My Multiple Myeloma, also became an extension of his patient advocacy, allowing him to connect with people facing cancer around the world.

Ray and Susie talk about trusting your creative instincts, moving between fiction and nonfiction, the power of the words we use about ourselves, books as vehicles for impact, and why aspiring authors don't need to write thousands of words every day to make meaningful progress.

And if you're still waiting for the perfect time to write?

Ray's advice is simple:

Start.

Write the 500 words.

Finish the damn book.

And then understand that finishing your manuscript isn't really the finish line.

It's your new starting line.

Because once the book is written, the work of sharing it with the world begins.

CONNECT WITH RAY HARTJEN

Website: RayHartjen.com

Find Ray Hartjen across social media and look for The Chronic Padres on YouTube and streaming platforms.

CONNECT WITH SUSIE

Ready to stop thinking about your book and start moving it toward publication?

Visit FinishTheBookPublishing.com to learn more about working with Susie Schaefer, The Book Doula, and Finish the Book Publishing.

Finish the Damn Book Podcast helps aspiring authors, entrepreneurs, creatives, and writers finally complete the book they know they’re meant to write.

Hosted by Susie Schaefer, the podcast cuts through perfectionism, writer’s block, overwhelm, and publishing confusion with honest conversations about writing, publishing, book marketing, creativity, and the author journey.

Featuring authors, editors, ghostwriters, publishers, writing coaches, and industry professionals, each episode offers practical strategies to help writers finish, publish, and share meaningful books.

Topics include:
• Writing and revision tips
• Publishing and self-publishing guidance
• Book marketing and platform-building
• Creativity, confidence, and procrastination
• Encouragement for writers stuck in the messy middle

Many episodes close with Susie’s signature “Reflection Moment”, an intuitive conversation exploring creativity, identity, purpose, and the emotional side of becoming an author.

Whether you’re writing memoir, nonfiction, business, or personal development, Finish the Damn Book is here to help you trust your voice and finally bring your story to life.

Ready to move your book forward?
https://www.finishthebookpublishing.com/