On green-lighting yourself.
Legitimacy cannot be bestowed. You have to take it. On the structural reasons writers wait for permission that isn't coming, and what it actually looks like to begin without it.
Episode pageA Podcast · Twice a week · 2026
For working writers and makers building real, sustainable practices in publishing, and the choices nobody warns you about.
What this show is
Twice a week, Chad Prevost (writer, former co-founder of C&R Press, now founder of Crossroads Publishing Group) talks about the actual decisions that shape a working creative life.
Mondays are the why. About 25 minutes per episode, drawing from the eight difficulties every working writer faces: the work that pays vs. the work that matters, voice or audience, ship or polish, persist or quit.
Thursdays are the how. About 15 minutes on what's happening in publishing (Audible's royalty changes, the AI lawsuits, what's actually working for indie authors right now) and the practical operational decisions you face this week.
The promise: honest, specific, no frameworks for sale. Just the real thinking of someone in the work.
The Difficulty Field Guide
A free 24-page PDF. Not a system, not a method, not advice. Just the eight choice-points every working creator runs into, with one honest reflection question for each.
Latest episode
Legitimacy cannot be bestowed. You have to take it. On the structural reasons writers wait for permission that isn't coming, and what it actually looks like to begin without it.
Episode pageSubscribe
New episodes Monday and Thursday mornings.
Or subscribe via RSS: chadprevost.substack.com/feed
Working Publisher · Fridays
A Friday Substack series. Synthesis of the publishing news that matters this week, written for working independent writers and small publishers building toward direct audience instead of platform dependency.
Free. Drops every Friday morning.
About the host
Chad Prevost is a writer and publisher. He co-founded the literary press C&R Press in 2006 and led it until 2015. Today he runs Crossroads Publishing Group, an independent boutique hybrid press for serious nonfiction, and hosts this podcast. His authorial work, including the IF/THEN Books interactive-fiction series for young readers, lives at chadprevost.com.
His most recent book is Iris Blackwood and the Curse of Hemlock Island, the launch title of the IF/THEN Books detective series. His next is a literary nonfiction project drawn from his Substack series The Descent, forthcoming via Crossroads in late 2026.
He holds a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from Georgia State University. He writes from Tennessee.
Be a guest
The show runs on real conversation. If you write, publish, edit, teach, or otherwise make things in this world, and you have a story about a choice that mattered, I'd love to have you on.
Most guest conversations are about twenty minutes and follow six questions. The questions arrive in your inbox after the booking is confirmed so you can sit with them. No other prep needed. I handle the editing.
I read every application personally and reply to all of them. If we're a match, I'll send you a Calendly link within a week. If we're not, I'll write back so you're not left wondering.
Thanks for applying. I read every application personally. If we're a match for the show, I'll send you a Calendly link within a week. If we're not, I'll write you back so you're not left wondering.
— Chad
The difficulty in life is the choice.