In this episode of Publishing Disrupted, co-hosts Mick Silva and David Morris sit down with their first-ever guest, author Cara Meredith, for an honest and layered conversation about life as a working writer navigating faith, publishing, and purpose.

Cara is the author of the new book Church Camp: Bad Skits, Cry Night, and How White Evangelicalism Betrayed a Generation, a memoir-meets-cultural-critique that examines how white evangelical institutions shaped—and in many cases harmed—a generation.

Together, we unpack what it really means to pursue writing as vocation, the spiritual and professional toll of publishing in evangelical spaces, and what happens when a flagship evangelical outlet publishes a highly critical review. Cara also shares the practical realities of marketing your own book, building authentic author relationships, and sustaining creativity in the midst of competing demands.

This is a rich, reflective, and inspiring conversation for writers, creatives, and anyone trying to live with integrity in the shifting landscape of faith and publishing.

🧵 What We Talk About in This Episode:

• Cara’s new book: Church Camp: Bad Skits, Cry Night, and How White Evangelicalism Betrayed a Generation
• Her “three-legged stool” approach to life and vocation as a writer
• Navigating the shift from evangelical to progressive publishing
• How to build author relationships and leverage your network
• Dealing with criticism and reviews that misrepresent your work
• Setting boundaries, taking breaks, and staying grounded
• Disrupting the norms of religious publishing—for good

🔗 Episode Links

• Cara Meredith’s website: https://www.carameredith.com
• Buy Cara’s book, Church Camp: Broadleaf Books – Church Camp
• Mick Silva's editing & coaching: https://www.micksilva.com
• David Morris' publishing and agenting: https://davidrmorris.me

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We explore how publishing is changing—and how writers can stay grounded and grow through the disruption.

In this fifth episode, we get into another fundamental shift in the publishing world: book development. The old playbook of “authority from on high” is dead. Long live the authentic voice!

There's the three elements of book proposals: platform (your ability to reach readers), concept (a current, but time-honored topic), and craft (your “method” and ability to deliver the goods). But the craft must now derive primarily from an authentic voice emerging from your personal process, rather than from presumed or external authority.

Which helps explain why “for the Bible tells me so” doesn’t work so well anymore. Because basically this anti-traditional, anti-establishment culture wants a different kind of authority.

So we then discussed how the three-act story structure can serve even nonfiction authors working to incorporate a more humble, vulnerable approach, and how the ending shouldn’t be neat and tidily resolved, but somewhat ambiguous and inclusive of complexity (i.e. authentic).

Bottom line: readers want to see real life-change in their books these days. So come along and let's get into it!

Everyone knows the worst part about selling books is the selling part. That darned author-marketing! So in this episode, we break down a recent post by popular author-marketing guru, Dan Blank, and discuss the difference between being "intentional" and being *integrative*--replacing the agenda-driven drudgery with some creative fun while generating interest in your books.

You really can find and craft your authentic voice in today's online world!

Also, David has some takeaways from the Independent Booksellers Association conference, and gets a bit personal about my social media posts, as examples of creative marketing that doesn't feel coercive or forced (which was very kind! But I'm not selling books myself yet).

Dan Blank's post on Substack:

The Creative Shift by Dan Blank (How One Author Found Her Voice Online)

And you can follow us too while you're at it: Mick Silva Editing and David R. Morris

And even on the Facebooks, if you like: Me and Dr. David