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Writing a book is hard. Publishing it is even harder. Succeeding as an author? That’s practically wizardry. Good thing you don’t have to figure it all out alone. Pros Talking Prose is your backstage pass to the writing and publishing world, hosted by seasoned pros Stacey Smekofske and Troy Lambert. We’ll help you skip the mistakes, laugh through the chaos, and build the writing career you actually want without the smoke and mirrors. New episodes every week. Therapy not included — but highly encouraged.
Episodes
Saturday Feb 07, 2026
Saturday Feb 07, 2026
Tool overwhelm is real, and it’s quietly wrecking a LOT of author progress.
If you’ve ever downloaded one more “must-have” app, paid for a shiny new subscription, or convinced yourself you can’t move forward until you have the “perfect system”… this episode is for you.
In this week’s Pros Talking Prose, Troy and Stacey break down The 3-Tool Rule—a ridiculously practical way to cut through the noise, stop bleeding time (and money), and get back to what actually moves the needle in an author career.
We cover:
Why “time-saving tools” often create more work
The Three Tool Test (and why it instantly reveals what’s causing overwhelm)
How to choose tools based on your current stage (baby author vs. scaling author matters)
The key question that kills bad tools fast: “What specific problem does this solve right now?”
Backup strategies authors ignore until it’s too late (fires, drive crashes, lost drafts—yep, we go there)
Permission slips you probably need: cancel subscriptions, downgrade, be boring, and do less—but do it well
Bottom line: tools should support your writing and author business—not become the hobby that replaces them.
Want to go deeper? Troy and Stacey also teach monthly craft + author business classes (links in the show notes).
Print to Power Power Session : February Building an Author Brand that Sells
https://learning.printtopro.com/p2p-power-session-february-session/
Plot Dude Craft Session: February Character Motivation
https://learning.printtopro.com/character-motivation-february/
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