41 | The Silent Drift That Pulls Christian Authors Away from God’s Purpose

As Christian authors, we start writing with pure hearts—longing to serve God and encourage others. But somewhere along the way, the focus can quietly shift. Book rankings, email stats, and social media engagement begin to matter more than sitting with God. Before we realize it, our calling feels more like a career, and ministry starts looking like marketing.

In this episode of The Anointed Scribe Podcast, I open up about the silent drift that can pull Christian authors away from God’s purpose. Through my own vulnerable story and biblical encouragement, I share how God gently corrected my course—and how you, too, can realign your writing with His heart.

✨ In this episode, you’ll discover:

• The subtle pitfall every Christian author must guard against
• Why even “successful” seasons can feel empty when purpose drifts
• Practical questions to help you discern God’s purpose in your writing
• How to exchange striving for Spirit-led creativity and peace

If your writing has started to feel heavy, this conversation will help you return to the joy of creating with God and rediscover the simplicity of why He called you to write in the first place.

👉 Listen now to uncover the secret to becoming an anointed scribe!

Transcript

Do you ever feel like you are working harder than ever on your writing career but somehow getting the same disappointing results?

Like you're spinning your wheels, writing more, posting more, trying more strategies, but your sales stay flat, your platform feels sticky, stagnant, and that breakthrough you've been praying for seems further away than ever.

Maybe you've tried following other successful authors formulas only to find they don't work for you.

Maybe you've poured money into courses and conferences,

but you're still stuck in the same patterns that aren't serving you.

Maybe you're starting to wonder if you are missing something fundamental about building a sustainable authority business.

Maybe you feel stuck.

Well friend,

what if I told you that the problem isn't your talent,

your calling, or even your work ethic?

What if the real culprit is a cycle you've unknowingly fallen into a trap that's sabotaging your results no matter how hard you try?

Today we are going to identify the seven most common author traps that keep Christian writers stuck,

spinning in circles and frustrated with their progress.

And more importantly, I'm going to share the biblical principles and practical strategies that helped me break free from these very same traps in my own author journey.

By the end of this episode, you'll be able to recognize which trap might be holding you back and you'll walk away with split specific action steps to escape it and start seeing the results you've been working toward.

This is episode 40.

I'm Urcelia Teixeira, ex real estate agent turned award winning Christian fiction author.

When I wrote my first novel on a bucket list whim, I had no idea it would spark a spirit spiritual journey that would redefine my calling. But you know what friend?

Self publishing wasn't easy. I got caught in the hustle chasing rankings and sales while desperately trying to stay rooted in Christ.

Now, by God's grace, I'm building my author business his way. And now he's called me to help you do the same.

Welcome to the Anointed Scribe Podcast where faith meets business for Christian writers.

Let's write, publish and grow our author business God's way. Are you ready? Well then, let's get started.

Hey, it's your author friend Urcelia. And welcome to this week's episode of the Anointed Scribe Podcast.

If you're new here, welcome to the Anointed Scribe tribe. I aim to make this your Go to Christian Writers resource for building a successful author business that serves God's Kingdom without sacrificing your integrity or your income.

Whether you've written one book, or 20, or you're still stuck on chapter one. I trust you will find value from the lessons I've personally learned in my own writing life.

And today I want to be completely transparent with you about something. Something that took me far too long to figure out in my own author journey.

See, for years I was caught in what I now recognize as author traps.

Cycles that kept me busy but not productive,

active but not effective.

I was working incredibly hard, but somehow always ending up with the same frustrating results.

Maybe you can relate to this feeling you're doing all the right things,

following all the advice,

but something isn't clicking. It's like a piece of a puzzle that's lost and you just can't find it and you don't even know what you're looking for.

You are stuck in patterns that promise results but never seem to deliver them.

Well, friend,

I've identified seven specific traps that I see Christian authors fall into over and over again.

Traps that I personally experienced and had to break free from.

And today I want to help you identify which one or two might be holding you back. Because recognition is the first step toward breakthrough, right?

But here's what I love about this amazing and wonderful God we serve.

He doesn't just show us the problem,

he provides the solution.

So for each trap, I'm going to share the biblical principle that helped me escape it,

along with practical action steps you can take starting today.

So let's dive in and as we go through these,

I want you to listen with an open heart and ask the Holy Spirit to show you if any of these patterns sound familiar.

Allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you.

Let it convict you. This is how we learn and grow and follow God's guidance. In fact,

if you haven't already done so before you started this podcast, which I always suggest you do,

I just want to take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit into this conversation and say, come, Lord Jesus, come open our eyes and ears to hear your direction and guidance in our business today.

Remove any distractions, pride, and reveal the places that are keeping me stuck in my writing and in my author business so I can move forward in freedom and supernatural favor to serve you and your kingdom with all the gifts and opportunities you have given me in Jesus name.

Amen. Right,

Great. So let's explore the seven traps that have held me back at different seasons of my own author journey and that I see affecting so many other Christian authors too.

If you need to pause between them, do so. If you just need to reflect and pray and just hear what the Holy Spirit says. Then please pause throughout the episode.

You could also download it, bookmark it, save it, and come back to it over and over as you deal with them.

So trap number one is the KU only cycle. Oh, this one I kept going back and forth on.

So this is a trap I found myself in for years because it gave me this a false sense of security.

Now I know it's a bit of a controversial topic because being exclusive to Amazon has its advantages, especially if you're a new author and starting out right.

But I just got to a stage where I was called to more,

which I'll come to in a bit. But leaving Kindle Unlimited wasn't an easy decision.

I was trapped in fear.

Those Kindle Unlimited page reads felt predictable. I could count on a certain amount each month,

even though it wasn't much. I knew that was coming in and I was safe and I could just build on from that. But looking back,

I realized I was choosing comfort over calling.

I kept telling myself I'd go wide someday, but someday never came. Because leaving KU meant stepping into the unknown and a whole lot more work, right?

Meanwhile, my income stayed flat and more importantly, my reach stayed limited. I was putting God and His message in a box.

I was essentially hiding my message from readers who don't have KU subscriptions.

And that's when God reminded me of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:14, 16 you are the light of the world.

A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.

Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house.

In the same way, let your light shine before others.

So friend,

if God has given you a message, keeping it in only one marketplace is like putting your lamp under a bushel.

Your stories are meant to reach as many hearts as possible,

not just the ones who happen to have a Kindle Unlimited subscription.

So what helped me break free from this trap? Well, I went all in. Or actually all out,

which I now know was possibly not the best strategy in hindsight.

If I could have a do over,

I might start by taking just one book or one series wide to test the waters. Maybe Apple Books, since it's so author friendly and easy.

Or perhaps do what some authors are doing by launching into KU first and then go wide.

Some authors find success with a hybrid approach, keeping some books in KU and putting others wide.

Do whatever you feel God is calling you to do. But if God is calling you to be bolder and move your entire catalogue like I felt he did me at the time,

then definitely follow that.

Whichever option you think feels right to you.

Don't just take action though. Take this to prayer first and ask God what aligns with his vision for your reach and ministry Impact Trap Number two the Marketing FOMO Cycle oh, this trap is so sneaky because it feels like you are being smart and strategic and just doing it right,

following what everybody else is doing. I'd be scrolling through Facebook author groups and suddenly everyone's talking about this amazing new marketing strategy.

Maybe it's Kickstarter campaigns or book funnel promotions or some viral TikTok approach, or jumping into translations and the success stories sound incredible and instantly the FOMO kicks in hard and I think if I don't jump on this right now, I'm going to miss out on the strategy that could change everything for me.

So I'd abandon whatever marketing approach I'd be consistently working on and dive headfirst into this shiny new tactic,

spending weeks or even months learning it, implementing it, investing time and a bunch of money.

But here's what always happened.

I didn't get the same results the others did. And it wasn't because this strategy was bad.

It was because I hadn't done my due diligence.

I didn't compare apples with apples.

Maybe they had a following of 50,000 and I only had, I don't know, a thousand.

Maybe their genre was hitting peak popularity while mine was in a quieter season.

Maybe they'd been building relationships in that space for years while I was starting from scratch. Those are the things you don't see. Those are the things that aren't on the surface.

Meanwhile, the strategy I'd been working on before,

the one that was actually starting to show progress, the one that I had received from the Lord,

the one that I prayed over and diligently followed,

lost all momentum because I'd abandoned it for the latest shiny object.

And I'm sad to say, oftentimes that has been the case where the enemy would just throw these things in randomly in front of me. Well, not so random, right?

But I would just. I would not see it in that moment that this is just a distraction.

And then this is where Scripture gave me clarity. 1 Corinthians 7:17 says each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

And Galatians 6:4 reminds us each one should test their own actions.

Then they can take pride in themselves alone without comparing themselves to someone else.

God gave you a unique audience,

a specific genre, and particular circumstances.

What works for someone else's situation might not work for yours. And that's not a failure.

It's just different assignments.

If you're caught in this marketing FOMO cycle right now, here's what helped me find my way back to strategic thinking.

You might ask yourself what marketing approach you were seeing progress with before you got distracted.

Maybe it's time to research the context behind those viral stories.

What was their starting point? Their audience size? Their genre advantages?

Some authors find it helpful to commit to testing one strategy for at least six months before switching to something new.

Find whatever works for you, but bring this to God and ask him to show you the difference between a strategic pivot and a FOMO driven distraction Trap Number three is the Platform First Cycle now this trap had me spinning for months.

I was spending hours every day on social media thinking I was working on my author business.

I'd post quotes, share writing tips, engage with other authors, share things, and at the end of the day I'd realize I hadn't written a single word of my actual book.

The very thing that would make me money and bring money in, I was putting to the side.

I had convinced myself that building my platform was the work,

but really I was just avoiding the hard work of sitting down and writing.

I was building this online presence around what exactly?

Books I hadn't finished yet. It felt productive, but it was actually just procrastination with a pretty filter.

That's when Jesus words in Matthew 6:33 hit me differently.

It says, but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Your first calling as a Christian author is to write the words God has given you.

The platform should support the message, not replace it.

So if you recognize yourself in this pattern, here's what I've learned can help.

You might need to set some boundaries around social media time,

maybe limiting it to certain hours or certain days.

Some authors find success by writing first thing in the morning before they even check their phone.

Others discover they need to take breaks from social media entirely during their writing seasons, which is something I do.

Ask God to show you what healthy boundaries look like for your specific situation and calling them though. Okay.

Trap number four is the ministry versus Money cycle,

friend. This one breaks my heart because I lived in this trap for way too long.

I felt so called to write for ministry purposes that I was terrified of charging what my work was worth. I'd price my brand new releases at 99 cents or give everything away for free because somehow I'D bought into the lie that charging money for kingdom work was ungodly.

But here's what actually happened. I couldn't sustain my writing financially, so I had to focus more and more time on other income sources.

My writing suffered, my ministry impact got smaller, and I started feeling guilty about the whole calling.

I was so afraid of being money focused that I couldn't even support the work God had called me to do.

Then I was led to what Jesus taught us in Luke 10:7, which tells us the worker deserves his wages.

There's another scripture, 1 Timothy 5:18, that confirms the same thing. The worker deserves his wages.

God doesn't expect you to serve him in poverty or worse, debt.

In fact,

when you value your work appropriately, you are able to invest more time and resources into your calling, which increases your ministry impact.

If this resonates with you, here are some gentle steps that help me shift my thinking now. You might start by researching what other authors in your genre are charging it's always good to look at the comp figures and prayerfully consider whether God is calling you to similar pricing.

Maybe he's asking you to trust him with a price increase that feels scary but would allow you to write more.

I'm not talking about exploiting your readers, though, but more about valuing your work appropriately.

Some authors find that people actually value what they pay for more than what they get for free.

Take your pricing concerns to God and ask him to show you how to be a good steward of the gifts he's given you.

The Safe Topic Cycle Now There was a moment where I stayed stuck in this one longer than I care to admit because, honestly, it felt safe.

I kept writing the same types of stories, addressing the same comfortable themes because I knew my existing readers would appreciate them. But something felt stagnant.

My engagement wasn't growing. My reach felt limited.

And if I'm being really honest, I was bored with my own work.

Deep down, I knew God was stirring bigger, bolder themes in my heart,

maybe more challenging topics or stories that would push me outside my comfort zone. But I kept choosing the safe route because it felt less risky, even though it was keeping my impact small.

That's when 2 Timothy 1:7 became my anchor. It says,

for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power,

of love, and of sound mind.

If God put a message on your heart, even if it's challenging or uncomfortable, friend, he will give you the courage and wisdom to deliver it well.

So if you are feeling stuck in safe territory, here's what I discovered in my own journey toward bolder writing.

You might ask God to show you what themes or topics you've been avoiding or and why.

Maybe he's calling you to write that one scary piece you keep pushing aside.

Some authors find it helpful to start small,

perhaps a blog post on a challenging topic to test their courage. Pray about what your authentic voice sounds like when it's not playing it safe because that authentic voice is always more powerful than the comfortable one.

And a little side note,

I have found that through writing specific messages that God has put on my heart, I found healing and guidance in my own life.

There's an introspection that comes with writing what God calls you to be. It's never just a one dimensional message, right?

Okay, Trap number six is the Comparison trap cycle.

This trap used to steal my joy on a regular basis.

I'd see another Christian author's success announcement,

maybe a TV deal, an award, amazing sales number, or Amazon ranking,

and instead of celebrating with them,

I'd immediately feel inadequate.

Then I'd either try to copy exactly what they did,

or I'd get so discouraged that I'd stop trying altogether.

But here's what I learned the hard way.

Their strategy didn't work for me because I'm not them.

I don't have their assignment.

I'd end up more frustrated than before,

having wasted time and energy trying to fit into someone else's blueprint instead of following the path God designed specifically for me.

Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 9:24 finally broke through my comparison fog when it says this do you not know that in a race all the runners run,

but only one gets the prize?

Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Notice Paul doesn't say run exactly like the person next to you.

He says run your race to get your prize.

If comparison is robbing your piece right now,

let me share what helped me find my way back to my own lane.

You might need to take a break from certain social media accounts or author groups that consistently trigger comparison for you.

Some authors find it helpful to keep a progress journal focused only on their own growth,

where they were last month versus where they are now.

Maybe God is calling you to celebrate your unique victories without measuring them against anyone else's journey.

Ask him to help you see your own race clearly and be okay with where you're at in your journey right now.

Every diamond shines eventually, and in the life of a Christian writer,

you only ever have to worry about shining for God. Right?

Trap number seven the last one is the all or Nothing cycle. Oh friend, I used to live in this exhausting cycle for years.

I'd get excited about a writing goal and go full intensity.

Writing for hours every day, posting constantly, pushing myself to the limit. I'd work hard on my business,

trying everything all at once.

I'd sustain this for maybe three months,

feeling so productive and accomplished,

but then I'd burn out completely. I'd stop writing for six months,

feel incredibly guilty about it, and then try to jump back in with that same unsustainable intensity.

I was either all in or completely out. There was no middle ground, no sustainable rhythm. And this pattern kept me from making any real long term progress.

Consistency is key.

Luke 16:10 finally helped me understand what God was looking for.

Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much.

God values consistency over intensity. He'd rather see you write 200 words every day for a year than 2000 words for two weeks and then quit.

If this all or nothing pattern sounds familiar, here's what I've learned about creating sustainable rhythms.

You might need to set much smaller daily goals,

maybe just 15 minutes of writing instead of hours, and be okay with that.

Some authors find success in focusing on showing up consistently rather than producing large amounts.

Perhaps God is calling you to a gentler,

more sustainable rhythm than you can maintain long term.

Pray about what's faithful in little looks like in your specific season of life,

because sustainable progress beats sporadic sprints every time.

Friend, here's what I want you to take home from today.

These traps are not character flaws.

They are not signs that you are not cut out for this calling. They are simply patterns that many of us fall into when we are trying to figure out how to build something meaningful in a world that gives us conflicting advice.

The beautiful thing about recognizing these patterns is that recognition gives you power.

You can't change what you don't acknowledge, right?

So as we close today, I want you to ask yourself,

which of these traps resonate most with you right now?

Which pattern have you been stuck in,

maybe without even realizing it?

And here's your assignment.

Pick just one.

Don't try to fix all seven at once.

That's another trap.

Pick the one that felt most familiar, most convicting,

most relevant to where you are right now.

And this week, take the first step I mentioned for breaking free from that specific trap.

Because, friend, God didn't call you to writing so you could stay stuck in cycles that don't serve his purposes. He called you because he had something specific he wants to say through you, and he wants you to succeed in delivering that message effectively.

Your breakthrough might be just one decision away. One no to the trap that's been holding you back.

One yes to the strategy that aligns with his heart for your ministry.

Trust the process,

trust his timing. And trust that the same God who called you to write will also equip you to do it. Well,

I'll be praying for your breakthrough, friend. And I can't wait to hear how God uses this episode in your journey,

friend. Before I let you go, I want you to use the send me a message link in the show notes and let me know where you need God to show up for you today so I can pray for you.

It's 100% anonymous. I can't see your name or your email or your phone number.

I can't even reply to you. But I can read your request and I can pray for you. So I encourage you to use this feature to send me a private message to let me know what you are struggling with right now so we can come together and take this to the Lord in prayer.

And if you found today's episode helpful, please consider subscribing and leaving a review.

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Oh and if you want more tips outside of the show, sign up to my monthly 5 Minute Manor emails. The link is in the show notes. Okay, so that's it for today's show.

Thank you for listening. And remember, for such a time as this,

you have been called to thrive as God's anointed scribe.