Hi Reader,
The 'word of the day' is schema.
Ever heard of it? Me neither. At least I hadn't until I confronted one of the central challenges of being an author in 2026.
I've been riding this writing train for a while now. I've seen things.
The biggest disappointment was being fired by a famous literary agent because, after two years, she couldn't get US publishers to bite on my debut thriller.
"Out of bullets. We tried. Sorry."
It was no small consolation that she'd managed to sell it abroad. And, if you're thinking, "That sounds backwards," you're right. It is highly unusual.
Yes. I'm a unicorn. Not the pretty-pony-glitter kind. I'm the broad-shouldered, flowing-mane Fabio kind of unicorn.
Sure Andy.
Even though I was now out on the street without an agent, I'd experienced something most authors only dream of...validation.
Still.
It was a hard to watch my dream slip away. I had no backup plan. I was starting at the bottom.
No social media.
No newsletter.
No readers.
I began my self-publishing journey with good intentions and poor information. I made a lot of mistakes. None of which bear repeating today.
But I have learned a few things:
1) The best discovery happens when readers hear about you from other readers.
You can buy attention.
Trust?
That's hard to buy.
I'm not saying ads are a bad thing. I still use them. But much more strategically.
Recommendations are better. Better for the reader and better for the author.
2) It is exceptionally hard to be discovered by just writing a good book.
Unless lightning strikes, authors don't get to write a book and wait for glory. It takes work. Lots of it.
And it never really ends.
It starts with a website. A good one.
I just redid mine, and it's a lot better. Check it out when you have time.
www.andrewbridgeman.com
This is where our 'word of the day' comes in.
Schema.
It's behind-the-scenes code that helps Google, AI systems, and other machines understand who I am, what books I've written, and how everything connects.
I'd bet plenty of authors have never heard of it.
But if writers want the internet to understand who they are in 2026, it's worth learning about.
The website still has to be written for people.
Schema helps the machines make sense of what's underneath.
3) AI is here. There is no putting the genie back in the bottle.
That means there will be a slew of "writers" who have an idea for a story and just let AI do the work.
Book after book after book.
All while I sit in my writer's room cranking out one, maybe two, a year.
I'm not judging, but yeah...maybe I am.
I think (hope) the natural outcome will be that readers will start looking for the real thing.
Unique voices. Stories that are surprising and unexpected. Authors they trust.
Authenticity matters.
So this is what I'm working toward...
A grassroots model where readers can hear about my writing from a friend or discover it online—and when they do, find a real person at the other end with a good book or three.
I'd say we're making progress but, by no means, are we there yet.
So, with that in mind, this seems like a terrible moment to hawk books, but what're you gonna do?
If you haven't started the Emma Noble Series, now's your chance. Fortunate Son is just 99¢.
I'm encouraging people to buy it on Apple Books because it's a newer retailer for me, and I'd like to give their algorithm a reason to notice me.
Prefer Kindle? That's below too.
Lastly, thank you again for all the kind emails you sent after watching Kath's video. We loved them.
Happy Friday!
Andy
