The Five-Year Milestone Consistency is often the hardest part of any creative endeavor. For Randi-Lee Bowslaugh, the fifth anniversary of her podcast, the Write or Die Show, serves as a reminder that showing up as your authentic self is the only way to build a real audience. Over the last five years, she has moved away from trying to be “professional” in the traditional sense, instead choosing to let her personality shine through—a move that has cultivated a safe, worldwide community for mental health discussions.

The Power of Identity Randi-Lee’s author journey, which began in 2017, features a pivotal moment of internal transformation. Many writers start by saying, “I wrote a book,” but Randi-Lee emphasizes the importance of the shift to saying, “I am an author”. This change in mentality sneaks up on you, but it changes how you approach the business of writing. While she started with a boutique publishing group that helped with formatting and cover design, she eventually transitioned into a “control freak” for her own work—learning the intricacies of Word, KDP, and IngramSpark to ensure she owned every piece of her creative vision.

The Battle for Creative Rights For Randi-Lee, self-publishing isn’t just about ease; it’s about protection. She strongly believes that authors should never give up their rights to someone who might dictate their creative vision, especially when writing nonfiction. By staying in control, she is able to keep her royalties and track exactly where her books are being read. There is a unique thrill in seeing a ten-cent royalty come in from Australia or Asia, knowing that a story written in Canada has reached the other side of the globe.

A Story That Deserves a Second Day in the Sun Randi-Lee’s latest project is a second edition of Goodbye Too Soon: Families Lost by Drug Overdose. Originally published five years ago on the anniversary of her brother’s death, the new edition features 50% more content, including deeper emotional reflections and extensive research on addiction risk factors. The catalyst for this second edition was her publicist’s suggestion to “do it right” to prepare the story for a movie adaptation. By reclaiming the narrative with more confidence than she had five years ago, she is bringing light to the “dirty part of life” that society often tries to brush aside.

The Author’s Toolkit: Grace and Deadlines Her advice for aspiring authors is rooted in the reality of life’s unpredictability. Whether dealing with kids, animals, or chronic health issues like fibromyalgia, Randi-Lee cautions against setting rigid “10,000 words a day” goals that lead to a sense of failure. Instead, she advocates for flexible deadlines—giving yourself a month to finish a draft rather than a daily quota. By acknowledging that your first attempt won’t be your best, you allow yourself the room to grow into the author you are meant to be.