From 34 rejections to a book deal, Burning Inside Out rises from the ash like fireweed blossoming vibrant and bright — shaped by identity, intuition, courage, and intention.
I started this Substack and the Burning Inside Out newsletter because I wanted to be able to show agents and publishers that people wanted to read what I wrote and that there was an audience for the book. Here is my version of the back of the book description:
The world burns, floods, dries up, and starves. Forests fall. Species vanish in the sixth mass extinction. We witness war, school shootings, and a deluge of how-to books promising solutions. Yet no one talks about the personal cost of being a change maker.
In this practical guide, Natasha Stavros- a young, female scientist – navigates the male-dominated world of megafire science and technology at NASA’s world-famous Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 30 practical lessons interwoven with stories from her life, she offers vital advice for how to change a broken system, even when the odds are against you. Lasting change, she teaches, is not impossible – it is intentional. We must change the world now, before it’s too late.
In setting the purpose of the newsletter, I decided to make it a last chapter reveal. The last chapter outlines what I learned about power dynamics and game theory in practice during the final year of my 20-year career in megafire science. Over the course of the year, I have revealed three different elements to the future: quitting my corporate job with a fat salary, taking a day job doing research development at a major university and a position as a yoga instructor. The day job pays the bills as I launch WKID Solutions (pronounced Wicked Solutions) while yoga instruction feeds my soul, heals my body and mind, gives back to the community, and reduces my daily expenses so that I can work towards financial independence to retire early (FIRE).
Today, the final post of 2025, I reveal to you that Burning Inside Out has officially signed a book deal with Amplify Publishing Group.
I started conceptualizing WKID Solutions in 2020, during the pandemic. I realized that I was paying intellectual rent in exchange for my daily paycheck. I needed to develop intellectual capital that was mine. I published the WKID Innovation framework in the academic literature. WKID Innovation uses system models and system engineering to implement change management and quality improvement. Then, I developed use cases under different roles and responsibilities in my day jobs. Now, I have a vision, and a viable, credible pathway to launch the company with services to help change makers like yourself.
All the while, I wrote my book, Burning Inside Out. It’s been through five versions. Version 1 was more or less a stream of consciousness. Version 2 organized the material. Version 3 created a story arch with conflict and character development, which required a commitment to self reflection. Version 4 was a developmental edit to place the book into a recognizable genre. Version 5 was a line edit. With all of this, it’s still not done.
By signing the contract with Amplify Publishing Group, I will work closely with them on a final copy edit. The book cover and design will be done by a professional in the field, and I will develop a marketing plan to launch the book and publish it widely in bookstores and online in multiple formats including audiobook, ebook, and hardback.
Finding a publisher has been a journey! I have queried 32 agents and 5 publishers. Finally, 3 of the 5 publishers accepted my manuscript and I reviewed the contract offers. Now, for those of you that don’t know much about the general audience book publishing industry, let me provide a little background. On the gradient of quality control for book publishing, you have self publishing at one end, with zero quality control, and then you have traditional publishing on the other end, with extensive quality control, some would even argue that it is so controlled that most first-time authors struggle to garner traction. This can be especially true for certain genres, nonfiction being one of them, which is what Burning Inside Out is. According to different surveys, only half of United States adults read at least one book a year, which means that book publishers want to know that you, as the author, can bring an audience to the customer base.
After being rejected by all 32 agents that I queried, I turned to publishers directly. On that gradient of quality control, there is an emerging market of niche publishers that generally fall between vanity publishing for anyone with money to hire a professional team to write and publish a book, and hybrid publishing that has a selection process. The primary difference between these publishers and traditional publishers is not necessarily market or reach, but rather the financial mechanisms of production.
With a traditional publisher you can get an advance as the author before the book ever hits the shelves. This means that the publisher assumes all the risk of the return on the investment. These publishers do not care if there is return on investment beyond the book, because as publishers, they are only interested in the revenue the book returns. In the world of hybrid or vanity publishing, the author assumes the risk of return on investment. In return, they retain five to six times the royalties of a traditional publisher. The downside to the author is that they have to cover the up-front expenditures of book production.
Help carry Burning Inside Out across the finish line.
If these essays have spoken to you—if they’ve helped you feel seen, sparked courage, or reminded you that you’re not alone—now is the moment to support the work that made them possible.
My book is officially under contract. To cover the up-front publishing costs and keep this newsletter going, I’m inviting you to become a paid subscriber.
📖 Annual subscribers get a hardback copy of the book prior to launch.
📖 Founder subscribers get a hardback copy, autograph, access to both the ebook and audiobook, and an invite to an online launch party
Your subscription doesn’t just fund a book—it fuels a movement.
It says that stories about burnout, identity, disability, and rebuilding power matter.
It supports services to empower individuals and organizations to challenge systems instead of protecting them.
It helps this community grow.
If you believe in this work, now is the time to support it.