Writing a book is one thing. Writing to sell is another. Paid subscribers get 30 lessons on resilience through change, 3 months early. Offer gone after September 2026.
To my subscribers, my loyal fans, we are taking a two-week break between seasons for the Podcast Following the Threads, which is available on all your favorite streaming platforms.
I wanted to take this opportunity to share updates about my book, Burning Inside Out, coming to a bookstore near you in December 2026!
Writing and publishing this book comes at a pivotal time. I was recently diagnosed autistic. I have spent 39 years as “high functioning”, and that masking has come at an extremely high cost for my physical and mental health. This book helps me take ownership of my story, and it is an investment in the next phase of my career as a general audience author. This post shares my process.
2020 - 2022
I wrote version 1 to get the book out of my head and onto the page. I also queried agents and began researching how to break into mainstream publishing.
2023
I wrote version 2 by organizing my thoughts into something coherent and I established a business to support my work called WKID Solutions. This included market research, building credibility, branding, and building both an online and legal presence as a small business.
2024
I wrote version 3 to restructure my thoughts into a compelling story arch. I continued to build legitimacy for my business by setting up a bank account, consulting lawyers, registering for copyright, and continuing professional development by exploring options for self-publication, such as kickstarter.
2025
I decided to publish my book. I wrote version 4 as a developmental edit to place the book in the genre of narrative nonfiction how-to using information on fire science and technology to build the narrative. I wrote version 5 as a detailed line edit bringing reading ease from college-level to a freshman in high school. By mid-year, I queried agents again.
By the end of 2025, I knew that what I wanted for this book was not to self-publish, and it was not to secure a traditional publishing contract. Self-publishing is relatively easy. The variation in quality, however, is wide and includes everything from AI written and produced books to self-publication piece-mealing together all elements of book production. As a new author, it is very likely that I would not understand all elements of the business well enough to actually turn a profit. Traditional publishing pairs authors with a team of professionals supporting the book at every stage working to maximize profit, but it is extremely difficult to land a contract.
The alternative is to finance your own publication with a professional team. This route includes “vanity” publishing in which anyone can pay for a book whether or not they write it, to hybrid publishing. Hybrid publishing selects books just as a traditional publisher would, but the primary difference is in how they get paid. A hybrid publisher gets paid upfront by the author. A traditional publisher does not get paid until after the book sells. This subtle difference shifts the risk posture for the publisher.
If a traditional publisher or agent isn’t taking the bait on your queries, it’s probably because they can’t see a return on investment. As a hybrid author, I have invested at least one-hundred thousand dollars (USD) of my time to write the book without an advance. I have fronted another forty thousand for a professional publishing team to produce and distribute the book globally. I will spend another five to ten thousand on a book tour. If I were a traditional publisher, that means that I would expect to make $1.5 million in profit from book sales alone. As an unknown general audience author, it’s no wonder that traditional publishing didn’t pick up my book.
You may be wondering why I invested this much. To be quite frank, I consider this book the equivalent to a second Ph.D. This is why in December 2025, I signed a publishing contract with Amplify Publishing Group, a top hybrid publisher.
2026
We have:
Completed a final author edit (Version 6), a liability edit (Version 7), a copy edit (Version 8), and the final manuscript (Version 9)
Completed cover design and book layout
Recruited testimonials
For the rest of the year we will be:
Recording the audiobook and doing post-production
Planning and executing launch marketing
Printing the book and holding it in a warehouse, ready for release
Sending early (~3 months) release copies of the book to paid subscribers
Launching the book for sale in December 2026!
