The biggest week of my life
ABC 166: On the calm before the storm of publishing a book
I love this photo. It’s from the day before I turned in the first draft of the book. I’d just cut up a chapter into little strips of paper and was moving them around on the floor like a cliché from a newsroom movie.
It’s still crazy to me that the book is about to be published. Three years ago, it was chicken scratch in my Notes app. Nine months ago, it was a Google doc. And two days from now, it will be a physical object in an airport bookstore.
I’ve learned a lot through the publishing process, but the lesson I feel most acutely today is that writing a book is a team sport. Though there’s only one name on the cover, dozens of people, including you, helped make this dream a reality. Thank you for reading this newsletter and for all the thoughtful replies over the years.
I’ll have some exciting things to share with you in a few days, so I’m not sending out an article this week. But as a reminder, you have 24 hours left to pre-order the book.
Wish me luck!
Book updates:
I was on
’s podcast, Work Appropriate. Listen here.You can get all the details for the different tour stops here. We’re almost sold out for 5/23 in NYC with Kevin Delaney and 5/24 in SF with Zoë Schiffer.
For those interested, I’ll post on Instagram tomorrow with different ways you can support the launch. Tl;dr please send your friends/colleagues/literate dogs to this link.
Warmly,
Simo
P.S. The song of the week is my favorite song I’ve discovered recently. It’s a groovy South African dance track from the 90s. The full songs of the week playlist can be found here.
“Writing a book is a team sport.” Love this line so much!
I just learned about your book from your Anti-Mimetic guest post. Been thinking/writing about many of the same things and can't wait to read it. Best of luck with the launch!