And thank you for walking through your creation process step by step. You’ve produced a wonderfully helpful guide for anyone thinking of publishing a non-fiction book on Amazon!
amazeballs - a word I love and won’t apologise for!
Such a great endeavour, and it goes without saying which always means say it: it’s a very solid way of doing justice to what is already here - what you already offer. Like a basic text of foundational stuff.
I appreciated the forensic deconstruct of the process very much, especially as it pertains to Amazon. When I self published my “Postcards From a Little Life” in March 2025, I choose self-publish over the 3 offers of more traditional. The publishers that were interested in my memoir were small Indi setups, and it was clear to me that I would have had to get behind distribution in a way I do not have capacity for. So then I researched self-publish, which is full of noise and bonkers... a bit like AI world. I didn’t consider Amazon because I wanted a print run not print on demand. I found the good guys the way I do, same way I found you.
York Books - understated, experienced, have been known to talk writers out of publishing if they can see it isn’t up to par. They did a beautiful job of designing to my brief, formatted, in every way made me a beautiful paperback book, with the ebook option as well. Now I pay them for storage and distribution - I am in the mainstream system, so available via Amazon, all online and real world bookstores, as well as overseas.
What was interesting reading your process was setting it alongside my experience with Amazon. They have been so slippery with me and my book - of course it is there because like any other author I have a book in the system, but it is not their system. They are not invested in my book and have no stakes in it, so I’m reading the constraints you speak of with KPD, and noting the hoops they made me jump through to have an Amazon Author page, and the mysterious disappearing reviews... I have some very nice reviews, and actually not all from people that know me!! But what happened when you were kind enough to buy my book, therefore register as a verified purchase, and drop me a very lovely review, was it fell in a void - that has been the case at least 15 times, which is not a small thing when trying to help a book find its way to new readership ... when I have followed up with Amazon they tied me in knots and tangles of bullshit veering from saying the purchaser hadn’t done enough shopping on Amazon over the prior month!!! - to straight up denial of a verified purchase ever happening...
These huge companies have so much power - not unlike your note earlier about what if I left Claude... years ago I tried to leave Amazon on a principal, and yet everything I ever needed took me back there. Eventually I gave in, and discovered my small p political resistance had not even un-subscribed me. I’d been making sustained effort to not use Amazon that had not registered.
This is amazing, congrats! That opens up possibilities now. That doesn't mean we now all need to write a prompt and publish the output, but I think this is an amazing opportunity to use books in the marketing mix.
This is exactly how I see it as well, Virgil. It's meant that I can do all of the marketing and publicity as a team of one rather than a much larger group of people.
Yes, makes a lot of sense, and it is a very interesting model because books have a very powerful position in the marketing funnel in my world. Let's chat about it one day.
I want to do a political review panel, one from every position in politics, because I want my articles to be irrefutable and way round (although I know facts have an annoying inability to motivate people), and also because we need to bridge the political divide in order to be able to act together on climate and systems.
I need to find real people and see what they would do I think, to model them. I don't think I would be able to propose all stances fairly and accurately otherwise
The main point for me about your book is the architecture of your endeavour - AI cannot construct things with the same level of meaning running throughout, and that is the thing that makes it valid and true..
Thank you for this post Sam - getting my own project moving with these tips. I will get my review out to Amazon this week, my staff have already shared they enjoyed your book at the charity.
The missteps section is the most generous part of this, and not because it's confessional. It maps a real topology. "The machine follows your instructions to the letter, including the ones you never meant literally" is a precise observation about what happens when a system optimises inside a space you defined but didn't fully survey. The instruction became part of the content. That's a finding about the boundary between tool and collaborator: the moment the machine starts shaping the argument, not just serving it, and the only thing that catches it is your own judgement. Which is the thesis of the book, lived rather than argued. The missteps aren't incidental to "knowing when to use AI and when to leave it alone" — they're the experimental data for it. The book is its own case study, and you had the honesty to leave the seams visible. That's rarer than a bestseller tag.
Same experience with publishers- legacy vs KDP. I now go KDP- ability to go fast, change content if I find errors, and I’ve also found that sales are better. I don’t know if they throttle views from smaller publishers, but it sure does feel like it.
Thanks for all your work- keep up the great sharing of knowledge!
Congratulations Sam! I have followed your thoughts and journey for sometime now. Glad to see you were able to research, write and share your thoughts in a formally recorded format with everyone.
Congratulations on the book and the launch!
And thank you for walking through your creation process step by step. You’ve produced a wonderfully helpful guide for anyone thinking of publishing a non-fiction book on Amazon!
Thanks Karen. And you are so welcome! Now I just need to continue marketing the book, which I am not great at. 😬😬😬
Me too as it turned out 🤣
The marketing is the hardest part!
Congratulations, Sam!
I was following along as you were launching the book while I was in the middle of moving house. I really wish I could’ve joined in more.
I’m so glad to see it’s been such a fantastic success. Well deserved!
Thanks so much Jenny. And honestly you have been such a huge support in its foundations. 🥰
amazeballs - a word I love and won’t apologise for!
Such a great endeavour, and it goes without saying which always means say it: it’s a very solid way of doing justice to what is already here - what you already offer. Like a basic text of foundational stuff.
I appreciated the forensic deconstruct of the process very much, especially as it pertains to Amazon. When I self published my “Postcards From a Little Life” in March 2025, I choose self-publish over the 3 offers of more traditional. The publishers that were interested in my memoir were small Indi setups, and it was clear to me that I would have had to get behind distribution in a way I do not have capacity for. So then I researched self-publish, which is full of noise and bonkers... a bit like AI world. I didn’t consider Amazon because I wanted a print run not print on demand. I found the good guys the way I do, same way I found you.
York Books - understated, experienced, have been known to talk writers out of publishing if they can see it isn’t up to par. They did a beautiful job of designing to my brief, formatted, in every way made me a beautiful paperback book, with the ebook option as well. Now I pay them for storage and distribution - I am in the mainstream system, so available via Amazon, all online and real world bookstores, as well as overseas.
What was interesting reading your process was setting it alongside my experience with Amazon. They have been so slippery with me and my book - of course it is there because like any other author I have a book in the system, but it is not their system. They are not invested in my book and have no stakes in it, so I’m reading the constraints you speak of with KPD, and noting the hoops they made me jump through to have an Amazon Author page, and the mysterious disappearing reviews... I have some very nice reviews, and actually not all from people that know me!! But what happened when you were kind enough to buy my book, therefore register as a verified purchase, and drop me a very lovely review, was it fell in a void - that has been the case at least 15 times, which is not a small thing when trying to help a book find its way to new readership ... when I have followed up with Amazon they tied me in knots and tangles of bullshit veering from saying the purchaser hadn’t done enough shopping on Amazon over the prior month!!! - to straight up denial of a verified purchase ever happening...
These huge companies have so much power - not unlike your note earlier about what if I left Claude... years ago I tried to leave Amazon on a principal, and yet everything I ever needed took me back there. Eventually I gave in, and discovered my small p political resistance had not even un-subscribed me. I’d been making sustained effort to not use Amazon that had not registered.
I am so sorry for these experiences Caro. I hope those reviews also return from the void, or at least fill it with the love they carried. 🥰
This is amazing, congrats! That opens up possibilities now. That doesn't mean we now all need to write a prompt and publish the output, but I think this is an amazing opportunity to use books in the marketing mix.
This is exactly how I see it as well, Virgil. It's meant that I can do all of the marketing and publicity as a team of one rather than a much larger group of people.
Yes, makes a lot of sense, and it is a very interesting model because books have a very powerful position in the marketing funnel in my world. Let's chat about it one day.
Congratulations!
Thank you 🙏
I would have had to proofread it myself if i had done such a thing.
Oh yeah if u ever need a proofreader.....
I will learn from your reviewers tho, cos I am not an academic and will not be able to conjoure likely personas effectively.
I want to do a political review panel, one from every position in politics, because I want my articles to be irrefutable and way round (although I know facts have an annoying inability to motivate people), and also because we need to bridge the political divide in order to be able to act together on climate and systems.
I would love to see this.
https://substack.com/@aliceenglish/note/c-298766699?r=5vjx1m
I need to find real people and see what they would do I think, to model them. I don't think I would be able to propose all stances fairly and accurately otherwise
I love the review panel. One could make up some really bonkers reviewers...
The main point for me about your book is the architecture of your endeavour - AI cannot construct things with the same level of meaning running throughout, and that is the thing that makes it valid and true..
Thank you for your generosity in terms of pricing the book and sharing your tools. I've read the book. Email incoming...!
Thanks so much. 🙏
This post is gold! Congrats Sam, and THANK YOU for sharing your process with us! ❤️
You are so welcome! It’ll be you soon. I am sure. 🤖❤️
THE DREAM
Make it a reality. 🥰
soon! for now, I don't want to steal your spotlight 😉
More than enough room for us all to dance. 💃
Thank you for this post Sam - getting my own project moving with these tips. I will get my review out to Amazon this week, my staff have already shared they enjoyed your book at the charity.
Thanks so much Dan. That is awesome to hear. 🙏
The missteps section is the most generous part of this, and not because it's confessional. It maps a real topology. "The machine follows your instructions to the letter, including the ones you never meant literally" is a precise observation about what happens when a system optimises inside a space you defined but didn't fully survey. The instruction became part of the content. That's a finding about the boundary between tool and collaborator: the moment the machine starts shaping the argument, not just serving it, and the only thing that catches it is your own judgement. Which is the thesis of the book, lived rather than argued. The missteps aren't incidental to "knowing when to use AI and when to leave it alone" — they're the experimental data for it. The book is its own case study, and you had the honesty to leave the seams visible. That's rarer than a bestseller tag.
— Iman and Darja
Thanks so much. 🙏
Same experience with publishers- legacy vs KDP. I now go KDP- ability to go fast, change content if I find errors, and I’ve also found that sales are better. I don’t know if they throttle views from smaller publishers, but it sure does feel like it.
Thanks for all your work- keep up the great sharing of knowledge!
Thank you Addison. Definitely enjoying the journey so far! 🙏
Congratulations Sam! I have followed your thoughts and journey for sometime now. Glad to see you were able to research, write and share your thoughts in a formally recorded format with everyone.
Thank you. 🙏