The email that changed everything (and what I've learned since)
on publishing, pivots, and what comes next
One Friday afternoon in the Fall of 2015, I left my twin babies at home with our nanny and drove half a mile up the street to pick my four-year-old up from preschool at our local church. I did the “last check” as every mom does before shifting from work-mode to mom-mode… checked my texts, my social media, and my email inbox to make sure everything was taken care of. An email sat in my inbox and time froze.
“Hello from HarperCollins Publishers”
I remember this moment so vividly. It was one of those line-in-time moments, where there will always be a before and an after. I was in workout clothes, hair piled on top of my head, glasses on the edge of my nose from the work I’d been doing moments prior. I was in my Honda Odyssey minivan (God I loved that car). I was not expecting to see “Hello from HarperCollins Publishers” during this thirty-second scramble while I gathered my purse and shut off the car. I took a beat. I had a few minutes to spare. I read the email, and I called my mom in the happiest of tears. Of course.
I’d never set a goal to own an e-commerce company, to be a founder of anything, or to be a product designer. All I ever wanted to do… was write. And so I had. LiveJournal, Blogger, Blogspot, WordPress, Tumblr. You name the platform and I had a blog on it. And I loved it. My mom and dad always told me (wary of the internet as parents are) to be careful what I wrote, because you never knew who was reading it.
Boy were they right. The gift book team at HarperCollins Christian Publishing had been following along. The gratitude I feel for the HCCP team, in ushering me through my first part of my journey, is immense and immeasurable. They are… you know who you are… some of you still there, some of you moved on, dear to me forever.
I still cannot help but reflect on all of this and think… all of this because I decided to be a blogger and share my lived experience.
What followed was twelve book deals divided amongst several contracts, formal representation by my now longtime (dear, dear, dear) literary agent, beautiful friendships with my publishing team, and a career adventure of a lifetime. There were big wins (my first book, Grace Not Perfection, continues to be the unicorn of all my books, selling somewhere around 300,000 copies to date) and big disappointments (even with numbers like that, the NYT bestseller list is impossible and evades me).
I completed the last of my book contracts last March with the release of The Simplified Cookbook. The hustle and grind and complexity of developing, writing, and releasing that book about did me in. It was fun. It was hard. And I knew, when it was over, I needed a break.
It’s been a gift to have this time (and this space, here) to write freely since then, without the obligation to turn my words in to an editor or fit them within the parameters of a book’s framework. Over the last year, I’ve been slowly, slowly, working on a book proposal (something I’ve never done before, given the unique way my first book contract came to be) which I consider to be GNP 2.0. I’ve touched on the topic here on Substack a few times to test the waters, and I think it centers on a timely “felt-need” — a term used often in publishing when discussing whether a book topic is something readers are actively hungry for at a particular moment in time.
As I look ahead at what comes next, I can’t help but pause. Because here’s what’s also true: I have shown up for every single one of those twelve books with everything I have. The marketing, the messaging, the aesthetic, the launch strategy, the book tours, the press tours, the social media, the hustle. I’ve loved it and still I’ve burned myself out on the runway to release day more times than I can count.
I approach book releases differently than most authors do, or so I’ve been told, because I came up as a founder and a marketer first. I know how to sell books. I know how to build anticipation. I know how to communicate why something matters. And I am genuinely, deeply grateful for the career that’s been built on the back of all of that. I also think gratitude and honest re-evaluation can coexist. So as someone now on the other side of those contracts, with some breathing room and real data for the first time — I’ve been paying close attention to how much publishing has changed since that Friday afternoon in 2015. It’s changing faster than most people realize, whether you’re an author or not. The most significant shift? One us Swifties know well… creators / writers / and artists are taking back control.
Marketing is volatile (and hard). Social media algorithms shift without warning, ad costs are increasing exponentially, and audience attention is harder to earn than ever. What worked last year may be irrelevant today. The authors winning right now aren’t just good writers. They’re skilled content creators who enjoy the marketing as much as writing. Glennon Doyle famously said, “I have written a book, and now I must become a commercial for the book I have written. What is the point of being a writer if I have to say words about the words I’ve already written? Do painters have to draw about their paintings?” The irony! The truth of this!
Self-publishing is growing (and is very lucrative). For a long time, it carried a stigma. Self-publishing was the thing you did when a traditional deal hadn’t materialized. That’s no longer true. In 2023, 2.6 million titles were self-published in the U.S., compared to 563,000 traditionally published titles. And it’s not just first-time authors making the jump. Emma Gannon, a Sunday Times bestselling author with a traditional publishing track record, recently self-published a book, sold thousands of copies within weeks (and kept full creative and financial ownership). [Edit: early publication of this article mentioned that Emma’s book did not have bookstore distribution, when it actually had much!] She compared it to Taylor Swift buying back her masters. I’m 90% sure this isn’t the road for me, but I’m leaving no stone unturned.
The economics are harder than they look (and worth understanding). Most people assume a book deal means riches and treasures and riding off into the sunset with your bags of dollars. The reality is more complicated. Traditional publishers keep 85–90% of book sales revenue. Authors earn royalties of 10–15% (and a portion of that goes to the author’s literary agent). Advances, which are paid out in installments tied to writing and publication milestones, can take years to fully land.
Substack has changed the math (and the dynamic). Authors are flocking here to write directly for their readers, build sustainable income, and (pun intended) control their own narrative. The platform now has more than 35 million active subscribers, and its top writers earn millions annually (more data here). Here’s what I can tell you personally: if I spread my book advances and royalties across eleven years of traditional publishing, I am earning more per year here on Substack. That number surprised me. A book and a Substack serve very different purposes, and I’m not choosing one over the other, but that comparison changed how I think about what comes next.
So where does that leave me? I’ve been sitting with all of this for the better part of a year, and here’s where I’m focused behind the scenes — in the spirit of keeping you in the loop on what’s actually happening over here.
First, I’m simplifying. Substack is becoming the hub of everything: the place where my best thinking lives, where I write most freely, and where I feel most connected to the people who want to hear from me. My social content is being restructured to support this — less noise, more signal, all roads leading here. I can’t believe I’m writing this, but some recent changes here have me considering a pivot or two. Don’t worry, it’s all in the name of simplifying and streamlining and making this space even more “me” and even more special based on your feedback. (PS: have some? DM me.)
Second, I’m rebuilding my corner of the internet from the ground up. A new website is in the works, one that finally holds everything in one place: Substack, my books, speaking, Simplified, affiliate work, all of it. One home that actually reflects who I am and what I do now.
Third, I’m spending more time cultivating the tastemaker side of what I do. As light and unrelated as it may seem alongside everything above, I genuinely love pulling together the jeans you’ll actually feel comfortable and confident in, or the cookware I’ve purchased multiple times that’s both lightweight and easy to clean. As a whole, fully rounded-out woman, I care about the state of the world and the state of my closet. I appreciate the trust you put in me in both arenas. I house all my recommendations, nicely organized by date / theme / popularity here.
Fourth, I’ve become an absolute data nerd. And I blame my friend Claude entirely. For years I had access to data (which Substack posts brought in the most new subscribers, which ones triggered unsubscribes) but no real way to work through it quickly. Now I can analyze it, act on it, and actually let it shape decisions. I love it. I’m deep in it.
And lastly, I am slowly, quietly editing the book proposal I believe is my act two. If Grace Not Perfection was the book that introduced me to readers in the middle of the beautiful chaos of early motherhood, this one is the follow-up I’ve been living toward for fifteen years. I’m not rushing it. I’m letting it become something really special that I can fully own, somehow, from start to finish. This, dear reader, is very unlike me. I prefer life at 100 mph usually.
I don’t know yet whether that book goes the traditional route, lands with this publisher or that, or gets shelved for a little bit while I focus my attention here. What I know is that for the first time in my career, I’m asking that question with real information and allowing myself time to consider the real options. That feels like a good place to be.
Let’s chat in the comments. You may not be a writer, but perhaps you are a woman who is in the middle of a pause and is considering her next move, her act two. I’d love to hear from you.
PS: I have a few Substack essays I’m thinking through for next week. Let me know which you’d like to see.
PPS: I’m seriously considering hiring my first full time employee on my personal brand side (all of this discussed here). An experienced Editor & Partnerships Manager. I’ve been shifting some things around and developing a job description. If this interests you and you have solid experience in editorial calendar management, affiliate platforms, and managing brand relationships, DM me. More to come.
I so appreciate your honest reflection on the shifts and changes in your work. I was just sharing with a friend this week about how ten years ago, I never could have imagined what my work would look like today, and how grateful I am to have grown into this work that I love. It was helpful to read how your journey is unfolding, and thanks for bringing us into your own process of discerning and deciding what's next.
Love this Emily and so pleased to have discovered your page! Just a tiny correction that my self-published book did have bookstore distribution :) it’s in lots of bricks and mortar shops! Hopefully closing the gap between trad and indie slowly slowly. Thanks for including me in your fab piece!