April 15th, 2023: Greetings from Austin! About six weeks into this parenting thing and still enjoying it. I haven’t really attempted to have a structured workday and have abandoned plans to do that anytime soon. I’m just working on the things I enjoy when I have time. This is the best part of being on a path like this. There is no “return” to work and I can just put family above all else and fit in work around it.
“It made me reflect on something I’ve told other people too: no one will save you. The way I’ve set up my path is perhaps a little more independent and “solo” than most but I think this is the way for me to really do work that matters to me, fully owning all the ups and downs of writing and creating in today’s world. Plus I’m having a ton of fun doing it.”
I really related to this! Thanks for sharing your journey with the publishing company and the details of how it works. I think it’s easy to use traditional status symbols as a goal post for success, but technology and the creative industry is changing so fast that it seems the traditional path won’t make sense for a lot of people. Also, very cool to see Ali do a deep dive on The Pathless Path!
Paul, you literally live upto your words. Whenever I feel or need inspiration I take refuge in your book/blogs. Have gifted PP to 10+ people ( everyone loved it) and will be doing more in the future
I appreciate you sharing. I've heard so many versions of this type of story, and still so many people assume a traditional publisher is by definition a win. With the might of the internet at our disposal, I have to think very few "traditional" deals are wins for the author.
Hope you're enjoying parenting. I'm somewhere around week 1,025 of being a dad, but I still love those early weeks!
You're so right Paul. "No one will save you" is so true, but such a hard truth to take to heart, because it's such a long road to entrepreneurial success and it's tempting to hope that a well-heeled sponsor, donor, business partnership, or influencer could step in to hand over a big check, or the keys to a moment of exposure or an introduction that would change everything. As a professional entertainer and speaker an appearance on Good Morning America, America Funniest People, and other high profile opportunities, each came with, "Oh my god, this is it. It's all going to be easy from here." Time and time again those hopes have been shown to be fantasy. It's taken 30 years to build something solid, enduring and unique with a wide range of clients that is independent of the need for a big "break." It's only the steady, consistent, heart-guided effort over time that saves us.
Thank you for continuing to show us that there are truly no extents to which you can travel solo on the pathless path. That there is no avenue in life where we need to do the default thing. Not in work, not in parenting, not with a book.
Props to you for turning down that offer. Im sure that was hard to not take that money but I think youll look back years from now and know you made the right decision.
Really interesting Paul. Good on you for knowing when is enough and choosing to walk away. It’s always great to reaffirm you love what you’re doing. You’re always a calming force when I feel the pull of “I should”
Love the emphasis on knowing what’s ‘enough’ for you. It’s easy to get caught up in the never-ending game of wanting to make ‘more’ but more money doesn’t necessarily equate to more happiness.
That is a TERRIBLE deal. I was kinda ummmm from your previous post, but the details are very clarifying.
Lot to discuss here, but first off, a good agent could probably get you $500k, more like a 250/250 split (1 and 2), plus a balloon option for 2 if 1 hits certain numbers. Most agents are not good agents, but ever agent would salivate if they heard *Penguin* reached out like this, and that's what you'd need to get one of the good agents. Basically, Penguin betrayed weakness by showing interest. Very, very unusual; they don't have time for stuff like that. A good agent would also force an auction, which might blow up the numbers.
Second, an agent would just cross out most of the terms. Permanent rights? Are you kidding? They know better. They told you to get an agent because they didn't want you to get advice down the road and sue.
Finally, and this is the big one...selfpublishing is fantastic. But I've been following the space since 2010 at least, and ime all the self-publishers of any size have all ended up with a trad book. The real reason is that this is how you get booked for $10k speaking gigs and $50k three-day workshops. Paul, you're well aware of how many hoops a vendor has to go through to do business with even a medium-sized corporation. Publication by a prestigious press automatically unlocks doors and lifts you into a different price bracket, even with little effort on your part. Your sales might improve 20-30%...but there's a much bigger chance that some fraction of that percent will be readers looking to hire you. Do corps care about PP? HR sure as hell does, in terms of edifying speeches in how to make the pathful path better. Innovative companies, the ones with a stock-in-trade of weirdoes, also want to know how to increase the vibe.
Your content's valuable, but its signaling potential isn't as powerful as it might be. It's all about you of course--money is just a convenient shorthand for what I think actually motivates you, the ability to share your ideas even more effectively and meet even more cool people. Just a few thoughts based on my experiences.
“It made me reflect on something I’ve told other people too: no one will save you. The way I’ve set up my path is perhaps a little more independent and “solo” than most but I think this is the way for me to really do work that matters to me, fully owning all the ups and downs of writing and creating in today’s world. Plus I’m having a ton of fun doing it.”
I really related to this! Thanks for sharing your journey with the publishing company and the details of how it works. I think it’s easy to use traditional status symbols as a goal post for success, but technology and the creative industry is changing so fast that it seems the traditional path won’t make sense for a lot of people. Also, very cool to see Ali do a deep dive on The Pathless Path!
“No one will save you”
Paul, you literally live upto your words. Whenever I feel or need inspiration I take refuge in your book/blogs. Have gifted PP to 10+ people ( everyone loved it) and will be doing more in the future
I appreciate you sharing. I've heard so many versions of this type of story, and still so many people assume a traditional publisher is by definition a win. With the might of the internet at our disposal, I have to think very few "traditional" deals are wins for the author.
Hope you're enjoying parenting. I'm somewhere around week 1,025 of being a dad, but I still love those early weeks!
You're so right Paul. "No one will save you" is so true, but such a hard truth to take to heart, because it's such a long road to entrepreneurial success and it's tempting to hope that a well-heeled sponsor, donor, business partnership, or influencer could step in to hand over a big check, or the keys to a moment of exposure or an introduction that would change everything. As a professional entertainer and speaker an appearance on Good Morning America, America Funniest People, and other high profile opportunities, each came with, "Oh my god, this is it. It's all going to be easy from here." Time and time again those hopes have been shown to be fantasy. It's taken 30 years to build something solid, enduring and unique with a wide range of clients that is independent of the need for a big "break." It's only the steady, consistent, heart-guided effort over time that saves us.
It’s inspiring Paul. Talking about values is one thing, practicing them is the best way to show others what they truly mean to us.
Thank you for continuing to show us that there are truly no extents to which you can travel solo on the pathless path. That there is no avenue in life where we need to do the default thing. Not in work, not in parenting, not with a book.
Absolutely love this read, Paul.
Props to you for turning down that offer. Im sure that was hard to not take that money but I think youll look back years from now and know you made the right decision.
Really interesting Paul. Good on you for knowing when is enough and choosing to walk away. It’s always great to reaffirm you love what you’re doing. You’re always a calming force when I feel the pull of “I should”
Agreed. Very interesting
Power to you Paul, what a great read -- loved it
Love the emphasis on knowing what’s ‘enough’ for you. It’s easy to get caught up in the never-ending game of wanting to make ‘more’ but more money doesn’t necessarily equate to more happiness.
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That is a TERRIBLE deal. I was kinda ummmm from your previous post, but the details are very clarifying.
Lot to discuss here, but first off, a good agent could probably get you $500k, more like a 250/250 split (1 and 2), plus a balloon option for 2 if 1 hits certain numbers. Most agents are not good agents, but ever agent would salivate if they heard *Penguin* reached out like this, and that's what you'd need to get one of the good agents. Basically, Penguin betrayed weakness by showing interest. Very, very unusual; they don't have time for stuff like that. A good agent would also force an auction, which might blow up the numbers.
Second, an agent would just cross out most of the terms. Permanent rights? Are you kidding? They know better. They told you to get an agent because they didn't want you to get advice down the road and sue.
Finally, and this is the big one...selfpublishing is fantastic. But I've been following the space since 2010 at least, and ime all the self-publishers of any size have all ended up with a trad book. The real reason is that this is how you get booked for $10k speaking gigs and $50k three-day workshops. Paul, you're well aware of how many hoops a vendor has to go through to do business with even a medium-sized corporation. Publication by a prestigious press automatically unlocks doors and lifts you into a different price bracket, even with little effort on your part. Your sales might improve 20-30%...but there's a much bigger chance that some fraction of that percent will be readers looking to hire you. Do corps care about PP? HR sure as hell does, in terms of edifying speeches in how to make the pathful path better. Innovative companies, the ones with a stock-in-trade of weirdoes, also want to know how to increase the vibe.
Your content's valuable, but its signaling potential isn't as powerful as it might be. It's all about you of course--money is just a convenient shorthand for what I think actually motivates you, the ability to share your ideas even more effectively and meet even more cool people. Just a few thoughts based on my experiences.