How I got a book deal from Substack
Behind the scenes of Quietest Places in New York City
In September 2024, I got an email that changed my life. It was from a publisher at Rizzoli, asking if I wanted to turn one of my Substack posts into a book.
The email came through my contact form on my website, and it was so formal that I almost wondered if it was real. But surely enough, it was very real!
I spoke to Jim a few days later, and he shared that his team at Rizzoli was interested in turning my Substack post on Quietest Places in NYC into a book. It turned out one of my subscribers, Lena Tabori, had worked with Jim in publishing in the past and forwarded him the post. She is my hero!
From Substack post to Book Launch
My intention with this piece is to provide transparency of the process of starting a Substack, getting an offer from a publisher, getting an agent, the book-making process, and preparation for book launch. I always wondered what that path looked like, and hope this can be helpful for anyone working on or dreaming about writing a book one day!
My Substack presence at the time
I published that post in August 2024 when I had 4,000 subscribers. I had been writing a post every single week since I joined Substack in November 2022. Before Substack, I had 18,000 followers on Twitter. When Elon took over, it felt like my community was gone overnight. I wanted to make sure I had a space that wouldn’t be subject to an algorithm and that I could directly communicate with my community. So I joined Substack.
When I posted the Quietest Places in NYC post, it got about 10K views and the most replies to any email I had ever written.
I made it a paid post, with the paywall hiding the list of the quiet places on a Google map for my paying subscribers. This meant only paid subscribers could comment. Looking back, I would have made the post free so that people could comment and boost the engagement on Substack.
But it still had enough reach to find the right people and eventually turn into this book! You never know who’s reading your Substack friends.
About the Substack post
That post was the only Substack piece I’ve ever spent months working on. At the time, I wrote most of my posts in one or two days. I was focused on creating the routine of writing rather than writing perfect pieces.
When I had the idea for this post, I knew I wanted it to be special. I worked on it slowly over 3 months. I shared it with friends for feedback. I wanted to get it right. I didn’t know why at the time, but maybe I had a feeling it could turn into something bigger.
I also had some hesitation about publishing it because it was different than my other work. Most of my writing was about art and climate change solutions, hence the name of my Substack. I found a way to frame quiet as a climate change solution, so that felt like a way to weave my existing narrative in a subtle way. It also focused on New York, and I have readers from around the world. I didn’t know if writing about something localized was a good idea.
But it was something I wanted to exist that didn’t exist yet. Some of the best writing advice I’ve heard is to write for one person. I wanted to write this for my New York friends.
I’m really glad I followed that spark of interest and trusted my gut on hitting publish.
After the book deal interest
I started talking to my friends who had written books to get their advice on how to handle the interest. I learned it was a good idea to have an agent.
Miracle of miracles came when Mari Andrew wrote an email that week called How to Write a Book. I replied to it and told her about the interest from Rizzoli. I asked her thoughts on having an agent and if she knew any that she would recommend.
I met Mari a few times in the past year, so it wasn’t a cold email, but her response was beyond generous. She had just made a list for another illustrator friend and said she thought it could work for me, too. She shared a list of the 18 agents she recommended with thoughts on each. I was in shock and in such gratitude!
Getting an agent
I discovered I needed to write formal query letters to these agents, so I studied that format and sent out all 18 emails. The first agent I emailed, who was #1 on Mari’s list, was Laurie Abkemeir. Laurie replied in less than 24 hours, and when we spoke the next day, she offered to represent me on the spot. I couldn’t believe it. I spoke to one other agent that week who also offered to represent me. I chose to go with Laurie, and suddenly I had an agent.
Disclaimer: I know this is not normal. Finding an agent can be extremely challenging. My friend Alice Lee helped me understand that because I had interest from the publisher, this made it more compelling for agents to want to represent me. I was thrilled.
I looped Laurie in on all my emails with Jim, and she helped guide me every step of the way to bring the book to life. Her insights have been spot on, and I am so grateful to have her on my team.
Writing a book proposal
My publisher needed 4 watercolor paintings, 4 sketches, writing samples for each, comparative titles, my bio, the full list of quietest places, and a high-level description for the book. I also needed to write a proposed publicity and marketing plan.
Until that time, most of my art had been creating watercolor infographics about climate change solutions. It was quite technical and playful. I never had painted trees in watercolors before, so I essentially had to develop a new art style overnight to create this book.
Laurie helped me edit and tighten up the book proposal, and I got the official offer for the book in mid-November. It was due at the end of April.
Producing the book
I knew 5 months was a fast turnaround, but I thought I could do it. It was a very intense period of work, but it made winter fly by. I got an art studio in DUMBO with 3 amazing artists (Johna, Liz Ryan, and Skye Mahaffie). That was an unbelievably great decision. Through the process of creating this book, my studiomates gave me incredible feedback and helped me become a better artist.
I got into a strict routine for production. I sketched on Mondays and Tuesdays so I could paint on Wednesdays. I batch-painted 3 or 4 paintings in one sitting, every single week for 4 months. As a watercolor artist, I like painting multiple pieces at once because it lets the layers dry as I rotate paintings. I was writing a little along the way, but I knew the art was going to take me more time than the writing, so I focused on that first.
I had a very intense spreadsheet to track all the work I needed to do. I tracked the progress of sketching, painting, writing, and acquiring photographs for each of the 55 locations.
I submitted everything on April 25, relieved and so proud of myself. In early June, I got the test proofs from my publisher and hung them above my desk. It was starting to become very real!
In mid-June, I got an email from my publisher that they loved the book and wanted 12 more locations. So spent the next 5 weeks of summer making 24 more pages. It was quite a whirlwind, but I’m really happy I ended up having those extra pages. It allowed me to have distance and think about which gaps were missing from the book that I could fill.
Edits, layout, and cover design
In May, I got the writing edits and had 2 weeks to revise. There were no art edits, which was incredible because I had mentally prepared myself to redo several paintings.
We worked on the cover design in June. We needed to choose the perfect image, something that would capture a sense of calm within urban chaos. My team suggested Paley Park, which is a pocket park with a waterfall in Midtown.
In the original painting, I hadn’t included buildings behind the waterfall. They suggested adding them to ground the location in the city. I painted buildings separately and combined the images digitally in Photoshop. I will probably write a separate post about how I created the cover if you want to hear more about that process.
When it came time to ask for blurbs, I asked Mari Andrew, Tom Toro, and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. Mari sent her beautiful blurb the day I submitted the final art, and it made me cry at 1 am.
We also did the layouts, typography, and final mockups. In August, I received the color proofs of the entire book as loose-leaf pages. I needed to review them to make sure they matched the digital imagery.
The content of the book was 100% done at the end of August and sent off to production. I got the sample of the cover, and it was so cool to feel it in my hands at scale. The book went live for pre-order on the Rizzoli website at the end of August.
Getting ready for book launch
I got my first author copy in September!! Holding my little book baby in my hand was the most surreal experience. It had been about 1.5 years from book deal to print, which felt very fast from everything I know about publishing. The quality turned out incredible. Rizzoli is known for its gorgeous art books, and they absolutely delivered. The pages actually feel like watercolor paper.
In February, I went into the office to sign the advanced copies. Seeing stacks of my books all stacked up felt like a dream come true.
Marketing the book
In the 3 months before the book launch, I switched to focus on marketing. Here are a few of the strategies I’ve been working on to get the word out.
In December, I was asked to write an editorial piece for Imagine5, a climate storytelling organization. It went live last week, and you can read it here.
I’ve been posting on social media several times a week about the book. I started a series on social media where I go to my favorite quiet places. I’ve been filming it ASMR style with just the natural sounds of these calming places. You can follow along for those here.
When I was writing the book, I interviewed several experts on sound and quiet. I recorded all those video calls and need to cut them down into short clips.
I’m doing a pre-order gift. If you pre-order my book, you get a free month of access to the app blocker I built called Free Time. It helps you stop mindless scrolling and reduce your screen time. If you send me a receipt for the pre-order, I’ll send you a free month!
I also just found out that I’m going to be interviewed in a documentary about finding quiet in the city. We’re starting filming next week, and it will premiere in May.
Book launch events
I’ll be doing several events around the book launch. Some of these my publicity team is planning. I’m also organizing a few on my own.
The official book launch is on March 10 at the Rizzoli bookstore in New York. For the launch, my best friend in the world, Abi Inman, will be interviewing me. She does visuals at NPR and previously worked at Atlas Obscura. We’ll be talking about the stories behind some of my favorite places in the book. If you live in NY and want to come, I’d love to see you there! You can RSVP here.
I’m doing a virtual conversation with the non-profit Quiet Communities that I’ve been an artist-in-residence for the past year. I’ll be speaking with Jamie Banks, their Executive Director, on March 5th. You can RSVP here.
After the book launch, my publicity team is helping organize a Quiet Car pop-up event. We’ll be taking over a subway car and transforming it into a library-like environment. We’ll put our phones away and enjoy being quiet together while reading, writing, sketching, knitting, or whatever quiet activity you like. We’re still working out the details and date, but I’ll keep you posted when it is announced! Just subscribe below to get the update.
I’m going to co-host a Quiet Crawl through SoHo with my friend Brian Helfman, who founded Third Nature summer camp. Stay tuned for details on that.
Pub Day!
I can’t believe it, but my book officially comes out in 1 week!! If you want to pre-order a copy of Quietest Places in New York City, you can here. Or feel free to share with a friend who might want a little calm in the chaos of the city.
I’m looking forward to going to my favorite local bookstores and seeing it on the shelves. I went on so many visits to study the covers of the most iconic New York books and imagining mine next to them. In just 7 days it will be sitting there beside them. I can’t wait!
Takeaways
I’ve always dreamed of making a book one day, but this wasn’t the book or way I expected it would happen. So for my fellow Substack writers, you never know who is reading your emails!
I was always curious about the process of how to get a book deal and the steps to bring it to life. I hope this piece brought some transparency to that process. Feel free to comment with any questions or reply to this email. I’m always happy to help if I can!
So inspiring and what a beautiful book!
So happy for you! This is an epic post too! So interesting, thanks for writing it out all like this!