The first line of my detective short story collection got typed in a coffeeshop in Buenos Aires, my favorite city on earth. I started my romantasy on the island of Madeira and finished the draft in a brownstone in Chelsea, where every writing day began with an everything bagel egg sandwich and a hot chocolate. I rewrote an entire book in the cafes of Athens, over way too many Freddo espressos.
That’s me in Madeira, right around the time The Ash Trials went from an idea I couldn’t shake to an actual draft. For 5 years, I lived out of a carry-on and worked from wherever I landed, which included Vienna, Kyoto, Istanbul and Taipei. I once woke up to the sound of a river in Washington, took my calls for the day, and went white-water rafting that afternoon. I remember thinking, why doesn’t everyone do this?
Writing paid for all of it. And out of everything I’ve ever written for money (I have written a LOT of things for money), books are the ones that keep giving back.
So this is a note to all of my subscribers about where 💡 Sutoscience is headed in 2027. You’ve probably already noticed the shift. There’s been a lot less “here’s how to grow your Substack” in your inbox lately, and a lot more about planning a book tour by myself and how serializing my novel on Substack out-earned the book. That’s on purpose. (I’m! So! Excited!)
📚 What books have done for my life
My first book, Six-Figure Freelance Writer, brought in six figures of new client work. That’s before book sales, which are the closest thing to passive income I’ve ever found. You write the book once, and the royalties keep showing up about 90 days after every sale, including the sales that happen while you’re asleep, or on a plane, or standing in line for boba in Taipei.
(Those are my numbers, not a promise of yours. I just want you to see what’s possible.)
Books put me on stages, too. This summer I gave a sold-out talk for the Big Brain Lecture Series in Oakland, and the whole thing was built on my book Write for Money and Power.
And books gave me creative freedom. I’ve written detective mysteries, a romantasy, and a romantic thriller about a memoir ghostwriter who secretly informs on her clients for the FBI, and nobody had to approve any of them but me. I own my books, so I keep up to 70% of an ebook sale, which means I need fewer sales to earn a great living. That’s the life I want to show you how to build.
✨ Where Sutoscience is headed in 2027
In 2027, Sutoscience will be primarily a space for authors and book lovers. I’ll show you how the books get written, how they get launched and sold, and what they make possible once they’re out in the world.
Most of it comes from my own life as a self-published author, so expect a lot of “here’s exactly how I did it, and here’s what I’d skip next time.” If you’re traditionally published, pull up a chair, because let’s face it, you still have to market your book.
Here are the 3 things I’ll be writing about:
My books. Let Me Be Your Ghost is book 5, and there are more on the way in both fiction and nonfiction. You’ll hear about them here first, along with the interviews and conversations around each one.
Behind the scenes of a book launch. I’ll walk you through how I built the launch for Let Me Be Your Ghost (out November 18), how I booked a book tour as an indie author, and the practical stuff, like getting your book set up on IngramSpark so bookstores can order it. I promised I’d tell you what worked and what flopped, and I will.
Substack for authors. I’ll show you how to use Substack to launch a book, grow a world around your writing, and earn from paid subscriptions and book sales at the same time. There’s a real intersection of art and commerce here, whether you’re self-publishing or backing up what your traditional publisher is doing.
And yes, I’ll still talk about growing a Substack when I have something new to say. The fundamentals haven’t changed, though, even as Substack keeps adding features: how to pivot your publication, how to listen to your audience, how to write great subject lines. All of that lives in the 6 Week Substack Sprint, it’s evergreen, and it’s why I’m not planning any new courses right now.
🗺️ Come find me on tour
Now a book is sending me back out into the world. The Let Me Be Your Ghost tour starts November 28 in Santa Cruz and runs through Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Chicago, North Carolina and New Orleans. I planned the whole thing myself, and you’ll get the behind-the-scenes of it all year.
On December 15, I’ll be back at The Love Potion Library in San Francisco, where I taught an at-capacity class when it opened in June. Every date is on my book tour page, and I’d love to meet you at one of them.
🎟️ What you get as a free, paid or founding member
Here’s exactly who gets what, including what’s new for 2027. The short version: free gets the stories and the interviews, paid gets the weekly behind-the-scenes, and founding gets the whole toolkit plus $1,000 off working with me.
Free. What everyone on the list gets:
Essays, how-to videos, and interviews about the book business and what it’s like to be an author full time. In 2027 you’ll get more of these and fewer Substack how-tos.
The first 4 chapters of Let Me Be Your Ghost.
Tour dates and book news as they happen.
Paid: $9 a month or $85 a year. Everything in free, plus:
Sunday Tea, every week. My roundup of news from the indie author world, book sales and the book business in general, plus everything I’m making for you that week.
Subscriber-only posts, with tips and tricks for your own books and launches, and slices of life from wherever I’m writing that week.
Paid-only discounts and coupon codes.
New in 2027: more paid benefits, which I can’t wait to share.
Founding: $550 a year. Everything in paid, plus:
New: $1,000 off my Two-Week Substack Intensive, whichever version you pick.
Your first year of CozyJobs on the Power plan for $0.99. That plan is normally $1,990 a year.
The 6 Week Substack Sprint, all 6+ hours of it, plus the 50+ page companion workbook.
The Write for Money and Power companion workbook, which only founding members get.
E-book copies of Six-Figure Freelance Writer and Write for Money and Power.
New in 2027: more founding benefits on the way.
Why now? Because 2027 is the year I’m doing all of this in real time. The tour runs from November to May, there are more books coming, and Sunday Tea is where I report back every week while it’s happening.
💛 A note for my founding members
The monthly Substack Lab was something I spontaneously added to your membership, on top of everything in that list. This Sunday, November 15 at 1pm PT, is our last one. Your Zoom invite is right here, and I’d love to see you there.
I have something I think you’ll like even more: $1,000 off working with me one-on-one, and new founding benefits in the new year. Between that discount and the CozyJobs year, that’s nearly $3,000 in savings on a $550 membership, especially once you count the Sprint, the workbooks and the books. If you have any questions about your subscription, reply to this email and it’ll come straight to me.
🤝 Work with me one-on-one
I’m opening my books for my Two-Week Substack Intensive. I’ve been running these for a while now, and I’ve found I really enjoy going deep with one writer at a time, more than teaching one-to-many.
Because I’ll be on a book tour, I’m being very selective about who I take on, and I’m spacing my clients out so each one gets the time it deserves. There are 2 ways to work together:
Done with you, $5,000. I build your strategy, your setup and your conversion copy with you, and you write the posts.
Done for you, $20,000. I come on as your content partner and help handle your content needs on a much deeper level.
Founding members get $1,000 off either one. Mention that you’re a founding member when you fill out the form.
If you’d like one of those spots, fill out the form on my Substack consulting page and tell me what you’re building. Both start with a free call.
Somewhere in 2027, I’ll be signing books in Chicago, writing the next one in a cafe I haven’t found yet, and telling you about all of it every Sunday. My version of a fairytale is one where I get to do what I love, with those I love. Books are a big part of how I built mine, and I’d love for you to come along while I show you how it works.
Thank you for being here. 🍵
-Amy
P.S. Let Me Be Your Ghost comes out November 18. Preorder a copy in any format by midnight Pacific on Tuesday, November 17, and you get my unreleased book How to Write a Memoir for free. Preorder here.