Substack Got Me a Book Deal (I Never Pitched Anyone)
When the publisher emailed me, I thought it was a scam. Five years of writing online, two kids, a job, and now a manuscript due in November
I’m writing a book. Surprise!
Or maybe you already knew that because you joined of my Friday Lives for paid members. And to say the least, it’s been a process.
But here’s what I believe: if you’re a writer or you want to be one you have lots of anecdotes, life lessons, phantasies, dreams, ideas, protagonists, characters, stories (you name it) to share.
Let’s be honest. Based on the live you’ve lived and am an expert in, you have a lot to share. And putting it in a book to get it out into the world is one of the best ways to do share your message with the world.
And yes, I’m looking at you.
But where the heck do you start, right? And how hard is it, really, to write a book?
Pull up a chair. I’ll tell you exactly how it went for me as part-time side hustler.
I got an email I was sure was a scam
It landed in my inbox this spring, during a genuinely dark stretch of my life.
My first thought: this is a scam.
My second thought, roughly 0.4 seconds later: I replied. With SO much excitement. The full Kristina… (if you’ve been following me for a while.. you know what I mean and experienced it already).
Then I logged out of my smartphone and immediately regretted writing via smartphone without really do spell checking and being that euphoric.
They replied anyway. I checked LinkedIn. I checked the internet. I even called to find out… heck yeah, it’s far from a scam…. this is happening.
They asked me to write a pitch and brief summary, my marketing ideas and storyflow. And then came the sentence that changed my plans for 2026 and forced me to make one of the biggest decisions in my life: we’d need you ready by November, to publish in spring 2027.
This wasn’t news to me. I had heard it from Veronica Llorca-Smith 🍋 (anti procastinating) with her Penguin Random House book deal which she pitched herself and so many authors likes Jeremy Ney (American inequality), Colette Jane Fehr, LMFT, LMHC (the cost of quiet in (love) relationships) from my Online Writing Club Show on Substack. Publishers want the manuscript fast and you to help them with marketing in the (pre) launch runway.
Guess what I thought when I read “November 2026”
OMG!!!!
Two kids, demanding job as brand manager, Substack side hustle, lots of private things going on at once. And now…a book!
My hubby Patrick God also couldn’t believe it. We were both thin-stretched and he said: I’ll help you make the time!
So I put my big-girl pants on, and it was like: Okay. Let’s sit down and do this, girl.
Want the whole behind-the-scenes of how that email landed with the help of my presence on Substack and how you get one of your own?
That’s exactly what Fleur and I are teaching live on 4–6 August in the Substack for Authors Summer Camp. Less than 48 hours to go.
We have 5 spots left. One is for you!
Are you with me, author friend?!
What my writing process actually looks like
Everyone tells you to write in the morning. I’ve read all the same advice you have when I started writing daily online and then when I started with the book in spring… well.. it might work for others or you but doesn’t work in my house. My two tornado kids wake up early, often earlier than I’d like to admit, and there is no such thing as a “golden morning routine”.
So I became a night owl. Definetly NOT becaue I am one. Simply because that’s when the house finally goes still.
The kids go to sleep. And then I put pen to paper or, more accurately, type into a Google Doc (they want me to use WORD but I hate it….), until midnight or past it. Then I get up, do the workday, do the day with the kids, and do it again.
Three to four evenings a week, sixty to ninety minutes at a time. That’s the commitment I made because many authors I’m friends with or interviewed told me to at least sit down and write some lines. As with online writing and going to the gym… repetition and making writing that book a habit is what I truly believe in also if the manuscript isn’t 50% through. I’ll try to do as many as possible in August when I’m on “vacay”. Besides the Substack for Authors Bootcamp (and the LinkedIn Flywheel one with Melanie Goodman) I will only focus on writing and caring about my book baby.
Writing a book is not rainbows and butterflies
And let me tell you: it’s not always rainbows and butterflies. Oh, heck no! Most nights there are a million other things I would rather do… falling asleep or cuddling on the couch with my hubby, or reading a book in the bathtub (I read BREANNE ✨ RANDALL who transformed herself from indie author to NYT bestseller).
Some writing sessions I come out of feeling like a “good writer” when I go to bed. Some sessions my husband takes one look at my face and knows better than to ask. “Not a good session today?” Yes. I don’t want to talk about this book baby...
But I made a commitment. So on book nights, I try to write as much as I can.
Have I pushed a deadline? Yes. I’ve emailed my publisher and said “I need more time,” guess what … the world didn’t end. They’re humans, they are really fantastic and so kind (I oushed it again… when you’
re reading this… I’ll be back with the 25% soon, pincky swear!). I allow myself to be human, mom, employed and side hustler.
💓💓Take this to heart💓💓
I’m telling you the unglamorous version on purpose.
I want you to take what I share here to heart.
I’m a part-time writer with two kids. Not a full-time novelist on a writing retreat or someone who can spend day and night writing….
If I get offered a book deal and it works in my life, it can work in yours, too! Same with indie publishing and becoming an Amazon bestseller, as Fleur and I helped soooo many authors in the last 365 days.
Substack for Authors Summer Camp 5 spots left!
Three days. 90to 120 minutes each. All recorded, so the night owls, the early risers and the “my toddler has other plans” crowd can all catch up.
Still with me? “Yes — save me a seat!
Here’s the part that actually got me the book deal
I studied journalism. Then I was 6 years old and my parents started fighting my grandfather recommended starting a journal. I also wrote short stories about how relationhip building works and don’t (my parents.. of course).
Later, my dad told me writers end up broke or drinking, so after studying journalism I went and got the marketing job and then the MBA on weekends while working full time. My granddad used to call me an “Ackergaul”, a workhorse and he wasn’t wrong.
However, when it came wot sharing my own stories and not the narratives of others, brands and companies, “one day I’ll write a book” was a sentence I said out loud but always thought would be super hard to reach as I beleived I had to have everything figured out before approaching an agent or publisher.
Then COVID gave me time to write a novel after my grandfather died. Then parenthood gave me something I felt the urge to talk about. I started writing online , My hubby recommended Medium. I started to practice in publish in English, which isn’t even my first language.
Then YouTube in 2022, because you never put all your eggs in one basket and I wanted to go beyind the written text (I was terrible in front of camera or lives). And in 2022, pregnant with my second, I started my Substack.
In 2024 I then focused on Substack, renamed it Online Writing Club (before it was Kristina’s Newsletter) and started my paid community with paid subscriptions.
I never quit my job as marketing and brand manager, as others did. With two small humans to be responsible for, writing income felt far too volatile to bet a family on. At first I didn’t even dare to post about it on LinkedIn.
But that public writing on the internet became a big part of getting my message out to the world, BEING SEEN and making myself visible. And it was a huge part of establishing me as an expert in my field: Substack bestseller within two months. Podcasts, interviews, reviews from writers I admire. Reporting from The Frankfurt Book Fair and Leipzig Book Fiar. Six figures in lifetime earnings from words.
I started daily. Now the newsletter is weekly, and I’m on Notes most days, when I find the time and when I’ve batch-created ahead with StackBuddy.
The publisher approached me because I’ve been constently writing online since December 2020 and I own an email list of about 19000 subscribers with 36000 readers who are interested in writing and reading.
My writing secret?
I built all of it without watching Netflix in the evenings or going to the cinema. I’m not saying that to impress you..I’m saying it because it means the path is available to anyone willing to trade a few hours a week for it.
Nothing sells books like a great Substack, says Substack.
Even publishers are telling their authors: get on Substack. So let’s build yours properly, in the right order, in three days.
Shall we? “Okay, I want in!”
So I called Fleur
Last summer, Fleur Hull asked me to write a book with her. Substack for Authors was the title and we were even prelisted on Amazon with presales rolling in.
And then life did what life does and I told Fleur I couldn’t make it.
Then Fleur’s mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She knew she only had a few months left with her. She came to me and asked: can I take a pause?
Yes. You need to hit pause. Go and be with your mum.
So she did. She stepped away from all of it and spent that time where it mattered.
When she came back, she said she wanted to start something again. Something fun and positive.
By then I had my own news: I couldn’t write the book this year either. My manuscript is due in November 2026 and I’m currently negotiating with my calendar like it’s a hostage situation.
So I made her a proposal:
what if we turn our book idea into a course, and give the book alongside it as a bonus?
That’s how Substack for Authors as cohort idea was born. Out of a pause, and a decision to build something good on the other side of it.
Because between the two of us, the whole path is covered:
I’m the living proof that writing online, and then on Substack, turns into a traditional book deal. I’ve lived it. I’ve practiced it. I’ve led it, mostly by myself, in the evenings, with two kids asleep upstairs. Before I was an indie publisher for years.
Fleur is an indie author who has built a $2M+ career from her words, founded The Substack Bookstore, and helped 200+ authors get their books in front of real readers.
Check out our 100+ testimonials:
Traditional or indie, one of us has walked your road. And between us we’ve helped hundreds of writers do it too.
Substack for Authors: 4–6 August
It’s a rare opportunity as we both cleared our calendars. I’m on vacay sharing my masterclasses before I pick up the kids. Fleur is doing her sessions late in the evening her time in Australia.
I created this live event to celebrate one year of the Substack Bookstore, celebrate the book deal but more importantly, to celebrate YOU for making the decision to START the book you’ve been carrying around, and STOP settling for less recognition and less reach than your writing is worth. Or if you’ve written your book, get the sales you’re waiting for and make you an Amazon bestseller.
Are you with me?
Over three live 90- to 120 minute masterclasses (all recorded and yours forever), Fleur and I will give you every bit of inspiration and every resource you need:
How I got approached by a publisher — the exact moves I made on Substack, step by step, and what other authors did to get seen.
Day 1 · Set the foundation. Build a publication you actually own, set up in the right order
Day 2 · Grow real readers. Notes, recommendations, and your backlist doing the work for you. (Including how I batch and automate the things a part-time writer simply can’t do by hand.)
Day 3 · Turn readers into buyers. The path from free reader → superfan → paying subscriber → book sale, plus your full launch playbook.
Fleur’s indie playbook for getting a book in front of new readers when you don’t have a publicist, a marketing budget, or a bookshop table.
The honest logistics: writing rituals, batch-creating, and publishing consistently with kids in the house and a job on your calendar.
Plus, join now and you’ll also get:
14 days inside the private community with Fleur and me in there every single day
A live Q&A on 7 August, with eyes on your Substack
6 bonuses worth $164: the Substack for Authors Guide, a month of StackBuddy, the Substack Quick Start Guide, the Amazon Visibility Checklist, the Book Description Analyser, and the Indie Author Scorecard
Lifetime access to every recording
The best. We made it suuuuper affordable for you:
We have 5 spots left
This bootcamp is high-touch. Open mics, real-time questions, feedback on your actual publication, two weeks of us in the community with you. We can’t do that properly for a crowd of people.
So when the last 5 authors are in, we close the doors for the first author cohort ever.
Here’s how to grab one of the 5 spots:
Head to this page and save your seat ($249, one payment, or split into 2 or 3).
Watch your inbox for your welcome email, the community opens immediately, before we even go live.
Don’t be shy. Share this with the writer friend who’s been saying “someday I’ll write a book” for three years now. Or the one who’ got a great book but thinks marketing is icky and doesn’t get the sales he wants. You know exactly who I mean.
We go live in less than 48 hours. 🎉
Because here’s what this whole ridiculous, exhausting, wonderful year 2026 has taught me so far:
you and I are capable of more than we know!
Your turn!
Share your book baby with URL or book dream in the comments. I’ll restack everyone together with Fleur on Notes so you’ll be seen.
It can also be a post (connected to your book) as happened to bootcamper Stephanie Farquhar already, even before we really get started:
Questions about book publishing, building an online presence, growing an email list and being seen are welcome, too!
Any book writing tips to share?
See you on 4 August,
Kristina
Congrats!!!!
Amazing, and real. Congratulations and thank you for helping others dream. 🖤