You’re Not a Real Parent Until... (It’s Out Today!)

Hello again, friend!

We did it. Scott Dooley and I birthed a book!

You’re Not a Real Parent Until... is out today. It’s pub day! (Publication day, for those of you not in the biz. For those of you in the biz, my condolences.)

Earlier today, Scott and I went live here on Substack for our official virtual launch. Thank you to everyone who tuned in live and shared your parenting experiences! (Watch the full replay above.)

First, the winners... We promised to give away one free copy of the book. Then, mid-show, without checking with Scott, I gave away two more.Congratulations to: Darlene Campbell, Rhonda, and TELMC

If that’s you, reply to this email with your postal address (or a PO box, whatever you’re comfortable sharing with two strange men who draw children wearing underwear on their heads), and we’ll get your copy in the mail.

Everyone else: you can buy it right now at yourenotareal.com!

The experiment.

Normally, when you put a book out, you do press. Podcasts, TV, radio, guest articles, reviews.

We’ve done none of that.

Instead, we’re trying to sell this book using only Substack. No ad spend, no publicist, no begging an algorithm for mercy.

This isn’t a “help me become a New York Times bestseller” thing. (Those are GoFundMes with extra steps.) It’s that we’ve talked to a lot of friends with books out, some with huge publishers, some self-publishing, some with a million followers, and none of them has found a marketing method that reliably works. Worse, the second they post a link to something they’re selling, the platforms quietly bury it.