The Publishing Performance Show

Walt Hampton is the Acquisitions Editor and Director of Marketing at Summit Press Publishing, where he reviews incoming manuscripts and helps authors do more than simply publish—he helps them get the book out into the world in a big way. Walt works with entrepreneurs and high-performing professionals to turn their books into keynotes, programs, coaching and consulting offers, and long-term marketing assets—because, as he puts it, it’s not about the book, it’s what you do with the book. In this conversation, Walt breaks down practical strategies for busy writers, including time blocking, reducing interruptions, reverse-engineering your writing sessions, and his six paths to finishing your book (from one-page-a-day all the way to ghostwriting).

In this episode:
Walt’s dual role: acquisitions (reviewing manuscripts) + marketing (helping authors leverage the book)
What makes Summit Press different: publishing + continued support long after launch
Real examples of book leverage: building keynotes and high-ticket programs around the book
Why publishing success requires long-term momentum (it’s a marathon, not a sprint)
Time mastery for busy professionals: clarity of “why” + small consistent steps
Time blocking: scheduling writing like client work (starting with just 1 hour/week)
Reverse-engineering the process: define thesis/TOC/conclusion so each session has a purpose
“Write the closing argument first”: drafting the conclusion early to create a destination
Common time-wasters: phone proximity, alerts, and constant interruption
Interruption science + attentional residue: why refocusing takes longer than you think
Simple boundary systems: turning everything off + enrolling assistants/teams to protect focus time
The “sticky note on the glass door” tactic for open-office interruptions
Where AI helps (and where it hurts): great for brainstorming/themes + proofreading, bad for “soulless” manuscripts
Final takeaway: begin imperfectly—editing comes later, but you can’t edit a blank page

Resources mentioned:
Summit Press Publishers: https://summitpresspublishers.com/
Brick by Brick
Journeys on the Edge: Living a Life That Matters 
The Power Principles of Time Mastery: Do Less, Make More, Have Fun

Connect with Walt Hampton / Summit Press:
Summit Press Publishers: https://summitpresspublishers.com/

Connect with Teddy Smith:
@teddyagsmith
Website: https://publishingperformance.com/?ref=ywm3mtc
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/publishingperformance/
Pinterest - https://nz.pinterest.com/publishingperformance/
Instagram - https://instagram.com/publishingperformanceinsta
Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV6ltaUB4SULkU6JEMhFSw
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/publishing-performance/

Support the show
Discover More with Our Curated Starter Packs: https://teddyagsmith.com/starter-packs/

Nicholas Keating-Casbarro is the author and creator of the Vitilarium Universe, a far-future sci-fi series following humanity after becoming multi-planetary. With seven books planned, Nicholas crafts character-focused stories exploring themes of power, corruption, government structure, and humanity's potential futures. A former medical professional turned author, Nicholas writes in an omniscient perspective similar to Frank Herbert's style, focusing on meaningful dialogue and immersive action scenes. He's expanded the Vitilarium world beyond books into comic book adaptations for Comic-Con audiences, working with illustrators Francisco Nilo, colorist Chandran Panusamy, and graphic designer Ahmed Gitar. Published through hybrid publisher Atmosphere Press, Nicholas maintains a massive Excel story guide tracking everything from character backstories to planetary exports across seven colonized worlds.

In this episode:
The Vitilarium Universe: humanity's future as a multi-planetary civilization
The Alcubierre drive: using exotic material for faster-than-light travel
Discovering ancient alien ruins on Diorum, the seventh colonized planet
Using conspiracy theories and "what if" questions for world-building
Starting world-building with themes, not plot details
Creating factions before characters (government, gangs, militias, religion)
The Coalition for Prosperity: naming totalitarian governments ironically
Writing the tenets of a future religion (with a no-cult disclaimer)
The question-based method: every answer creates new questions to define
The massive Excel story guide with unlimited tabs
Building a survivalist protagonist who survives deadly fauna outside megacities
Self-editing with story Bible and Book One PDF open for continuity
Six rounds of proofreading to catch spelling and comma errors
Working with editor John Smith to fix character motivation issues
Maps of megacity Kairos and faction sigils for reader immersion
Weaving world-building through character dialogue, not exposition dumps
Treating plot holes as opportunities to add new technology or details
Tools: Excel, Word, coffee, and nicotine (manual approach)
Google Notebook LM: AI tool for querying your own manuscript
Adapting books into comic series for Comic-Con crossover audience
Working with Atmosphere Press hybrid publisher model

Resources mentioned:
Vitilarium Series website: https://vitaleriumseries.com/
Inside Vitilarium Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/InsideVitalerium/gift
Atmosphere Press: https://atmospherepress.com/
Google Notebook LM: https://notebooklm.google/

Connect with Nicholas Keating-Casbarro:
Website: https://vitaleriumseries.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vitariumstudio/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitarium.fb/reels/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/vitalerium-series-official-website

Connect with Teddy Smith:
@teddyagsmith
Website: https://publishingperformance.com/?ref=ywm3mtc
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/publishingperformance/
Pinterest - https://nz.pinterest.com/publishingperformance/
Instagram - https://instagram.com/publishingperformanceinsta
Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV6ltaUB4SULkU6JEMhFSw
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/publishing-performance/
Support the show
Discover More with Our Curated Starter Packs: https://teddyagsmith.com/starter-packs/

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker and bestselling author who has sold over one million copies of her Thesaurus series, with The Emotion Thesaurus being her flagship book. Starting as critique partners on Critique Circle, Becca and co-author Angela Ackerman discovered they both struggled with showing character emotions—Becca's characters were always shrugging and shuffling their feet. This led them to create lists of emotional cues that eventually became blog posts on Writers Helping Writers, then transformed into The Emotion Thesaurus when readers demanded a book version. A former first-grade teacher, Becca brings educational expertise to her workshops and tools, now available through One Stop for Writers, a subscription-based service with character-building tools based on the Thesaurus series content.

In this episode:
How The Emotion Thesaurus solved the "shrugging and shuffling" problem
Why every character responds to emotions differently based on personality
Mining movies, books, and real-life observations for authentic emotions
Stephen King's skill at creating compelling, realistic antagonists
The importance of wounding events from backstory shaping current behavior
Reserved vs demonstrative: the emotional spectrum for your character
Physical cues, internal thoughts, and visceral sensations in showing emotion
Hidden emotions: what characters show others vs what readers see
Emotion escalation and de-escalation to avoid jarring jumps
Melodrama vs not enough emotion: finding the right balance
The Emotional Wound Thesaurus for character change arcs
The Conflict Thesaurus for plotting and creating choice opportunities
Building characters as mixed bags of positive and negative traits
The Fear Thesaurus (Spring 2025): how fear drives character behavior and arc
One Stop for Writers: subscription tools based on Thesaurus content

Resources mentioned:
Writers Helping Writers blog: writershelpingwriters.org
One Stop for Writers (subscription service): onestopforwriters.com
Critique Circle
The Emotion Thesaurus by Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1475004958?&linkCode=ll1&tag=pubperf-20&linkId=400c65572fa1761b41f901ed6233057c&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl
The Negative Trait Thesaurus
The Positive Trait Thesaurus
The Emotional Wound Thesaurus
The Setting Thesaurus (multiple books)
The Conflict Thesaurus (two books)
The Fear Thesaurus (coming Spring 2025)

Connect with Becca Puglisi:
Writers Helping Writers blog: writershelpingwriters.org
One Stop for Writers: onestopforwriters.com

Connect with Teddy Smith:
@teddyagsmith
Website: https://publishingperformance.com/?ref=ywm3mtc
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/publishingperformance/
Pinterest - https://nz.pinterest.com/publishingperformance/
Instagram - https://instagram.com/publishingperformanceinsta
Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV6ltaUB4SULkU6JEMhFSw
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/publishing-performance/
Support the show
Discover More with Our Curated Starter Packs: https://teddyagsmith.com/starter-packs/

Michael Drew is the founder of PromoteABook.com (established 25 years ago) and BookRetreat.com, with a track record of helping 132 consecutive books hit major bestseller lists including The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Success Magazine. Starting his career at age 18 as the #3 salesperson at Executive Excellence (a division of Covey Leadership Center), Michael impressed industry leaders and landed at Bard Press by age 19, where he was tasked with understanding how bestseller lists actually work. His first campaign launched "Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads" by Roy H. Williams to #3 on The New York Times and #1 on Wall Street Journal. Today, 85% of his work focuses on building thought leadership platforms, with 110 clients permanently increasing their gross revenue by $1 million+ per year, 10 clients increasing revenue by $50 million+ per year, and 7 clients increasing revenue by $100 million+ per year through strategic book campaigns.

In this episode:
Bestseller lists as sophisticated polls, not real sales rankings
Only 7 of 132 bestselling clients made money from book sales
110 clients permanently increased revenue by $1M+ per year using their book strategically
Brick-and-mortar stores represent 75% of book sales
The three major lists: New York Times, USA Today, Success Magazine
Self-publishers cannot hit major bestseller lists (distribution requirements)
IngramSpark distribution won't work for bestseller campaigns
Co-op fees: $1-5 per unit for retail shelf placement
New York Times requirements: 20K print, 10K ebook, 10K through Amazon
Online media: 350 blogs, 90 podcasts, 90 vlogs, 50K+ social engagement per platform
Traditional media: 100 TV markets, 100 radio markets, 100 print markets
Amazon bestseller lists have no real value
The uncovering: two-day meeting defining outcome, measurement, strategy, tactics
Book Retreat in Guatemala: write your book in 30 days using 64 blog posts method
Content repurposing system: blog posts become videos, podcasts, social media, and book

Resources mentioned:
Promote A Book: https://promoteabook.com/
Book Retreat in Guatemala: https://bookretreat.com/
"Secrets of the Millionaire Mind" by T. Harv Eker
"Secret Formulas of the Wizard of Ads" by Roy H. Williams (Michael's first campaign)
"Pendulum: How Past Generations Shape Our Present and Predict Our Future" (co-authored with Roy Williams)
"Nuts: Southwest Airlines Crazy Recipe for Success" published by Bard Press
KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing)
IngramSpark

Connect with Michael Drew:
Email: [email protected]

Connect with Teddy Smith:
@teddyagsmith
Website: https://publishingperformance.com/?ref=ywm3mtc
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/publishingperformance/
Pinterest - https://nz.pinterest.com/publishingperformance/
Instagram - https://instagram.com/publishingperformanceinsta
Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV6ltaUB4SULkU6JEMhFSw
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/publishing-performance/
Support the show
Discover More with Our Curated Starter Packs: https://teddyagsmith.com/starter-packs/

Amy Suto is a seven-figure freelance writer, memoir ghostwriter, bestselling author, and founder of the top Substack newsletter Make Writing Your Job. Starting as a Hollywood TV writer working for minimum wage as an assistant, Amy discovered that freelancing could outpace traditional entertainment industry earnings. She's flown to countries like Austria to work with clients on their memoirs, ghostwritten for Olympians and NBA players, and built a thriving writing business with three income pillars: self-publishing, paid newsletters, and freelance writing. Her upcoming book Write for Money and Power (launching January 12, 2026) provides the mindset operating system writers need to build six and seven-figure writing careers.

In this episode:
Rejecting the starving artist myth and rewriting limited beliefs about writer income
The three-pillar system: self-publishing, paid newsletters, and freelancing
Why freelancing with multiple clients is more secure than one full-time job
Escaping 10 cents per word work by pricing for outcomes instead of effort
How copywriting jobs paying $8,000/month are dominating Make Writing Your Job
Why memoir ghostwriting is the highest-paying freelance niche
Getting flown to Austria to interview clients and capture their life stories
The mindset shift that lets you quote rates without fear
Negotiating triple client budgets by educating them on writing value
Why Anthropic hiring writers proves AI can't replace storytelling
Using ChatGPT for research, text-to-speech dictation, and routine work
Google Notebook LM for querying your own novel content
Substack's unique organic traffic and onboarding flow advantages
Putting up paywalls early to trigger Substack's promotional algorithm
Emailing only free subscribers with upgrade sequences and discounts
How all three pillars dovetail: Substack becomes portfolio and book content
The 12-month roadmap to earning seven figures with three writing pillars
Systems that let you take six weeks off while your business runs
Pre-order benefits including founding memberships and Notion templates

Resources mentioned:
Make Writing Your Job Substack: https://www.makewritingyourjob.com/
Amy Suto's personal Substack: https://www.sutoscience.com/
Write for Money and Power by Amy Suto (pre-order at amysuto.com/power)
ChatGPT 
Google Notebook LM
Upwork for early freelancing
Substack Notes (Twitter-like feature)

Book Recommendations:
Write for Money and Power by Amy Suto (releasing January 12, 2026)

Connect with Amy Suto:
Website: https://www.amysuto.com/
Make Writing Your Job Substack: https://www.makewritingyourjob.com/
Personal Substack: https://www.sutoscience.com/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sutoscience
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sutoscience
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sutoscience
Pre-order book with benefits: amysuto.com/power

Connect with Teddy Smith:
@teddyagsmith
Website: https://publishingperformance.com/?ref=ywm3mtc
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/publishingperformance/
Pinterest - https://nz.pinterest.com/publishingperformance/
Instagram - https://instagram.com/publishingperformanceinsta
Youtube -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV6ltaUB4SULkU6JEMhFSw
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/publishing-performance/
Support the show
Discover More with Our Curated Starter Packs: https://teddyagsmith.com/starter-packs/