I was invited—out of the blue— to write an academic book by W. W. Norton, a publisher of books essential to the practice of psychiatry and neurology.  I’ve been writing and practicing psychiatry for decades in obscurity and felt like a long-time actor might feel who gets “discovered overnight”— Disbelieving. Thrilled. Validated.

Thinking through how it happened makes me believe that you, too, can write an article that leads to a book deal.

I have a book deal! With W.W. Norton! For an academic book!

That’s amazing all by itself given I’m a rural shrink toiling in the back forty of upstate New York untethered from academia. But here’s what totally blows my mind.