What is The Inner Gathering?

An introduction to this Substack

Welcome to The Inner Gathering!

But what exactly is The Inner Gathering?

It’s where you and I are going to turn book publishing upside down.

I've traditionally published three books (Loveable, True Companions, and The Unhiding of Elijah Campbell), and the timeline has gone about the same for each one. I toiled on a first draft for about six months in total solitude. I submitted the manuscript to my publisher for editing, which took another six months to a year. Then, right before it was sent to press, I would work with the publisher to come up with the all-important “back cover copy.”

This time I'm turning that timeline on its head.

Instead of writing it privately, I'm writing it publicly, right here on Substack, as a serial. Instead of a large publisher providing editorial comments once I've finished the first draft, you will get to influence the book with your feedback and wisdom as we go. And I'm writing the back cover copy first, so you know what this book—The Inner Gathering: A Guided Encounter with Your Original Self and Its Three Protectors—is about from the outset. I’m super excited go through this with you. I think doing it backwards could mean doing it even better!

Now, about that back cover copy. The back cover is what sells a book. After all, we know not to judge a book by its front cover—graphic designers can make mistakes, for goodness sake, and the author shouldn’t be held responsible. But the back cover. That’s where the words begin. That’s where the author’s responsibility starts. It’s what you read first on Amazon, and it’s why you flip a book over in the bookstore before you buy it.

So, you’ll notice my next post in The Inner Gathering is about the back cover, and I’d recommend you start there. Like all back covers, it contains a synopsis and an author bio. Like some books, it even includes an (imagined) endorsement from a woman named Oprah. You might have heard of her. She's got a little book club.

Not only is this going to be fun, but I think we’ll all be a little more at peace with our humanity by the end of it. Thanks for joining me!