Evan Carmichael is fighting his publisher Penguin Random House over two core elements of his upcoming book, willing to walk away if they're removed. He warns entrepreneurs not to let customers or investors override their gut instinct, and shares why he chose the publisher after a rapid pitch process.
Questions this video answers
My publisher is Penguin Random House. My literary agent set up five back‑to‑back meetings with different houses, we received three offers, and I chose Penguin Random House because the team understood the hybrid worksheet‑style vision of my book.
Perfectionism can trap you in endless editing. I focus on getting something out, even if it’s not perfect, then improve with each subsequent release. Early audience feedback fuels momentum and helps the perfectionist part recede.
I have two concepts: one relatively easy and another more ambitious. I’m not publishing anything yet, but I’ll share details once the first book is finished, launched, and marketed.
Chapters
Today I want you to stand up. So I'm in Madrid this week. I've been doing a presentation, keynote, and sessions to help librarians stay relevant, and I haven't had a lot of time to really work on the book this week, but I did get my version into the publisher and it's being reviewed, and some feedback came back. And the initial round of feedback I took really carefully and Did a lot of work to fix and improve the book, and a lot of it I agreed with, and some of it I didn't, but I was still okay with because I think it'll make a better book. But there are two things now that I'm fighting for. There are two things that have to be in the book that the publisher doesn't want in the book but has to be in the book. And it's like, I'll walk away. Like, this has to be in the book, and I will see how we handle it because for me, the book doesn't exist without these two things. It's core to what the book is all about, and so I'm fighting for it hard. There he is. Of yourself. I am, man. This is Skip, president of the organization I was here speaking about. You rocked it. Rocked it. Are you coming to dinner tonight? I am not. Okay, okay. Cheers, man. Cheers. That was cool. These two things that have to be in the book, that if it's not in the book, that's it, you know. I don't know what's gonna happen. And so as an entrepreneur, you have to understand and take a stand on some things too. You want to take feedback from the people, but when you feel that you're right about something, when you feel like in your gut you believe in something, you believe all the then don't let people talk you out of it. And I think sometimes we let our customers, we let our suppliers, we let investors walk on us a little bit too much where you shouldn't. You got to stand up for something. And anyway, I'm excited. We'll see what happens with the fight, and I'll keep you guys updated as we go. So let's get to the questions. Okay, first question came in from readers. Congratulations, Evan. Who is your publisher? I had no idea you're Canadian. Let's go Blue Jays. Let's go. I love the Jays. I mentioned them in my conversation today, in my talk, because the Toronto Library did an awesome job for covering the Blue Jays, so I try to rep Toronto wherever I go. My publisher is Penguin Random House, and I've talked about this a couple times, but my literary agent basically lined up a bunch of meetings with a bunch of publishers. Had 5 meetings in 2 days, all kind of back to back to back, and they asked me questions, they wanted my pitch, and we had a couple of offers. We had 3 offers, I believe, and then made it down to 1, and so Penguin Random House was the winner. Also, I really liked the team there. I felt like they understood the book, what I was trying to do, where I think a lot of the other ones just wanted to partner with me but weren't a fan of the concept. It felt like this wasn't a book, it was a worksheet or a small guide but not a full-length book. It's like, you guys don't get the vision. Like, how can I partner with somebody who doesn't really quite get the vision? And so there are still some things, as much as I complain about, you know, the publisher and these two things that I'm fighting for, it was the best of the publishers that we could choose from, and I'm super excited to be working with them. Next up, Mel Mariposa. I stopped this after 2 minutes because I'm really struggling with my perfectionism, and this is like the opposite of what I need to hear right now. Maybe someone can recommend me stuff on commitment and perfectionism. As you can see, I'm in the streets of Madrid. I forget what the video was on and why you stopped it after 2 minutes. I think it was maybe to do with being proud of what you're creating, but I'm just totally guessing. Perfectionism can be a problem, and I have a perfectionist trait as well. I think it's one of those things where you want to combine the genius at the end, where you want something that you're proud of, but you also want to get something out. Because with perfectionist people— and I can be perfectionist too, like the book, right? Like, y'all could just keep editing and editing and editing and editing and never release it. Anything. I think that's the challenge for a lot of people, is you keep working on your idea and then you never actually get anything out, and that doesn't help achieve your goals. I was just trying to balance it. I try to find that balance where what you put out has to be good, and then just focus on making it better. Like, if you're trying to get on a YouTube channel, you make your first video, you're gonna suck. It'll be a terrible video. It might be the best you can do at that time, and then focus the next video on making it better, and the next video making it better, and next video making it better. And I think as long as you're improving every day, it makes the perfectionist part go away a little bit because you feel like you're you're getting better. And I don't know if you can completely eliminate the perfectionist gene, and I know a lot of people have that in them, and I do have a bit in me too. But just for me, at least, it helps to know that I'm getting better every day and I'm working on it. And just get something out, man. Like, that fuels momentum, getting something out and getting feedback and getting people using your thing or watching your videos or buying your product. Just a few, you know, like the few YouTube comments that I got early on when I was starting my YouTube career, that, that was fuel for me to keep going. And by not releasing anything, you don't give yourself the momentum that you get from other people using your product or served. So I think you got to get it out, get it out, and just keep making it better. Next up, Rising Phoenix: I hope your second book can be on YouTube entrepreneurship and the power of self-belief. Thanks for the video. We're already talking about my second book. First one hasn't come out yet. I have two concepts for my next book. One would be really easy and I'm kind of excited about, and one would be a lot more work and I'm very excited about. But I'm trying not to get too far ahead of myself because I haven't even finished my first book and released it and marketed it. I'm excited to promote the first book and get it out because it's been almost a year of writing, writing, writing, writing, so I want to get that out. But the next book, I have some ideas. I'm not dropping anything yet, but I have some ideas. So that's it quickly for this week, guys. Thank you for the love and support. If you have a question about the topic today, which was, you know, standing up for yourself, if you have a question about my book or the book writing process, leave in the comments below and I'll answer your question on the next edition of the book. Thank you guys so much for watching. Have a great day. Continue to believe, and I'll see you soon.
