65,097: An Update

We're almost there

Hi there readers,

This post is going to be a short one. The title shows the total word count of my recent book, “Humor and the Common Good.” I post it, because I about to send it to the publisher. Just a little polishing of one chapter, and the compiling of all the chapters into one complete document. If the winds blow the right way, I will send it to the publisher for their review process by the end of next week.

So why am I telling you this? Do I hope you’ll buy the book when it comes out? Not really. It’s coming out through DeGrutyer which is an academic press and as such, it’s going to be an expensive book. But I am hopeful that it will do well enough we can offer a less expensive version to people. I think the content isn’t so deeply philosophical that it won’t draw interest only from academics.

But the main message for you is that writing a book is tough. If I wasn’t afforded a sabbatical, a wonderful perk of my chosen profession, I could not have finished it. Distractions are too many, at least for me. This is my second book (words I never imagined I would ever say let alone type) and I am absolutely thrilled to have written it. I am tired, but tired in a good way. In a way that’s worth it. In a way that says that I will try my hand at another book. And as luck would have it, an editor at Palgrave MacMillan reached out to me to write a book on humor, communication, and the workplace. It’s supposed to be a shorter book, introductory, and covering recent research into the field written for a generalist audience. My hope is to have a draft to the publisher in late winter of 2026.

If you’ve ever thought of writing a book, have at it. When I wrote my first book, I just sat down at the dining room table and got to working. I had a plan, an outline, and some strong sense of what I wanted to write, but the plan never survives the enemy. Through the help of many different people I was able to get the book done and published. Finding a publisher was an exercise in self-loathing, but ultimately it’s published, and I’ve sold some books. It’s not easy to write, edit, and publish a book, but if you’re heart’s in it. It’s definitely worth it. I encourage you. If you want to ask me any questions, please do.

My plan for later posts will be to more directly pull from the research and writing I am doing for that book and use some of it on this Substack. Here’s hoping the new year is a good one with lots more words on paper.