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/

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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/