The New Glossary: 📖 Samir's Book Team

Book Team Update (9-10-25)

Samir Selmanovic — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 02:10:00 GMT

Many thanks to Dunja, Sammy, Mari, John, Alvin, and Rod for your comments in the working document for the week and for sharing during our Live Riff Session today.

Many thanks to Eric, who has emaile…

🗓️ Samir's Book Team Live Riffs — Access & Schedule

Samir Selmanovic — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 16:59:59 GMT

I’ll host two live Zoom Book Team Live Riffs each week (30 minutes, exact times every week) to share fresh pages, core concepts, and hunches from the book—and then we’ll talk. Think part inspiration, part lab, part having a drink with interesting people.

Many of you told me this is the #1 value of paid membership: being part of the making, not just the finished book. This is that.

It is every Wednesday at 1:00 PM EST and Sunday at 1:00 PM EST (every week, except when I’m traveling).

This is for paid members of The New Glossary.

Why Nobody Wants to Read What We Write

Samir Selmanovic — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 08:38:31 GMT

Hello Book Team,

I’m in Croatia with my family, in-laws, and my past (which is never really just a past).

I decided to re-read Steven Pressfield’s book about writing, “Nobody Wants to Read Your S*it,” and see how my book idea holds up when tested against his badass and weirdly caring way of seeing the world.

Pressfield became a legend in the creator and writer world with his book “War of Art” (a precursor to the recent gentle bestseller “Creative Act” by Rick Rubin).

Pressfield is a legend in the prophetic tradition of speaking to writers about how to get real. (I read five of his non-fiction books, which BTW, speaks to my problem of reading about writing while not writing.)

I will share a couple of excerpts from Steven’s book and then an abridged draft of the Book Map I created when running my “How To Be Out of Control” through the structure he suggests.

What Nobody Wants to Read Your Shit means is that none of us wants to hear your self-centered, ego-driven, unrefined demands for attention. Why should we?…
Nobody wants to read your shit.
Let me repeat that. Nobody–not even your dog or your mother–has the slightest interest in your commercial for Rice Krispies or Delco batteries or Preparation H. Nor does anybody care about your one-act play, your Facebook page or your new sesame chicken joint at Canal and Tchopotoulis.
It isn’t that people are mean or cruel. They’re just busy.
Nobody wants to read your shit. …
When you understand that nobody wants to read your shit, your mind becomes powerfully concentrated. You begin to understand that writing/reading is, above all, a transaction. The reader donates his time and attention, which are supremely valuable commodities. In return, you the writer, must give him something worthy of his gift to you.
When you, the student writer, understand that nobody wants to read your shit, you develop empathy. You acquire that skill which is indispensable to all artists and entrepreneurs: the ability to switch back and forth in your imagination from your own point of view as writer/painter/seller to the point of view of your imagined reader/gallery-goer/customer.

The Book Map I came up with as a result of reading Pressfield:

A Literary Agent In My Corner!

Samir Selmanovic — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 19:55:52 GMT

I’ve signed with Trinity McFadden at The Bindery to represent my book, How to Be Out of Control.

This moment feels big, not flashy, but meaningful. After months of writing my proposal and reaching out…

Invitation to Samir’s Book Team (SBT)

Samir Selmanovic — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 14:23:27 GMT

It’s time to write another book. My previous one, published more than ten years ago, focused on religious pluralism and spirituality. The world has changed, and so have you and I.

While most people might be surprised by what I want to share, I think you would react to these ideas with a nod of recognition—and an existential thrill.

You are here. This means you are either someone who has made a difference in my life, a fellow creator, or a fantastic person on an adventure. This is going to be good.

There are 7,000 books published every day. I want this one to stand out—not by being louder or cleverer, but by helping name what’s happening in and around us at this time and re-enchanting readers with the experience and power of their ordinary lives.

Crazy ambitious, I know. As we will learn, it’s the crazy ones who get this kind of thing done. But never alone. We all succeed by being seen and accepted by those who are a bit (or way more than a bit) crazy themselves. Yes, I’m talking here about you.

A lot goes into creating a book—from ideating to outlining, writing, editing, rewriting, design decision-making, reaching out to ideal readers, dealing with defeats, and celebrating victories.

Thank you for participating in this adventure in any way that works for you. Let me tell you more.

About the Book

Below are excerpts from the book proposal to give you a sense of what we are working with.

Working Title and Subtitles

How to Be Out of Control

Finding Freedom, Focus, and Joy in Life and Leadership
Leadership Guide for Ordinary Mystics
The Art of Finding Calm, Courage, and Joy in This Damn Complexity
Joyful Approach to Uncertainty and Change