10 Months Down, One Month to Go
10 Months Down, One Month to Go
Episode 05 of Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast
By Neal Winsomer · Published May 21, 2026 · Roughly 6 minutes
10 Months Down, One Month to Go
10 Months Down, One Month to Go marks the journey from blank page to first proof, tracked hour by hour at 999 hours and 9 minutes, and why a logged process is proof of concept.
THE SHORT VERSION
- Neal tracked every hour: writing, editing, audiobook, and layout, at 999 hours and 9 minutes.
- 51 hours of recording for a 14-hour audiobook, all him.
- A tracked log is proof of concept that others can verify.
LISTEN
As well as Amazon Music, iHeart, Pandora, and other podcast platforms.
QUESTIONS THIS EPISODE ANSWERS
Why track your writing time?
As proof of concept. A log of writing, editing, recording, and layout time shows the work, versus vague claims of hundreds of hours with no way to check.
How long did the book take?
Started July 15, ten months to the first paperback proof, logged at 999 hours and 9 minutes.
IN THIS CONVERSATION
- Ten months in, one month out, and the first proof in hand
- Tracking writing, editing, recording, and layout time
- 999 hours and 9 minutes as the record of the work
- An invitation to track your own process
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Ten months down and one month to go. The other day, Amazon showed up at the front door with a proof of the book, the paperback version. As I picked it up, I looked at the date and thought, this is one month and a day to go. Then I realized I started this journey on July 15th of last year, and here on May 15th the first proof arrived. For people who are not as familiar, a proof has a little mark across it. It is not something you can sell, and it does not have an ISBN, but it was a culmination. I have seen the layout in formatting, online, and digitally, but to sit there and hold it in my hands was kind of cool. I also looked at it from the standpoint of a story. A lot of people right now talk about the abuse of AI, or using AI in an abusive way. Others say, no, I do not use it that way. Well, how? Prove it.
The first proof in hand
One of the things I wanted to do, and did from the first day, was track my writing time. I can show on a calendar the last ten months: the writing time, the editing time, recording the audiobook, the work to get things laid out, all of it. As I mentioned at the top of the book, it came to 999 hours and 9 minutes. This was not a funny look-at-this-number thing. There was a point to it. I decided I was not going to hit the thousand-hour mark, and I was on track to do that. In not trying to be perfect, in being human, and in wanting to stop at a certain point, I got to 999 and wanted to stop there. I thought that would have been cooler, but I needed those extra nine minutes.
Tracking every hour
Through all of this, there is a proof of concept in what was done, how it was done, and over the period it was done. That is different from someone saying, I just put in a prompt, or, I put in hundreds of hours. Well, how do you know? I recorded the audiobook, and I was not in the greatest health while doing it. It took me 51 hours and change to complete the 14-hour audiobook.
Being able to share and show that, and say, here is my point and here is what it took, meant something. When I began, I thought I could knock this out much quicker, that I would not have a problem with it. All of those assumptions were wrong. It was not quicker, but it was all me. I look at the hours across each week, including the ones recording the audiobook, the different times I was writing and editing, where I was, how I was feeling, and what was happening around each moment. When I started the book, I jumped up early in the morning. That afternoon, I was in the hospital. It almost felt like something was trying to stop the book from happening. Being able to look back, and not just say it has been a journey, but trace the journey, blueprint it, and see it, brings something to the validity and authenticity of it for me. It might do the same for you. As you are writing, creating, or recording, consider tracking it, almost a time diary and experience diary, to show what the process was like and to see these cool marks. Ten months later, I had a proof in my hand, one month and one day out from the release that is coming.
Why a logged process is proof
Consider marking that journey and laying it out, because other people might be intrigued by it and engage with the journey, the time, and the experience as a whole.
ABOUT THE HOST
Neal Winsomer is the author of Calling Out the Shadows: A Father’s Stand Against the Current, a memoir and practical guide, and hosts this Clarity Over Comfort podcast, which he narrates himself. He writes from lived experience inside high-conflict co-parenting and marks throughout his work what is his subjective account and what is objective. He makes no claim to clinical expertise and offers no prescriptions. What you take from it is yours.
Published by Neal Winsomer Publishing LLC, an IBPA member (D-U-N-S 145038996), Gulf Breeze, Florida. hello@nealwinsomerpublishing.com
RELATED EPISODES
- Episode 01: Welcome to Calling Out the Shadows
- Episode 04: Amazon Best Seller Claims and What’s Really Behind Them
- Episode 06: Pay for Play Book Awards and the Award Winning Lie
Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast is hosted by Neal Winsomer. The accompanying book is available now from Neal Winsomer Publishing LLC in paperback, hardcover, eBook, audiobook, large print, and a Skimmer’s Edition. See all formats.
