Calling Out the Shadows

The Light Up the Shadows book tour begins. On the road to the first stop, why I choose a flashlight, not a spotlight.
Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast, Episode 12, with Neal Winsomer.
I recorded this driving to the first stop of the tour. For me it is less about signing books than sitting with people where they are, hearing their stories, and sharing what I have learned. I talk about seeing narcissism as a wide range instead of one label, answering a hard moment with a pause instead of a reaction, and lighting up the shadows carefully, with a flashlight, not a spotlight.


In this episode:
- Why this book tour is personal, not promotional
- Meeting people where they are, and learning as much as I share
- Seeing narcissism as a range, not a label
- Answering a hard moment with a pause
- Lighting up the shadows with a flashlight, not a spotlight
- Writing through a hard health year, and hope on the road
I share this as a father, not an authority. No claims and no diagnoses. What you take from it is yours.


Calling Out the Shadows with Neal Winsomer.
A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast.

Consider following the show for new episodes.
NealWinsomer.com
NealWinsomerPublishing.com
[email protected]

(00:00:00) Reflecting on a Year of Progress

(00:00:54) The Birth of a Book

(00:06:39) Navigating Health Challenges

(00:11:21) The Importance of Subjectivity and Truth

(00:15:46) Protecting Your Story in the Face of Opposition

(00:24:51) The Book Tour and Its Purpose

(00:29:37) Hope for the Future

A year ago, a letter to my daughter became a book. One father's one-year reflection on high-conflict co-parenting and hope.


Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast, Episode 11, with Neal Winsomer.
This is where the year has left me: how a private letter, started during a health crisis, grew into the book Calling Out the Shadows, and what it took to keep writing through the pain, stay honest instead of vengeful, and hold on to hope for my daughter's sake.


In this episode:
- How a letter to my daughter, written during emergency surgery, became a memoir and practical guide
- Writing through a health crisis without giving up
- Subjectivity over claims: proving what is true instead of trading accusations
- The protective narrative strategy for telling a hard story safely
- Where the book stands now: paperback, hardcover, ebook, audiobook, large print, and the Skimmer's Edition
- The Light Up the Shadows book tour, and my hope that healing is still possible


I share this as a father, not an authority. No claims, no diagnoses, only what I have lived and learned.

Calling Out the Shadows with Neal Winsomer.
A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast.

Consider following the show for new episodes.
NealWinsomer.com
NealWinsomerPublishing.com
[email protected]

For nine episodes, an AI voice read my words. This one is me.

Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast, Episode 10, with Neal Winsomer.

The words were always mine; the voice was not.

Now it is, my real voice, the same one I used to narrate the audiobook.

I can use it while staying protected, and I am not confirming, denying, or engaging speculation about who I am.

Clarity over comfort, transparency over secrecy, structure over spin.

Available on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.

Calling Out the Shadows with Neal Winsomer.
A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast.

Consider following the show for new episodes.
NealWinsomer.com
NealWinsomerPublishing.com
[email protected]

(00:00:00) Standing Up to Lies in Court

(00:00:16) The Power of Truth in Legal Battles

(00:01:34) Navigating a Hearing with Caution

(00:03:42) The Art of Strategic Silence

(00:04:14) Lessons for Dealing with Toxic Opponents

Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast, Episode 09, with Neal Winsomer.
A recent hearing brought a wave of false claims from my ex and her lawyer, and I chose not to react. No interrupting, no scowling, no passive aggression, just a straight posture, careful notes, and the documented truth doing the work. For me the strategy is patience, perseverance, and professionalism over winning the moment, and I believe the truth wins the long game.


Available on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.


Calling Out the Shadows with Neal Winsomer.
A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast.

Consider following the show for new episodes.
NealWinsomer.com
NealWinsomerPublishing.com
[email protected]

This episode includes AI-generated content.

An opinion does not become a fact because it is printed in a book. Episode 08 of Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast. Neal Winsomer on writing with humility and subjectivity over false authority, and a dual request: authors, share opinions as opinions; readers, dig deeper before you trust a claim.

Full transcript and notes at nealwinsomerpublishing.com/podcast. Available on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.

Calling Out the Shadows with Neal Winsomer.
A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast.

Consider following the show for new episodes.
NealWinsomer.com
NealWinsomerPublishing.com
[email protected]

This episode includes AI-generated content.

(00:00:00) The Book Club Email That Can Cost You Even If You Say No

(00:00:01) The Book Club Scam Email

(00:00:07) The Prevalence of the Scam

(00:00:46) The Scammer's Approach

(00:01:28) Red Flags and Initial Responses

(00:01:55) The Payment Request Trap

(00:02:21) The Dangers of Responding

(00:03:30) Identifying Real vs. Fake Book Clubs

(00:04:06) Protecting Yourself from Scams

A wave of fake "book club" emails is hitting indie author inboxes, and one reply is enough to make it worse. In this episode I share what is happening in my own inbox, what the scam template looks like, and the rules I am using to handle it.


What some scammers are doing:

- Generic praise that lifts from your Amazon back cover, never the actual book
- A fee ask framed as a "contribution" so it does not read like payment
- Zelle, Venmo, CashApp, gift cards, or crypto requests, never PayPal Business or Stripe
- Fake personas that imitate real book club organizers, with email addresses at gmail, yahoo, or hotmail


A simple rule: if a book club is asking you for money, it is not a book club. And if you reply just to say no, you have already paid them in a different currency, your inbox.

More red flags I did not get to in the audio:
- Replying triggers about a 10x spam spike. Your address gets resold within 48 hours.
- The unsubscribe link is bait. Clicking confirms the address is monitored. Block and delete.
- Membership claims in the hundreds or thousands. Real in-person clubs run 6 to 12; real online clubs run 20 to 50.
- AI-generated profile photos that look like stock faces. Reverse image search returns nothing.
- Pressure close: "we are featuring you Friday, payment needed Wednesday." Real clubs work weeks out.
- Same-day or next-day follow-up after you replied. Real organizers reply to your reply; scammers re-spam.
- After you pay: scammer ghosts, or AI-written reviews appear and Amazon removes them as fake, or they come back demanding more.
- Escalation pattern: fake invoices, fake DMCA notices, fake publisher pitches, fake film options. Same ring, different mask.
- Named scams to watch for: Manhattan Book Club (MBC), Goodreads 2026 Reading Challenge group impersonators, fake versions of Silent Book Club (a real org being spoofed).
How to verify a real club:
- Find the Meetup page, library page, or organization site independently. Do not click links in the email.
- Search the club name plus city in quotes. Look for prior author features and confirm with those authors directly.
- Check ALLi Watchdog at allianceindependentauthors.org/watchdog for known scams and verified-legitimate services.

Where to report:
- Phishing flag in your email provider
- FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov
- Writer Beware via the SFWA site
- ALLi Watchdog Desk


Calling Out the Shadows: A Father's Stand Against the Current by Neal Winsomer is a memoir and a manual. Available in paperback, hardcover, ebook, audiobook author-narrated by Neal Winsomer, large print, and a skimmer's edition.


Calling Out the Shadows with Neal Winsomer.
A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast.

Consider following the show for new episodes.
NealWinsomer.com
NealWinsomerPublishing.com
[email protected]

This episode includes AI-generated content.

(00:00:00) Pay for Play Book Awards and the Award Winning Lie

(00:00:01) The Problem with Pay-for-Play Awards

(00:00:34) The Deception of Paid Awards

(00:01:54) The Value of Authentic Honesty

(00:03:52) Authentic Marketing Strategies

(00:04:25) Standing in Truth and Authenticity

The pay for play book award system bothers Neal Winsomer, and he is not paying for an award to stick on this book. Episode 06 of Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast. Neal Winsomer looks at the pay-for-play book award model where authors pay $20 to $200 to be nominated, and where many of the systems state on their own websites that every entrant at least lands runner-up. The line between "award-winning" and "paid to be nominated" gets drawn. The episode covers:

• The pay-for-play book award model and the $20 to $200 nomination-fee range
• Award-system websites that print "you will at least be runner-up" on the page itself
• The credibility gap between paid awards and juried awards earned without payment
• The marketing trade-off Neal is making by refusing to buy a bestseller ranking, a paid award, or any pay-to-win label
• A case for marketing and messaging with honesty, transparency, and love instead of false presence
• A direct call to stand in authority, authenticity, and transparency, not pay-for-play

If Calling Out the Shadows ever carries an award, it was earned without paying for it.

Available on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and other podcast platforms.

Calling Out the Shadows with Neal Winsomer.
A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast.

Consider following the show for new episodes.
NealWinsomer.com
NealWinsomerPublishing.com
[email protected]

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Episode 05 of Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast. Neal Winsomer marks the ten-month point in the journey from blank page to release. The first paperback proof landed in his hand and the case for tracking the process gets made.


The other day Amazon showed up with the first paperback proof of the book. Neal started this journey on July 15th of last year. The proof landed in his hands on May 15th. Ten months in. One month and a day to go.


There are many people right now that talk about using the abuse of AI or using AI to an abusive standpoint. And then there are others out there saying, no, I do not use it that way. Well, how? Prove it.


One of the things Neal wanted to do, and did from the first day, was track his writing time. He can show on a calendar the last 10 months and the writing time, the editing time, the audiobook recording time, the layout work, all of it. As mentioned at the top of the book: 999 hours and 9 minutes. Not a vanity number. There is a point to it. Not trying to be perfect, but being human, and wanting to stop at a certain point. Those last 9 minutes mattered.


This brief episode covers:
- Ten months in, one month out, and what the proof in hand felt like

- Tracking writing time, editing time, audiobook recording time, layout time as proof of concept

- 999 hours and 9 minutes, not as a vanity number, but as the record of the work

- 51 hours of recording for a 14-hour audiobook, not in the greatest of health, but it was all him

- The proof of concept the tracked log gives, versus the people who say "I put in hundreds of hours" with no way to know

- Why tracing the journey and blueprinting it brings something different to the validity and authenticity of the work

- An invitation for anyone writing, recording, creating: consider tracking it


Consider marking that journey and laying out that journey. Other people might be intrigued or engaged with the journey, with the time, with the experience as a whole.


Available on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.


Calling Out the Shadows with Neal Winsomer.
A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast.

Consider following the show for new episodes.
NealWinsomer.com
NealWinsomerPublishing.com
[email protected]

This episode includes AI-generated content.

Bestseller is one of the easiest claims to buy and one of the hardest to earn.
Episode 04 of Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast. Neal Winsomer breaks down the Amazon bestseller scam, what a real bestseller looks like, and how to catch a fake claim before it sells you on someone who has not earned the title.
Amazon has over 16,000 book categories. Many of those categories sell only a few copies per day, and Amazon's bestseller calculation runs every hour and resets every hour. Whoever sells the most copies in a given category in the last hour wins the orange number one bestseller banner for that category.
In 2016, entrepreneur Brent Underwood uploaded a picture of his bare foot to Amazon. No story. No words. Just the foot. Priced at the 99 cent minimum, listed in two of Amazon's smallest, lowest-traffic categories, and bought three times by Underwood himself. Within minutes the orange number one bestseller banner appeared on the page. Screenshot taken. Forever after, he could claim Amazon bestseller author.


This brief episode walks through:
- How the Amazon bestseller calculation actually works and why it makes the scam easy
- Sharing the Brent Underwood case as the canonical proof
- What a real bestseller looks like (sustained sales velocity, hundreds to thousands of organic reviews, sales ranks that stay low for an extended period)
- Some ways to catch a fake claim by checking the global Best Sellers Rank on the book's product page (real deal under 5,000; fraud over 300,000)
- Some ways to audit the category the author claims by looking at the number two and three books in that same category
- Where to vet beyond Amazon: Goodreads reviews and discussion threads, Writer Beware at writerbeware.blog, the ALLi Watchdog at selfpublishingadvice.org, Authors Guild scam alerts at authorsguild.org, and a reverse search of the author's name plus "scam" or "ResultSource"

Stop letting marketing manipulation trick you. Real bestsellers sell to thousands of global readers, not 10 people in a hidden database node. The orange banner is marketing, not proof. Expect more. Dig deeper. See past the shadows of what people are really doing to promote online.


Available on Spreaker, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.


Calling Out the Shadows with Neal Winsomer.
A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast.

Consider following the show for new episodes.
NealWinsomer.com
NealWinsomerPublishing.com
[email protected]

This episode includes AI-generated content.

You Don't Need to Read, Buy, or Review My Book. Episode 03 of Calling Out the Shadows: A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast. Author Neal Winsomer on choosing not to ask readers to read, buy, or review his upcoming book.

Neal opens: "You don't need to read my book, you don't need to buy my book, and you don't need to review my book. I doubt my book will change your life."

He questions why authors let subjective claims about a reader's response come off as objective truths, and shares why he is not asking for five stars.

Calling Out the Shadows: A Father's Stand Against the Current is available June 16, 2026, in paperback, hardcover, eBook, audiobook, Library Audio Edition, large print, and the Skimmer's Edition.

Calling Out the Shadows with Neal Winsomer.
A Clarity Over Comfort Podcast.

Consider following the show for new episodes.
NealWinsomer.com
NealWinsomerPublishing.com
[email protected]

This episode includes AI-generated content.