Hooray! The first draft of Autastisch leven is finished! That means the book is now with my editor, who will go through it again thoroughly and add comments and suggestions everywhere. After that, I’ll have about two more weeks to make changes: send passages to interviewees for approval, tweak the structure here and there, cut some parts, or expand others.

Then the book goes to the designer, who turns it from a Word document into an actual book. That’s when you really start to see what it will look like: which bits might work better as pull quotes or text boxes, where sections are still too long or too short, and so on. After that, a proofreader takes a close look as well: someone who is extremely detail-oriented and keeps an eye on every quotation mark, comma, and spelling detail. All of those comments and corrections (usually made in Acrobat, in the PDF) then go back to the designer, who implements the changes.

By then it will be early March. I fly to the Netherlands on March 3, just in time to order proof copies. If those look good, I can give the go-ahead for the final print run. And I’m definitely going to need a lot of books…

In the meantime, I already have 175 pre-orders, amounting to 178 books in total. Of those, 18 are signed copies, and 12 people opted to have their (company) name included in the acknowledgements. (That last option is still available until February 16. After that, it will close.) One of the clients I’ll be giving a talk for wants to order 15 copies for their staff. There will also need to be books available at my book launch event, dozens of copies will be sent out for PR, and of course there will be the regular orders from bookshops and online platforms. (For those, I still still need to officially register the book – something I can finally do now that I’ve received my Dutch VAT number as of today!)

When I’m in the Netherlands in March and April, it will be a pretty full schedule. I currently have six talks planned – or seven, actually, because for one client I’ll be doing two on the same day. One of the talks is online; the rest are in-person. Most of them are private events, but you’re welcome to attend this one by Wende Autismecafé in Apeldoorn. Of course, there are also my two webinars for everyone who placed a pre-order. In addition, I’ll be spending three mornings in the studio recording the audiobook version of my new book, and I have two photography days scheduled as well. I’m also setting aside one day for personal work.

My book launch is actually two days earlier than I initially thought: March 31, at Broese in Utrecht. As soon as I have more information on how to sign up, I’ll share it via my social channels.

This may all sound quite intense in terms of planning, but I’ll be in the Netherlands for a full seven weeks. That means there’s still room for one or two additional talks, for example in weeks 12, 15, or 16. (If your organization would like to book me, feel free to send an email to boeken@toeps.nl.)

Because my brother is about to move, because I usually can’t stay with someone for more than a week, because I found it very exhausting last time to constantly travel around with my luggage, and because I need to be able to receive mail (read: boxes and boxes of books), I decided to rent my own accommodation. Expensive, but absolutely necessary if I want to keep this schedule manageable.

At the moment I have two options: a sort of long-term hotel room, which I’ve already booked but can still cancel, and an apartment for which they are currently reviewing my Japanese paperwork. Yes, even for short-term rentals you’re often required to prove your income – and in my case the past year has been rather chaotic, with the closure of my kabushiki kaisha and the start of my sole proprietorship. I’ve therefore offered to pay the full rent upfront, so there’s no financial risk on their side. That usually helps, but I’m still waiting to hear back. If not, there’s always option one.

Edit: Option 2, Holland2Stay, just called me. It genuinely sounded like I was asking for the most ridiculous thing imaginable. Apparently I need to have a Dutch employer in order to rent there. Ok then, option 1 it is.

…things are going well in Japan too. I’m really enjoying entrepreneurship and everything related to the book, and I’ve made two friends here with whom I don’t just drink tea, but also work together. Well actually, we work alongside each other on our own projects – at Starbucks, with a cup of tea. François has just returned after almost three weeks in France, and I’m full of good intentions to approach things a little differently now that he’s back: eating and going to bed less late, doing more around the house, keeping the coffee table clear at all times (François tends to turn it into one big “inbox”), and being more intentional about choosing quality time.

Once I’m back from the Netherlands, it will already be time to renew my visa again. According to the immigration authorities, I’m not allowed to be out of the country for more than roughly 90 days per year, but a trip like the one I’m planning now should be fine each year. Of course I won’t be releasing a new book every single year (well… almost, haha!), but there will always be speaking events and photo shoots. I’m really excited about everything that’s coming.