What Nobody Tells You About Publishing a Book—with Award-Winning Podcaster Eric Zimmer

**Eric Zimmer** (0:00)
The world does not need another book. It just doesn't, right? But some people might need a particular book. And I felt like, okay, I have that.

**Jay Clouse** (0:25)
Hello, my friend, welcome back to another episode of Creator Science. Today, I'm speaking with Eric Zimmer. More than 30 years ago, Eric faced a life-altering battle with heroin addiction that left him homeless and facing prison, a turning point that sparked his search to understand how profound change happens and how we can chart sustainable paths forward while honoring both who we are and who we hope to become. In 2014, Eric launched a podcast with his best friend, no audience and a name that took a little bit of explaining and now 12 years later, that podcast, The One You Feed, has over 850 episodes and more than 500 million downloads. The name comes from an old parable and we'll actually start the conversation with that story. So I'll let Eric tell you that story here in a moment. But Eric has a new book coming out today. It's called How a Little Becomes a Lot and that title is really the story of his life. 30 years of recovery built one day at a time.
12 years of podcasting built one episode at a time. A book written in half-day increments across 18 months. In this conversation, Eric and I talk about how incremental progress actually works and why it's so hard to see it happening in real time. The business reality of podcasting in 2026 and how Eric is pivoting from an advertising model to a deeper relationship with a smaller audience. What the book publishing process is actually like, including the uncomfortable dance between your vision and what an agent and publisher think will sell, and the mental and emotional work of promoting a book, asking for favors constantly, watching who shows up, and how Eric applies his own frameworks to keep from spiraling. This one got personal for me. I'm in month 11 of my own book proposal, and Eric helped me to see the other side of a process that has genuinely been shaking my confidence a little bit. So I think you'll find it useful whether or not you're writing a book. If you do enjoy this episode, pick up your copy of How a Little Becomes a Lot. There's a link in the show notes. Launch week is a big deal. So if you plan to order the book this week would be a great time to do so. We'll get to the conversation with Eric right after this.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:47)
Like helping you tap into the latest trends and insights in your field. We cannot stop your coworker from tapping her pencil. LinkedIn can help you find new jobs that align with your career goals. We cannot help you find the source of that weird smell in the office fridge.

**Eric Zimmer** (3:03)
Your break to feel like...

**SPEAKER_4** (3:06)
And your kids' pool day to feel like... And your hotel bed to feel like...

**Eric Zimmer** (3:14)
Ooh, and room service to feel like...

**SPEAKER_4** (3:18)
Because at Hilton, hospitality feels like...

**Jay Clouse** (3:20)
Your cabana's ready.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:21)
Would you like fresh towels? It matters where you stay. Book now at hilton.com. Hilton, for the stay.

**Jay Clouse** (3:35)
I think a good starting point is I'd love to talk about the origin of your podcast name, The One You Feed, because it's something that I had to look into when we first got introduced and we met at a coffee shop a long time ago. I think it's so prescient today and maybe new to a lot of listeners of the show. So can you talk about that?

**Eric Zimmer** (3:54)
Sure. It's based on an old parable that goes something like this. There's a grandfather talking with their grandchild and they say, in life, there's two wolves inside of us that are always at battle. One is a good wolf, which represents things like kindness and bravery and love. And the other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed and hatred and fear. And the grandchild stops and they think about it for a second. They look up at their grandparent and they say, well, which one wins? And the grandparent says, the one you feed. So that's how I start every episode.
The history of it for me is, 30 years ago, I was a homeless heroin addict, but I had pretty much burned my life to the ground. And in some church basement somewhere in Columbus, Ohio, back then, somebody read that parable or said it. And I just immediately got it. And it hit really hard. And it was clear to me that like, there are things they are saying that I can do that will lead me towards recovery. And then there's things like, I know and can think and feel and do that will lead me back towards addiction and jail and death and all of that. And so it was just a very stark choice. And so years later, when I got the idea to do the podcast, which kind of came out of nowhere, that was what just showed up. It was like, oh, you could do a podcast and you could read that thing to people and get people's take. And on one hand, like, there's not a whole lot to say about it. The good thing about a parable is you hear it and you're like, oh, I get it immediately. And I think there's a lot of nuance and depth in there. As far as podcast names, I don't think it's a good podcast name because nobody knows what the heck it is. Like, is it a cooking show? I mean, what is it? But as a premise to build something interesting off of, it's worked pretty well.