I'm Writing a New Book

and gathering a new audience — and you can help

[Updated Dec 2024]

So, I’m writing a new book.

It’s a book for twenty-somethings who aren’t finding their place in the world of work.

It’s a book for young people whose call to adventure and desire for self-ownership outweigh their need for security and acceptance.

It’s a book that questions why one must work full-time, must bury romantic impulses, or must choose a single place to call home.

I’m writing it because it’s a book I wish existed. And because… it’s me.

In my early twenties, I was failing as an employee. I could get myself hired, but I couldn’t commit. I always found a reason to quit and run away. My mind overflowed with romantic visions of wilderness immersion, perpetual travel, and social activism. Whenever I saw a peer taking a stressful job to pay for a house or apartment to fill with furniture and appliances, I felt sick. I wanted freedom, purpose, and adventure. I craved more experiences and fewer things. I wanted to be in love with the story of my own life. The normal path would not suffice.

So I took a different path: one filled with nature, travel, risk, romance, and very part-time self-employment. I earned little and spent less. I invested heavily in friendship, movement, contemplation, and creative expression. Each year, I asked myself if I could keep doing this. Surely, my luck must run out.

Fifteen years later, and here I am. I made it to my 40s without taking a single bullshit job, going bankrupt, or burning out. Most importantly, I’ve seen, done, and lived enough to die happily tomorrow. This feels like a victory worth celebrating and sharing.

This is my story of becoming “dirtbag rich,” and it’s just one among many. That’s why I’m not writing a memoir but rather a guidebook, filled with the principles I’ve discovered along my journey, accompanied by the stories and struggles of other “dirtbag rich” hailing from different backgrounds.

If you’re a long-time reader of The Adventures of Blake, you may have suspected that this book was coming. I didn’t realize it until earlier this summer, when I suddenly felt “pregnant” with a little book baby. It’s still in the first trimester, but the little champ feels healthy. What an adventure, bringing new life into the world! 🐣📚

The game plan

This will be book number 5½ for me, and I’m doing things a bit differently.¹

Scroll up and look at that cover art again. Isn’t it beautiful? I paid $600 for it. Usually this is the last step in publishing, but I did it first. Why? Accountability. Now, if I don’t finish this book, I’m out $600. You’re welcome, future Blake.

Actually, I’m out $850. Because I also dropped $250 to edit the book’s introduction, which you can read right now. GO READ THE INTRODUCTION—it’s great! It also explains why I embrace the somewhat off-putting term dirtbag.

Will I seek a traditional publisher? Will I self-publish? I’ve already received positive interest from a literary agent. But I do adore the speed, control, and financials of self-publishing. So let’s see.

Most importantly, who will even read this thing? I imagine my primary audience to be twenty-somethings who aren’t fitting into the employment system and wanting to fill their lives with more nature, travel, purpose, freedom, and adventure. This differs from my long-time “platform” of parents who care about alternatives to school. So in addition to writing the actual thing, I need to find new ways to connect with potential readers. Otherwise my baby won’t have many playmates.

Here’s how I plan to do this:

• Start podcasting again. [Update: the podcast is live!] Yes, everyone and their dog has a podcast these days. But podcasting is the best way to interview fascinating people leading “dirtbag rich” lives, gather stories for the book, and build trust with new listeners. I loved running my alternative education podcast for seven years (with 275,000+ total listens) and look forward to jumping back in.

Dirtbag Rich, the podcast: coming soon

• Share my ideas on TikTok. I am hereby joining modernity and creating short videos, because TikTok is where the older teens and twenty-somethings are hanging out. I’ve already started, and I’m actually enjoying myself. God help us all.

• Reach out to all the teenagers I’ve worked with, who are now young adults. Anyone who knows me personally is the most likely to read, care, and share.

This is my current game plan. Surely I’m missing something important. That’s where you come in!

How to help

If you want to see Dirtbag Rich come to life, here’s how you can help:

• Join my superhero team: the best way to follow the book’s journey and shape its development 🦸🏽‍♀️

• Read the introduction and share your thoughts/reactions.

• Tell me who my audience is. Who else might want to read this? Tell me!

• Connect me to one amazing person who I might interview for the podcast/book. Especially if they read the introduction and say “Whoa, that sounds like me!”

• Watch me embarrass myself on TikTok by following @dirtbagrich.

• Keep reading and sharing The Adventures of Blake. Naturally.

Writing a book is an intimidating, long-term project. I don’t know where this journey will take me or when it will end. I do know it will be better with you at my side.

Thanks for being part of the adventure.

❤️✍🏼
—Blake

(Reach me by commenting, hitting “reply,” or emailing yourstruly@blakeboles.com.)

1. Book number 4½ was my 2023 illustrated zine, Do What You Love and Die Trying, which served as a trial balloon for Dirtbag Rich. The PDF edition is now free to download.